bookworm

Before I moved to the island, I was a full blown TV addict. I mean really. After my son was in bed (my little one wasn't here yet), I could easily sit down at 7:00pm and stay there until 11:00pm, just about every night. I had lots of reasons why I did it, but it wasn't healthy. When we moved here, we decided to leave the TV behind. It was definitely an adjustment.

We do have a very little TV that lives under the stairs. I still love movies and a few shows, I just rent them now and when they are done, the TV goes off. So instead of turning my brain to mush from shows I didn't even really like, I started reading. Now, I've become a voracious reader, as soon as one book is done, I pick up a new one. It's very satisfying.

So I thought I'd share a few of my favorites including what I'm reading right now. I have to admit, I am a bit of a lazy reader. If the first couple of chapters don't grab me, I move on. So if you are like that too, you'll love these:

The Birth House by Amy McKay is an amazing story of a young woman growing up in turn of the century Nova Scotia. She learns to be a midwife during a time when birth was becoming medicalized in hospitals. She is brave, smart and deeply interesting. She has women come to her home to give birth, hence the name. I was hooked by the first line.






Outlander is an older book that a good friend gave to me. It was a bit harder to get into, but I was encouraged to keep going. Once I did, I couldn't stop. A story of a young married couple in Scotland in the 40's. The husband is researching his family history. The wife, goes to a stone circle and is transported, without her husband's knowing back to the 1700's and meets the very man her husband was researching. It is an epic tale, full of love, romance, violence and intrigue. This is a good fireside book.

I just finished reading this last night. If you are into history, as you may begin to see that I am, this is a remarkable tale. It is a story the first woman settler on the Miramichi in the 1700's. At the age of 20 she leaves her home in England with the Jamaican butler and sails to the West Indies, hoping to start a new life for herself. After a harrowing crossing, she finds herself on a plantation, pregnant with her partner perished from Yellow Fever. From there she sails to the east coast of Canada and lives on the doorstep of history. Married and widowed three times, mother to 10 children, clever and strong with the skills of a midwife and an ongoing love affair with a First Nations man, this story is packed with everything that makes a good book. Based on the life of her great, great, great grandmother, Sally Armstrong delivers a fantastic story. I highly recommend it.

I'll post tomorrow and share what I'm reading now, it is so good I highly suggest to go to the bookstore or library and start reading it.

Who knew a TV addict could turn around and become a bookworm?

our voices

I've been thinking about our voice as mothers, as women. How often have our mothers', our grandmothers', our great grandmothers' stories been lost? Do you even know the name of your great grandmother? Do you know what her life was like? How she navigated her way through a time and a life that had little luxury? My great-great-grandmother had 18 children and lived on a farm in Wales. Beyond that, I don't know much. My great grandmother Elizabeth moved to Canada from Belgium, lost her husband in the coal mines of Crowsnest Pass, moved to Ladner where her son built her home and opened a birth house. She was a midwife. Beyond that....I'm still searching.

When I first started my blog I didn't want to tell anyone about it. I wasn't sure if my writing was any good, if anyone would read it, or if I could keep it up. But, as someone who never liked to write "Dear Diary...", I took the plunge and started it anyway. Now 10 months later, I Love It. I love having a space to write from the heart, to be honest, and share what inspires me, what makes me laugh or where my journey takes me as a mother.

I have now started delving into other women's blogs and what I am finding is amazing. Has there ever been a time in history when women had such a public venue and audience to express themselves in such great numbers? The community of women out there writing about their lives inspires me. And the best part is, you don't need to wait until a book publisher decides you are good enough to write, you can just jump in. What's the worst that can happen? No one will read your blog? But in the end, does it really matter? This is a place for our voices and if for nothing else, it is an empowering thing to be a part of, even if it just for ourselves. For the first time in history, women all over the world are recording their stories. We are creating our own windows into our lives. Wouldn't it be amazing if you could read your great-great-grandmother's stories about her everyday life?

I encourage you to be brave, jump in and write something. Our stories as women, as mothers, are so valuable; you deserve a space to share, your story deserves to be heard. I write for myself, for my children, and for the community that brings us all together.