I Read Caroline, Or, If Pa Ingalls Has No Haters In This World Then It's Time To Write My Obituary

Throwback to that time in 2014 that I slept in their backyard and then sat on their graves!

Caroline: Little House, Revisited by Sarah Miller
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Laura, Rose, their extended family and friends, and all their writings is one of my Special Interests, and I will never not be down to read anything concerning any of them. I am fascinated by the bits of fact that mix with their fiction, the bits of fiction that mix with their non-fiction, the hints at juicy family drama, and how palpably trauma informed their writings, their behaviors, and their relationships.

Also, I am Pa’s biggest hater, and I will happily see him trashed anytime!

I don’t necessarily love Caroline Ingalls, either--she messed up Laura nearly as badly as Pa did--but I see, perhaps because I, too, am a woman who had a childhood and has children, how her own childhood trauma informed her own behaviors and relationships, and I can’t make myself blame and shame her like I can Pa. Seriously, fuck you, Pa.

To that end, I kind of liked that Caroline was high-key annoying in this book. I firmly believe that she literally was an annoying person! Reading Laura’s fiction and non-fiction, I VERY much get the vibe that Caroline could have been exactly as introspective and contemplative as she was in this novel. To be fair, she was constantly left alone with multiple small children in a shack out in the middle of nowhere with no amenities and a ridiculous burden of menial labor--it reads totally real that she had nothing better to do with her mind than chew over her thoughts and feelings and hold up a mental microscope to her every bodily function. RIP, Caroline--you would have loved LiveJournal!

Throughout the book, I really enjoyed the small call-outs to the overall Ingalls history that a less-avid fan would breeze past: Carrie is always portrayed as smaller and frailer than the other children, and detailing all the miseries of a covered wagon journey full of privation and hardship during Caroline’s pregnancy with her goes a long way towards explaining why. Oh, and there’s also the time everyone got malaria when she was a baby and she nearly died of neglect and starvation!

Speaking of that road trip from Hell, I get why Miller would write Caroline as perceiving herself to have the agency to postpone that trip, because otherwise it’s just too depressing for words, but… I think the reality was really just too depressing for words! I do not think for a second that Charles would have postponed that trip for any reason, because he was a selfish pig and he wanted what he wanted exactly when he wanted it. I have read nothing about Pa, in Laura’s rose-colored fiction or in her more reality-based memoir or in what little we can find about him in other historical documents, that has painted him in anything but the most selfish and unflattering light. I loved all the small moments of resentment of Charles that Miller let Caroline feel, and it’s just too bad that I have also read nothing about Caroline that has ever painted her as anything but completely in control of her deportment at all times, because I would have loved to see her, all hopped up on pregnancy hormones, rip Charles to shreds just one time. I mean, for Christ’s sake, he bought window glass instead of food! He bought a big-ass plow instead of the land to use it on! The actual timeline of the sale of the Big Woods house and the Ingalls' various wanderings is unclear, but early on it was very clear that Gustafson was going to cut and run out on the mortgage. Charles moved himself, his pregnant wife, and two small children across the country IN A WAGON and had no Plan B! Like, it’s the 1800s--what if Gustafson had simply died?!? 

I can’t even with this guy.

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I Read Lies Across America Because I Love It When Other People Are Wrong

This log cabin is a lie!

Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong by James W. Loewen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love little nitpicky bits of information, and I love tiny moments in history, so although I never really found my groove with this book, I did love learning all its little nitpicky bits of information and discussions of tiny moments in history.

I read the 1999 version of the book, not the updated 2019 version, so there is some outdated terminology that I hope has since been corrected, and I know for sure that there’s been positive progress in the depiction of some of these historical figures and events, as well. I was loaded for bear when I visited the Levi and Catharine Coffin State Historical Site recently, ready to fight for Catharine’s due representation, only to happily find that it’s already there! Most of my tour of the house was actually about Catharine’s work, since she was the one most often home with the freedom seekers, and the docent was well-prepared to be peppered with all of my Catharine Coffin questions.

