🕈 A reflection on St. Patrick’s prayer

"Life's a religious thing. But
don't worry, Nash-I won't try to convert you." 
She filled two glasses with ice. 
"It shouldn't make you uncomfortable. "


Captivated

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As we reflect upon the prayer of Saint Patrick this St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, we see that these very powerful, yet intrinsically beautiful uplifting words, represent a total transformation of the self with complete trust and faith in the Divine, God our Creator.

This prayer is known widely as “Morning Prayer,” “St. Patrick’s Breastplate,” or “The Lorica.”

World Vision

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Her parents had been quietly devout Catholics, and she'd attended Catholic schools, 
gone through all the rites and rituals. 

She considered herself a Catholic, a modern, female Catholic who was 
dissatisfied with many of the doctrines and laws that came through the Vatican.

Born in Shame 

Decor Tips for Book Lovers

Within a day Xander moved everything he wanted into the house on the bluff. The books

presented the biggest challenge. The library wouldn’t hold all of them.

“I never imagined this house would be too small for anything.”

He shrugged, studying the shelves, now filled with books. And the tubs on the floor, still full of them.

“You don’t want all your books in one place anyway. We should scatter some around.”

“There are too many to scatter.”

“Don’t even think about saying I should get rid of some.”

“Wouldn’t think of it.”

Maybe she had—just for an instant—and had just as quickly rejected the idea.

“I just don’t know where to put them. They don’t deserve to be stuck in tubs either. How will I know what’s in there I want to read?”

“Kevin could do another wall of books.”

“I’d love a wall of books,” she considered. “But I don’t know where.”

The Obsession

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Photo by Shade Abdul Architecture - Discover home office design inspiration

As PBS launches ‘The Great American Read,’ designers 

and actor Ming-Na Wen weigh in on building around books.

Where you read can be almost as important as what you read. 

HOUZZ

__________________

"That's quite a library."

"Oh, that's just some of them."

He stayed where he was when she crossed over. Joyce, Yeats, Shaw. Those were to be expected. O'Neill, Swift, and Grayson Thane, of course. But there was a treasure trove of others. Poe, Steinbeck, Dickens, Byron. The poetry of Keats and Dickinson and Browning. Battered volumes of Shakespeare and equally well-thumbed tales by King and MacAffrey and McMurtrey.

"An eclectic collection," she mused. "And there's more?"

"I keep them here and there around the house, so if you're in the mood, you don't have to go far. A book's a pleasant thing to have nearby."

Born in Shame

Book Nooks

"I keep them here and there around the house, so if you're in the mood, you don't have to go far.

 A book's a pleasant thing to have nearby."

Born in Shame

___________________

Photo by Barnes Vanze Architects, Inc. - Discover hallway design inspiration

15 Cozy Book Nooks and What They Want You to Read

Put the beach reads away; these comfy spaces are creating a fall reading list. What books do they suggest to you?

HOUZZ

___________________




My suggestions of Nora Novels for each of these rooms:

The Search 

(Fiona's Home once she tears that kitchen wall down. 

The suggested solarium turned into a reading nap and cuddle nook)

“A good, generous window would give you a view into the woods.
Maybe wide-planked floors. You’d have room for a table if you wanted an alternate to eating in the

kitchen.”

Photo by Priority 1 Project Management - Browse kitchen photos

The Return of Rafe MacKade

(Rafe's home)

"Faintly the scent of paint stirred in the air. But she thought the room was
waiting to be lived in."

Photo by Building Concepts and Design - Discover home office design inspiration

Once More with Feeling

(Brand's home in Cornwall)

"Raven had felt an instant affinity for the house, She liked the muffled
roar of the sea outside her window and the breathtaking view."

Photo by Heide Hendricks - Discover family room design inspiration

Home for Christmas

(Jason's home)

""Hong Kong." The widow pursed her lips as she arranged cookies on a plate. "You've been to all your
places, Jason. Were they as exciting as you thought?""

Photo by TaC studios, architects - Discover living room design ideas

Sacred Sins

(Teresa's home)

"It was a room that reflected the senator’s background and, Ben realized, Tess’s.
Comfortable wealth, a knowledge of art and style."

