Welcome to the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot where we offer a place for bloggers to link up and get a fresh set of eyes on their posts. We also feature one blog a week, letting our readers know about the blog and providing a link so readers can learn more about them.
I hope that you will look through the links and click on some and find a new blogger or two to follow.
First, I’ll introduce you to our hosts:
Marsha from Marsha in the Middle started blogging in 2021 as an exercise in increasing her neuroplasticity. Oh, who are we kidding? Marsha started blogging because she loves clothes, and she loves to talk or, in this case, write!
Melynda from Scratch Made Food! & DIY Homemade Household – The name says it all, we homestead in East Texas, with three generations sharing this land. I cook and bake from scratch, between gardening and running after the chickens, and knitting!
Lisa from Boondock Ramblingsshares about the fiction she writes and reads, her faith, homeschooling, photography and more.
Sue from Women Living Well After 50 started blogging in 2015 and writes about living an active and healthy lifestyle, fashion, book reviews and her podcast and enjoying life as a woman over 50. She invites you to join her living life in full bloom.
We would love to have additional Co-Hosts to share in the creativity and fun! If you think this would be a good fit for you and you like having fun (come on, who doesn’t!) while still being creative, drop one of us an email and someone will get back with you!
WTJR will be highlighting a different blogger each week! We invite you to stop by their blog, take a look around and say hello! This week we spotlight …
Hi, my name is Angie. I started this blog because I began to see the infinite possibilities of creating artful clothing combinations out of my own closet. I’d love to share these endless ideas with you!
A healthy lifestyle brings lifelong health, beauty and youthful energy. So I strive for that in my choices everyday. It’s so important that I include it throughout my blog.
I am now over 60 and want to show you how age doesn’t matter when it comes to expressing your free spirit: the you that always was, is and will be.
My highlighted posts this week out of the links from last week (I threw in a bonus this week):
Thank you so much for joining us for our link-up! Please remember that this is a link-up where you can share posts from the previous week or posts from weeks, months, or years ago. All we ask is that they be “family-friendly”.
It was so cold this past week that our animals had no interest in going outside, which is unusual for the cats who like to go out even if it is snowing or raining.
I’m very glad they stayed inside because I worry about them when they are outside. Yes, we have outside cats. We live in a rural area and allow them to wander during the day and they come in whenever they want or they come in at night because I do not want them out at night with the various critters we have out here. I’ve had people on social media be very rude to me in the past and tell me I’m a horrible pet owner for letting my pets outside so I just thought I’d add a little context. I’m not flinging my animals out the back door into the wilderness.
They absolutely thrive when they can go outside and they stay close to our house and then return, often with a dead mouse to present to us. I sometimes forget that those who don’t live in a more rural area don’t let their pets outside for safety reasons so they misunderstand and think I’m pushing the cats out into danger.
That all being said, they have not wanted to go outside because of the cold lately, so it has been nice to have them want to cuddle and to watch them sleep curled up on the coffee table or sprawled out in front of the lit woodstove.
The oldest cat, Pixel, has been making me a little nervous lately. I don’t know if she feels well, and I’ve found a couple of bumps on her head. She’s been a lot more desperate to sit on me and be petted. Ever since I read that cats purr when they are happy or in pain, I’ve wondered/worried why my cats are purring and hope they aren’t in pain. Hopefully she’s okay. She’s pulled this on me before and bounced right back, so we will see.
I am reading three books at the moment. Christy by Catherine Marshall (with some heavy stuff amidst the inspirational, so I need breaks), Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography by Laurie Woolever (with some heavy stuff amidst the inspirational, so I need a break), and A Body in the Library by Agatha Christie (because a nice old fashioned murder always breaks up the heavy stuff. Hee. Hee.).
Little Miss and I are starting The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare for school this week. At night we are listening to a collection of Henry Huggins books by Beverly Cleary and read by Neil Patrick Harris and William Roberts.
The Husband just finished The Quiet American by Graham Greene.
The Boy is getting ready to read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.
I finished the first season of Only Murders in the Building last night and really liked it. I’m looking forward to the other seasons.
My brother said he got bored with the show after season two, but he gets bored easily so I’m going to keep going. (*wink*)
As evidenced by the fact I am only just watching Only Murders in the Building, I often watch popular shows years after they ended. That’s why I have also started Castle, with Captain Mal — oh, I mean Nathan Fillion.