The Wikipedia page for the Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Site, at least, also now also indicates the “symbolic nature” of the log cabin inside that weird mansion-like mausoleum they’ve got on their premises--

--and relates a short version of the shell game-like history of its logs that Loewen goes into more detail about, but I remember that when we went there as a family I still thought after reading the info and viewing the exhibit that it was an authentic cabin--not Lincoln’s cabin, but someone’s proper cabin!--so Loewen’s criticisms were still valid then.

I was interested to read Loewen’s retelling of one of my other Special Interests in History, that time in 1924 when the Ku Klux Klan took over nearly every political office in Indiana from school board up through the governor’s seat. Loewen’s 1999 version lacked some of the nuance of the story that we know now (shout-out to The Ku Klux Klan in the Heartland!), but I wonder if his synopsis is the first time that the tale had been told via mass publication? I don’t know if I really agree with his assessment that there ought to be some historical markers about the period, because it’s not really a place-based event--unless we want to put a marker at each of the Indiana Welcome Centers?--but I do wish that it was part of everyone’s general education, and especially part of Indiana history books. There are a few more important things kids can learn about in the fourth grade other than the Constitution Elm!

Parts of the book had some weirdly overt assertions of opinion that I’m not used to in a history text, and I also didn’t love most of Loewen’s first-person hijinks--he really did not need to write a passy-assy honest-to-god letter to the Jeffrey Amherst Bookshop omg how embarrassing. But hey, it’s closed now, so Loewen won!

After reading the book and looking at the pages that I’d marked, it’s clear that I was most interested, by far, in the lies that have been told me about the places I’ve lived, like Arkansas and Indiana, and the places I’ve visited. Combine that with the fact that this book took me a really long time to slog through, so much so that I only managed to finally finish it during a 54-hour power outage when I felt like I absolutely had to do SOMETHING productive sans electricity, and I think that what I really want is a Lies Across America travel guide! I want glossy photos, specific locations for each marker, and related interesting amenities, quirky things to see, and ideally even nearby sites with accurate information. Bonus points for corny on-theme buffet restaurants!

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Beach Craft: Make a Sandy Handprint Keepsake

I originally posted this tutorial on Crafting a Green World way back in 2019, but we first did this craft in 2012 during a vacation to Cape Cod. I JUST told my older kid that we lied about the day of her birthday on this trip, so that she wouldn't be sad that all we did was drive across the country the day she turned six. Instead, we went to Plymouth, played on the beach, and ate candy for dinner!

The beach is one vacation spot that ensures that you come away with beautiful souvenirs.

A handful of sand, the choicest of clam shells, rocks worn smooth by the waves, as much driftwood as your trunk will hold- any of these free natural objects make for timeless, treasured souvenirs.

But how can you record something just as precious, but just the opposite of timeless? How can you take home and treasure something as ephemeral as a footprint in the sand, or the smallness of your child’s hand the day that she first saw the Atlantic Ocean?

My kids and I have been very into plaster of Paris projects this summer. It turns out that plaster of Paris forms just as well in an easy mold of beach sand, one that you can create right on the beach, and it mixes just as well with sea water as it does tap water, and it leaves on the surface of your print a fine layer of embedded sand, perfect for recording a special trip to the ocean.

Tools & Supplies

You will need:

• Plaster of Paris: One-and-a-half cups of plaster of Paris is enough for four handprints of a small child, two footprints of a small child, one child’s handprint and one adult’s handprint, or one adult’s footprint.
• Resealable plastic bag that’s at the end of its useful life. This is a good project to finish off the bag from yesterday’s lunch, or the bag that your deli cheese came in, or the bag that the treat came home in from the last birthday party that your child went to. Plastic bags, when used sparingly and only when they’re really useful, will help you do this project neatly and efficiently and with as little trash as possible.
• Measuring cup
• Watertight pail

Directions

1. Measure Out Your Plaster

Before you go to the beach, measure out the appropriate amount of plaster of Paris and put it into a resealable plastic bag. Read the directions on your container of plaster to be sure, but generally, the ratio is 1:1.5, water to plaster of Paris. Sometimes I write how much water I’ll need to add directly onto my bag- otherwise, I tend to reverse the ratio and ruin my batch.

