Sunshine Blogger Award

Hullo, my lovelies!

It is a happy occasion indeed that brings me to pop out of 

the woodwork today! And what might that be, you wonder? Well, you can see for yourself, if you take a moment to read on and scroll along down the page ;) See, the lovely Cecilia of  Craft, Coffee And Cake has been around nominating us for the Sunshine blogger award, (Many thanks, Cecilia! Also a hearty apology for how long getting this up has taken.) and we've got all kinds of things to delve into with this post! (It contains very few cabbages and kings, though, and not a spot of sealing wax. Just to provide you with a brief preview.)

And as a special bonus, since while I'm the Idlewood Archives bit of it, there is another half of this blog which is far more active.... (Ie, the world of the Seasons Series) Julie and I have both answered these questions, so it's a double feature of sorts :) 

First things first, let us have the Rules Of The Thing! (Which are as follows, in case that wasn't obvious already.) 

1. Display the award’s official logo somewhere on your blog. 
2. Thank the person who nominated you. 
3. Provide a link to your nominator’s blog. 
4. Answer your nominator’s questions. 
5. Nominate up to 11 bloggers. 
6. Ask your nominees 11 questions. 
7. Notify your nominees by commenting on at least one of their blog posts. 

And now, without further ado.... (Because as anyone who knows me knows beyond the shadow of a very small doubt, if I start ado-ing, we shall all still be here about this time tomorrow :P) I give you the questions!! (And the answers, which equal 22 when done in the particular fashion that we have here ;)

The Questions

1. What's one thing you've wanted to do for years, but haven't got round to doing?

Emi : Ooh, I just thought of the perfect one !! So here it is. Collecting cattail pollen in the spring, for the purpose of flour when you're camping.... It's supposed to have a very nice, sweet taste to it, is fine enough that you don't need to grind it before you can use it, and overall, the thought intrigued me from the first time I heard about it ! This may sound less random if you know that I grew up surrounded by woods, and my closest-in-age sister and I could not have had a more delightful playground.... You should have seen the spruce cone-and-tree-moss stew we cooked up, with dugout water for the broth.  :P (Don't worry, it was strictly for the fun of cooking it up, and no one was forced to taste-test XD Unless the squirrels came calling after we went in for our own supper, which is not impossible, however unlikely. One does imagine they wouldn't want to dip their paws in unidentified concoctions too desperately, though I cannot claim any great insight into the minds of squirrels.) 

Julie: Learn to sew. Like actually sew. As in be able to sit down and make anything I wanted. I would love to be able to look at one of those beautiful dresses I'm obsessed over and then just make it. I can't imagine... and here I am stuck with whatever I can scrounge outta Goodwill or convince my mom to make for me cuz here I be 22 years old and I STILL haven't learned how to sew... (despite the fact that my mom is literally a professional seamstress and has tried to teach me multiple times...)

So I can make stuff like this... now if I just had the figure to pull it off... XD

2. What's one thing you DO that your peers DON'T do? And what's one thing you DON'T do that your peers DO do?

Emi : *Thinks hard* Aha! Here 'tis. I cook about 98% (Okay, I'm guessing, but still. More or less accurate! Possibly more than less.) from scratch. No mixes, no instant anything, just the old fashioned way on pretty much everything! (Does that count?) Also I don't do sugar. We are a Honey Household, and use mass quantities of the stuff. (Barrels of it, and that is not even an exaggeration. You may well stagger, I know, but consider the fact that you need twice the amount of sugar to equal the sweetness of honey, then! Which means.... You would need EVEN more barrels of sugar to match our honey intake. XD)

And for something I don't do that others definitely DO do, let's make that having a formal job. I've vaguely shared that mine is a farming family before someplace, I think, so my work takes place in the home and helping out on the farm, just one gear in the works! 

Julie: Well... I s'pose I live mentally in my stories whereas most people I know live in the real world. It's not exactly a healthy habit, but it's a sort of protection when most real world things crumble into pieces. At least stories always go the way you want them to. 😜

As for something I don't do, I guess it's have a smartphone. I use a flip phone.

3. What's your least favourite classic book you've read, and why?

Emi : Excellent question! To which I must now think up an answer, since it isn't one I keep handy, having never thought of this precise thing before ;) Hmmm.... Black Beauty was somewhat depressing, but I can't actually call it my Least Favourite Classic..... I feel like there's one out there that I just can't put my finger on XD Which tends to happen exactly when you're trying to think of something....

