My Summer Reading List August Update

Hello everyone!

My summer reading list is late! Dare I say that I have been using my spare moments to read rather than write? You caught me! Here are some of the books I plan to read over the next couple of months. As usual, I'll probably add more as they catch my eye. Please see my Goodreads account. I keep it updated regularly. Note also that many of the books that I "read" are now audiobooks. I listen while I work, sew, or knit. That's how I can enjoy so many books.

Here are the books that I'm currently reading and listening to on Everand:

This is a fun, clean, time travel story with a touch of romance and characters growing in their faith. I actually finished it yesterday.

I finished it, but I think I need to read it again. We bought the book after I listened. 

This is a World War II novel set in Great Britain. Emmy Lake is a writer for a women's magazine. It's clean.
Just finished. 

• Them: Why We Hate Each Other by Ben Sasse. I'm listening. I think this would be enlightening for both conservatives and liberals.  I just finished.  5 stars

Here are the Bible.com plans that I'm currently reading:

• The 40 Day New Testament Challenge ~ listening

• Wondered by the Word ~ The Bible in a Year (Chronological) ~listening

• English Standard Bible ~ Canonical ~ I'm using the Encountering God Study Bible that I reviewed back in May. It's the New King James Version.

I know that this may seem like a lot of plans at once. That's why I listen a lot. "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." (Romans 10:17)  Since I started listening to the Bible as part of YouVersion's plans back in 2012, I've been saturating myself with the word. It has changed my life in so many ways. Thank you to my friend Deb who challenged me! Do You Find Reading the Bible to Be a Challenge? 

Here are the paper books I'm currently reading: 

I'm truly enjoying this book by my friend Karen Andreola.  She was the writer who introduced me to Charlotte Mason and her whole books, hands on, narration and nature based teaching style. 

I'm still reading but nearing the end.

I found this at a library sale this week. I read a short chapter each day. I do love short chapters. They're easy for snatch reading.
Finished 

These are the books I've just received through interlibrary loan:

• Crochet Cute Forest Friends by Sarah Zimmerman I browsed this and returned it.

• The Cabin Faced West by Jean Fritz I read and enjoyed this.

Finally, here are a few books that just might get added as I finish a few of the books above:

• The Poison Pen by Paige Shelton I enjoyed this book and the whole series. 

• Toast & Jam by Sarah Owens I browsed this and returned it. The recipes are too gourmet for me.

• The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman  I requested this on interlibrary loan. I read the first two or three pages and decided it wasn't for me. Gargoyles and hellhounds and necromancers, oh my! That's not what I thought I was getting into!

• Blood and Bone by Don Hoesel I finished this and really liked it. It was exciting.

• The 12 Week Year for Writers by A Trevor Thrall, Brian P. Moran, and Michael Lennington 

Can you tell that I love reading and listening? If this all seems a bit overwheming to you, know that it does to me, also, when I write it all out! Remember dear reader, as an adult, reading often means snatching up small moments here and there. Listening in the car or while doing housework, knitting, or sewing are other good times. My favorite, of course, is listening while knitting or sewing. Use your minutes!

Blessings from Harvest Lane Cottage!

Laura 

My Year in Books 2023 

Goodreads:  Laura Lane 

2024 I have finished 76 books of my 60 book goal.

Ravelry:  HarvestLaneLaura

Facebook:  Harvest Lane Cottage  

Instagram: @lauraofharvestlane 

Email:  laura@harvestlanecottage.com

Mailing address available by email for snail mail lovers like me!

Thrifty Things Lately ~ July 26, 2024

 

Welcome to another thrifty week at Harvest Lane Cottage. I am glad you've found me! Each week I will share my thrifty and frugal projects, ways of saving money, and my blessings from God. 

Here's my thrifty week:

• My Lowell has caught the thrifty bug! After pricing tomato stakes and cages at the farm store, he came home and used things he found about the house and shed: 3 hotdog poles, a pitchfork he wasn't using, an old hoe with a loose head, and some rebar! Total expenditure zero! Make it do!

• We bought strawberries, peaches, and apples on sale.

• I manicured my nails using polishes I've had quite awhile. The OPI nail strengthener and polishes go on smoothly. The Sally Hansen gel top coat gives a shiny smooth surface.

• I'm learning about sourdough.

• I'm knitting baby socks for a shower using leftover yarn.

Well, that's all for now!

What have YOU done to be thrifty this week? 

Enjoy July!

It's racing by!

Laura 

A Little Randomness ~ 1996

This week's year is 1996! Here are some memories that I have of that year in list form.

Image by Harisankar Sahoo from Pixabay

• Our son turned 5. At the time, we didn't have any other children, but he was praying for a sister.