2. Pack Up Your Beach Bag

When you pack for the beach, bring that bag of plaster of Paris, a measuring cup for adding the seawater, and a pail for toting the water.

3. Find a Clean Spot in the Sand

At the beach, find a spot of clean sand. For a handprint or footprint, you’ll want to use somewhat damp sand, like what you get below the high tide line. This sand will hold an impression the best and make the clearest, sharpest mold.

If your little child is having trouble making a firm impression into the damp sand, till it up and smooth it back down to make it easier to shift.

4. Make the Impression

Put a hand or foot firmly down into the sand, then lift it straight back up. You want a relatively deep impression here, or your finished mold will be very thin. You will likely need to gently but firmly press down on a child’s hand or foot to help him or her make a deeper impression than they have the strength to do on their own.

Alternately, you can also dig and draw into the sand to make your own artistic mold.

5. Mix the Plaster and Seawater

Carry up some seawater in your pail, then add the appropriate amount of seawater to the plaster in your bag and seal it closed. Knead and agitate the plastic bag until the plaster is completely mixed. This is even easier than mixing your plaster in a bowl, since you can easily feel if there are any lumps remaining in your bag.

6. Pour the Plaster Into the Sand Molds

Open one end of the plastic bag, then pour the plaster to fill all your molds.

7. Let it Harden

Use the directions that came with your plaster to determine how long you should wait before you unmold your handprint. Depending on the temperature of the sand, you may have to wait longer than the directions indicate before your plaster has cured.

8. Remove Your Print

Gently excavate your print, give it a quick rinse in the ocean, and you’re done!

Now you have your beach sand souvenir and a keepsake for the grandparents, as well.

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When You're Bored in Indiana

The accepted advice is to get in the car and drive down backroads until you find something to do.

On the way, it's important to compare everyone's cornfields with the expertise that comes from never having been a farmer of corn, yourself, admire everyone's falling-down old barn, and verbally acknowledge every farm animal, with added enthusiasm if it's something on the weirder end like a miniature pony or a llama or a mule--Indiana is very horse- and cow-forward!

The other day, the three of us in the family who aren't nocturnal (tangent, but when the roommate selection form tells you to be honest in your responses, do they REALLY want you to admit to them that your bedtime is 6:00 am? Asking for... well, you know who I'm asking for, sigh...) were bored, so we took off down the back roads. Everyone's corn is looking pretty good, but those infinite fields of monocultures are a crying shame. Did you know that prior to pioneer incursion, forests covered over 85% of the state? It's VERY important to start bitching about monocultures after you pass your tenth cornfield or so. We saw some excellent barns, mostly threshing but some random-looking vernacular ones, too, and a shocking number of goats. 

We ended up at Wild Geese Bookshop in Franklin, Indiana, where we browsed--

--I tried to suss out the titles of the Blind Date with a Book books using only their vague descriptions (when one of the clues is "Indiana author" it's always going to be John Green, not Gene Stratton-Porter), and the big kid got herself a brand-new, non-blind date book.

We later wandered into Madison Street Salvage--

--where the vintage Fiestaware--and honestly the vintage postcards and photos, too--were out of my personal budget--

--and I refused entirely to even look inside the glass case of dolls after I saw the sign on the front reading "Not Haunted" (nice try, Annabelle!), but I did buy myself a first edition of Ethel Hollister's First Summer as a Campfire Girl. It's in pretty poor condition so even at $3 I paid what it's worth, but I collect all the girl versions of the Tom Brown's School Days-type book, and I particularly like the Campfire Girl and Girl Scout books for their hilariously heavy pro-Scout propaganda. Here's my favorite quote so far from my new book:

[This Camp Fire Girl is going to be such an improvement over the ordinary girl. She's going to revolutionize young women and make of them useful members of society--not frivolous butterflies--and it will be carried into the poorer classes and teach girls who have never had a chance, so that they may become good cooks and housekeepers and love beautiful things. And their costume is so pretty and sensible.]

 Okay, then! At least they're not trying to come on too strong!

