Wordless Weekend: Signs of Summer in My Garden

Special friends

I'm so looking forward to this weekend, for I will see some dear girls who I haven't seen in far too long. One (who only lives two hours away) I haven't seen since December, and the other since March 2007! We're all mutual friends who know each other from various places on the internet, and we've all met each other, but we've all three of us never been together before.

It's hard when your best friends live many miles away, but the times you do meet are that much sweeter!

Corgis, cottages, and a beautiful life

I just heard that Tasha Tudor has died. Growing up on the other side of the world, I had only heard vague mentions of her on Christian ladies' message boards, but then about five years ago, I happened to be channel surfing through our five channels of Japanese TV, and stumbled across a special about her. It was a Saturday night, and I should have gone to bed, but instead stayed up until 10 o'clock, enchanted by the story on my screen. The narrator was a quiet, Japanese voice, only snippets of which I could understand, but in showing a year of Tasha's life, divided into spring, summer, fall, and winter, I saw a glimpse of life simply and quietly lived.

The fact that I remember a television program five years afterwards has made me realize that her story moved something in me. Tasha Tudor lived without running water until possibly only 10 or 15 years ago (I can't quite remember), and I think at the time the TV show was filmed, she still didn't have electricity. Yet hers was a life filled with the simplicity and beauty of a well-tended cottage and garden, and in that, she was content.

In Tasha Tudor, I saw the delicate elegance and dignity of a quiet life, and I was stirred to aspire to the same. As life becomes more and more busy with responsibilities and problems and questions, the longing for such a beautiful life grows more in me with each passing day. May it truly be my ambition to lead a quiet life.

Wordless Weekend: A Glimpse of Home

Literary Meme

This is my first meme on this blog! I haven't done memes on previous blogs too much, but this one looks fun! Thanks to Janna from The Joy of Home for tagging me!

Who is your all-time favorite author and why?
This is a hard one! Sad to say, but I haven't read as widely as I wish I had. Growing up on the mission field, we couldn't really afford to order lots of (heavy!) books, so my choice was limited. I would probably choose Lucy Maud Montgomery. While I do enjoy "heavy" books, I find Montgomery's to be pure delight. I appreciate that her books are true-to-life and honest, but I also like that they're simple and, well, quiet. I also feel like I understand her more since visiting PEI in Canada last year. Seeing the places that inspired her and shaped her life made me appreciate her all the more.

Who was your first favorite author and why? Do you still consider him/her to be among your favorites?
Among the books I *did* have to read when I was growing up were the "In Grandma's Attic" books by Arleta Richardson. I loved the simple, straightforward writing, and read the books over and over. They are definitely books that I will share with my children (if I have any!).

Who is the most recent addition to your list of favorite authors, and why?
Prior to 2005, I had never read a book by Charles Dickens, but I have come to love his work. When I first started reading his books, I was so bored for about the first half of the book, but when things finally start to fall into place, I can't put his books down!

If someone asked you who your favorite authors were right now, which authors would first pop out of your mouth?
C. S. Lewis, Charles Dickens, Jane Porter, Jane Austen, L.M. Montgomery. L.M. Alcott, Regina Doman.

My Tagees:

Jessica: Reflections of a Princess

Rebecca: flowershop girl

Keri: Quaint & Quirky

(That's all I can think of! :-S)

Rules

• Link to the person that tagged you.
• Post the rules somewhere in your meme.
• Answer the questions.
• Tag six people in your post.
• Let the tagees know they’ve been chosen by leaving a comment on their blog.
• Let the tagger know your entry is posted.

Wallpapers and Drawer Knobs

My dad finished building me a sewing workstation for my room last month, and I've been trying to decide how I want to decorate the furniture ever since! I finally made a decision today, with this wallpaper from American Blinds and these knobs from Anthropologie.

Now I can't wait for it all to get here, so I can use them! Then I can pick out fabrics and shelving and finally have my room organized!

A Week of Menus

My friend Jessica (Reflections of a Princess) sometimes posts her menu for the week. Maybe I'm odd, but I like to hear what other people eat. Here is what my week's menu looks like:

Wednesday: Better lasagna

Thursday: Sweet & Sour Pork Chops

Friday: Yakitori (Japanese grilled chicken)

Saturday: Chicken Fried Steak

Sunday: Steak (it is Father's Day, after all!)

Monday: Chicken Fricassee

Tuesday: Scraps (as Father Tim would say)

Wordless Weekend: Hobbiton

(One of my favorite things about the All That Is Good blog is their wordless weekends. I thought I'd join the fun!)

All Dressed in White: The Irresistable Rise of the American Wedding

I had a lot of fun with this book. It is an historical look at the birth of American wedding customs and how they have evolved over the course of America's history. Carol McD. Wallace draws some very insightful and deep correlations between a culture's views of meaning and goals and how that effects wedding customs. She shows how that which is done in the most intimate and personal of events (a wedding) is a reflection of what is believed and lived in the the culture at large.

Speaking as someone who grew up outside American culture, this book helped me to understand why Americans do what they do in weddings, and why American weddings look the way they do today. Ms. Wallace's perspective was informative for me personally, as well as very affirming for many of the things I have felt but not understood or been able to articulate about the "American White Wedding." Overall, I couldn't put it down!

I wouldn't recommend All Dressed in White to very young ladies as it does discuss some mature topics, although it does handle them in a tactful, delicate way. For anyone interested in planning or participating in a meaningful wedding, or the history of wedding customs, it is a must-read.