If you don’t understand that niche joke, I can’t help you — well, I can, but I’m going to make you search it up on your own instead.
Actually, The Husband started it for me last week (he’s watched it before) and now I’m continuing to watch it on my own.
I’m also watching Tudor Monastery Farm and this has me wondering a lot about this show and its spinoffs (Victorian Farm, Edwardian Farm, Wartime Farm) and how they work. Do these historians really do all these things they record, and do they really stay at these old buildings and houses? Or do they just film a little bit for educational purposes and move on. I guess I will have to step into the rabbit hole and figure this out this week.
I also watched Morning Glory with Katharine Hepburn and Douglas Fairbanks Jr., a couple episodes of Monarch of the Glen, and an episode of No Reservations (with Anthony Bourdain) last week.
I’ve started a Substack for cozy mystery, vintage movies, and book enthusiasts, as well as readers of my books.
For $3 a month you can join in and geek out with me about vintage Nancy Drew, classic movies, classic books, Gladwynn Grant and so much more.
You will be added to my book club Discord, A Good Book, and A Cup of Tea, and receive sneak peeks, exclusive discounts, access to various products, and whatever else comes to mind as I grow my space.
This winter I am watching movies starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
This past week I watched Morning Glory (1933) with him and Katharine Hepburn.
Morning Glory is a somber commentary on Hollywood’s common tendency to send a starlet sky high and then drop her fast, destroying her emotionally, mentally, and sometimes even physically.
Don’t get me the wrong, the movie does its best to wrap up that somberness in a cheerful pill to swallow but, in the end, the message is clear — fame will come and make you happy for a time, but then it will fade and you will be nothing more than what those in the acting world call a “morning glory” — a firework that burns bright and fast and then burns out.
In her third film and her first Oscar-win, Katharine Hepburn portrays a woman who has taken the name Eva Lovelace, left her smalltown in Vermont, and traveled to Hollywood to become a famous actress.
At least she says she’s left a little town in Vermont. We can never be sure with Eva who likes to create stories to tell a story about herself that may or may not be real.
Eva is bubbly, chatty, full of hope and expectations, and determined to become a leading actress in a play. That’s why she camps outside the office of theater owner and producer Louis Easton (Adolphe Menjou) — waiting for the chance to beg him for a chance to kick off her acting career. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. plays Playwright Joseph Sheridan, who is there to both doubt and be beguiled by Eva.
Eva falls for Easton or the idea of him and what he can do for her and… well, I was a bit shocked by what happens between them at one point, though all off screen, of course.
This movie is a bit all over the place at times, very short at about and hour fifteen, and wraps up situations way too easily. I probably wouldn’t watch it again but I did enjoy seeing Katherine in her early days of acting. The moment she slips from the innocent want-to-be actress to the hardcore going-to-be-famous actress while reciting Shakespeare while drunk makes the movie worth watching but I wouldn’t say much else does — not even handsome Douglas.
I think this review I saw online sums it up well:
The movie was based on the play of the same title by Zoe Akins.
The part in the movie was originally written for actress Constance Bennett, who was RKO’s biggest attraction at the time, according to articles online. Much like in the movie, though, Katharine, a newcomer, talked the producers into hiring her. It paid off since she won the Oscar.
According to TCM.com, Katharine’s first movie was A Bill of Divorcement in 1932 and he next film was Christopher Strong, with the screenplay also being written by Akins.
She reportedly did not like Akins or his writing.
“Although Hepburn disliked Zoe Akins personally and had not been happy with Akins’ script for Christopher Strong, she was eager to do Morning Glory as her next film,” the article by Margarita Landazuri, on TCM reads. “One day while waiting to meet with producer Pandro Berman in his office, she saw the script for Morning Glory on his desk and began reading it. She was instantly enthusiastic, telling Berman, “That’s the most wonderful script ever written for anybody.” Berman told her it was intended for Constance Bennett, but Hepburn demanded it for herself. Akins reportedly had modeled the character of Eva on Tallulah Bankhead (whom Hepburn also disliked), but Hepburn demanded changes so that the character resembled her.”
Landazuri further writes that Fairbanks tried to date Katharine.
