Céad Míle Fáilte! St Padraig’s Day is upon us! It’s always a big day in our house! I have such a love for Ireland, and while being of Irish descent explains some of it, some of it is just the magnificence of Ireland, its people, and its history. Whatever the reason, Ireland has held my heart for a very long time, and St Padraig’s Day is the one day a year I get to glory in Ireland.
What does that look like? It means the Irish flag hangs in our home, we have all sorts of foods (the best part of any holiday), and Irish music and movies are on repeat. It means I make several loaves of soda bread {I’ll share my recipe below}, and my family generally tolerates my ridiculousness.
But these things are the traditions that make a family; the things that we do and celebrate together. That when we grow up we remember the fun and the meaningfulness of such things to those we love, and share them with others.
So on this weekend: Lá fhéile Pádraig sona dhuit!
May you always have walls for the winds, a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire, laughter to cheer you, those you love near you, and all your heart might desire. — An Irish Blessing
Abundant Blessings to you,
Jessica
⬇️ Scroll down for this month’s Quick Bits! ⬇️
Quick Bits 💌 #013
Over on Instagram I did an updated Meet the Bookstagrammer post, which I haven’t done in a very long time. As I mentioned over there, it is so hard to boil down who we are to a few sentences, even harder to do so in a well-rounded manner. I’ve talked with several writers over the past 20 years and all agree that writing your bio is harder than writing anything else. Who are we to tell you who we are? We’re obviously biased, and obviously wanting you to hang around.
It’s been a relatively quiet month in our house. Winter athletics have finished, there’s no snow to speak of, and somehow despite things being “quieter” there was very little time to sit and write. That said, I’ve been oiling my roller skates for what lies ahead! We have AAU basketball, spring soccer and track, as well as the high school musical {Mary Poppins}, a trip abroad, the pending additions of several new barnyard beasts, and all of the end of the school year festivities!
The first few months of the year are always my busiest for subbing at my kids’ schools {several subs are snowbirds that head south}. I started subbing in the fall of 2019 in our elementary school with the intention of getting my Master’s in Information Science School Library, which over the following years several things fell through and came up and I deferred my enrollment after two classes. Recently things have been pulling that thread, making me wonder if I should return to my studies.
Currently Reading, Listening, Watching 📚
🕮 The Bletchley Riddle
🎥 Season Five of All Creatures Great and Small
🎧My St. Padraig’s Day Playlist on Spotify
Quotable Quotes 💬
“Wherever they went the Irish brought with them their books, many unseen in Europe for centuries and tied to their waists as signs of triumph, just as Irish heroes had once tied to their waists their enemies' heads. Where they went they brought their love of learning and their skills in bookmaking. In the bays and valleys of their exile, they reestablished literacy and breathed new life into the exhausted literary culture of Europe. And that is how the Irish saved civilization.”
― Thomas Cahill, How the Irish Saved Civilization
Recommended Reads📍
While you can find all of my recent recommendations HERE…these are a particular few I wanted to share:
Here’s my soda bread recipe.
If you haven’t checked out The Lunatic Farmer yet, I highly recommend it.
I’ve been loosely following Tsh Oxenreider’s letters to her daughter: This one particularly struck a chord.
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