A Melodious Sonnet

Sewing and a Loft Bed

by · Leave a Comment

Today is two days after Christmas, early Monday afternoon, and I’m sitting at my desk for what feels like the first time in a long while.

For years, I had a routine of writing something every day. And then sometime in the last year, that slowly faded away. I got burned out writing creatively, and even things like writing reviews started going by the wayside a lot more than I thought they would. These past two months, as summer has come on and garden projects have become more urgent, I’ve hardly sat down at my desk at all.

But today has turned out to be a beautifully warm, rainy day, and instead of painting our new set of bookshelves as I was planning to do, I thought I’d wake my computer up, turn on some Paul Cardall music, and see if I can get a note written here. In the kitchen, Mom has a podcast running while she makes lunch and works on a sewing project. Outside my bedroom, there is a multitude of thumps and bangs as Dad and my brothers work on putting new cladding up on that side of the house. And I’ve got a jar of lemon water sitting in front of me, hopefully aiding my muse as I write. 🙂 It’s surprising how refreshing little things in life can be.

One of my major projects this month was getting some sewing done. When clothing starts to rip, or the only nightclothes you have are made of flannel (and it’s summertime . . . ), it’s about time to find some more. And when you tend to make your own clothing, that means you need to take time to cut more out and sew them up. I wasn’t sad about that job! I love sewing, although I don’t take a lot of time for it because other things are often more pressing—it feels like playtime when I do get to sit down at the sewing machine!

Sewing Project

This time, I was pleased to be able to get two nightgowns out of a duvet cover I picked up at a local second-hand shop. We do have some fabric available in the country, but it’s quite expensive, so where I’m able, I try to find pieces I can repurpose for my needs. (The floral fabric you see above is something I cut out months ago, but never sewed up; I used it as my pattern for the nightgowns I made recently.)

Another major project was helping to build a loft bed in my room! My baby sister needed to move out of my parent’s bedroom into the room my next-younger sister and I share, but before we could do that, we had to get an extra bed in my room. We debated getting a set of bunk beds, but I wanted to keep my comfortable queen-sized bed, and I wasn’t looking forward to giving that up as well as not being able to sit up in bed anymore (a notorious problem with bunks). One of my brothers is quite clever with his carpentry skills, though, and came to the rescue with a loft bed! Here he is, screwing the plywood base on:

I spent quite a few hours painting it, and I’m so pleased I did! It’s exactly what I wanted—something that looks nice while being practical, and I can still have full use of my own bed. I’m thankful we were able to do that! Here’s the finished product, with my two delighted sisters:

I still have a tiny bit of painting to do—you can see screw holes on one of the posts of the railing in the above picture, and I need to put another coat or two of paint on it before it is completely done. My brother, the carpet-layer, is also going to install a small piece of carpet on the landing, because of the way he had to join two pieces of plywood together to make that. That will happen sometime in the new year when he gets back to work, I’m assuming, when he can get the right tool from his boss for the job.

Well, the rain keeps coming and going. Maybe I’ll have time to get some more writing done before it’s time to head off and do something else!

What projects have you had going lately?

Spring Planting

by · Leave a Comment

This past month was full of planting and mulching. I haven’t helped out in the family garden much the past few years), and I quickly found out, soon after starting this year, just how little I had done when a few hour’s work produced blisters and aching muscles! Ahem. It’s good for me, I’m sure.

We started out the season planting our beds of potatoes. One of my brothers has been studying soil health and regenerative farming for his last year of school, so we decided to try “no-till” planting our potatoes—one person pushed a grubber handle in the ground (a grubber is sort of like a short-handled hoe), and another came behind dropping the seed potatoes in. Then the others of us followed, layering on hay for mulch.

We ran out of seed potatoes after a while, so had to go dig up the potatoes we’d missed when we dug them last season—there was quite a number coming up in the old potato patch again! This is one of the buckets I filled when digging for more seed potatoes:

Another day, several of us worked on pulling out grass and buttercup roots from a freshly-tilled bed, readying it for planting the carrots, radishes, and beetroot.

One thing we’re trying to do this year is put down as much mulch as possible. Last autumn, we were given some old silage that needed to be cleared out before the new crop came in, so Dad and my brothers spent several weeks hauling loads whenever they could. They got a nice, big pile for their efforts—and by the time we were ready to use it this year, the height had dramatically reduced, and most of what we had left was black with worm castings!

