Idlewild Cottage

“The true way to live is to enjoy every moment as it passes, and surely it is in the everyday things around us that the beauty of life lies.” ~ Laura Ingalls Wilder 1916 We'll step into the following books and movies to delight in the "everyday things around us" by way of wrapping up our "wintering" season at Idlewild Cottage: "Little House in the Big Woods" by La...

Over the course of two episodes, I’ll be sharing a few of my wintering activities with you, connecting them to excerpts from the stories and movies we have grown to know and love together here at Idlewild Cottage. Works Shared: "Book of Stillmeadow" by Gladys Taber "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott "Pride and Prejudice" (1995 film) "Betsy in Spite of Herself&qu...

Hello, kindred spirits, and welcome back to Idlewild Cottage. It is a delight to gather together once again - after quite a long break - for our winter series. This will be a shorter, every-other week series this time around, but I do hope it will still provide “all things lovely and cozy” for you in this quiet little corner of the podcast world. Throughout our time together today, we’ll jump into...

Hello, kindred spirits, and welcome to episode 40 here at Idlewild Cottage. This marks the last episode in our autumn series. I’ll be taking some time away from the cottage - going on holiday, so to speak - and plan to pick back up with winter content in the coming weeks. As we gather today in anticipation of Thanksgiving, I’d like to center our thoughts on gratitude. Specifically, we’ll step into...

“It was November - the month of crimson sunsets, parting birds, deep, sad hymns of the sea, passionate wind-songs in the pines.” Lucy Maud Montgomery’s pen brings each month to life like no other. Now, this month does mean the wrapping up of the fall content here at Idlewild Cottage. We’ll share together in one more episode next week, and then break until the winter season arrives. For now, as we...

As autumn steals quietly on and the days shorten, our attention shifts to embrace the cozy indoor rhythms of home. One of these rhythms, both by necessity and by delight, is that of gathering around the table. This gathering may be as formal as a company meal, crowded with guests and overflowing with delectables; or, it could be as simple as bread and cheese before the fire. Today, we’ll peek into...

All great stories have some element of surprise, suspense, or mystery about them. Often this is precisely what keeps us turning the pages to see what happens next. As autumn draws on, many readers reach for cozy mysteries. This week, I thought we’d step into several mysterious moments from a few of our favorite stories. Now, these books aren’t actually mysteries, but the element of suspense defini...

Throughout our time together today, we will step into several literary homes, finding that their names alone have the power to conjure up images, memories, sensations. Can you guess the books connected with the names of each home? Works Shared: "Anne of Windy Poplars" by Lucy Maud Montgomery (L.M.M.) "Pat of Silver Bush" by L.M.M. "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott &...

On this cozy October day, I’d like to invite you into the library of Idlewild Cottage. Though imaginary, I can just picture the ceiling to floor wooden bookcases . . . the fire crackling merrily on the hearth . . . the plush chairs, just the right shape and squishiness for curling up with a good book . . . and yes, the pot of tea to fortify our intellectual endeavors. As we pull books off the shel...

I do believe our dear Anne Shirley said it best: “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” Welcome to this October day, my friends! In celebration of this vivid month, we’ll weave our way throughout several favorite books, seeking out idyllic October settings along the way. You’ll find that Lucy Maud Montgomery and Louisa May Alcott very much take center stage! Works Shared: "...

There’s a merry hustle and bustle in the cottage yard here today, for it is time to join the merry harvesters and bring home the fruits of the season. And so, let’s don our work aprons, straw hats, and kerchiefs and step into several works - books, poetry, scripture, and art - gathering a variety of crops, from apples and pumpkins, to cranberries, honey, and more. Works Shared: "Anna Karenina...

Join Ken McLaughlin, Velvet Brown, Almanzo Wilder, and more as our literary and cinematic friends experience the thrill and delight of horsemanship. Works Shared: "My Friend Flicka" by Mary O'Hara "National Velvet" by Enid Bagnold "National Velvet" 1944 film "Billy and Blaze" series by C.W. Anderson James Herriot's Treasury for Children: "Bonnie...

Hello, kindred spirits, and welcome back to Idlewild Cottage! It is a delight to gather together once again as we turn our thoughts toward fall. The month of September naturally brings to mind back to school images, so during our time together today, we’ll journey through an old fashioned school day with several literary friends. Now, our journey will pay no heed to time or place. Rather, we’ll pi...