“Sherman rehearsed Morning Glory like a play,” she writes. “And shot it in continuity in 18 days, skillfully developing the actors’ characterizations. It paid off; not only was Hepburn’s performance superb, the rest of the cast was excellent also, particularly Smith as Eva’s elderly mentor, and Fairbanks, giving a complex portrayal of the playwright, attracted to Eva but wary of her ambition, and ambitious for his own career. Fairbanks evidently had similar mixed emotions about Hepburn.”
“He tried to date her, but she wasn’t interested. In fact, she was secretly involved with Leland Hayward, although both were married to others at the time. Finally, Hepburn agreed to go out with Fairbanks, but she cut the date short, complaining of a headache. When he took her home, Fairbanks watched as she went inside, then immediately came out again, getting into a car with Hayward.”
There are various reviews of the movie online. Here is an interesting one from TheLondon Times : “Miss Hepburn admirably mingles intellectual austerity with physical gaucherie…her grip never falters, but those who most admire the perfection of her technique must have wished she could, for a few minutes, be free of the depressing limitation of a second-rate story.”
Of her own performance Hepburn was quoted as saying: “I should have stopped then. I haven’t grown since.”
While Morning Glory was not my favorite, I do agree with other critics that the acting was on point. I’ve never been a huge fan of Katharine Hepburn — something about her voice and style grates on me (I know…drum me right out of the Classic Movie Fan Club) —, but she did star in quite a few very interesting films, including this one.
Have you ever seen this film? What did you think of it?
Up next for my Winter of Fairbanks Jr. is The Prisoner of Zenda.
Here is my complete list of planned watches if you want to join in:
“Thousands who one year thought themselves in good circumstances are now as poor as beggars and who has caused all this but the men who are now the leaders of the Rebel forces and fighting against the best government on the face of the earth. They seem determined if they cannot rule this great nation to the interest of negro slavery to ruin it.”
Letter from Charles Grant to John G. Grant, 1861
Growing up, I always knew that I had family members who had fought in the Civil War. For most of my life, I only knew about the family members on my paternal side. Last year I also found definitive proof that I had family members who fought on the Confederate side — ancestors from my mom’s family, as she is originally from North Carolina. I knew there was a connection to the Confederacy since we have Confederate money that was passed down and in the possession of my aunt.
My great-great-grandfather – John G. Grant – was one of the family members on my paternal side who fought during the Civil War and continued to serve in the Army well after the war was over. His two half-brothers – William and Charles – were the other two from my paternal side. They had the same father and different mothers, since William and Charles’ mother had died and their father, George, remarried and then had John with John’s mother, Abigail.
(John Grant, my great-great-grandfather is on the left and his brother William Grant is on the right.)
At some point, my aunt learned that someone from our extended family had handwritten letters between John, William, and Charles that were written to each other, their mother, other family members, and friends.
My aunt made copies of these letters on a copier and then transcribed them via a typewriter. I have no idea where the original letters are but I would love to see them one day.
The letters reveal fascinating tidbits about life in the mid-1800s and provide some interesting thoughts from my family of what was happening as the Civil War started, continued, drew to an end, and after it. Sometimes I forget that the Civil War went on for four years, and that other aspects of life continued even as the war raged in other parts of the country. I always seem to think life just ended and a war was fought.
In reality, people were living their everyday lives even as battles were being fought. Also, there weren’t battles being fought 24 hours, seven days a week, 365 days of the year.
Many people were building houses, growing families, expanding West, getting jobs, and experiencing life that wasn’t all about war. The effects of the war were felt strongly even by those who weren’t directly involved with it, of course, as we know from history books and letters between family members like mine.
While John Grants writes about battles and what was going on in the Army training camp near Germantown in some letters, in others he writes about visiting family and how they were doing. These would be family members that his mother and brothers probably hadn’t seen in years because of how difficult travel was at that time. They moved from Germantown (near Philadelphia) to the county I now live in(about a three hour drive) at some point before the war.
In one undated letter, Charles wrote to his brother John about how the war was affecting jobs and manufacturing in Pennsylvania. It is the only letter I have seen from Charles.
Dear Brother:
I received your letter dated July 3 last night and I was glad to hear that you are well. I am as well, as usual. I saw William about two weeks ago. He was well, but like many others, has nothing to do. Many of the machine shops and factories are shut up and the rest are working but two and three days a week, except those that are making supplies for the Army and Navy.