Julie: Probably Christy by Catherine Marshall. I hated everything about that book. I felt disgusted and upset when I was finished with it. It sorta just seemed to forever destroy something about life for me. I don't know how to sufficiently describe it, but that book was AWFUL. Someone gave it to me, and when I was finished reading it (still can't believe I actually finished) I threw it in the garbage with great relish and relief. Cried about it, too. 

4. If you had to dress in one colour for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Emi : I feel like I should say pink, on the principle of having said it was my favourite colour since I was knee-high to your run-of-the-mill and average grasshopper, and it really still is one of them, but I think I'm gonna go with blue here! So many shades of possibility in blue.... 

Julie: Navy, of course. LOL, looking at my wardrobe at the moment, it's all varying shades of navy, gray, and black, with a couple random pinks and dark greens sprinkled in. (Man, I need more dark green. And less pink.) Anyway, navy is the best, most comfortable thing to wear. Also it's just an all-around gorgeous color. Ever seen anyone with navy eyes? Cuz I have, and they're something else 😜

5. Excluding the Bible, what was the best spiritual book you've read and why was it so good?

Emi : Hmmmm again.... Is it alright to go with a children's book, and say Max Lucado's Just The Way You Are? Because somewhere in the simplicity and sweetness of this book lies a truth that cannot help but touch your heart, and remind you of what it is that God really asks of His children.... And it is beautiful. I don't know if it's the best one I've read, but it certainly ranks among them. Best is so difficult to narrow things down to, you know, and sometimes one simply goes with Very Good instead in such cases. Although now that I think of it, I could whisk in several Tessa Afshar books in the mix ! How those slipped my mind before I do not know XD So consider Thief Of Corinth and The Land Of Silence as partakers in this position. They really are among the best I've read, a beautiful picture of both God's grace, and what an extraordinary transformation takes place when you let Him lead your life.... Not that it will be easy, or perfect, but made possible and soooo beautiful with His hand guiding it.

Julie: It's not technically a spiritual book, but there are strong spiritual themes throughout it, so I'd have to say The Story of the Trapp Family Singers. It's the true-life story behind The Sound of Music, and one of my top favorite books I've ever read, perhaps in my top ten. The theme of this amazing, beautiful, hilariously-entertaining story is that our purpose in life is to discover the will of God and then to follow it. It speaks to me in a way no other book ever has before. I have read it at least once per year for the past twelve years.

6. What was the earliest creative project that you started and still have (even if you didn't finish it!)?

Emi : That would be the butterfly I embroidered sometime between the ages of five and seven, I forget which it was.... The stitches are undeniably crooked, and some, I believe, must measure at least half an inch in length.... Not to mention that the colour of thread changes every inch or two along the way. But a butterfly it was at completion, and I loved handsewing from then on :) Possibly since before then too, but my timeline refuses to produce any provably prior projects, (pardon all my P's,) so we shall pick this one XD

Julie: Ah, yes, the infamous "kitty cat" rug... In first grade, at homeschool group, we all made braided rugs out of fabric scraps. I chose the fabric with cats all over it... the fact that I was cutting this fabric into strips didn't quite click with me until I realized the kitty cats were all in pieces... and yes, I cried. In the middle of the class. Ever the drama queen... XD

7. If you could live in one place in England, where would it be?

Emi : I'm answering after Julie, and I have to echo her, because while I went on a spree of exploration, Castle Combe is still my top pick! If, y'know, I could live in the countryside just outside the village, and have my garden and a fair bit of lane and a goodly portion of field about me while being close enough to enjoy it....

Julie: Hard question, but I'd say Castle Combe, Wiltshire. Just look at it... need I say more?? I think I needn't, LOL.

 

8. If you could be a well-known published author, what genre of books would you like to be famous for?

Emi : Hmmm, if we're going to be realistic about it.... I don't even know what to call it! Not historical, really, although I enjoy a dabble in the stuff now and then.... But the everyday lives of everyday people intrigue me in stories, and they're what I love writing most! (you know, besides word pictures and letters and comments.) Iiiiif that's even a genre😆 

Julie: Historical fiction, of course! C'mon, you know me, right? I write historical fiction obsessively XD. I would LOVE to be able to do that full time. And to publish my books. That is one of my dearest dreams, to finish my series and get it published. I mean... who knows? Maybe someday... 

