| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Libbie |
Posted - Mar 26 2007 : 11:30:55 PM
when you need a little inspiration - a little "pick-me-up?"
I know that for me, when I'm feeling a little like I need a "comfort book," I reach for Hannah Hinchman's amazing illustrated notebook/journal/books, MaryJane's book or magazines, or, oddly enough, a housekeeping book.
What about you?
XOXO, Libbie
"All through the long winter, I dream of my garden. On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth. I can feel its energy, and my spirits soar..." - Helen Hayes |
| 23 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| BotanicalBath |
Posted - May 08 2007 : 12:09:34 AM
Join a swap. Looking at others work usually inspires new ideas. Most of the time it is usually something very slight and unintentional by the artist that caught my eye. Also going shopping. I get ideas and inspiration from the strangest thing... it could be how the fruit is stacked at the store, or the color combination of fat quarter sets ( I dont quilt).... really anything.
Going to the library and being able to cruise the stacks.... taking out 20 or 30 craft books with pictures.... is a great way to spend an hour or two while the baby sleeps.
E-
BotanicalBath@peoplepc.com |
| Libbie |
Posted - May 03 2007 : 11:35:50 PM
Okay - confession time? - I browse through "People" in the checkout line at the market....
XOXO, Libbie
"All through the long winter, I dream of my garden. On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth. I can feel its energy, and my spirits soar..." - Helen Hayes |
| mima |
Posted - May 03 2007 : 7:11:21 PM
Okay, I'm gonna sound totally "heathen"! LOL! If I'm having a rough day nothing beats grabbing a Starbucks,or diet coke and getting a people magazine and just zone out with celeb gossip! I know I'm terrible! |
| EnchantedWoodsGirl |
Posted - May 03 2007 : 6:37:32 PM
Reading any of Gladys Taber's Stillmeadow books that remind me of why I am living the life I do - hehehe, she is the one that got me hooked on seeing how many Cocker Spaniels would run my life.
Also, any good nature books such as Walden, A Year in the Maine Woods - they put me in touch with my inner core.
Kathy of the Enchanted Wood
http://enchantedwoodmusings.blogspot.com/
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| ArmyWifey |
Posted - May 02 2007 : 3:48:11 PM
The Bible, Memories of a PackRat by Ruth Bell Graham, The Cottage on the Fell or a Jane Austen.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!
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| mrsmorgen |
Posted - May 02 2007 : 07:03:12 AM
Oh this is wonderful!!! I had no idea that anyone else thought of Home Comforts as a comfort book!!! I do too, and Mitford books and Anne of Green Gables!! I also love the Love COmes SOftly series by Janette Oke and reread them when I get into a "why dont they deliver pizza to my house mood." I hate to admit it but it happens usually in the winter. The Country living UK version is wonderful too. As a homeschooler I reread Pocketful of Pinecones a lot too. It's by Karen Andreola. Thanks for the heartwarming suggestions and Im going to have to pull a few of them out again and reread them now!!!!
Morgen in PA
I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all..
laura ingalls wilder |
| Aunt Jenny |
Posted - Apr 28 2007 : 11:27:00 PM
I would sure never laugh...I LOVE them!! Anne of Green Gables too!!
I go to the scriptures alot, as well as several of my "back to the land" type books..for inspiration. I am not too much into the pretty fancy books..but those helpful ones!!!
Jenny in Utah
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
| Mikki |
Posted - Apr 28 2007 : 11:23:50 PM
Lots of good book ideas! I too like to go to the Scriptures for inspiration and refreshing. Promise not to laugh, but I love the Little House On the Prairie series, I'm always reading one and even have it on CD in my car, lol
~~Blessings, Mikki Jo
www.mikkijo.etsy.com
http://burningmeadowsprings.blogspot.com/
http://strawberriesnapronstrings.blogspot.com/ |
| Libbie |
Posted - Apr 28 2007 : 11:33:36 AM
Okay - last night it was MJ's book, the new Stitching Room one - and a hot cup of tea. Somehow her writings always leave me with an "it's okay - I can do it!!!" feeling. Hooray for farmgirls!
XOXO, Libbie
"All through the long winter, I dream of my garden. On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth. I can feel its energy, and my spirits soar..." - Helen Hayes |
| junebug |
Posted - Mar 29 2007 : 11:57:34 AM
Mary Janes book always brings me back to normal! lol
Visit me at my blogs:
www.countrypleasures.blogspot.com
www.herbalfarmstead.blogspot.com
www.photo-per-day.blogspot.com
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| Miss Bee Haven |
Posted - Mar 29 2007 : 11:17:34 AM
"Walden", every time.
"If you think you've got it nailed down, then what's all that around it?" - 'Brother Dave' Gardner |
| Shirley |
Posted - Mar 29 2007 : 10:33:36 AM
well,actually the other day in the rain,grey place we live in, I was feeling kinda the same way(grey and rainy) and there sat MJ apron and her big book, I started looking at those books and got cheered right up, all the aprons and smiles, they all looked so springy
shirley |
| therusticcottage |
Posted - Mar 29 2007 : 08:46:42 AM
Definitely my Bible -- reading the Psalms brings me joy. Then it would have to be a magazine like Mary Jane's, Cottage Living, or something about gardening.
www.annarosetta.com |
| Mumof3 |
Posted - Mar 28 2007 : 2:43:42 PM
For me it's the Scriptures. After that, I sink into some Jan Karon. Nothing like a trip to Mitford to lift you up.
