This week on four things – Dreamy handpainted walls and historic patterns, a feel-good story, the best apples in the world, and plugging away on home projects.  Enjoy! what I’m reading I purchased A Year in the French Style and received it just in time for a dentist appointment for my 6-month cleaning.  I don’t usually have to wait very long, but I always bring a book with me.  I see waiting as a prime time to get more reading in instead of scrolling pointlessly through my phone.  They were running a bit behind schedule, so I had time to flip through and start reading A Year in the French Style. I was so in love with this neutral, faded mural, and enjoyed reading about the process since I’m eyeball-deep in painting my own mural.  I might need to try something of this style somewhere else in the house… I

My four things this week – admiring the patterns in the world, one of the greatest stories of adventure and survival ever, a quote from the 1500s that inspires me even my safe, suburban life, and a gift we’re giving to our future selves… what I’m reading A few weeks ago, I ordered the book Affinities after it had been on a wishlist for a while.  It’s a book of images from the Public Domain Review, which I thought would be an interesting read.  The images range from beautiful to the quirky and odd. What I have found most inspiring and interesting about this book, though, is the way it’s arranged.  Images aren’t grouped on pages by subject or date, but by how they relate to one another.  It’s sort of a study of a repeat of patterns more than a study of public domain images.  I found it fascinating

Since I was traveling this week, my four things list is a little different.  I think that’s what I like about sharing some favorites in this format.  Each week will be different depending on the season and what I’m up to.  It’ll capture a snapshot of what I’m up to.  My four things for this week include periodicals, a Holocaust story, beaching, dining, and planning.  Enjoy! what I’m reading Although I brought a bag of books with me (naturally), I haven’t been reading any of them this week.  We’ve been busy going to the beach, driving through coastal towns, sightseeing, and eating all the good food around Hilton Head Island.   I brought along some sketchbooks, paints, and other ort supplies and I haven’t even opened the bag!  We usually have more time sitting around in the beach house, but this trip has been about exploration.  So, the reading I have

It’s time for another four things and this is a random smattering.  Commonplacing, Hemmingway, contemporary poetry, and a race with the weather.  Enjoy… what I’m reading I’ve been very interested in record-keeping the past few weeks, so I’ve been reading books on diaries, journals, letters, sketchbooks, logbooks, and commonplace notebooks.  This led me to the book How Romantics & Victorians Organized Information.  Unfortunately, it’s not available in audiobook format, so I’ve been reading a good old-fashioned paperback before bed.  As I understand it, this book is a doctoral dissertation and it’s definitely written that way.  The footnotes citing sources take up half of almost every page!  But, once I got through the introduction and preliminary information about the history of keeping a commonplace notebook, it became more interesting.  It’s not exactly a book I would recommend, but it’s worth a read (so far) if it’s a subject you want to