• We made the decision to homeschool kindergarten. After lots of research, I chose to read lots of books together, and I took a lots of hands on and experiential learning approach that year.

• My husband was working for a company that had sent him to Branson, Missouri to work for four months. He lived in a condo there. 

• We bought Silver Dollar City passes. Matthew and I would often visit, and we would go to the park.

• My mother found out that her breast cancer had returned as bone cancer. This rocked my world like nothing before ever had. This began two heart wrenching years. The good is that both she and my step-dad got saved. He is still loving and serving Jesus. He was able to help me through my fight with breast cancer that I began in 2017. 

• Beanie Babies were one of the hottest toys for Christmas as was Nintendo 64. We bought Matthew a Beanie Baby. We never did buy video games for the kids.

• We bought our first computer and learned about dial up internet. I used to "Ask Jeeves" as I was learning to search.

• The first Twister film was one of the top films of the year. We watched it. Living in tornado alley, it was scary!

It was an exciting time to be alive, full of hope, some fear, and lots of prayer. I miss those days of having our little family of three and teaching my little boy and learning a whole lot in the process!

God is good through the good times and the hard times.

Blessed be the name of the LORD JESUS!

What do YOU remember about 1996?

I can't wait to read your responses.

Laura

Thrifty Things Lately ~ July 21, 2024

Welcome to another thrifty week at Harvest Lane Cottage. I am glad you've found me! Each week I will share my thrifty and frugal projects, ways of saving money, and my blessings from God. 

Here's my thrifty week:

• I baked half a batch of chocolate chip cookies last week and half a batch this week. My husband was surprised with warm, fresh cookies twice. It stretched the ingredients. I've made these same cookies for over forty years. Stop it! Stop right now! I know you're calculating my age! Let's just say I'm Grammy to a wonderful little eleven month old grandbaby boy whom I love with all my heart. No cookies for him until Mommy says it's okay.

• I mended two towels. I cut off the frayed edges and zigzagged around them with thread that was leftover from some given to me long ago. It was still on a wooden spool.  Although I bought like new towels at a garage sale a few months ago (luxury), I keep and mend the old ones, too. You never know when you're going to need them for something messy.

• When we needed a quick take home lunch, my husband brought home Chinese, and we shared a meal. It was $8 for the two of us to eat. Pretty cheap for a good meal. I cannot make Chinese for that amount.

• I'm listening to books on Everand. I pay a monthly fee of $11.99 for as many books as I want to listen to or read. It's my only subscription.

• I borrowed books from the library this week.

• I'm knitting a gift with leftover yarn that a friend gave me several months ago. I actually finished Friday morning!

• I gave a friend some hand crocheted dishcloths for her birthday.

• Fifty-four cents for a senior unsweet iced tea at McDonald's. They start at 55. Stop it! You're calculating my age, aren't you? LOL 

• I bought a like new Polo brand oxford shirt for my husband at Goodwill. I looked it over well, and it was perfect... except that the size was mismarked! $5.99 for a shirt that was too small. I felt stupid for not realizing it was wrong. My daughter corrected my stinkin' thinkin'. It was a mistake. I'll either find someone to pass it on to or give it to another thrift store which I prefer.

• I'm using shaving cream bought at a yard sale for a dollar. It hadn't been used.

It's been a good week. Next week will be a great week!
Be blessed and be thrifty!
Laura
Happy at Home
   

A little Randomness ~ 1998

     If you've been reading awhile, you'll know that I've had non-stop company since May 7th. Among our other company, our daughter, Amy, her husband, and our 10 month old grandson have been staying with us for a few weeks while they complete their move back from Illinois. Let me tell you, I've been loving my time with Amy and baby. My industrious son-in-law found work the first week back, and has been working long hours to get everything ready for their new home. So, I've not been writing much.

     My solution for my lack of inspiration is to use a random number generator to choose a year between 1969, when I have my first memories, and 2024. I've written about 1973, 1978, and 2004 so far. In 1998, the world was coming up on Y2K, aka the year 2000.

     My husband, Lowell, my first grade son Matthew, and my one year old daughter, Emily, were living in Carthage. My husband was working for the Names and Numbers telephone directory and traveling a lot. He worked long hours selling, then he came home to hours of paperwork. Homeschooling focused on lots of reading, hands on learning, teaching my son to read, basic math, and exposure to lots of experiences. Lowell worked in Branson all fall and would come home on weekends.  He bought us Silver Dollar City passes, so sometimes the kids and I would go down and stay a few days and go to Silver Dollar City. That was nice, but we missed being with him.

