Chapter Nineteen: Blooming

a merry return of spring and green

roses at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden!!!

*tackle hugs* HELLOOOO!! Long time no see, my friend! I totally didn’t disappear for a few months heheh…. it wasn’t my intent to be radio silent at all but I ended up in an accidental hiatus, whoops. I have not been idle in my absence however! I’ve typed up and quietly posted to Substack all of the newsletters I’ve been meaning to send. (okay. if not all, most! I may have missed a few—as, alas, I’ve been under the weather—but don’t worry, they’ll be up shortly after I proofread.) I really do like this being my digital scrapbook of sorts XD Anywho, huzzah for completing this series I’ve had going for the seasons! This is going to be a long newsletter *excited wiggle* so without further ado…

Spring!!!! MY FAVORITE SEASON!!!! OF ALL TIME!!!!! Oh, the glorious pocket of mild weather and vibrant landscape! This time of year fills me with glee, I tell you! I want to frolic, to lay in the sunshine, to stroll through flowers, and simply savor being alive! Several years ago I might have told you this was my favorite season, but the enthusiasm wasn’t there. It wasn’t until we moved to Texas, out in the countryside aways where there are truer seasons, that I really came to treasure the reawakening of the outdoors!

Some of my favorite spring memories….

I’m afraid I can’t stop exclaiming about how much I love this time of year, haha!! Some of my favorite memories are of visiting bluebonnet fields, the scent of rain (petrichor✨), heaps of birdsong, attending my first prom, the hill full of sweet peas we’d oft drive by, trees bursting into green, butterfly releases, strolling through gardens, strawberry U-pick, waving at farms with horses and cows, antiquing with my Mom, the fragrance of flowering bushes beneath my window, childhood hometown’s Whale Parade, getting out my warm weather clothes and sandals, baby bunnies in the backyard, meeting my friend Lauren in person(!!!!), spotting wildflowers on the side of the highway, breeze through windows, Easter egg hunts with cousins, writing fever, vacations to Northern California, selling jewelry at my brother’s baseball games, field trips all over.

What I’m looking forward to this spring…
🌷picnics
🌷reading spring-y books
🌷blue sky time
🌷spring foods (berries, lemonade, salads)
🌷writing
🌷open windows
🌷the loveliest dusks
🌷easter sunday
🌷birdsong galore
🌷wearing frilly skirts, sundresses, and dainty jewelry
🌷mother’s day adventures
🌷crafting a bit
🌷watching butterflies flit through the yard
🌷sidewalk chalk & bubbles
🌷learning new songs on my guitar
🌷sitting in the grass
🌷taking bunches of photos
🌷expanding my spring playlist
🌷festivities for my sister’s birthday
🌷annual trip to my favorite antique shop
🌷wildflowers everywhere
🌷rainy days
🌷lots of spontaneous adventures
🌷watching spring movies {The Enchanted April (1992), Anne of Green Gables (1985), Emma (1996), The Secret World of Arrietty (2010), The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends (1992), The Sound of Music (1965), Angelina Ballerina (2002), The Railway Children (1970), Pride & Prejudice (1995), Cinderella (2015), The Importance of Being Ernest (2002)}



Books to read this spring….
I was going to try and do something unique here for each season (so I settled on a summer book list, autumn recipe, and winter craft) but when it came to spring all I could think of was my favorite spring-y books so I decided to do a repeat XD

These volumes are brimming with the sweetest, flower-y feels! I’ve read a good chunk of them so if you have, or end up reading, any of these too do let me know!! I’d love to hear your thoughts hehehe.

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🦔 Lily’s Spring Reading List 🦔

🌈 The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim
🌈 Flower Fables by Louisa May Alcott
🌈 Monet’s Cat by Lily Murray
🌈 Under the Lilacs by Louisa May Alcott
🌈 Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
🌈 The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham
🌈 Mandy by Julie Andrews Edwards
🌈 Freckles by Gene Stratton-Porter
🌈 The Lily Gate by Hanna Sandvig
🌈 The Flower Princess by Abbie Farwell Brown
🌈 A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter
🌈 Strawberry Acres by Grace S. Richmond
🌈 The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery
🌈 Wormwood Abbey by Christina Baehr
🌈 The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge
🌈 Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter
🌈 Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
🌈 The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
🌈 Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace
🌈 The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
🌈 Linnea in Monet’s Garden by Christina Björk
🌈 The Adventures of Tom Bombadil by J. R. R. Tolkien
🌈 Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
🌈 Emma by Jane Austen
🌈 The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle by Beatrix Potter
🌈 A Fine Romance by Susan Branch
🌈 Spring Story (Brambly Hedge, #1) by Jill Barklem

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I’ve been wanting to switch up my newsletter format so it’s more casual rambles and less set sections with lot’s of pictures and things sprinkled in between. And I might adjust the length (and frequency— every other month, perhaps?) to encourage myself to send newsletters more consistently XD This portion is sort of a demo I suppose!

