It's a Classical Life

  The sweetest smelling blooms on the plum tree = lots of summer fruit! They say that hindsight is 20/20 and I suppose that if we had known what was coming to the world the last two years then we would have been a lot better equipped to meet those challenges without panic or fear. We would have been in a position to help others, to share what we have, and to promote a sense of calm and preparedness when everything else seemed to be spiralling out of control.  But then, if we continue to look towards the classics as a form of inspiration, then we should not be surprised when life does not go exactly as we planned it. Think of the quote I used in my last post on Preparedness from The Long Winter. Pa Ingalls said: "These times are too progressive. Everything has changed too fast. Railroads and telegraph and kerosene and coal stoves--they're good things to have, but the trouble is, folks get to depend on 'em.” I think it's particularly relevant here because, we have all co

 I recently posted on Instagram that after reading George Orwell's rather chilling yet devastating classic Nineteen Eighty-Four I retreated back to Agatha Christie for some comfort reading. There were a few comments from fellow readers about the authors or series that they classify as 'comfort reading.' What is it about certain books that whisk us away to a place of comfort and familiarity? Why do we return to these books time and again; whether it be during times of hardship, adversity, loneliness or general need to escape? For me, I particularly like books where the characters maintain a positive and courageous outlook whilst facing adversity. This, in turn, brings me comfort and as all classics tend to do, remind me that many have suffered before and it all depends on how we face this suffering. My comfort reads are not usually heavy, intense reads, but rather ones that relax my mind and uplift my mood. Here is a list of some of my favourite comfort reads: Little Women -

"In the ancient word, the survival of any household depends on its ability to feed itself. Anyone who threatens the economic self-sufficiency of a family is, in the  long term, threatening its very survival."                                         Peter Jones, In the Introduction to The Odyssey , by Homer "These times are too progressive. Everything has changed too fast. Railroads and telegraph and kerosene and coal stoves--they're good things to have, but the trouble is, folks get to depend on 'em.”                                     Laura Ingalls Wilder, The Long Winter If the classics have taught us anything, it is that life does not always go to plan and being prepared for these deviations is a wise way to be. I have encountered this message numerous times in the books that I have read, and the two quotes above are just an example. Annabel at The Bluebirds are Nesting on the Farm decided last week to initiate a 30 day Preparedness Challenge and I thought I