It's a Classical Life

  I know that many of you are entering autumn and getting ready for the winter season, but here spring has well and truly sprung! We have had above average temperatures all week and the weather has been warm and pleasant. It's a nice change after our cold winter, but I don't believe we've seen the last of those wintery days just yet. Our spring can be so variable, even knowing when to plant seedlings can be a challenge because frost can occur as late as November! This quote by Joan Chittister, one of my favourite authors and theologians, is right on the mark. I recently spoke about a winter reset and how by living seasonally we can ensure that our plans for the year are on track, we are producing what we want (or don't want), and that we finding joy and contentment in our everyday lives. The beauty of spring.- literally and metaphorically - is the perfect time for this sort of reflection, to consider the "endless possibilities of life," and more importantly, ...

This lovely little book by Matthew Dennison (2016) is the source of all quotes and images in this article, unless acknowledged elsewhere. I've included page numbers where appropriate. Hello! This week has been a warm one, with time spent in the garden (both weeding and planting), in the kitchen, and around my house. I've been reading a lot as the warm sun makes our covered deck the perfect place to sit and read. This biography of the life of Beatrix Potter was on my reading list and I loved it! In case you haven't popped by this week, I've showcased Potter in a Bitesize Inspiration post and a free, downloadable word search, which you can find  here .  This week I'm focusing on certain aspects of Beatrix Potter's life and work which may serve as inspiration for those of us seeking to live a simple life inspired by the classics. I hope you'll grab a drink and settle in, because there are quite a few! The headings I have chosen for each of these inspirational ...

Happy Friday everyone! We've made it to the end of another week, and the end of the year is fast approaching! I hope you find some time this weekend to take a break and enjoy the Beatrix Potter word search that I have created for you to download.  Simply click on the image above and then print the jpeg image or click on the link for the PDF.  Beatrix Potter Word Search PDF All the word searches I create are in large print, with twenty hidden words to find. I also include a water paint image, painted by me. This week's moped-riding bunny was as close to a little Flopsy rabbit as I had in my collection! Let me know how you go with this one and have fun!

  Happy Monday! Thanks for taking the time to stop by and visit us here at It's a Classical Life! For those of you who are new here, every Monday I try and offer some bitesize inspiration to start the week - a quote generally - and unlike my other posts, I try not to ramble on too much about it! It's simply there to inspire and get you thinking.  This week I am dedicating all posts to the wonderful children's writer and illustrator, Beatrix Potter. I couldn't believe I hadn't showcased her work here before, so I set out to rectify that! There will be today's Bitesize Inspiration, a free downloadable word search on Friday and another post next Saturday. I hope you will come back and appreciate the wonderful world of Beatrix Potter! What I love most about this quote is the idea of reframing our thoughts and looking upon something that we may not be keen to do as an adventure. Sometimes my children tell me that they are anxious or nervous about something. I remind ...

Good morning (or afternoon!) and welcome! If this is your first time, I'm so glad you've found us, and if you are returning then it's lovely to have you back. A few weeks back I mentioned Flora Thomspon's 1938 classic, From Lark Rise to Candleford in a post on happiness. This trilogy of books, which has since been turned into a television series, focuses on life in a small village, Lark Rise, towards the end of the nineteenth century. There were a lot of little observations which I found quite inspiring and enlightening and thought that you might enjoy them too.  "There were no bought pleasures, and, if there had been, there was no money to pay for them; but there were the sights, sounds, and scents of the different seasons: spring with its fields of young wheat-blades bending in the wind as the cloud-shadows swept over them; summer with its ripening grain and its flowers and fruit and its thunderstorms, and how the thunder growled and rattled over that flat land ...

  This beautiful poem often comes to mind this time of year because we celebrate a number of birthdays throughout September in our family, my own included. Although called, A Birthday , the poem is not necessarily about a birthday as such, but rather pertains to a time when something momentous happens ( my love is come to me ) and thus the poet is born anew.  We often talk about a new year being the start of something new, a time when we can refresh or reset our lives. Birthdays, anniversaries, Mondays, the beginning of a new month or season, when we move, start a new job or fall in love can all be considered times when we are reborn and can start living our lives the way we want to. We don't need to wait for our actual date of birth to reconsider our lives, be lifted into glorious heights of bliss or to take the first step in a new direction. The beautiful message in Rosetti's poem, couched in the most gorgeous of imagery, reminds us that we can be reborn at an...

  We have been having many discussions about education in our home recently. We haven't been all that pleased with the schooling that our two youngest children are receiving and have been discussing the possibility of switching to home-schooling. Charlotte Mason has been an inspiration to me for a long time and this quote of hers not only guides my beliefs as an educator, but also guides the premise of this blog.  My husband and I have both recently left our careers in teaching to go down a different path. Part of this came from burn-out, part came from a desire for a slower life, less dependant on the "system", and part of it came from a real disillusionment with the education system in our country today. Teachers are trying their best, but it's an uphill battle and very rarely do they win. And it's our children that are caught in the crossfires.  Our daughters are sensitive girls, they're well-read, eager learners and their growth - physical, intelle...

Hello and Happy Saturday! I'm so glad you decided to stop by here. The sun is shining here and we are about to embark on a little journey to celebrate September birthdays with my family at the coast. It's no surprise then, that this wonderful line from J.R.R. Tolkien's famous epic, The Lord of the Rings, has been on my mind lately. The context behind this quote is often taken out of context! It seems that instead of encouraging aimless wandering, Tolkien brings a sense of wariness into the story before sending his characters off onto a quest. As Bilbo Baggins famously states,  " It's a dangerous business going out your door...you might step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to."  Tolkien plants a seed of purpose into his characters, a goal for them to achieve. This got me thinking about some of my other favourite literary characters who have embarked on a journey, not to wander aimlessly or to ...