Photo by Austin Patterson Disston Architects - Discover family room design ideas

For Now, Forever

(Daniel MacGregor's home, before Anna)

"The first time I walked into the bedroom, I saw how little of yourself was there."

Photo by Realm - Discover living room design ideas

Chasing Fire

(Ella's Home)

"It was big, he noted, and all open so one space sort of spilled casually into the next. He didn’t
know much—or anything, really—about decorating, but it felt like it looked. Bright, happy,
relaxed."

Photo by Barnes Vanze Architects, Inc. - Look for hallway design inspiration

Northern Lights

(Meg's Home)

"The position of the pillows and
throw on the sofa told him she'd had a nap in front of the fire at some point."

   

Photo by Rikki Snyder - Search family room design ideas

Born in Shame

(Murphy's Home)

"He explained the raftered
ceiling, and the little room off the right where his mother still liked
to sew when she came to visit."

   

Photo by Lucy Call - Look for living room pictures

 Reflections

(Ruth's bedroom at Seth's home)

"Two days later Ruth sat on the couch, a child on each side of her. She read aloud from one of Justin's books. Nijinsky dozed in a patch of sunlight on the floor. She was feeling more settled.
She should have known that she would find exactly what she had needed at the Cliff House."

Photo by Tobi Fairley Interior Design - Browse bedroom photos

True Betrayals

(Gabe's Home)

"She followed him through a wide arch into a living area. This too opened into another room
through archways. Glass doors invited the night inside."

Photo by - Browse family room photos

Obsession

(Naomi's home)

"“You don’t want all your books in one
place anyway. We should scatter some
around.”"

Photo by Red Element Design Studio - Look for living room pictures

Born in Shame

(a reading nook for Shannon's bedroom at Brie's home)

"The room was more than anything Shannon could have expected.
Wide and airy with a charming window seat set under the sloping
eaves"

Photo by Miller-Roodell Architects Ltd - Browse family room ideas

Second Nature

(Hunter's home)

"She hadn't expected anything so, well, normal in Hunter Brown's home. The living room
was airy, sunny in the afternoon light. Cheerful. Yes, Lee realized, that was precisely the
word that came to mind. No shadowy corners or locked doors."

   

Photo by KitchenLab | Rebekah Zaveloff Interiors - More home design photos

For The Love of Lilah

(Lilah's Books&Naps' Nook)

"She liked long naps, classical music and her aunt's elaborate desserts. When
the mood struck her, she could sit, sprawled in a chair, prodding little details of his
life from him. Or she could curl up in a sunbeam like a cat, blocking him and
everything else around her out of her thoughts while she drifted into one of her private
daydreams."

   

Photo by - Discover family room design inspiration

Secret to Happiness: Be Less “Successful”

"I'm giving up a lot. Really making a sacrifice." 

With a half laugh she combed her fingers through her hair. 

"I finally figured that out, too. I'm leaving New York. You can't smell the grass there, or see horses grazing. You can't watch the light strike over the fields in a way that makes your throat hurt. I'm trading the sound of traffic for the sound of mockingbirds and larks. It's going to be real tough to live with that."

She stuffed her hands in her pockets and began to pace in a way that warned him not to touch

her. "My friends-acquaintances mostly, will think of me with amusement now and again and shake

their heads. Perhaps some of them will come to visit and see just what I've given up the fast lane

for. I'm trading that for family, for people I've felt closer to than almost anyone I've known. That's a bad deal all right."

She stopped, looking out between the stones as the warming sun burned off the mist. "Then there's my career, that all-important ladder to climb. Five years more, and I guarantee I would have had that metaphorical key to the executive washroom. No question, Shannon Bodine's got the drive, she's got the talent, she's got the ambition, and she doesn't blink at sixty-hour weeks. I've put in plenty of those weeks, Murphy, and it occurs to me that not one of them ever gave me the joy or the simple satisfaction I've felt since the first time I picked up a paintbrush here in Ireland. So I guess it's going to be real tough for me to turn in my Armani jacket for a smock."

Born in Shame

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By takato marui from Osaka, Japan (COFFEE and Office Lady) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

One writer learned the hard way that overachievement can become a nasty addiction.

 It takes time and a lot of trial and error, some of it painful. But the first step is recognizing when the type of success you’re pursuing doesn’t make you feel happy, fulfilled, or valuable. There’s probably something else that will—you just need to find it.

FAST COMPANY

Reading Nooks

Her gaze glanced off him and focused on a wall of books. "That's quite a library."

"Oh, that's just some of them."

He stayed where he was when she crossed over. Joyce, Yeats, Shaw. Those were to be expected. O'Neill, Swift, and Grayson Thane, of course. But there was a treasure trove of others.

Poe, Steinbeck, Dickens, Byron. The poetry of Keats and Dickinson and Browning. Battered volumes of Shakespeare and equally well-thumbed tales by King and MacAffrey and McMurtrey. 

"An eclectic collection," she mused. "And there's more?"

"I keep them here and there around the house, so if you're in the mood, you don't have to go far. A book's a pleasant thing to have nearby."

Born in Shame

______________________

Because sometimes all you need in life is a comfy chair and a good book.

HOUSE BEAUTIFUL

Tomorrow's Saint Patrick's Day!!!

He stopped in the kitchen doorway, and his grin spread from ear to ear. 

There she was, up to her
wrists in bread dough, her hair scooped up, her nose dusted with flour.



Born in Ice

______________

My Happy Dish: Mrs. Frings' Irish Soda Bread

from Sweet Paul Staffer, Paul Vitale

"This Irish Soda Bread is a treasured recipe from my dear friend's mother, Mrs. Frings.  

I make it every year for St. Patrick's Day!  I just know you're going to want to add it to your repertoire as well!"

SWEET PAUL MAGAZINE

-------------

Must-Try Recipes for St. Patrick’s Day

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After she'd poured a cup, Shannon stood awkwardly, wondering what to do next. 
"You bake your own bread?"
"I do, yes. It's a soothing process. You'll have toast at least. There's a hunk of yesterday's still in
the drawer."
"A little later. I was thinking I might drive around a bit, see the cliffs or something."
"Oh, sure you'll want to see the sights." 
Competently Brianna patted the dough into a ball and
turned it into a large bowl.



Born in Shame

a house to look smart In

"I keep meaning to show you this particular room." Rowena stopped in front of a
double pocket door, swept it open.
And ushered Dana into a book lover's version of heaven.
It was a two-level library, with a lovely ornate rail encircling the second level. A
fire was snapping away in a hearth of rosy granite, its light, and the light from a
dozen lamps, glittering on the polished wood of the floor.
High above, a mural was painted on the domed ceiling. She saw dozens of figures
from the most romantic of faerie tales. Rapunzel, spilling her golden hair out of a
tower, Sleeping Beauty just wakened by a kiss, Cinderella slipping her foot into a
delicate glass slipper.
"It's incredible," Dana whispered. "Beyond incredible."
Wide, deep chairs, long, deep sofas were done in leather the color of good port.
There were other small treasures in tables, in rugs, in art, but Dana was dazzled by
the books. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of books.

Key of Knowledge

_________________

 

The idea of curling up with a good book has increasingly come to mean flipping on an e-reader, not flipping through the pages of a leather-bound novel in a book-lined room.

Yet the home library is on the rise, having become something of a cerebral status symbol. Affluent homeowners are buying quality books in quantity to amass collections for private personal libraries.

These rooms are as much aesthetic set pieces and public displays of intelligence as they are quiet spaces to reflect and retreat.

WSJ

 _________________

Her gaze glanced off him and focused on a wall of books. "That's quite a library."
"Oh, that's just some of them."
He stayed where he was when she crossed over. 

Joyce, Yeats, Shaw. Those were to be
expected. O'Neill, Swift, and Grayson Thane, of course. But there was a treasure trove of others.
Poe, Steinbeck, Dickens, Byron. The poetry of Keats and Dickinson and Browning. 

Battered volumes of Shakespeare and equally well-thumbed tales by King and MacAffrey and McMurtrey.
"An eclectic collection," she mused.

Born in Shame