Hello March

You’ve heard of march roaring in like a lion?

“March roars in like a lion
So fierce,
The wind so cold,
It seems to pierce.
The month rolls on
And Spring draws near,
And March goes out
Like a lamb so dear”  -Lorie Hill

 

Well this morning it is –20 degrees and feels like –43 degrees. I am praying the latter part of the poem holds as true as the beginning seems to.

What I’ve been (and would like to be) Reading…

As I mentioned in my only book review of February, I have been reading. But I’ve been quilting and sewing a lot more. There is something so rewarding about sitting down and making cute and cozy little items for a baby on the way. Something about the act that connects me to a hundred other women who have gone before and done the same thing. So I’ll not complain about my lack of completed books lately.

My list of books to read is always ridiculously long, but it’s grown even more so this past month. The photo is a just a sampling of my most immediate to-read titles. I’m currently reading two books: Happiest Baby on the Block and a guide to HypnoBirthing for busy people (not pictured because it’s on my kindle). Up next is Bread and Wine because I’ve had it since Christmas (thank you Momma) and I keep hearing amazing things about it everywhere. After that, I’m sure it’ll be back to baby-related books. New priorities you know.

I’ve been Listening to…

Two Pandora stations. Traditional Country Hymns and French Cafe Radio. The first I imagine my Grandma joining in and singing with me from heaven. The second is relaxing and does wonders in mentally whisking me away from frozen ND whilst drinking hot tea, reading and indulging in Girl Scout cookies.

I also need to find a good playlist of relaxing music for labor. It’s on my to-do list.

Watching…

I’ve been binge “watching” BBC miniseries. I put watching in quotation marks because it’s what’s been on in the background. While I’ve been quilting I’ve been playing the more recent adaptations of Jane Austen’s books like Emma. I’ve also been re-watching old faithfuls like the Colin Firth version of Pride and Prejudice. Cranford season 1 is free to stream on Amazon Prime right now.

My Kitchen has been rather quiet lately…

My stomach is shrinking and I’m being forced to eat smaller and smaller meals. Frankly the only thing that sounds good is fish. But I did roast a chicken last weekend and J made the most amazing mashed potatoes. I’ve also made my favorite fish recipe several times; tilapia fillets breaded in panko, crushed almonds and lemon pepper seasoning then pan fried in a butter olive oil mixture. Yum! And of course, I made my birthday angel food cake from scratch.

some good things I’ve come across recently around the web…

3 time management tips I wish I'd learned 10 years ago

Foods you can freeze
















Ann Voskamp.com

Highly Sensitive People

10 favorite Valentine's desserts

And just because…

Chant

  Voices: Chant From Avignon  This is my new favorite CD. Before you think I've really gone crazy this time, let me explain.

I've talked about the BBC show Call the Midwife recently. Part of the show (and their soundtrack) in chant. The nuns in the convent chant prayers, psalms, etc. It's really pretty, peaceful and relaxing.

Then the other morning on the classical XM station in the car they were doing a special about women and Gregorian chant. It was really pretty.

So I looked this up on Amazon. It's great background music, reading music, falling asleep music. I just had to share!

Fun Internet Stuff

Since being stuck in a hotel room for the last, well technically month, I've been doing a lot of internet surfing.

There has been far too much Pinterest lately:

 

 Pin/Photo Source

I've seen only two weeks of late winter in this new state, but already I am convinced that gardening and farmers markets will consume whatever summer there is here. Which inevitably leads to canning and preserving to make it last through these long and harsh winters. This actually looks like a really great resource!

  

Pin/Photo Source

 These are called buttermilk beignets. What that means is fried dough and obscene amounts of powdered sugar (one of my favorite things on earth). Need I say more? These will be made once I am in possession of my own kitchen again.

 

Pin/Photo Source

 I love chickens. I love eggs. One day I want a picturesque little backyard chicken coop. I do understand the ridiculousness of this Pin. But it illustrates that I've been on that website far, far too often as of late

 ~

I've been listening to a lot of Pandora. Now that's not particularly unusual. What is a smidge unusual is that I'm actually paying attention to it, bookmarking songs, albums, and artists that capture my attention. I've been listening to my country hymns station mostly; because it's comforting, because the lyrics help me get through some of these not so fun days, and because it reminds me of my Grandma P.

 

Here is some of my newly bookmarked music with links to the MP3 files and song previews.

 

  Roots Run Deep

"A new record is refreshing amongst the many modern worship albums that have been released lately. Here we have a collection of untraditionally traditional Sunday morning hymns played in a modern fashion by this singer/songwriter Jadon Lavik."

 

Firecracker

I'm not typically a folk music admirer. The a capella song Long Time Traveler on this CD caught my attention. Beautiful song.

 

The Living Room Sessions

Instrumental Hymns on the piano. When I heard one of the songs on Pandora I had to find out what CD it was from. Piano music always reminds me of my Momma. This is very soft and pretty.

 ~

The rest of these internet finds are random and in no particular order.

 

Downton Abbey Puzzle

 

Nerd alert. Yes, this is a 1,000 piece puzzle based on a BBC/PBS show. I realize this puts me into the cool things 80 year old ladies enjoy category. I'm good with that. I really think I need to buy this...

 

Modest Maxi

I. Love. This. Dress. It just looks so darn comfy! It's not even available until the end of April, but I'm seriously considering a pre-order. I'm also considering sleeping in this as well as wearing it to church.

 

Sun Gold Tomatoes

I had pretty grand gardening plans for this spring and summer. Since we'll be apartment dwellers instead of home dwellers, this severely cramps my gardening style. However, I am determined to plant a few things! I want my own herbs. And I am going to order these little gems; the sweetest darn tomatoes you'll ever taste. It's like eating candy. I don't even really like tomatoes, especially not raw, but I pop these like crack candy. Side note: this is one of my favorite seed catalogs/websites!