One thing that everyone notices about me is how many books I have. When I moved when I was married, my mom couldn’t believe how many books I had at her house, my husband couldn’t believe how many books I was bringing in to our home, and my in-laws couldn’t believe that I had my own library. But I love it! As my one friend from college who was also an English major said, she needed a library in her home. Yes, yes. Us book lovers need our own library filled with books we re-read every few years, books that complete a series or collection, books that we have on our waiting list, and books that we can just never part from.
I do have my share of novels from young adult to the classics, but I also have my share of how-to, crafting, and cookbooks. I love learning new things! If it is something creative and beautiful, I’m all in for trying out the new skill. I usually fail in some ways or another, but that’s a part of learning. It’s not the final product, so it is okay. The best resource I know of when it comes to learning something new is books.
Books whether read for leisure, academia, or learning, they are all a part of my farm living lifestyle. I can’t imagine living in the countryside of the Allegheny Mountains without having sunny afternoons to relax and read some pages outdoors or to write some reflections, poems, or stories. Books and writing are a huge part of the function of my farmhouse living.
Classic Literature
I never started out as the young kindergarten kid who just loved reading and books. It really took reading Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Little House” series in fourth grade to make me fall in love with books and writing. I didn’t exactly fall in love with words, but I fell in love with the ability to share one’s farm life through a creative outlet.
When heading to college, I had interests in fashion design, music, interior design, and hey- learning how to cook and bake from scratch. But, I didn’t major in any one of these. I focused on English. And the same thing happened when I chose my focus for my master’s degree. I could have switched focus to a master’s degree in fashion, food science, or home economics, but I stayed with my love of language and literature seeking a Masters of Arts in English.
For years, I was pulled between my love for homemaking arts in gardening, sewing, cooking, and home design and my love for literature and language. Should I have chosen this major again, as I’m mid-way through my program? Or should I use my English skills here for publishing magazines with home and garden topics? I kept seeing my two passion and skillsets as two tension of opposites that could never combine, like water and oil.
Upon my last course for my master’s degree, which was a one credit course focused on our comprehensive exam, a requirement for graduation, I realized that homemaking and literature are not two separate entities to my life. They highly connect to each other. In literature, writers incorporate the farm and homestead, flowers and greenhouses, and God’s Creation and Christian relationships. The book series that started my love of reading combine writing and learning with a homestead, farm lifestyle.
When I read classic literature, I zone in my lenses to analyze and to share with you flowers, gardens, homesteads, farms, sewing, and homemaking in classic literature.
Favorite Books
Not all the books I have are the classics. I love having an array of books on gardening, flowers, flower crafts, sewing dresses, cookbooks, and many more. Really, when I want to expand on my current skills or learn a new skill, I am all for buying not just one book, but a collection of books on this interest.
Books are way to have a conversation about a certain interest with a multitude of other people. The cool thing, and great part for introverts, is this conversation starts with the author sharing their knowledge, skills, and opinions for then the reader to enjoy; then, the reader has their own response and reflection to share in to their friends or create a written response to.
Life on the Farmette
“Farm living is the life for me;” I enjoy reflecting on God’s Creation, agriculture, and my purpose within living a farm life. Not every farm life is the same from farm to farm. Some farms focus on larger scale agriculture with the purpose of selling products to feed America, while other farms focus solely on healthy food for their family through homesteading, create hobby farms for their own enjoyment, or are mostly concerned with continuing to have a farm lifestyle. My farmette falls into a country home where it combines pretty flowers, good food, homemaking, and great books.
Creative Writing
And not everything on my farmhouse bookshelves are written by other writers. I love to write creative pieces. To capture beauty in moments of my farm life, poems and short stories tend to be the best way to showcase this.