It's a Classical Life

  Did you try the Jane Austen word search last month? If so, how did you like it? If not, perhaps you would like to give it a try - you can find it here . Today, I'm sharing with you another word search, this one based around the classic novel Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. It's getting very wintery here and Little Women is one of my favourite books to read in winter. For those of you heading into summer, this is still a fun, free past-time to while away those long summer days. I hope you enjoy this month's word search! Remember, you can either click on the image above or you can download the PDF through the Google link below. Happy searching! Little Women Word Search

Originally, I was going to name this post Can We Live More Simply? I was recently reading an article on Nicole Lutze's blog about living simply enough. She reminds us that living simply is unique to all of us. She also adds, that simple living is about spending more time within our homes, and less time working for money. I believe there are many books that we can turn to that have a focus on the home to inspire us to live simply and to live well, but when I thought about it, really thought about, one book came to mind: Louisa May Alcott's Little Women . And what better time to remind ourselves of simplicity than the holiday season when things tend to get blown out, we become overwhelmed and we all wistfully remember that dream of living more simply! If you're interested, you can also read last year's post on Lessons to Remember These Holidays from Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol ". Tip #1 Ditch the plastics - eat like the Marches and grow some of y...

A couple of weeks ago, Annabel from The Blubirds are Nesting on the Farm shared a post about pure wool blankets and being prepared for winter . Winter is well and truly upon us here in Australia. For some, that has brought flash flooding and enormous amounts of rain, for others, it means snow, heavy frosts, colder than average temperatures, fog, damaging winds and more. It is easy to be overwhelmed by harsh weather patterns, especially as we hear talk of climate change exacerbating these already unpredictable patterns. Like Annabel, I think there is plenty we can do to be prepared and I chose to look at this topic from a warm and cosy perspective - hygge. Unless you have been living under a rock for the last few years, I'm sure you've all heard about the Danish concept of hygge  It is what is often attributed to the Danes being amongst the happiest people in the world. I think that the classic novels do wonderfully well to highlight the importance of  hygge in ...

Have you heard the saying, New Year, New You? I have to say, I really don't like it. First of all, I don't like the idea of one day of the year pressuring us to think negatively about ourselves and consider all the ways in which we would like to be different (usually this has to do with physical appearance). For me, self-improvement goes hand in hand with self-education and should be a lifelong process , not a one day goal. Secondly, having resolutions hanging over our heads takes away the joy and gladness of this time of year. We have made it through another year! We have so much to look forward to! Why spoil that with goals that perhaps don't inspire us but force us to feel bad about who we are? Whilst researching this article, I came across an interesting article comparing New Year's resolutions from 1947 to the most common ones made today. Here you can see how we have changed in the things we want for ourselves in the coming year. Resolutions From 1947 - Gallup Po...

I consider myself lucky to have a number of older women in my life who are my mentors, my confidantes and my friends. These include my mother, my stepmother, my mother-in-law and two close friends I have made through teaching. All have been in my life for a number of years and seen me through good times and bad. I have only recently come to appreciate the role that they have played in my life: accepting me as I am, offering advice and guidance when asked, sharing values, ideals and interests (especially in literature and history), amongst other things. Not all of them fulfil each of these roles, but as a whole, they keep me on a good path. It got me thinking about the role of older women in literature, well in recent literature anyway. I thought the role of older women in ancient literature would probably be another post all of its own! I know that many Christian women look to the Scripture Titus 2 for guidance on how to graciously mentor younger women, but there are some wome...

 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 -...

 "Whether you're single and living in your first apartment, a young couple buying your first home, a married couple with a few children, a single parent, a single solo adult, or baby boomers moving towards retirement, you can create a simple home that won't burden you financially or emotionally. When you build a comfortable and nurturing home, you'll feel like you've sailed into a safe harbour, that you're where you can be your best."                                                          Down To Earth ~ Rhonda Hetzel I first became interested in the notion of 'homemaking' when I was on parenting leave with my first baby and homemaking blogs were becoming all the rage. People who spoke of their family, their homes, their cleaning routines, their meal plans and everything else that goes with being a homemaker sudd...