I did not buy the marquee letters or massive wooden mantelpiece that I wanted, but I might come back another time with the hardware for one of our house's original doors that I'm trying to refinish, because they've got a whole set of different skeleton keys that you can try out.

It does turn out, though, that one's wallet opens a little easier after one has had a nice, long free wine-tasting, ahem...

I believe I set a personal record for the amount of money spent on a single bottle of wine, but in my own defense, it is DELICIOUS.

Also, this kid cheats at checkers:

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I Am Now a Member of the Fairy Smut Book Club. Here is My Review of A Court of Mist and Fury

SPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERS!!!!!!

There will be ALL the spoilers for A Court of Thorn and Roses and a A Court of Mist and Fury here. 

Accompanying this review, please welcome my special guests, my fellow members of the fairy smut book club who are on TikTok and Instagram. Lean into what you love, Friends!

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Okay, I DID NOT LIKE ACOTAR when I listened to it, and I stand by that! Buuuuuutttt it was so easy to listen to while I sewed or took my stupid walks for my stupid mental health that I figured I might as well take a run at the sequel and see if it could keep me entertained, as well.

And yay! Because the sequel is... good? Y'all, I think it's good! I think it's actually very, very good and now I get to join the fairy smut book club, after all!

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Even though I'm an uninfluential nobody and also read this many years after it was published, I swear it's like Maas took almost all of my criticisms about the first book and fixed them. Or justified them while doing something else genuinely interesting! Feyre actually has her own personality in this book, and she stops saying "high lord" every other sentence, and she finally learns to read (although it's clear that Maas doesn't know a lot about how people learn to read, because that's not how phonics works. I did appreciate all the handwriting practice, though!). Tamlin is still a boring shit who doesn't understand consent, but this time we all know it and talk about it!

@jessereadsbookss Reposting one of my favorite videos ive made because tiktok copyright claimed the original #acotar #sarahjmass #acotarmemes #acourtofmistandfury #tamlin #feyrearcheron #acourtofthornesandroses #thesuriel #suriel #sjm #sarahjmassbooks #bookishhumor #booktok #feyrearcheron ♬ original sound - Tay

My favorite part of the book is when, near the end, Rhys sits down and literally rewrites the canon of the first book to fix all the problematic stuff. It's not a bad authorial choice, actually! Maas also did a lot of work throughout this book to change the perspective of the first book and justify those changes through plot and characterization, etc., showing us, for instance, how Tamlin's inaction and refusal to understand consent makes him an unworthy partner and how Rhys' choices to treat Feyre as his equal and accept her as she is make up (I guess?) for that time Under the Mountain when he twisted her literal arm bone in his literal hand. But sometimes you just gotta sit your main character down in a small cabin in the woods and have a good, old-fashioned lore drop.

@itsthesuriel ok this ones actually sad RIP Clare 💔 #acotarmeme #rhysand #feyrearcheron #acourtofthornsandroses #acourtofmistandfury ♬ original sound - the suriel • acotar memes

There was still a lot of stuff that made me lol--Feyre passing flirty notes back and forth with Rhys and painting murals all over that cabin in the woods are soooo corny!--and I still don't think that any member of this particular fairy society is super bright and calculating, but tbh that kind of makes it more fun for me. Y'all, I think I'm smarter than a high fae! I'd even bet good money that I'm smarter than a high lord! I could certainly work out a better system for fairy tithing, that's for sure. That whole Spring Court day of tithing was some real "everyone must travel on foot to the place they were born and register for the census and stop asking me if you have to go even if you're eight months pregnant do you not understand the concept of a census?" bullshit.

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But all the interesting characterizations and the improved relationships and the non-irritating internal monologue would still be boring if all Feyre did was sit around various magical fairy venues again. The real reason the book is so fun is that we finally get to explore fairy land! There's a secret city! A beachside Summer Court with a scary ancient sometimes-underwater building! Forests and byways! More monsters! And the final boss level is a raid into an enemy-filled castle in Hyburn, itself! Feyre does SO much cool stuff here, and yes the fact that she has *all* the fairy powers and is obviously the most specialist fairy ever (immortal with the heart of a mortal for the win!) is high-key corny, buuuuut watching her learn her powers and wield them and finally do some genuine fighting and machinating is fun and interesting. I just really liked the world that Maas builds here, and all the creatures that populate it, and all the adventures that we have in it.