If things do not get better before next winter, there will be a great amount of suffering among the working people. The factory where I work is running but two and three days in a week and has been for the past two months and the hands are not making more than $10 or $12 a month and that amount will not go far down here.”
He then writes about how many of the savings institutions are failing and how he lost $100 he knows he will never get back.
“And so we go,” he continues in the letter. “Thousands who one year thought themselves in good circumstances are now as poor as beggars and who has caused all this but the men who are now the leaders of the Rebel forces and fighting against the best government on the face of the earth. They seem determined if they cannot rule this great nation to the interest of negro slavery to ruin it.”
“Let us hope, however, that they may not feel that they have undertaken a task that they cannot accomplish although they repulsed our forces in one fierce battle by fighting like Indians in bushes and behind earthworks and in greater numbers. It has only taught the North to make greater exertions to subdue them and bring their leaders to punishment.”
His letter continues to talk about the men and women who have enlisted in Conyngham, Pa.
“Most all the three months men have got home again — most of them are stouter and fatter and a good deal blacker than when they went. Many of them have enlisted for three years. I saw Col. Gearey’s regiment march through the city last Saturday on the road to Harpers Ferry. At their head was a Company A from Hazelton. The regiment was armed with the Lee-enfield rifle and the terrible looking sword bayonet about two feet long. May success attend them.”
John then wrote a letter to a friend or family member (the greeting is cut off on the version my aunt copied) and shared about life in the Army training camps near Germantown, Pa. I am not sure which camp it was. I didn’t see a year on the copy of the letter that I have, with the only date offered being November 14, but with a little research based on some information he shared in the beginning of the letter about a recent battle that had lifted the moral of the troops(the capture of Beaufort, South Carolina) , I figured out that it was written in November 1861.
While at the training camp, John (18 at the time if my math is right) was able to visit with family and see the sights — including young women, which he seemed particularly thrilled by.
“All is quiet in camp this evening, except the boys out cutting up as usual,” he writes in the undated letter. “We are not in want of company here because we have enough of our own besides hundreds come here from the city and other places to see us every day.”
He writes that he visits Germantown “pretty near every Sunday” and it appears to be girls he likes to visit there as evidenced by this line: “The girls down here are very good looking and as full of fun as they are nice.”
He decides he shouldn’t share too much about the girls, though, and goes on to write about a visit to Philadelphia to visit his brother William’s shop. I’m gathering William, who we know from family history to have worked several jobs to keep himself employed, was running a shop to support the Army with supplies.
“He has a great many knapsacks and saddle backs to make for the Army,” John wrote. “We started to have a walk about town. We went down Arch Street to the wharf on the Delaware and saw the steam ships coming into the city and then we went to Fifth and Arch to the great Continental Hotel, the greatest building in the Union, it covers a whole square.”
(Note: This hotel was demolished between 1923 and 1924 to make way for a more modern business structure. I can’t even imagine destroying such a beautiful work of art. It was built in 1860.)
John wrote that they then went to the Pennsylvania Hotel, which is where he stayed overnight. I couldn’t find much information about that hotel online but plan to dig around a little bit to see what I can find about it later on.
“The next morning, we went to South Street where we got our breakfast at the Franklin Eating Saloon,” he wrote. “We then, went to the Navy Yard to see the Regular troops and the great big cannons that are there. There are some that I can stick my head in and they look very heavy. They weigh several tons. They are used on ships or at forts they are building. Three very large steam ships are at the Navy Yard. Each of these is to take eight of the large cannons aboard and I think if they get a chance as some of the Rebel’s battery’s they will blow them to the other side of the Jordan.”
“It is a very fine sight to be in a Navy Yard. You can see most everything a going on that you wish to see. Building ships, casting cannons, cannon balls and shells and all kinds of machinery going on that you can think of. After we saw everything that we wished, we left the Navy Yard and went to the Hall of Independence to the place where the Declaration of Independence was declared in 1776. There you can see all the Patriots that was present at the signing of the Declaration of Independence. They look very near natural. After we saw all the pictures in the room where the Declaration was declared, we went up in the steeple to see the city.”
“A body can see from this steeple over in New Jersey, see the city of Camden, which is on the opposite side of the Delaware. After we saw all that, we wished, we then went to Walnut St. Hospital, or Pain Hospital as it is generally called, to see Charles.”