My mom had this book set out for the twins, Susan Lovejoy’s Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots, and I immediately flipped to my favorite pages! I just love the art, like in this spread:

cute, right?!

It really is the simply joys in life, eh? I had forgotten about that book among other things. Occasionally an interest of mine will go dormant and then suddenly come back to life again… thus my love for hedgehogs has been awoken after a few years XD They’re just so cuteeeee. I’ve also been loving hummingbirds (affectionately referred to as hummers), windchimes, suncatchers, folk songs, swoopy and spiral-y handwriting, trinkets, clouds, jam jars and parfaits in said jam jars, bubbles, harp, poetry, the boket sunshine catches in hair, stars, morning glories, an old song stuck in my head, sandwiches, steam from tea, Susan Branch art, jam and cookies, rain rings in puddles, this instrumental piano. Also must add: there’s a new Brambly Hedge coloring book for spring oh my word XD I don’t color as often as I used to but ahhh!

OH AND THERE JUST HAPPENED TO BE A DOUBLE RAINBOW OUT MY WINDOW LAST MONDAY???!!!! 🌈🥹💗 (my siblings were not excited enough)

super glow-y!!

My Pinterest has been spectacular as of late— so many pretty things my heartttt— and I’ve been having much fun refreshing my boards! A bit of spring cleaning if you will XD My art board is the current favorite!! The bestest impressionist paintings, swirly designs, and sparkles. I stumbled upon Margaret Tarrant’s illustrations in March and they’re simply lovely!💗

Which reminds me, I’ve also recently discovered there were some medieval revivals in fashion (et cetera) during the 1960s/70s and 90s! A lot of fun films came out of that and technically speaking the 19th century might be the biggest revival since art and literature were so heavily saturated with it, whereas the more modern ones weren’t as wide spread. I could go on about other resurgences of style and whatnot in history because it’s literally so fascinating but it would take over the newsletter I’m afraid XD Anywho, I just find it fun that things circle around again and I believe it’s high time we bring back medieval inspired things, haha!

And now, we shall move onto the rest of this post which involves whimsy and updates on various subjects!

Bible verse(s) of the day:

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and
he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Psalm 37:4 ESV

A Peek Inside A Writer’s Mind

Oh, so many writing ideas in the last couple months! Like Lantern Cottage— a middle grade story I’m currently brainstorming. And a certain hedgehog WIP I’ve teased in the snippet below 👀 I set aside In Colors of Twilight with being busy and whatnot and have written small portions of other things every now and then. And I started keeping notebooks for my WIPs after watching a monthly course on YWW with Anna Rose Johnson and Millie Florence. 'Twas very insightful and having a physical spot for my projects has been super helpful!!

A snippet from aforementioned hedgie WIP I am quite thrilled about hehehe:

The tinkling of metal armor on shifting quills was a pleasant accompaniment as they trundled along in the green vale. Plink, scritch. Plink, scritch. Merry veered towards the butterbur leaves where a particularly low hanging bunch nearly threatened to unseat her poor rider!

“Do be careful,” the lady urged.

Lost In A Book

I’ve been in a reading slump since December, much to my dismay. Starting bunches of books but not finished them, and ending up lowering my Goodreads goal back down to 50, haha! I’m determined to get out of it this month though and catch up on the ARCs I am, alas, dreadfully behind on. I did, however, read The Long Nosed Princess by Priscilla C. Hallowell in February, suggested to me by Allison Tebo, and had quite a fun time with it! Then I tried to get out said slump in March by reading the last of LotR and failed. Read quite a few picture books to the twins and some to myself meanwhile. And in the last month I read an ARC of Our Friendly Farmhouse by Melissa Ferguson through NetGalley (mostly because it’s illustrated by Gretchen Ellen Powers!) and just finished Poetic Surrender by Molly McTernan which was simply darling!! Her verses on faith, nature, and writing were a pleasant companion when I desperately wanted to read. And goodness, I’ve just been loving poetry as of late! Which is splendid for me just now since poems are bite-sized and easy to finish XD Dear, oh dear. Hearing myself talk like that I really do need to get back to reading novels, haha! Almost forgot to mention: if you click the titles it’ll take you to my reviews for each on Goodreads :D


Bookish quote of the day:

Are you stuck, dear butterfly?
Here, be free, be free and fly

~Butterfly, from page 36 of Poetic Surrender by Molly McTernan

Whimsy, Please!

*tosses a box to you, inside is a locket brooch*

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I simply had to share this lovely piece by @lavera.grace on Instagram!!

A poem that popped up on Pinterest— Miss Teasdale is becoming quite a favorite!

The spring is fresh and fearless
And every leaf is new,
The world is brimmed with moonlight
the lilac brimmed with dew.

Here in the moving shadows
I catch my breath and sing—
My heart is fresh and fearless
And over-brimmed with spring.

~May Night by Sara Teasdale

Also!! Haven’t stopped thinking about this advertisement XD

selkie

A post shared by @selkie

One more ‘cause why not! I first saw this quote on the tag of a teabag :D

“Are not flowers the stars of the earth, and are not our stars the flowers of the heavens?”

~Clara Lucas Balfour

Tucked In A Hatbox

Recently a favorite memory of mine is an old one! When I was three or so and we lived inland in California, there was a house on the corner of a street we were accustomed to walk and drive by. I don’t quite remember the looks of it but rather vibes, though I do know vaguely it was a nice two story with a garden and chickens on the side of the yard. Now in this memory we were stopped at the intersection and these chickens, who I recalled in the moment had done this before though I don’t remember it, had hopped the fence and were pecking around the sidewalk and the street! My mom and I would exclaim about “crazy chin chins!” every time we went by though it’s only preserved in this one recollection. Isn’t it fun how our memories work as children? :D

C’est La Vie

Life lately has been slow days but fast weeks, haha! Some rather dull, others delightful. As it’s already early May and we’re talking all about spring, here are highlights from the last couple months:

my desk in February :)

February ⋆࿔*:･

• Mom made French toast for Valentine’s Day with berries and whipped cream :D

• We watched Pirates of the Caribbean for the first time and goodness I so want to write a Jack Sparrow kinda pirate. He’s so fun XD

• Wrote every day for a week (excluding the weekend) and it went really well!

• Love doing chalk with the twins on the driveway :)

• Lots of strawberry milk and smoothies lately! Yum.

• Went to a prom closet and got a dress and shoes and accessories, we’ll see if I end up wearing them (the dress needs alterations and I’m not sure if it’ll be done in time) but the experience was so sweet!
  

tulips at the Dallas Arboretum!

March ⋆࿔*:･

• Started off strong with my first ever book fair and “networking” event— the North Texas Teen Book Festival!! The featured books weren’t exactly my jam but I went anyway to spend the day with a bunch of writers from YWW and their Author Conservatory; including Karynn, Jubilee, Elizabeth, Chlöe, & Molly McTernan! It was super fun hopping between panels and I got a book signed by Karina Yan Glaser too :D I also made bookmarks to hand out and I think it’ll be my tradition for events now hehe.

• My brother and I signed up for the biggest Christian homeschool prom in North Texas and they hosted dance lessons fancily enough! I went to three of them and learned line dances, waltzing, swing, and… Thriller…. HAH. An interesting selection to be sure but it was really nice having casual (and quick!) rotations to break the ice learning to dance with a partner!

• I’ve made a grand return to photography hehehe. Such fun!! And I got a purple camera bag so my mom’s DSLR, which I use, will be nice and safe now.

• For the first time since we made our out-of-state move in 2022 we got to visit California! A wonderful trip filled with many many God appointments, home food, family, the purchase of my first guitar, chatting with grandmas, visiting “old haunts” as L. M. Montgomery might say, collecting souvenirs, memories, and sitting at the beach.

• Things started greening! First glimpse of bluebonnets on the freeway once we got home!! *squeals*

• Visited the arboretum one Sunday and saw so many tulips!! And wisteria!!! We stopped in the gift shop where I bought the, very soft, and smol, hummingbird plush I’d been eyeing in November XD

• Lots going on lately in the Spirit! Noticing numbers on the clock a lot like 3:16, 5:55, and 11:11. A word about the White Way of Delight. I’ve also been loving Psalms especially in my bible reading and listening to Tori Anne’s spontaneous worship. And this post really spoke to me on a hard day :)

• The sweetest full circle moment guysss. I LOVED Jeanne Birdsall’s Penderwick series when I was younger and remember preordering the last book with my mom, the first time I’d ever done that. And I just got my ARC copy of her next novel, The Library of Unruly Treasures, approved by NetGalley! 🥹

• Since I’m 18, Facebook has allowed me on Marketplace and ohhh boy, mwahahaha. The amount of pretty things I’ve found!!! I haven’t been able to get anything yet but it’s brewing hehe.