@the.booktok.girls A straight savage 😂 #feyrearcheron #acotar #acotarseries #acotarmemes #acourtofmistandfury #rhysand #tamlin #acomafmemes #acomaf #highladyofthenightcourt ♬ original sound - The BookTok Girls

I barely even noticed how much I hate my daily 3.5-mile walk, I was so entertained, and retelling the book's plot made the hours my family spent in the car during our Father's Day day trip fly by. I'm not sure anyone actually understood the plot as related by me, ahem, but to be fair that's mostly because I kept doing things like say "OMG I forgot to tell you the part where the Spring Court all wore masks magically welded to their faces for 99% of the first book" and "oh, and this time Feyre can winnow because she just discovered that power because all the high lords gave her their special powers and she's now the MOST special" and then thinking about it again, myself, and not being able to stop laughing.

@itsthesuriel the masks are invisible and thats canon- period #acotarmeme #acotarseries #acourtofthornsandroses #acourtofmistandfury #rhysand #feyrearcheron ♬ original sound - the suriel • acotar memes

And then I brought up the mates thing and both of my teenagers were all, "NOOOO CRINGE NOOOO STOPPPPP!" It was the BEST Father's Day! I probably could have made them jump out of a moving car if this fairy world had had soulmarks.

In other news, I still hate Nesta and Elaine on account of how they wouldn't help with the chores while they were all poor, but apparently we're supposed to start loving them again and at this point there is no way they're not gonna be main characters in the third book so I might as well get used to it, sigh. And I'm still way into Lucian although I hate how he acts and I really wish we got a nasty sex scene or two with him, too.

Mostly, though, I wish some of these fairies were gay. Does Prythian seriously have NO queer representation?

@ancientlibrarybooks #fyp #acotar #highladyofthenightcourt #moracotar #amrenacotar #rhysandandfeyre #acomaf #feyre ♬ We go to war - Issy 🤍

Predictions for the third book:

*Nesta and Elaine will become main characters. SIGH!
* Feyre will forget a couple of doses of her fairy birth control in the chaos and we'll have a mini Rhys flying around like Cupid by book four.
* It would be hilarious if the Book of Breathings or the Cauldron possessed Feyre at some point so she was walking around and talking and doing stuff but it was actually the soul of the enchanted artifact controlling her.

* Surely someone will be gay at some point? Even in the background?

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All I Want Is To Irradiate Myself With Uranium Glass, and Other Small-Town Indiana Adventures

Our collective family favorite hobby is so boring that I'm honestly a little embarrassed to tell you about it.

No, it's not how we like to sit around a table and work puzzles while listening to audiobooks. That's genuinely awesome and not embarrassing at all.

It's embarrassing how much take-out pizza we eat, but that's not really a hobby.

Our hobby of making themed dinners and then watching movies while we eat is so cool that I don't understand why everybody else also doesn't do this weekly. Don't y'all WANT to be eating rainbow foods while sitting in your living room and watching Priscilla, Queen of the Desert? It's very fun!

This other hobby of ours is also very fun, but only in a very, very specific and highly-focused way, and probably only for us:

Basically, we drive to some seemingly random, poky little town and we just... poke around it? We get ice cream, check out the historical markers, browse the local shops, and exclaim over the most boring shit like, "Ooh, look at the limestone detail on that bank!" and "I wonder why they've got a Civil War cannon in their playground? Let's go climb on it!"

Just writing this out, it feels like an objectively awful way to spend a full day. The drive there and back is always ridiculously long, too, and requires verbally acknowledging every falling-down old barn and even slightly unusual farm animal we pass. This Sunday, y'all, we saw THREE miniature ponies! And a horse grazing in the same field with a bunch of cows! Many cornfields! A giant paintball arena out in the middle of nowhere cut out from the cornfields! Several threshing barns!

But I don't know, you guys. It is also, for some reason, a stupid amount of fun.