9. Which piece of classical music has most inspired you, and why?

Emi : Marianne's piece from Sense And Sensibility (2008) isn't quite old enough to count, is it?? But as a directional sort of pointer indicating my taste, perhaps it will do? Because it's exactly the sort of music that does inspire me..... I can't quite put my finger on why, exactly, but it is :) It appeals to a particularly Emi-ish corner of me that I have yet to explore fully, I suppose :P

Julie: AGH why is this question so hard??? I keep thinking and thinking about it... to the point where it keeps me awake at night... There is just SO MUCH classical music in this world!! At first I thought Handel's Messiah, which is pretty much 53 different songs in one giant performance, and wow... it's almost other-worldly at times. The Hallelujah Chorus and Worthy is the Lamb... I just feel closer to God when I'm singing it. And then there's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, which is so much the same way. I can just feel my spirit soaring. Of course then there are songs like Nessun Dorma which, while the story itself is rather odd, oh my WORD have you heard Pavarotti sing that song??? I'm just going to link that song here and be done with this ramble before I cite the entire history of classical music. XD

10. What's one thing someone said to you that made you happy?

Emi: Ahhh, for the sake of not saying a dozen things, because people are so sweet.... let's make it....  Being called "Emi-my-Emi." ;) (I promise I'm not copying, Julie XD) This from a very dear auntie (who sadly lives hours and hours and hours away, and may be reading this. *waves across the too-many miles* Hullo, Auntie J!! ) in the midst of all the family-gathering Hellos when they came up here for a visit....Clearly an appreciation for L.M.Montgomery runs in the family ;) 

Julie: Okay, this is going to sound silly, but it was... my name. LOL. It's because of who said it, really. Because it was the man I love more than life itself, and hearing his voice saying my name... there really aren't words to describe the way that made me feel. He said my name to me for the first time last summer, and I've known him for six years. I was serving ice cream at a grad party and when he came through the line he said "How's Julie?" (I say Julie as a stand-in for my real name XD) But anyway. I dropped the ice cream scoop and had to spend considerable time under the table searching for it... and when I came up again, he was smiling at me and... what can I say? I melted faster than that silly ice cream. Let's just say it was sort of a turning point, LOL...

Also, I gotta say that reviews on my books make me awful happy. XD

11. If you could swap places with one Jane Austen heroine, who would it be?

Emi : You do ask thought provoking questions, Cecilia😄 

*considers thoughtfully* I think, not knowing any of them extraordinarily well, but having read quite a few of the books at the very least their necessary Once, that I shall go with Emma at this moment in time. OF COURSE I should tweak certain circumstances, and behave differently than she did in others, and forgo altogether the extremely risky business of matchmaking, but other than that :p  Although it depends, because I might also wish to hop around trying out all the pairs of shoes Jane Austen wrote before I could properly choose a place😜 (I should rather like to be a combination of Anne Elliot and Elinor Dashwood, but with a bit of Marianne in the mix.... A touch of whimsy with a good dose of common sense and wisdom, you know?) 

Julie: Elinor Dashwood, hands-down. She is absolutely my favorite Jane Austen character of all time. I love how, instead of being ridiculously wealthy and moving in impossible circumstances like most of Austen's characters, she's more down to earth, middle-class, even. But my favorite part of her story is that, after being separated from the man she loves and circumstances for them being together are more impossible than ever, she gets to marry him in the end. I know it's just fiction, but that story is inspiring, and I love the way they did the proposal scene in the 1995 film version, incidentally. Also my favorite Austen film. I could do with it and ditch all the rest completely (except my 1995 Pride and Prejudice cuz seriously... I love that movie to death.)

And that, my very dear readers, was the last of the lot! 

