Our House in the Middle of Our Street

One of my favorite spots to stop and take a picture in Ft. Langley: Brae Island on the right hand side I had every intention of getting all my titles together before the end of October and...here we are on November 10th. Ideally I'd love to catalog and share my two vacations from this prior year; our family one in Sooke, BC, and my girls' trip to Albuquerque I did in September. Here's hoping!  One thing I've noticed is that around the middle of summer, my book reading became 'easy' again. I had such high hopes when the lock down first started, but my attention span quickly grew frizzly within a month. My sleeping took a turn for the worst and anytime I sat down to read I just couldn't get anywhere with it. Apparently, it was a common thing with lots of book readers. The low-grade stress eked into my favorite hobby, and I wasn't pleased. Thankfully, my book reading seems to have really had a kick start these last few months, and I've been happy with ...

Well, it appears that my July post wasn't even thought about until mid-August, which is why I'm combining another two months of book lists. I had a decent reading summer, an even better thrift-store book-score, and I'm hoping a relatively relaxed Fall with many hours spent with a book in my lap (edit: It's mid-September and I'm trying not to breathe into a paper bag about my Fall...). So far, our homeschool planning is busy, but only one evening a week out fully. That's good odds! Now for the book blurbs... July * Circle of Quiet by Madeleine L'Engle - This is my second read-through of one of L'Engle's first Crosswicks Journals memoirs, and I read it along with Joy Clarkson's patreon group . I love how Clarkson teased out some themes in each section, and it was fun to read it with a very vocal group who would always put their thoughts on the message board.  This book is really about L'Engle's theolgy, living at Crosswicks (their summer h...

 Finally, I'm sharing just a few photos and bits about our 2021 family vacation to Sooke, BC (only 18 months later!). Sooke is on Vancouver Island; near the southern most tip. It is about an hour's drive to Victoria, the biggest city on the island, and about an hour's north-westerern drive to Port Renfrew, which touches the tip of the Carmana Walbran Provincial Park .  We stayed at this wonderful little house (fawns! quail chicks! hummingbirds! in the morning) right outside and it had a great ocean view and was so tranquil on a bit of property. Because we found this listing last-minute and it was brand-new, they had offered it at a discount and we scored big. I think we paid roughly 100$/day. It's now quite a bit more, but if you have the budget, it's a beautiful house.  an orca skeleton at the Royal BC Museum Orcas: Our Shared Adventure exhibit was at the Royal BC Museum, and the first section was all about the science of the whales, and the second part was about...

  June was a better reading month for me, as we downshifted from school around the 15th and fully entered into 'school lite' along with more downtime for me (yay!) and less driving (double yay!). I've taken my summer quite seriously so far this year and fully intend to really reap a lot of rest into my lax calendar.  The pandemic didn't really slow down our kids' activities, and my responsibilities as a homeschool parent, and this was our busiest year yet, surprisingly. I'm tired. I just want to read and sleep! I'm currently doing just that, and I love it. I read a surprising amount of poetry this past month and only have 1-2 books of poetry left on my To Be Read list for the next little while. One is on order from the library still, and another is one I have at home. Here are the books:  Nebraska by Kwame Dawes - I just have to be honest, I had our library buy this so I could read a book of poetry about my home state's weather. Dawes is a Caribbean tra...

Although this past year was exceptionally strange, it was a huge time of growth for Lukka--physically, certainly, but also maturing as a person. He still loves movement: skiing, tennis, and now roller hockey and sword fighting. He is working his second summer lawn mowing for pay, has been learning how to break up goals and manage his time wisely, and still has a tender spot for animals. He has been working so hard at his schoolwork and has really challenged himself this year with higher level Physics. He had a goal to learn the violin and has already surpassed 3 levels in one year (!), along with maintaining his practice and ability on the piano. He is a deep thinker and loves to toss around unique ideas (ahem, and debate...regularly). He is curious about so much and also knows when something isn't working for him and is open to new ideas and advice. We are so proud of this young man he is becoming. We love you, Lukka, and Happy Birthday!! Lukka watching the baby robin perched on t...

 I can categorically say I only finished one of the top four books as of typing this-dismally late in early July!- but thankfully it was completed.  Although this subpar photo is all I have that captures my reading in May, thank goodness for my Bookshelf and Books Read visual boards via Pinterest, or I'd never remember anything.  Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings by Joy Harjo - Although I don't remember specifics about this book, I do remember enjoying most of it. This is why I can't write reviews months after the fact (!)-I just forget specific topics, images, or themes of a book of poetry aside from the way I felt reading it. I'm sorry I can't comment on it more than that except I did like her other book, An American Sunrise , a bit better than this one.  The After Diet by Purva Brown - This is a very short little book that is a personal story of a woman who is someone I follow online. Her story involves weightlifting and figuring out macro and micro nutrie...

  April flew by, and there were weeks that I didn't even pick up a book--or if I did, I was minutes away from my neck suddenly jerking downward indicating I could barely read a page before turning off my light and heading to bed. The pressure of the end of the school year is here, and it won't really let up for another 6 weeks. It's not that I've been lacking in diligence the rest of the year, but we're so close, yet do have lots of finish up before we can officially have more lingering days with our hobbies, more free time to catch up with friends, and ultimately, freer reading time! The titles I finished this month were: We Were the Lucky Ones  by Georgia Hunter - I first heard of this book from the What Should I Read Next? podcast with the author as the interviewee. (#157 found here ) I wanted to pick this up immediately but instead bought it for numerous friends who I thought would enjoy it (weird projection, I know). I know one of them did, and really liked it,...