This particular adventure was inspired by Father's Day. We're also pretty obsessed with activity trails, either packaged ones like the Garfield Trail or ones that we DIY, like the indie bookstore trail that was my older kid's birthday gift a couple of years ago. We spent most of the pandemic doing a Southern Indiana Ice Cream Trail, and it might have been the thing that preserved my partner's sanity. He was PISSED when we finally completed the trail, sent in our passports, and all we got back were trucker caps as our prizes--acting bitchy about the prize is an important part of the tradition!

So for this Father's Day, I found a giant culinary trail put together by a statewide non-profit. It's got not just ice cream, but tenderloins. Pizza. Diners, drive-ins, and dives. Pie! We all signed up for it, my partner picked our first location, and off we drove through the cornfields to Greensburg, Indiana, a town whose claim to fame is that it's halfway between Indianapolis and Cincinnati. Which, just between us, it's like two hours from Indianapolis to Cincinnati so I don't know if that's really helpful? If you lived in the middle you'd still have at least an hour commute either way, not counting city traffic, and if you were just going from one place to the other, well, it's only a two-hour drive so why would you need to stop smack in the middle?

Also, I don't understand why that's what they're promoting when as soon as we got there and parked at the town square, THIS is what we saw!!!

They have a tree growing out of their courthouse roof! 

It was baffling and cool and charming, and honestly kind of better that there's no informational signage around at ALL to explain what you're looking at. You just look up, see a tree growing out of the courthouse roof, and exclaim and wonder over it like it's the olden days. You could also literally just miss the tree if you parked on the other side of the courthouse and/or never happened to look up, and then how stupid would you feel later if someone told you about it?

I looked it up later, and these TripAdvisor reviews are cracking me up:

Like, guys. That tree is not even there for you. You don't need to give it a 3 out of 5 rating just for existing!

And for some reason it made TrishA4 mad. Is she contractually obligated to pay for clock tower repairs or something? Did poorly maintained gutters once kill her loved one?

Well, we weren't mad. It gave us something to talk about while we ate our pork tenderloins and French fries in a beach-themed bar and grill that had faux tiki huts and people playing pool inside. I was excited about the poster for a KISS cover band coming through, until a kid pointed out that the poster was from 2015, dang it. 2015 Julie would have ALSO loved to see a KISS cover band! 

After lunch, we walked around the courthouse square, checking out the other nearby restaurants on the culinary trail--

--and then we all got completely sidetracked for over an hour in Pickers Paradise, an antique store on the square. Their uranium glass was a VERY reasonable price!

I haven't worked up the nerve to start my own uranium glass collection yet, but I covet it SOOOO bad. All I need to do is put some black lights in Mamma's old china cabinet, right? Or would I need to store everything in a lead-lined coffin and only take them out on special occasions?

Anyway, I didn't buy the uranium glass, sob, but I did buy a really nice molinillo that my older kid found in a bin of kitchen accessories and recognized from a workshop on the history of chocolate that we took together last month. And then my younger kid found a really nice vintage poster in a pretty frame, and when my older kid told me about a cast iron horse bust that she'd thought was really cool I was all, "Your Dad is already buying me and your sister stuff. Go show him your horse head!" And that's how on Father's Day my partner walked out of an antique store having bought everybody BUT himself a nice little present, ahem.

But we all hugged his neck and told him we loved him!

We walked over to see a nice stretch of historic storefronts that had been restored (and then left to get slightly neglected again, but charmingly so), but our last stop before we drove back through the cornfields was another point on the culinary tour, a genuine A&W!

We didn't realize that this was a place where the waitstaff would come out to your car--I guess it's from the Just Cruisin' section of the culinary trail--so she threw us off our ordering game a bit. And then after she'd come and gone we realized that there was apparently an entirely other menu of specials taped to the window of the building where we hadn't been able to see it, and of course it was chock-full of stuff that everybody would have rather gotten, ahem, so we all sort of sulkily sucked down our chocolate shakes and cream freezes. The younger kid bitched the most about not knowing they had coffee shakes, but she also ate every bite of her ice cream cone while she bitched so I think she'll be okay.