Now, I am gathering that this is my great-great-grandfather’s half-brother Charles. There was a 13-year age gap between John and Charles, so Charles would have been about 31 at this time. There was a 15-year age gap between William and John so John would have been 33.
Both Charles and William would go on to serve in the Union Army and I will share their journeys and fate in a future post, where I will also share what John G. thought about political issues that stemmed from the war.
“He has been there for a month or more to get his health restored,” John wrote in his letter. “He is getting so that he can be up and around but the doctor will not allow him to go outside of the hospital walls yet for a while. The complaint that he has is called the Grave. This was the first time that I saw him in eight years. He did not know me when I first stepped into this room. He said that he wouldn’t have known me if he would have seen me out on the street.”
John ends the letter by saying he must go to drill.
John did write about battles during the war as well, including this story to William in a Dec. 22, 1863 letter:
“On the 15th at 5 p.m. 100 of the 58th under the command of Captain T. Blakely left this place marched through swamps and waded creeks so as to avoid the rebel pickets until we reached within four miles of Greenville where we surprised a rebel camp of Calvary capturing 23 prisoners, one captain, one Lieutenant, 35 horses, all their arms and equipment – all this being done without firing a shot. On our return we captured their pickets at Chicora Bridge, which crosses Swift Creek five miles this side of where we surprised the camp and a half mile farther down the creek where we crossed when going out.”
“After we captured the picket we swam the creek to this side with our horses, while those on foot crossed on the bridge. I got wet all over as my horses, while those on foot crossed on the bridge. I got wet all over as my horse went in head over heels. The creek is very deep and swift. I captured two prisoners, one horse and two carbines but I have to turn them all over to Uncle Sam. After we all got safe on this side of the creek, we joined our cavalry and one section of the 23rd NY Battery who came up that far so as to cooperate with us in case we should have got into trouble.”
“We arrived at Washington at 2 o’clock the same day, making the whole march of over 40 miles in less than 20 hours from the time we left Washington.”
A quick internet search helped fill in some blanks about this particular story. From the site Civil War In the East:
Captain Theodore Blakeley led Company B in surprising a Confederate camp and capturing a Captain and sixty men with their horses and equipment, all without loss.
Reading about life when my great-great-grandfather and his brothers were young and what they faced as the nation they lived in was at war with each other is honestly quite surreal.
The fact that they struggled to put food on the table yet also wanted to fight for what they felt was right for their nation and their family is a hard concept to wrap my mind around.
I’m sure there was part of John Grant who didn’t want to fight, yet part of him who also wanted to show his bravery and the love for the country he grew up in. Even young people seemed very old back then. John’s letters speak to me like someone who is much older than 18, but by the age of 18 he would have seen a lot. His father had died when he was only about 2-years-old.
His older brothers were most likely living other places to work. His mother then remarried and had a couple more children who did not live beyond infancy. He most likely had to start work very early to help support his family.
Then there was the war and the opportunity to be paid to be a soldier. It’s all such heavy stuff for someone so young. No wonder he sounds mature beyond his years. He had to be. So many people of that generation had to be. They had little time to be silly or contemplate anything other than how to survive from day to day.
It’s so different from what young people and even older people like me have to face today. Reading about their struggles reminds me how lucky I am to live where and when I do and how that privilege was made possible by the sacrifices they made for me.
For the last couple of years, I’ve been taking a season or time period and watching movies with one actor or actress. I kicked it off in 2022 with a Summer of Paul by watching the movies of one of my favorite actors, Paul Newman.
Last spring it was Spring With Cary (Grant that is) and in 2023 it was the Summer of Marilyn.
This winter I’ve chosen Winter with Fairbanks Jr. (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) because I just watched my first movie with him — The Rage of Paris — a couple of months ago and thought it would be fun to explore his other movies, which I know I’ve never seen before because before The Rage of Paris I had never even heard of the guy.
I’ve already written about The Rage of Paris, so I kicked off my marathon with the first movie Douglas Fairbanks Jr. had a lead in The Power of The Press (1928). It is a silent movie directed by Frank Capra. This movie is one of the shortest I’ve watched in my life at about 59 minutes long.
I can’t say I’ve ever watched a silent movie all the way through before this one, so this was a new experience for me. I ended up getting very caught up in the story, especially the crazy car chase scene, which had me captivated.
