Forging a New Path, Fiber Fun, Literary LIfe, Finding Joy

 Hello There,

    Thank you for stopping by! I hope y’all had a fabulous week! This week was a mix of good and hard days. I spent a lot of time at home and attended a grief support group, which was very helpful. Are your weeks sometimes solely crafting or reading weeks? This was a pretty good crafting week for me, but next week I hope to catch up on some reading.
My wish for you is to have a fabulous week finding peace in doing what you love.

Take good care and, as Daddy used to say, 

"Make memories; it's later than you think."

HERE'S A WORD

    Sometimes life throws us curveballs, some we expect and others come out of the blue. Many times, we need to forge a way forward, create a new normal, so to speak. How to go about doing this can be elusive because we don't see a path. Let us remember Psalm 119:105.

    I once read a book, Don't Throw in the Towel- Hope Again. She lost five family members in that many years, so she definitely knew about creating a new normal. Even years after finishing her book, one thought has stayed with me: When we don't have the strength to even pick up our Bible to seek comfort and encouragement, thanks to technology, all we have to do is hit the Play button and hear God's Word via an app. Remember this verse? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17 KJB

Thus, we need not fear forging a new path, because God has lit up our way with His Word. We are not alone in this endeavor, for He takes hold of our right hand and says, "Do not fear; I will help you."

FIBER FUN

I broke down my "To Dos" into three categories:  Finish, Focus, Prep/make a kit, and Be Kind = Soft Deadlines.  FoF represents the Fields of Fancy BOM, which I'm doing with Liberty of London Tana Lawn fabrics.  FBF represents the Flower Box Friends BOM

Last Week's List

1.  Finish

- vertical organizer #2 Done!  Tada!

- Bleeding heart block Done!  Tada!  I finished appliquéing the bottoms, added the beading and the quilting!

2.  Focus

- Grandson's #1 ornament DONE! It's almost finished!    

- FBF - the Poinsettia block: Progress made Instead of showing you a progress photograph, I thought I’d share the setup of my workstation. I’m comfortably seated in my chair, with Chico right next to me. I’m sipping a delightful cup of tea while stitching and watching football, supposedly with my husband. However, he’s fallen asleep, so I’m engrossed in an audiobook instead. :-)  It was time well spent as I got all the details stitched on the leaves.

- sew embellishments on the red and white Christmas ornaments.

DONE!  I played with some beads and then decided to purchase some smaller glass beads. I’m sure I will be making much more progress next week.

Prepare/make a kit

- Grandson's #2 ornament NOT DONE

4. Be kind = Soft Deadlines - which are good for my mental health!

This Week's goals

1.  Finish - hopefully Grandson #1's ornament

2.  Focus

- Grandson's #2 ornament

- FBF - the Poinsettia block:   Appliqué the leaves onto the background 

- sew embellishments on the red and white Christmas ornaments.

3.   Prepare/make a kit

- Grandson's #3 ornament

4. Be kind = Soft Deadlines - which are good for my mental health!

LITERARY LIFE   

I love how my focus has increased with the "Finish, Focus and Prep" methodology I use with my Fiber Arts.  Consequently, I'm going to apply that to my reading life with a bit of a twist.  The categories will be "Finish, Focus and Next".  

This should help with my "Backburner Reads" which are books I started, enjoyed, but lost focus.  

Finish                              Next 

Finished 

audiobook

    *****"The Parisian Chapter" by Janet Skeslien Charles is the second audiobook I’ve listened to by her, and I so enjoyed the way each character had multiple, layered storylines. At first, I was a bit confused by the number of characters, but then I began to approach the book as if it were a play—and suddenly, everything clicked!

In the audiobook, each chapter begins with orchestra music, followed by the narrator introducing the chapter title, which includes the character’s name and the year in which the events take place. I used my imagination to visualize the changing stage sets with each new chapter, and that approach enriched my experience of the story exponentially.

The primary setting—the American Library in Paris—was a perfect backdrop. I never imagined there was so much drama within library walls! It was completely unexpected and interesting. I'm now looking at my public library with fresh eyes.

The two main protagonists, Lilly and Mary Louise, are young women from small towns who move to Paris to pursue their dreams. Odile, her adoptive grandmother, told stories to Lilly about working at the ALP during WWII. Thus, Lilly was inspired to make this trip. These characters, as well as the others, are extremely likable....except for one. I pitied him.

This is yet another of Ms. Charles books I am pleased to highly recommend.

The Cracks We Bear by Catalina Infante

****The Cracks We Bear by Catalina Infante is an essential book for new mothers as it describes the hormonal, emotional and thoughts they experience. I would go so far as to suggest their partners, family and friends also read this book to understand and effectively support the new mother and child as they begin their new normal. How I wish I had known about these issues after own children and, later, my grandchildren were born! Infante demonstrates how we carry the effect of our mothers' cracks on us as well as our own personal cracks.

Laura, the protagonist, is a university professor navigating new motherhood with all its confusing contradictions. She misses her own mother while feeling angry at her for not being there. She is at once loving her baby, yet overwhelmed. The perfect social media pictures posted by other new mothers cause Laura guilt. Yet, as these conflicting emotions exist within her, so does her deep love for her child and her desire for a healthy family life.

Infante describes Laura's journey to a new normal in brief chapters filled with frank descriptions of the experience of some new mothers. Read them with compassion and a desire to understand Laura as you weep with her and cheer her on. Don't be fooled by the short length of this book, as it's filled with frank honest and wisdom. You will want to read and reread it several times. This would be a fabulous gift for new mothers and their families. Highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley, World Editions and Cataline Infante for the gift of this eBook ARC. All opinions are my own.

MAILBOX MONDAY - is a gathering place for readers to share books that they

added to their shelves or eBook readers the previous week.  I really like how Cindy at Cindy's Book Corner organizes her incoming books.  I'll be copying her style as I often forget my various sources to find book books - many of which you all have recommended.  Thank you to Cindy and all of you for sharing!

Here's what I've picked up this week.  

ereaderiq.com 

Hoopla:  These are all audiobooks.

Kindle Freebies:  None

Libby:  I have the hard copy for some of these books, but decided to pick up the eBook version for versatility. The rest are audio books which go by quickly.

NetGalley:  

Purchased:  

FINDING JOY

LeeAnna's I Like on Thursdays at Not Afraid of Color helps me consistently find the joy in every life. She also provides a prompt for us to use. This week's prompt is: Do you enjoy podcasts? Can you direct us to some you like? I enjoy these podcasts. Each photo is linked to the corresponding podcast’s website.

I am trying this exercise!

I highly recommend these nuts and honey I picked up at a Mediterranean grocery store.

When I was under the weather, my sweet son-in-law sent me this meme to cheer me up.

My son-in-law and granddaughter made these Smores Caramel Apples.

   

Your comments are so appreciated! 

I read each one and will respond by email.

You can also expect a visit from me as well!

Here are the parties I sometimes link up with:  

Sundays

Oh Scrap!  @ Quilting is More Fun Than Housework

Slow Sunday Stitching @ Kathy's Quilts

Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz

Mondays

Mailbox Monday  @ I'd Rather Be At the Beach

Sew and Tell at Melva Loves Scraps

What Are You Reading at The Book Date

Tuesdays

To Do Tuesday posts at Quilt Schmilt

Thursdays

I Like on Thursdays at Not Afraid of Color