There’s a small quarter-acre section in front of our place, where some of our neighbors graze their ponies, and when they mowed it recently, we raked up the grass clippings to put on the garden—I was surprised at how much we got off of just less than half of the section!

Most of the grass clippings went into our greenhouse. There isn’t much planted in there at the moment, but Mom and I just went through and weeded the entire thing (it was quite overgrown, after just a few months of sitting!), and now that it was clear, we wanted to get something down to discourage any more weed growth. She’s planted peppers in there, and has a patch of brassicas, several more of garlic, and a patch of multi-year peppers. We’ll be putting more plants in soon.

I wasn’t involved with the most recent garden project—cutting and sharpening willow stakes to trellis our tomatoes with this year. My brothers did that last weekend, and hopefully, they’ll have time sometime this week to get the posts in the ground for me so I can start tying up the tomatoes.

Now the garden is almost all planted! We got the corn, beans, and pumpkins in the ground, the tomatoes and cukes are in, and now we need to focus on keeping on top of whatever weeds dare to come up through the mulch (turns out silage isn’t the best as far as weed control is concerned—maybe what we have is too broken down already?). By the time this post goes live, we’ll hopefully have more of the greenhouse planted, since it’s currently about half empty.

Spring Pictures

by · 2 Comments

I wrote this post back near the beginning of September, but wanted to add a few more pictures before posting. Those “few more pictures” didn’t happen, and I forgot about the post . . . until I came across it again. I’ll go ahead and post it now, even though I’m a little late now! (It is still technically spring, right?)

My favorite time of the year is finally here! As I write, I’m looking out at a beautiful clear, blue sky—the third or fourth day in a row now! That’s quite unusual here on the coast. We’re known for our wet weather, especially in spring (we haven’t earned the nickname “Wet Coast” for no reason)—but this week has been an exception, and I’m grateful.

Warm weather also means that the grass starts growing, and so do the flowers! Today, I’d like to share with you my annual spring pictures. Because yes, I never can get enough of the beauty, and what is life without a little celebration of the glories God has revealed around us?!

Not pictured: The birdsongs I’ve been enjoying every morning this past month. A couple of days ago, I was working on a painting project, and a thrush came and warbled just outside my window for about five minutes. It was beautiful! I didn’t get a picture of him, though, because my hands were covered in paint. 🙂

First up, my favorite early herald of spring—our tulip magnolia tree in the middle of our garden!

The magnolia is past its prime now, but I have really enjoyed seeing it from my bedroom window as it bloomed during the month of August!

A peek into Mom’s greenhouse—she’s an excellent gardener, and all these fresh salad veggies are a real treat!

The other flowers I’ve been able to spot around the place: 1) Our little plum tree, almost done blooming. 2) The roses that are now leafing out—we’ll be getting flowers there soon! 3) Daffodils (my baby sister brought one in for me the other day!). 4) The forsythia we can see out our living room window—so pretty, maybe not the flowersindividually, but beautiful as a whole bush!

An aside: When looking up the name for our forsythia, I discovered that they are part of the olive family. Who knew?! I would have never guessed!

What beautiful things in nature are you noticing right now?

Joy in Everyday Moments

by · Leave a Comment

I’ve been wanting to write, wanting to share some of the many joys and jumblings (is that even a word?) in my mind over these past months . . . but that hasn’t happened. A good portion of that, upon reflection, is that I didn’t want to share from a heavy heart. I want this place to be a snippet of joy for your day, instead of something that drags you down. And somehow, it feels like I’ve often been working out of a heavy heart this past season.

Life is tough sometimes. Questions come that cannot be answered. Grief hits us in unexpected ways at unexpected times. Whys and what-ifs pile in until it can feel like we’re drowning under them.

But beauty, too, abounds. Such as this moment in my camera roll from the beginning of the month:

Tea Party

This is what I call one of my “jewels”—memories that stand out as especially joy-filled or beautiful. My little sisters decided to have a tea party out on our front lawn one afternoon, so we got out our pretty teacups and saucers, made some “hundreds and thousands” bread (sprinkles on buttered bread), and sliced up an apple or two.

There is joy in the uncertainties, joy in the life around us, joy in the very breath in our lungs. Because yes, even that is a miracle, a gift, every nanosecond of every day.

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above;
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

What joys do you see around you today? Praise our Father for them!