Right before the scene there was an odd clip where one minute Clem is being held at gunpoint and the film glitches and then the man with the gun is tied up, but I was willing to overlook that because of the age of the movie and how challenging editing could be.
I was surprised how much of the story I could follow even without having constant dialogue. The acting by the actors really was well done and I can imagine they would have been very good in a talkie too. Their expressions told me all I needed to know in each scene.
The movie is about a rookie reporter named Clem Rogers (Fairbanks Jr.) who is frustrated with being relegated to the weather desk. He wants a chance to cover a big story but the editor deflects his requests.
This rejection amuses some of the more seasoned reporters who like to mock Clem, trip him, and, quite frankly, bully him. Having been in newspapers for about 15 years, I can confirm that cub or rookie reporters do go through a bit of initiation session from the more experienced reporters. Usually, it is very affectionate and non-violent, luckily.
Clem finally gets his chance to cover a big story when everyone else is out of the office and he’s the only one available to run to the sight of a murder. The murder victim turns out to be the city’s district attorney.
Once on the scene, Clem shows what a rookie he is by losing his press pass and being denied entrance to the scene. Instead, one of the other reporters from the paper shows up and tells Clem to get back to the office because he’ll take it from there.
Clem is depressed and leaves the scene around the back of the building where he sees a woman climbing out of a window from the crime scene.
He tries to chase her down but she’s able to get away. Luckily a man sees Clem chasing her and asks what’s going on. Clem tells him she’s running from the scene of a murder and the man says he’d be shocked if the woman was involved because she’s the daughter of the city mayor.
This leads Clem to run back to the newspaper and tell his editor he has a breaking story — the daughter of the mayor killed the district attorney.
Clearly Clem was never taught to check his sources or even find sources for a story and neither did the editor because the editor runs with it and splashes it all over the front page that the woman is a murderer.
She’s crushed by this and confronts Clem after the paper comes out. For his part, Clem is strutting around the office like a proud peacock because of his big scoop.
The mayor’s daughter — Jane Atwill (Jobyna Ralston) — comes to Clem, though, and is like (summary ahead), “Excuse me?! Why would you tell the world I killed a man! You don’t know anything about me.”
I’ll give Clem some credit because he’s like (more summation), “Oh. Wow. I screwed up. I’m so sorry. I’ll ask my editor to print a retraction.”
Ha. Good luck, buddy. If there is anything an editor hates more than missing a big scoop it is printing retractions. You have to have a very, very good reason to retract a story that big and Clem is going to need to prove somehow that Jane is not guilty.
This launches the pair of them on an investigation to find out who the true killer is.
A total aside here, but I loved how Fairbanks Jr.’s hair looked like Leonardo DiCaprio’s, or many other young men, from the 1990s. In some ways the movie looked modern for that reason – or it looked like they’d cut a modern actor into an old silent film.
I watched this one on Amazon but while researching for this post, I found it for free on YouTube. As far as I know it is the full movie, but you might want to double check.
The information online is a bit conflicting, but a couple different sources say that The Power of the Press was Fairbanks Jr.’s first outright leading role. While he played bigger roles in other movies (including his first movie at the age of 13 in 1923) he had not yet had a lead.
His career really picked up in 1929 after he married actress Joan Crawford. That marriage ended in 1933 and he later married Mary Lee Epling, who he remained married to until she passed away in 1988.
I’ve been enjoying reading about Fairbanks Jr. on Prince of Hollywood (link here), a blog dedicated to him, in case you are interested in learning more about him as well: https://douglasfairbanksjr.wordpress.com/filmography/
Up next in my Winter of Fairbanks Jr. Movie Marathon is:
Morning Glory – staring Fairbanks Jr. and Katherine Hepburn (1933)
Here is my complete list of planned watches if you want to join in:
A quick reminder for January plans for this blog and Erin with Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs.
Erin and I are planning some Cozy Crafternoons on Zoom in January and February to try to beat those winter blahs that happen after Christmas. The plans for now are two a month.
We will just all meet up on the date and time, and individually work on whatever we want – embroidery, coloring, knitting, crocheting, jewelry making, etc, while chatting.
Erin says she will be embroidering during the session. I might be writing, drawing, or editing photos.
If you are interested in learning more send an email either to me at lisahoweler@gmail.com or to Erin at crackercrumblife@gmail.com. That way we will have your email for the zoom link! Our first scheduled crafternoon is January 11th at 1 pm EST.
I have a list of 16 books I enjoyed from my 2024 list, but I whittled them down to ten for today. I’m going to leave my favorite read from the year at number 10.
The Cat Who Talked to Ghosts by Lilian Jackson Braun
I have read most of the books in The Cat Who series and this one was definitely my favorite. Honestly, it almost felt like it was written by a different author in some ways. I enjoyed most of the books in the series even though this one felt different.
2. Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorenson
I really enjoyed this middle grade book that takes place in my home state of Pennsylvania. There were some tough topics here — such as PTSD after war —— but they were handled gingerly.
3. Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
This one was different than many of my other reads and not “clean” by some standards because of language, but I fell in love with the main character and the side characters. I can’t wait for the sequel!
4. Murder in an Irish Village by Carlene O’Connor
This one also featured some language but otherwise was clean and a lot of fun. I loved this cozy mystery that took place in a small Irish village and I can’t wait to read more in the series. I hope they are as good as the first book.
5. Move Your Blooming Corpse by D.E. Ireland
This was the second book in a series based on the characters of My Fair Lady – Eliza Doolittle and Professor Henry Higgins. The book was a ton of fun from start to finish.
6. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
I had seen the movie based on this book but had never read the book. I read it and then read it again to my daughter shortly after so I guess I read it twice in 2024. The ending was a bit too abrupt to me, but I still enjoyed it.
7. Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne
Yep, this was another classic I had never read and I ended up really enjoying it.
8. The Clue of The Whistling Bagpipesby Carolyn Keene
This was a Nancy Drew Mystery and while they can be a bit cheesy at times, I really enjoyed this one because it was full of Scottish history and culture.
9. Return to Gone Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright
This was another middle-grade book that I read with Little Miss and really enjoyed. We had read Gone Away Lake, the first book in the series in 2023.
10. The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
This was by far my favorite read of the year and my favorite read from the past several years. This book was so much different than the Anne of Green Gables books and I sometimes wonder how they are so different in their language and style. I don’t usually write in or mark up my paperback books but I underlined and marked so many passages in this book. If you haven’t read it, I would definitely encourage you to move it up your TBR list.
Honorable mentions:
Other books I enjoyed this year include:
The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz (A Hawthorne/Horowtiz Mystery)
Clueless at the Coffee Station by Bee Littlefield
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
Murder Always Barks Twice by Jennifer Hawkins
A Quilt for Christmas by Melody Carlson
The Middle Moffat by Eleanor Estes
Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? And what books were among your favorite reads in 2024?
I was listening to Michael Bublé singing White Christmas the other day and thinking about how when I was growing up we almost never had a white Christmas because every year we drove from Pennsylvania to North Carolina to visit with my mom‘s family. The part of North Carolina they lived in — closer to the East coast and the beach — isn’t known for having a ton of snow.
We traveled to North Carolina as a family from the time I was a baby until I was married.
We would leave Pennsylvania with snow on the ground, and see some snow on the way down, but once we hit North Carolina the temperatures were usually in the 60s to 70s and occasionally the 80s. When we would step out of the car at the North Carolina welcome center, everything smelled like warmth and pine.
One year though, snow met us as we traveled through North Carolina and continued with us as we traveled to Jacksonville. I remember it being a lot of snow, but I was young, so maybe it wasn’t.
I do remember that no one in the South knew how to drive in it so the city was pretty much shut down. They didn’t even snowplows or cinders to put on the road. They simply don’t need them most of the time.
Since my dad is a lifelong Northerner, he tried to help my grandmother’s neighbors and teach them how to drive on the icy roads.
Seeing the snow outside Grandma and Aunt Dianne’s house felt both amazing and strange. I’d never had a white Christmas so this was my chance, but seeing those Carolina pines all weighted down under snow was surreal.
I was used to short sleeve shirts when walking outside, warm sun on my face, and sometimes trip to the beach to stick my feet in the ocean.
This time, though, we were stuck inside so some Southerner didn’t careen into us on their way to the Piggy Wiggly.
My mom says it was’t the only time they went down that it snowed because before I was born it happened too, but again, it was very rare.
Remembering the Christmases we spent in North Carolina is bitter sweet these days.
