For the Love of Winter

Winter has always been the time for me to slow down, to cuddle up, to pause and recharge, especially after the holidays. But that slowing down doesn’t stop me from enjoying the season.

Winterlust: Finding Beauty in the Fiercest Season by Bernd Brunner. In winter I’m not hiding out until the sun comes back–if anything I’m more present and taking full advantage of the season. This book offers essays on the meditative quality of winter and all that it has to offer us, such as the magic of snow and the activities it provides, as well as it’s ability to turn us back into children again. Winter is also the season of comfort, along the lines of the popular hygge movement of warmth and contentment. As you embrace the season, that in turn slows you down to be here and now–instead of the go, go, go.

Millennial Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving in my family has always been big and loud and so much leftovers you’d eat for weeks afterwards. But as families move farther away whether they are retiring or falling in love or discovering a new career…or as the case with a lot of my cousins and I moving farther out so we can pay the bills – that is starting to change. And it’s changing for many Millennials across the country. We are having less food, less waste, and friendsgivings – creating a chosen family rather then flying across the country, which usually carries a stressful and very expensive price tag.

Here are a few books in our collection to inspire a new way of gathering at the table this holiday season:

Celebrate pollinators in June!

Learn more about pollinators, how to attract them into your garden, and reflect on what can be done to protect them and the work they do in our ecosystems. Of course it’s a subject always of interest, but June 17-23, 2019 is National Pollinator Week, designated by the U.S. Senate as a celebration of pollinators such as bees, butterflies, bats, and more. Here are some books and resources on bees and other pollinators.

Our Native Bees: North America’s Endangered Pollinators and the Fight to Save Them by Paige Embry
Organized by bee, Embry provides an overview of the various native bee species in the U.S, covering the nesting, foraging and mating habits of each bee. Embry visits the owners of almond groves, cherry orchards, blueberry fields and more to better understand different bees. Written in a chatty, folksy tone with many high-quality photos, this is a lovely book to dip in and out of.

Birds, Bees, and Butterflies

The first Spring in our new house was spent figuring out where we wanted things and tackling the things we didn’t – I battled sticker bushes and morning glory, we moved garden beds, and got a patio poured. This year all that hard work started coming together. I planted vegetables, we got patio furniture, and got some flower beds organized – but like all good library nerds I had to do research first.

I’ve always wanted my yard to be habitat friendly so when I weeded I didn’t just take out everything that’s considered a weed. I kept clover and bachelor’s button despite their bad reputation. I also let things happen naturally with random plants that popped up on their own like lupine, hyacinths, daffodils, and a calla lilly! We added lavender, rosemary, borage, and mint for bees. I also, made little rain gardens and added bird feeders and from last year we have foxgloves and crocosmia for the hummingbirds.

I’ve seen so much new wildlife come into our yard lately; looking forward to what each year brings! Here are a few books in our collection that helped me out:

Taking Me Back

I was having a conversation with a friend the other day over our love of Spam. One year for her birthday her husband bought her a sampler pack of 12 different varieties! That was something new I learned – I had only ever known of the true blue original can. Growing up my mom used to mix spam, shredded cheese, and mayo together and place it on an English muffin then pop it in the oven where it got melty and crunchy. It was delicious!

That got me thinking about other recipes I enjoyed growing up – the ones my mom learned from her mom and on and on it goes. Here are a few books in our collection that highlight those recipes with a modern twist: