Archive November, 2020 - What The Red Herring
Fall Reading At its Very Best

Fall Reading At its Very Best

There’s something almost universally appealing to readers about having a comfy chair near a window with a cozy blanket, in a quiet room with a good book.

If you can picture yourself there, I want to suggest a title for the book you’re holding in your hands. So much the better if it’s a rapidly darkening November afternoon, with the window open and a cool, damp breeze flowing in.

It’s A Day, and There was Turkey.

It’s A Day, and There was Turkey.

Today is a day of mourning for Native Americans. It has been so for fifty years. As our country awakens again to the tragedies that have dogged us at every stage of our history, it’s difficult to find a holiday that can be celebrated without mixed feelings.

Truthfully, what holiday was ever free of baggage? These days were already burdened with the small and large issues we have with them, wrapped up in financial woes, boundaries with family members, or our own dark personal struggles.

If you go back to my very first blog post, I talked about the pressure of trying to make all the holiday magic by myself. In the couple of years since then, I’ve realized that I don’t have to do it alone.

Historical Costuming with Kids: 18th Century

Historical Costuming with Kids: 18th Century

I wanted to pop in with an update on costuming with the kids.

My goal was to create a mid-18th century working class look, with all the visible stitching  done by hand. For the sake of time, all the inner long seams were machine sewn, then hand finished.

Because this is supposed to be fun, I didn’t want to go down a rabbit hole of ideas about how the costumes “should” look and or get too neurotic about what was Historically Accurate.

A Clear Head and A Question Mark

A Clear Head and A Question Mark

After yesterday’s post I felt like I had to follow up because today was so different from the past several weeks.

I woke up this morning and had finished molting.

When All We Can Do Is Press Pause

When All We Can Do Is Press Pause

I’m on high alert a lot of the time. The past few weeks have been especially bad. When I meditate, or take a walk outside, I can temporarily hit pause on all the stimulation my brain is getting and it settles way down. Then, the volume shoots back up to ten.