It’s so nice to have those memories of that time – the joyous times.
Like I said in previous posts about our trips down south, if I close my eyes, I can remember the feeling of pulling in the driveway of my grandparents’ house (Grandpa was gone after I was 9 so it was Grandma and Aunt Dianne’s after that), knowing our long journey was done.
I’m climbing out from under the pile of blankets and stuffed animals I’d carried with me and Dad is taking away the winter coat away to put in the trunk because we usually didn’t need them after we arrive.
Aunt Dianne comes on to the front porch, clapping her hands and saying, “Hello, ya’ll! You made good time didn’t ya’? Come here so I can give you a hug.”
Hugging someone you haven’t hugged in a year is an amazing feeling.
The porch door squeaks as she leans out and reaches her arms out to us.
She’s wearing a pair of sweatpants, a plaid shirt over a Tshirt with the Pepsi logo emblazoned on it, and a pair of worn slippers. She smells faintly of cigarettes, collard greens, and diet Pepsi — which would be a horrible combination in other circumstances but is the most wonderful smell to me in that moment as I am wrapped in her arms, being held against her chest. I can barely breathe she’s hugging me so tight, but I take short breaths to get in air until she releases me with a wet kiss on my cheek.
She’s kissing the top of my head and I’m telling her I desperately have to use the bathroom. She laughs and tells me to “hurry on up then.” Inside the living room my grandma is waiting to the left of the door in the living room, sitting in her rocking chair. I rush by her because, as I just told Dianne, I have to use the bathroom.
“I know you’re not going to rush right by me without loving my neck now,” Grandma says in her thick Southern accent.
“I have to use the bathroom!” I call over my shoulder.
I can smell the collard greens Dianne has been cooking as I run through the house, past the kitchen, into the little dining room, down the short hall with all the family photos lining it, and to the bathroom.
Once things have been relieved in that department, I’m back in the living room, leaning into Grandma who feels like a pile of pillows and marshmallows all mushed together, the skin on her arms soft and full of comfort and love.
Behind us, in front of the large window, is the Christmas tree Dianne decorated and there are a few gifts already wrapped under it.
It’s hard for me to remember past this point because my mind is stuck in that moment with my head on Grandma’s stomach, her arms holding me tight. I remember that year her feelings were a little hurt because she thought I was blowing her off. Once she realized how bad I’d had to use the bathroom she understood why I had to come back for the hug. After that she just held me and said, “It’s so good to see you, shug.” (pronounced shoog for all you non-Southerners.”)
I have a hard time letting myself walk away from that moment because it’s where I want to be every Christmas now.
I’d trade all the gifts, even the wonderful Southern food, just to be in her arms again.
When things get really tough in life, I close my eyes and that’s where I’m at. Kneeling in front of her rocking chair, my head on her fluffy stomach, feeling the rush of unconditional love.
I imagine that’s what heaven will be — being held in unconditional love so pure and all encompassing that nothing else matters.
Being held in the arms of my grandmother who is being held in the arms of Jesus.
This is a link-up where we not only allow you to share your past posts, but we encourage it. So, share away!
I can not believe this is the last Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot of 2024! How did this year go by so fast? I believe I’ve been a co-host for this link up for about a year…maybe more? I’ve sort of lost track of the months.
Thank you to Marsha for allowing me to be a part of this link-up each week.
We hope to see you all again January 9th for the first link-up of 2025.
Look for a new and improved Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot with the new year! We will be featuring a new blogger each week along with our individual favorite picks. If you’re interested in being featured please drop us a line at momssundaycafe@gmail.com. And you will be on our list!
And here are a few highlights I chose for this week. There are so many great posts each week that it is really hard to pick a few to highlight so I hope you will take a little time out of your day to go click on a few and tell them you enjoyed their posts.
I’m so glad you are here and participating in our weekly link-up of family-friendly, fun, educational, interesting, crafty, fashionable, and “whatever else” posts. I hope you’ll tell your followers about our link up (free to copy and paste the graphic) and visit the bloggers who participate each week.
Now it is your turn to link up your favorite posts. They can be fashion, lifestyle, DIY, food, etc. All we ask is that they be family-friendly. You can link up posts from last week or even from years ago. You can share up to three links each week.
We are always looking for additional hosts so let us know if you want to help out!