On the way back home, I was trying to research why on earth there was a tree on the courthouse roof, and I realized that the city of Greensburg has a Wikipedia page! At first it was fun, making everyone try to guess the city's population and the name of their county and when their first post office was built--I'm really fun to travel with! But then I had to be all, "Oh, shit, y'all! Greensburg used to be a sundown town!"

Ugh, we are ALWAYS running into that around here! We won't even go to Martinsville, another former sundown town, on purpose, because it still feels really racist there, and this November will actually be the 100th anniversary of the time that the Ku Klux Klan won nearly every election, from school board up to governor, in our state but then couldn't keep hold of their offices or get anything of consequence done because, you know, they weren't politically or administratively trained--they were just organized racists! Halfway between Indianapolis and Cincinnati would have been an awful place to have a sundown town, though, sigh. 

But we're not going to spend our precious Father's Day talking about racists, so instead I went back to my most recent fun hobby of telling my partner, in detail, the entire story of A Court of Thorns and Roses so far. The drive was long, but this book is longer, because I had barely finished the part where everyone in Feyre's family had gotten fairy ensorcelled but Nesta, apparently because she's just too big a bitch to be ensorcelled, when we pulled back into our driveway. I put a pin in it until our next day trip!

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June WIPs: Books, Bookmarks, and a Bookshelf Quilt

Little Free Library Bookmarks

Making these quilt-as-you-go scrappy bookmarks is my favorite thing these days! You can tell from the variety of ribbon that I'm even using up all of those little scraps that I've been hoarding saving, too. That rickrack?

It's VINTAGE! New in the package, too! I held onto it for another probably 15 years or so after getting my hands on it, but I think it'll be much happier as a dozen bookmarks than it was moldering away in the back of my closet.

I think the bookmarks in general look cuter with smaller scraps all pieced together, but I had some novelty fabric scraps that I feel like I've been holding onto forever, trying not to waste them but not knowing what to do with them. I'm especially in love with those vintage dinos!

Even though these bookmarks look finished, they're technically still WIPs while I wait on my partner to design some fabric for me, because my dream is to use Spoonflower to print custom messaging onto fabric, complete with the bookmark template as a cutting guide. Then I just need to cut it out and edge-stitch it to the backs of my bookmarks and yay! I'll have cute bookmarks with literary quotes on the backs to give out inside my Little Free Library!

My Too-Long TBR-ish Pile of Books

I normally read a couple of books a week, so I don't know why I'm dragging through those top four books so slowly. I even like them, so that's not the reason!

Oh, lord, I've just noticed that my Complete Letters of Vincent Van Gogh isn't even on this list, and I've been puttering through that one since last winter...

In other news, though, thanks to all the sewing and gardening I'm almost finished listening to A Court of Mist and Fury. I'm really liking it, and my review of it is going to be VERY different than the one that I wrote for A Court of Thorn and Roses, ahem. My favorite part of the book so far is when, near the end, Rhys sits down and literally rewrites the canon of the first book to fix all the problematic stuff. It's not a bad authorial choice, actually! The author also did a lot of work throughout this book to change the perspective of the first book and justify those changes through plot and characterization, etc., but sometimes you just gotta have a good, old-fashioned lore drop.

Bookshelf Quilt

It consists so far entirely of aspirational Pinterest pins:

But one day, ideally before September, it will be a real quilt on the dorm room bed of my younger kid!

Just have to teach myself Foundation Paper Piecing first...

In other news, look who loves the newly power-washed back deck!

Does anyone else's co-parent buy himself everything he's ever wanted right before every gift-giving occasion? Did it occur to him that maybe I knew he wanted his own power-washer instead of renting the one at Menards, and maybe I might want to buy it for him for Father's Day? SIGH! The kids have at various times been reporting to me about actively heading him off from impulse-purchasing other long planned-for Father's Day gifts, but all I can say is that he better not buy himself a single other thing before Sunday!

P.S. Want to follow along with my craft projects, books I'm reading, road trips to weird old cemeteries, looming mid-life crisis, and other various adventures on the daily? Find me on my Craft Knife Facebook page!