Today marks the last episode in our spring series. Now, I’m not entirely sure what this summer and the future of Idlewild Cottage will look like, so in the meantime, I’d love to leave you with a tribute to several sweet childhood haunts and hideaways in literature. We’ll begin, most fittingly, with Anne Shirley’s very own Idlewild, which - as you may have guessed - is the inspiration behind the na...

If you were with us last week, you may recall the scenes with Frightful the Falcon preening her feathers and Mary Lennox’s robin friend showing off his sleek red waistcoat. As spring skips along in riotous color, so our literary friends primp, preen, and put on their finest in today’s episode. Now, we have just two more episodes in our spring series. So today, let’s imagine ourselves dressed in ou...

Just as Percy Bysshe Shelley was swept into the poetry of the skylark’s dance in the first two stanzas of his immortal work, so we will take a moment today to open a few literary passages that sweep us into sky, island, garden, parlor - and even a schoolroom - in admiration of birds. Works Shared: "To a Skylark" poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley "My Side of the Mountain" by Jean Cra...

September 1921 : " The most universal sentiment in the world is that of mother-love . . . . it is the strongest force in creation. It holds within its sheltering care the fulfillment of the purpose of creation itself. In all ages, in all countries it is the same - a boundless, all enveloping love." (Laura Ingalls Wilder) As we look toward Mother’s Day, we’ll join Laura Ingalls Wilder in...

If you were with us last week, you’ll recall that we started our two-part series, “Where Time Stands Still,” with a number of moments in which our literary friends are swept into the beauty of nature. We joined Heidi on mountain tops, Ratty and Mole on an island, Laura and Mary on the prairie, and more. This week we’ll continue with this delight, shifting our focus to majestic waters. From the hum...

Some of my favorite literary moments are those in which the main character finds him or herself still and quiet in the overwhelming presence of nature, soaking in the vastness of the blue sky, the immensity of towering firs, the ruggedness of majestic mountains, or the power of raging waters. For the next two episodes, we’ll linger over a number of scenes, both on land and along the water’s edge,...

Spring fever is to blame for any number of hasty decisions. The feeling of restlessness that follows winter’s chill and inactivity often prompts our literary friends to burst out of their shells, just like tulips and daffodils, desperate for a change. That change is not infrequently directed to the human head. Specifically? Our impulsive friends reach for the scissors, curling rods, or hair dye wh...

I hope you had a lovely Easter and that this season’s signs of life continue to bring you joy, beauty, and encouragement. One of those signs of life is the marked increase in the bird population! Today’s episode is what I call a Wee Cuppa - a bit shorter than usual, but just as cozy . . . and today, somewhat fluffy, too. For today, we will find joy in the soft, downy feathers of the ducks and gees...

Spring carries with it numerous possibilities: rows on the river, picnics in shady glens, seeds tucked into fertile soil. As I explore favorite books, I see that spring also welcomes another form of adventure: as the earth warms and muddy paths gradually dry, our friends eagerly take to the open road. Now, Walt Whitman’s lines  invite the traveler to take to "the open road" on foot, but...

Welcome back to Idlewild Cottage, where the daffodils are nodding, the earth is warming, and the winds are as fitful and fickle as ever! It is a joy to be with you, my friends, as we step into this new season. Early spring is a time in which the stage is set for many adventures and activities, from planning a garden to simply enjoying more time outdoors. Throughout our time together today, we’ll e...

Many of our favorite movies and stories end happily ever after with expected matches: we expect Anne to marry Gilbert, and we expect Laura to marry Almanzo. But what about the love that blossoms unexpectedly? In today’s episode, we’ll wrap up a month of love - and our winter season as well - with the unlikely romances found among several literary and cinematic couples. Works Shared:   "Fiddle...

Valentine’s Day may be behind us, but here at Idlewild Cottage we’ll keep love at the center of our hearts for a couple more episodes, wrapping up our series next week. So far we’ve explored the love between sisters and the love shared among kindred spirits. This week we’ll shift our attention to next of kin. It’s not an uncommon theme in literature for a child to be brought up by an aunt, uncle,...