Which means that we have come to the business of Tagging Other Bloggers ;) Now, not knowing a very wide array of bloggers personally, I have gone out searching for kindred spirits, and am hereby nominating a whole bunch of them regardless of the fact that, for the most part, we have never met each other before! Because they just seem sunshiny, and you can spot a kindred spirit miles off, you know ;)

And so I nominate all of these lovely bloggers below! (And if, of course, by any chance anyone did not WISH to be nominated, they may feel quite free to take this simply as a bloggish compliment. I shall not be in the slightest offended ;)

• Samantha of Bookshire

• Caitlyn of Flight Of The Quill

• Miko and Jenne of 36eggs

• Kate of Once Upon An Ordinary

•Elisha of The Voyaging Storyteller

• Julie of Genius Burns

• Elizabeth of Trivialities

•Mary of The Two Men And Me

•Cordy of Any Merry Little Thought

•Tracey Dyck

And of course, anyone else who happens to pop by and would like to join in, I would LOVE to see your answers as well!! DO comment below like dears if you happen to think them up, won't you??)

And with that, I do believe we have come to the end of this post!!  (Just wait, though, and I shall say the words The End a good many times yet, (something to the tune of five, I believe) so it can't be TRULY the end, only nearing it at a pretty good clip. ) So Thankyou again for the nomination, Cecilia, and my apologies for the perfectly incredible length of time this has taken to grow into a Proper Post.... It seemed to be suffering from Draught in the department of various essential elements, (people to tag, questions to ask, answers to questions, and you know, just the Things😜 All of them, apparently, I think my scribbler needs oiling....) and took it's own very sweet time progressing, rather like a good crop when it's threatening to snow already, and the stuff yet refuses to hurried into ripeness XD 

But anyway. I did say something about the end nearing us, didn't I? And I do believe it had crept right up to us here.... 

*Aside* "Oh, hello, End, here already?! Well, be a chum and shake hands all 'round, then, there's a good fellow! See, these lovely folks have stuck it out just to see you off here, and you really should be glad of disposition over that. Oh, and Beginning and Middle send you their greetings, after having done their bit earlier on in the post. Said they'd meet you for coffee after you got of work...." 

"What's that? Oh, I seem to be mistaking you for some species of Middle-Of-A-Scribble, you say? And Ends are not known particularly for being the longest bits of things? Oh, well, quite right and all that, you know. Can't disregard good sense, doesn't pay...." *Nods seriously, and gets down to business*

Alright, a good day to you all, lovely people! If you have read allll the way down here, then you can be nothing other than a kindred spirit, and I'm really delighted that you've come by🤗

So Long and Fare Ye All Well....

~Emi

*Hastily retracts her words*

Oh, but still not quite the very end after all, because I've still got my own batch of questions to add! Which.... Okay, forgetting those would be bad XD Really bad. 

Sooooo you will find them below, if you will kindly turn your attention thither.

See?

            My Own Eleven Questions

1. What's one food out of a book that you've always wanted to try?

2. If you had to choose a flower to represent your personality, what would it be? (Myself, I would be a wild prairie rose. You know, of the five-petaled-and-pink variety. Just in case you wanted to know that.)

3. If you could choose a sibling out of any classic book, (older or younger) who would it be?

4. Which Period Drama film would you most like to step into and live in? 

5. If you could put your Dream House anywhere in the world, what would your backyard look like?

6. Craziest recipe you've ever tried that actually turned out really well? (or if you don't cook, make that the craziest thing you've eaten that was astonishingly good.)

7. Personify your favourite season. (And just to give a little more detail, and because I don't know how to word that so it makes the most sense, by Personify, I mean paint us a word picture of what that season would be like to you as a person.)

8. What's one book from your childhood that still gets quoted at your house to this day? 

9. If you were at this very moment presented with a very small kitten, (the colour of said kitten is in your hands, too ;) and given one minute in which to decide on a name for it, what would it be? 

10. Which do you consider to be the greater hero, Robin Hood, or the Scarlet Pimpernel? (Or, if you're not familiar with either of these books, which do you think is the greater act, to save the lives of those in mortal peril, or to extend hope in a hopeless situation? 

11. What is one word that you inexplicably can't stand?

(For instance, for me it's Ooze and Goop. One makes me shiver with the grossness of it, and the other is just Blech. Do not need this word in my vocabulary XD)

(There. NOW this is the end. It shall say so, in a moment.)

THE END.

(There. It has been said, and is now Irrevocable. 

Says Dr. Seuss in my head, "A mouse has cut the wire, goodbye.")

Ps. Bother the white that crept in with the pink unannounced, and unwelcome.... I  don't know how it got there OR how to get rid of it, so please do pardon the messiness! 🤔We shall pretend it is an effect purposely aimed for, perhaps, that makes it less annoying XD)