Karin |
| KYgurlsrbest |
Posted - Mar 28 2007 : 1:40:48 PM
Around the first of the year, I purchased an illustrated journal by Marjolein Bastine, who does the Nature's Sketchbook cards and giftline for Hallmark?? I absolutely love her illustrations, because they are mostly birds and berries, or feathers, eggs etc...It's a real pleasure to calendar in this book, and to keep track of my goals for the year. Every single page has a full color illustration, and I really have to keep myself from peeking, so as to not spoil the next week for myself! Some of them I'm going to frame when the year is over.
Not to beat a dead horse, but the Countryliving UK version really does it for me, too :)
"In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt." Margaret Atwood
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| Patsy |
Posted - Mar 27 2007 : 3:33:24 PM
The Bible first and then any book by Wayne Dyer.
May God bless those who love the soil,
Patsy
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| kitchensqueen |
Posted - Mar 27 2007 : 2:10:33 PM
I either read farming and country life memoirs or my cookbooks when I need some me time. Both are great escapes from daily stress. There is nothing more fulfilling than planning a party menu (even if I never have the party) or planning a season's canning. :-)
http://apartmentfarm.wordpress.com
Now Open!: http://shadetreestudios.etsy.com |
| sweetproserpina |
Posted - Mar 27 2007 : 09:41:31 AM
The Secret Garden, it's my absolute favourite. Just reading about Mary discovering the garden and the key, her sourness melting away as spring comes... It's so very heartening. I too, also like going through my homemaking books like "Polly's Homemaking Pointers" or "Home Comforts" by Cheryl Mendelson. I can identify with her so much when she writes about having a secret life - being a homemaker. It's a great pick-me-up, when I feel stuck in the full-time job blues with no time to bake bread, or sew, or just putter..
"Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive--it's such an interesting world."
http://theprimroseway.blogspot.com/ |
| Vintage Redhead |
Posted - Mar 27 2007 : 08:31:31 AM
I have an oddball selection. My *pick-me-up* book is called "Coast Redwood: A Natural and Cultural History" (Barbour, Evarts, & Popper, editors).
A few years ago, DH and I traveled to the central California coast for vacation and had the privilege of hiking some of the redwood forests. When I read that book, I get both re-invigorated and relaxed at the same time. I'll try my best to explain it.
I was struck by the awesomeness of the forest. By the sense that I was *truly* in the presence of God, that there *ARE* things in this world larger than me -- and they are not created by human hands. And the "prehistoric ferns" that grow in the redwood forests - that are found nowhere else in the world. I get a charge knowing that the next time I get back there (hopefully in 2008!) my two sons will be with me and I will have the awesome task and responsibility of sharing these natural wonders with them.
I am also relaxed by the book. Just remembering the sense of quiet and peace and subtle sunlight in the redwood forests brings me a sense of calm. In addition to giving me a spark, the sense of God equally brings me a calm. Knowing that the forests are there, that nearly 100 years ago, the earliest conservationists thought ahead to preserve them from destruction gives me peace.
I suppose it is a good thing I don't live closer to the redwoods. I suspect I would make frequent pilgrimages and would get little down around my home! (Well, even more little than my art allows me to finish now!) ~ K
~ Kaylyn
(Living in Suburbia with a FARMGIRL Heart!)
My Current Cause: http://nickspavilion.blogspot.com/ |
| primjillie |
Posted - Mar 27 2007 : 08:15:45 AM
I usually reread Rosamunde Pilcher's books when I need comforting. Her books are so cozy and relaxing and I love her way of describing scenery and people. Some of her books are short so they are a quick read, or if I feel like a longer read, I pick up her long novels and just settle in. |
| catscharm74 |
Posted - Mar 27 2007 : 07:46:24 AM
Gladys Taber- she is my favorite and reading about her life makes me want to get up and go do the same thing. I also love my Katharine Hepburn book that shows how she lives- it is photographs of her at home. My favorite is the picture of her laundry drying on the lawn of her estate home. Imagine a 3 time Oscar winner drying her granny panties on her lawn. |
| cmandle |
Posted - Mar 27 2007 : 07:28:59 AM
Any of my knitting books (Stitch 'n B*tch is my very favorite) or my binder of knitting patterns. Sometimes I just need to be reminded of the possibilities and then it seems that new things just start to flow from my needles again! Yarn catalogs too. KnitPicks and Halcyon Yarn are my favorites.
Catherine, the Farmgirl with a one-track knitting mind
http://yogurtandgranola.blogspot.com |
| emma.birdwhistle |
Posted - Mar 27 2007 : 06:26:28 AM
If I ever find myself feeling discouraged or uninspired, I like to take time to look through Tasha Tudor's Heirloom Crafts and The Private World of Tasha Tudor. They never fail to refresh me a little. For the same purposes, I will never tire of Henry Beston's Herbs and the Earth and John Seymour's Farming for Self-Sufficiency. All of the above have just the right balance of wit, wisdom, beauty and encouragement to renew my appetite for the simple life.
- Elizabeth Ann
If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. - Thoreau
http://resolutelyoutmoded.etsy.com |