     Somewhere along the way, we started receiving a little magazine called Coming Home*. It was a simple black and white magazine that was printed cheaply, but it had some wonderful, conservative articles that encouraged working from home if possible, preparing for whatever happened when we crossed over into 2000, gardening, homemaking, and homeschooling. The ideas in that little magazine took hold. Soon, we were dreaming of our own little country home complete with gardens and animals. Thus, we were ushered into the idea of that "cow chicken thang". We took our kids along as we looked at places that had a bit of land. It would be years before we were successful in finding the right place at the right price. We eventually would have chickens. Ironically, we didn't have them until we moved into town again!

     Two hard things happened in 1998. My Grandpa Frank died that summer. It was so very hard even as an adult. In September, my mom told me that her breast cancer from nearly ten years earlier had metastasized into bone cancer. Believe me, that was the most devastating thing that had ever happened. She had not had proper follow-up care after her mastectomy. It was a heartbreaking development. 

     But God, had something in mind. He took what the enemy meant for evil and turned it for good. Ah, but that's a story for another year!

~smile~

     So tell me, what do YOU remember about 1998? I was up to my eyeballs in diapers and reading lessons, so I don't remember what else was going on in the world other than the Y2K worries.

     Don't be shy! Talk to me! Let's make this fun!

Blessings from Harvest Lane Cottage,

Laura

*This is not the same Coming Home magazine currently online.

Time Traveling Through my Memories...1978

 1978

     In 1978, I was really into pop music.  I recognized nearly all of the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles when I looked the list up. ~smile~ I included a countdown video below. Let's just say that music videos have come a long way.  Seeing the costumes they were wearing amused me. I wonder if they ever seemed cool to me. Cool was everything to a 13 year old. 

     My friends and I were into Tiger Beat. TV was my window to the world back then like it was to a lot of young people. I wasn't riding my bike much anymore, because we moved to the country. We lived on a busy road, no shoulders, and the speed limit was 45. TV, listening to albums, and reading took the place of most of the fun play. 

Mork and Mindy was great fun and an introduction to the talents of Robin Williams.

Dallas was already gaining popularity, too. 

Please share memories from 1978. Some of you may be too young, but I hope the rest of you will join in!

Be blessed,

Laura

A little Randomness ~ 2004

     Time for another year in my Time Travel Through my Memories series. This time it's 2004. I expect most of you ladies were alive in 2004, though many will remember it better than others. Believe me, when I wrote about 1973 recently, I was amazed to realize that it was 51 years ago! How did that happen?

     Let's see now, what was I doing in 2004. One would think that would be easy to remember since it's so recent, but, well I've done a lot of sleeping since then. ~smile~

     In 2004, my high school sweetheart, Lowell, and I celebrated 18 years of marriage. We had four children ranging from 13 down to 3. Most of my time was spent with them. We lived in Pittsburg, Kansas. We moved there from the farm early in the year. We downsized our home and bills dramatically. Lowell missed his tractor, but he didn't need it on our corner town lot. That's when we went from having Harvest Lane Farm to Harvest Lane Cottage.  

     We were in the thick of homeschooling at the time. We read a lot, and Sonlight Curricula was my favorite, because it was literature based. I believe if kids learn to love reading, there's no end to what they can learn. I truly loved teaching my kids at home. I believe it was an excellent start for them to branch off into the things in which they were most interested. We also built strong, positive relationships between the kids. 

     Shortly after we moved to town, my husband started a mobile automotive reconditioning service. He spent long hours driving truck and trailer all around the four states area going to car dealerships and RV dealerships detailing, doing paint touch ups, leather and vinyl repair, and a plethora of other services. It was hot, tiring, and physically demanding work. He was faithful to do it for our family. Ultimately, it wasn't the business for him, and he closed it some time later. It was a course in the college of hard knocks. He learned so much about business during that time. It's helped him greatly in his current career of small business consultant. He's been able to help lots of people to make their businesses run more efficiently and to be more profitable. 

     Some of my favorite hits on the radio were Third Day's Nothing Compares, Mercy Me's I Can Only Imagine, and Chris Tomlin's How Great is Our God.  I was listening exclusively to Christian radio at the time. 

     That was also the year that my friend, Sherry, brought me some fabric, a doll dress pattern, and some apron fabric before Christmas. It was a very frugal Christmas since Lowell was getting the new business off the ground. I made doll dresses and aprons and all kinds of things to make the Christmas season special for the kids. The emphasis, though, was always on Jesus.

     I received many comments last time about 1973. I enjoyed writing back and forth. I want to hear from you. Let's be blog friends! 

So, tell me, what do you remember about 2004? 

Blessings from Harvest Lane Cottage,

Laura

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Why We Homeschool

Homeschooling the Myth and the Truth

10 Surefire Ways to Help Your Children Love Reading

9 Tips for Young Mothers from an Older Woman

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