• My cousin Emma messaged me out of the blue with a picture of some beads she saw that reminded her of me 🥰 And I just thought… isn’t it sweet that people still think of you? Old versions of you perhaps, that you might have forgotten?
  

prom outfit ready to go ✨

April ⋆࿔*:･

• Many bunny sightings as of late, even a rabbit right outside our back door! It sat there for quite a while and we got to watch it. I wonder if they’ve gotten so bold because they’re the babies that hid in our grass a couple of years ago all grown up👀

• I got the CUTEST suncatcher earrings for prom! THEY’RE SPARKLY AND EEE. This is your reminder to get whimsical things that bring you joy!!

• Okay so, I started wearing ruffle socks again a couple years ago (best decision ever) and randomly started getting compliments on them recently? Which is funny because I’ve been wearing them all this time but yayyy XD

• Fully in my country music era *nods* I made a playlist and everythinggg *nods harder*

• Writer friends and I revived our roleplay chat and had a beautifully chaotic reunion XD My favorite characters to use are Marilee and Evian from my YA project (now duology) full of mischief and dragons!

• Tons of Winter Vetch on the side of the road!! I prefer to call them “baby sweet peas” because 1. that’s a weird name frankly 2. they’re very similar to sweet peas XD

• Figured out how to shoot in burst on my mom’s DSLR (finally, HAH!) And did a bunch of research on point-and-shoot digital cameras. I decided of all the options I would want to spend a little more and get a Canon but they really are an investment, and I’m not in the place for that right now XD So I ended up getting a $30 point-and-shoot off Amazon and it’s pretty decent for the price!! I really just wanted something small that could fit in my purse, ya know.

• Finally replaced the fairy lights in my room (and got the kind with a remote so I don’t have to worry about leaving them on wheee) and oh my— the AMBIENCE!! I forgot how much I liked them XD

• There were clouds that looked like whipped cream!!!!!!!!!!!

• Easter Sunday was quite fun! A lovely church service, felt very nice in my outfit, Mom made Boston Cream Pie cake, and we did our baskets on Saturday! One of the things in mine was a picnic blanket!

• Hopped on a homeschool forum call late one night with my friend Zoe and some of the guys and proceeded to have a very fun, if nonsensical, conversation consisting of lack of sleep, old Google Chats, and Elias crashing out XD

• Attended prom with my brother! My mom did my hair (it slayed) and one of the volunteer ladies said that my purple sash was her favorite color! I didn’t match her energy at all which I so regret ahh. This prom was not at all what I thought it might be based off of the dance lessons being waltzes… but it was nevertheless quite fun! And I got to hang out with some lovely people, like our social group (Katie, Sara, Katy, Ryleigh, Scarlett) and ran into some others (Karynn, Ainsley-Hope, Isabelle, Annabelle, Lilah,) AND SOMEONE ASKED ME TO DANCE. ‘Twas a first and very fun!! They also had a swing competition and one dancer had the loveliest blue 50s style dress… and oh goodness I just loved all of us girls complimenting one another XD

• Very cozy catching up on these newsletters whilst sitting at my window seat in rainy weather! *happiness*

• One night I was sitting at my desk and realized I CAN HEAR FROGS OUTSIDE MY WINDOW!!! I think it has to do with the wind and how the sound carries because the pond is way at the end of our street, but it did it again a couple nights later and!!! WHAT A DELIGHTFUL SURPRISE!!!

• It’s been a bit of an odd season and I’ve had a hard time getting in the Word everyday but God has been so patient! He’s pointed out colors to me lately, like purple and white, which were what I decided to wear for prom hehe. And also, my church has started uploading their Sunday worship to YouTube!

• Stumbled upon deleted scenes from the 2015 Cinderella! And although a lot of commenters wished they’d been able to leave all of them in. I personally thought the movie was better without! The scenes didn’t add, for me personally, anything greater and I thought the umbrellas in one scene looked too out of place. It really can’t be improved upon in my mind, which is rather comforting, haha!
  

Some favorites, new and old:

❁ The Secret World of Arrietty (2010)
❁ Gigi’s latest YouTube video (on WHIMSY!!)
❁ @untroubledheart on Instagram
❁ Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
❁ Pomegranate by Quarterly
❁ PSALM 63 (UNFAILING LOVE) by LOST & FOUND

Thus ends this gushy ramble XD Do tell me all about your favorite springtime things and how you’ve been as of late!! Until next post!

Yours devotedly,
Lily ♡

© 2025 The Lily of Shalott