Guest Post: The Story Behind The Engagement Cover

by · Leave a Comment

Just recently, I got the chance to read The Engagement Cover by A.M. Heath. It’s a very fun book, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. After I finished reading, I asked the author what inspired the story. That led to asking if she’d be willing to write a guest post sharing the backstory of what led her to write the book, so that’s what I’m sharing with you today! I doubt I’m the only one who finds backstory interesting—am I right?

(Some links in this post will be affiliate links, which help support this blog at no extra cost to you.)

So here goes. From Anita Heath’s pen:

Where did the fun idea for The Engagement Cover come from?

I’m so glad you asked…

The Engagement Cover is a Christmas story about a woman pretending to date (and then get engaged) two different men, and all for the sake of her dying grandmother. The concept was actually a combination of two fun story ideas that needed a home.

The Hockey Date:

I was minding my own business, watching the Nashville Predators’ hockey game, when someone in the stands was hit with the puck.

I’ve seen this on a sitcom before but never actually saw it happen to someone.

I thought to myself, “Someone’s having a rough night.”

Then my imagination kicked in. “What if that person was on a first date? What if they weren’t enjoying themselves when this happened? That would make a bad date far worse!”

That’s when I knew I was on to something. So I mentally filed away this idea of a terrible first date and went on about my life. But the hockey puck story continued to brew in the back of my brain.

The Fake Relationship:

I love a good fake relationship story. There’s great chemistry between two people pretending to love each other when they can barely stand each other. Kinda like being in a play, but without the script to guide them.

So it’s not surprising that I should want to write my own fake dater story. But as is my custom, I paused to consider what is and how I could shake things up a bit.

In any fake relationship, it’s a given that the person she’s set up with will be the person she falls in love with in the end. But what if…things weren’t that simple?

What if…she needed a replacement?

I started toying with this idea that the man she first brings home isn’t the only man in the picture. That maybe he’s too busy to show up and she needs a lookalike. Someone to take his place when he’s not there.

But who is this guy? How does his involvement make for an interesting story?

Then, BAM, like a hockey puck to the face, I knew who it should be.

The Marriage:

So I wedded together the hockey puck story to the fake relationship one and created a match made in heaven.

The one guy she never wanted to see again is the only guy who can help her when she needs it the most.

First line

The Taste of Tamales:

I honestly had no intentions of tapping into my Hispanic roots, but when I sat down to get to know the family, Mrs. Bradford made it perfectly clear how things were going to be. And when you meet her, you’ll understand exactly what I mean. She’s a force to be reckoned with.

From day one, her accent was as clear as her demands: No man; no tamales.

I tried to talk her out of it, but she won…as she typically does. And suddenly, I’m using a partially Mexican cast for the first time ever.

I hope you enjoyed this quick behind-the-scenes look at the novella. Teresa, the two men she’s not engaged to, and their families invite you to come spend Christmas with them. You’ll laugh, cry, fall in love, and walk away craving Mexican food.

(Note from Esther: I have a wonderful memory of eating tamales with my grandma one time when I went to visit her, so this part of the book was especially special to me!)

About the book:

He nearly ruined her life. Now he’s the only one who can help her.

After a disastrous dating app experience that nearly destroyed her modeling career, Teresa Bradford knows what she wants, and Justin Reynolds seems to check every box. But when her family pressures her to bring him home as her fiancé in order to ease the mind of her dying grandmother, their relationship takes a weird turn, and his absences create the need for a fill-in fiancé.

Since his mom’s passing, and with his dad working out of state through the holidays, Alex Landry misses the feeling of home. So, when his friend Marc Bradford asks him for a strange favor with the promise of family for the holidays and all the tamales he can eat, he’s all in. What he didn’t expect was Marc’s sister to be the girl he’d gone on an awful date with two years ago.

Committed to a fake engagement to fulfill a dying woman’s wish, Alex and Teresa form a rocky friendship. As first impressions change and it becomes clear that Alex fits in better with her family than Justin does, Teresa is forced to reconsider what she wants. She’s drawn to both men for different reasons, but the one who nearly ruined her life might be the one to help her find what truly matters.

The Engagement Cover releases today!

Buy it on Amazon | find Anita on her website | sign up for her newsletter

Thanks for coming on the blog, Anita! It was a lot of fun to get to know the story-behind-the-story!