The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, Pope Francis, The Francis Effect, and more on Monday Musings.
Monday Musings
Good morning friends, I hope that you had a lovely weekend. In case you missed it, Juliet is back with us for Weekend Meanderings so be sure to visit her post.
Is it just me or does anyone else find themselves talking about the weather lately? It has been beautiful, my favorite weather. The last few years it felt like we went from winter to pollen season and then to the heat and humidity of summer. This year we have had cool mornings, and warm sunny afternoons. It’s wish we could have weeks of this sort of weather to ease into the heat of summer. As I do not think that will happen I will savor the days that we do have.
My peonies are blooming and they look so beautiful. Their short season and beauty makes me wish I had a whole garden full of them and a giant refrigerator to store them in.
Aside from enjoying the weather I was glued to the tv watching the funeral of Pope Francis. If you follow me on Instagram you were inundated with AI and real stories about his amazing life. Pope Francis was a kind, generous, humble pope the likes of which I do not think we will ever see again.
Did you know that the Pope earns $32,000 a year? Francis donated his salary and in fact died with just $100 in his bank account. He also sold the custom Lamborghini he was gifted and donated the money to the poor.
He wore a pair of brown boots instead of the red silk slippers of the pope, he never slept in the Papal apartments and instead lived in a guest house nearby. There were many bits of information that came out this weekend, some I knew and others caused my estimation of him to go up.
Now it is time to elect a new pope. The conclave begins 15-20 days after the death of the pope, in this case between May 6-12th. There are 252 cardinals but only 135 can vote for the next pope. You have to be under the age of 80 to be eligible to vote. Who knew. What’s funny is that I can remember watching tv as a child waiting for the smoke when they elected John Paul I.
A bit of family history, my grandmothers twin sister was a Notre Dame nun and she worked in Rome at the Vatican during the Second Vatican Council.
Ok, on to 5+things.
The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart is also an Amazon series with Sigourney Weaver.
An enchanting and captivating novel about how our untold stories haunt us ― and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive.
After her family suffers a tragedy, nine-year-old Alice Hart is forced to leave her idyllic seaside home. She is taken in by her grandmother, June, a flower farmer who raises Alice on the language of Australian native flowers, a way to say the things that are too hard to speak.
Under the watchful eye of June and the women who run the farm, Alice settles, but grows up increasingly frustrated by how little she knows of her family’s story. In her early twenties, Alice’s life is thrown into upheaval again when she suffers devastating betrayal and loss. Desperate to outrun grief, Alice flees to the dramatically beautiful central Australian desert. In this otherworldly landscape Alice thinks she has found solace, until she meets a charismatic and ultimately dangerous man.
Spanning two decades, set between sugar cane fields by the sea, a native Australian flower farm, and a celestial crater in the central desert, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart follows Alice’s unforgettable journey, as she learns that the most powerful story she will ever possess is her own.
Need more book recommendations?
If you have already read this book or missed something I have featured before on the blog check out My Bookshop on Amazon.
2. Watched~The Francis Effect
3. LINKS: READ+WATCH+LISTEN
How to Not Take Things Personally, According to Experts
So you saw ‘Conclave’ the movie. Here’s what it got right – and wrong – about real-life conclaves
10 Life Choices You Will Regret in 10 Years (And Probably Even Sooner)
8 Ways to Respond to an Apology Besides ‘It’s OK’
7 Trends That Will Be Everywhere This Spring
What’s the Difference Between the FDA and the USDA?
It’s Time to Embrace the Hybrid Homemade and Takeout Meal
4. SHOPPING BREAK~OUTFIT OF THE DAY
It’s pool time and beach season. A caftan can be worn at the pool or to the store. This black and white caftan is stylish, and will take you from the water to lunch or dinner. Make sure to pack your sunscreen, glasses, hat, and of course a good book.
Click the photos to see the pieces.
You can see all of my outfits on LTK! Follow me for more inspiration.
5. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT THIS WEEKEND
Saturday I joined Kim for Weekend Meanderings, I shared the Met Sargent & Paris exhibition, the movie The Friend, Wollerton Old Hall Garden, The Bloomerie and more on Weekend Meanderings.
THAT’S ALL FOR NOW
Have a great day friends, thank you for spending part of your day with me I hope that you enjoyed Monday Musings.
You can also keep up with me on Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook. And last but not least, if you like Pinecones & Acorns share it with a friend!
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On My Radar
Hi Elizabeth,
You are so fortunate to be able to grow so many Peonies. I love them, one of my top fav flowers. Flowers have a way of of making you happy and lifting your spirts.
I agree with you about the Pope Francis. He was the best in so many ways. The story of him purchasing 300 cakes on his birthday and giving them to homeless people I thought is WONDERFUL. Classic Pope Francis. I so agree with you about the Pope.
Elizabeth, I love the personal stories you shared about Pope Francis. I so agree with you it will be extremely difficult to ever find another Francis, he had the very best heart. I grieved when he passed, and I’m not even Catholic. My Papa was, when he was alive he would spend hours sitting at the church in the pews. I think he needed the solitude and he found a sense of peace. He never fully recovered from his mother’s passing. We all have our stories to tell and share don’t we?
Sending you a beautiful day.
Hi Elizabeth,
I wanted to let you know that I made the Guinness Chili recipe that you posted in mid March. I made it yesterday and it was AWESOME. I did use only the Beefless Soy (Trader Joe’s) instead of the ground beef and ground pork. You may remember we do not eat red meat. Also I was concerned I would have an issue with beans, I did find two cans of dark kidney beans and that set well with my tummy, also we do not do HOT spices so I eliminated the 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper.
ALSO: I have made so many chocolate chip cookies in my life time and I asked you for your best recipe. I did make “The Best, Basic Chocolate Chip Cookie and I think you are right. They are “the rock star.” They will be my go-to now. I have purchased super expensive chocolate chips
and I have found the Nestles is the best tasting.
I make Strawberry Pecan Salads too, I will try your recipe you shared this Wednesday, 4/30. To save a step I buy Trader Joe’s Candied Pecans, found in their nut department. They are the best, over the top yummy. It also saves you a step.
Thanks so much for sharing some of your recipes, I so appreciate it.
Katherine, thank you for letting me know I am so happy that you made and enjoyed the chili and the cookies! They are two of my favorite recipes.
As for chocolate chips, I like to use the Belgium chocolate chunks from Aldi, but I always include Nestles as well.
Candied pecans are my favorite part of the salad! Sadly, I live 1 hour from Trader Joes so I have to make my own.
Have a wonderful evening.
Hi Elizabeth,
Where do you purchase the Belgium Chocolate Chunks from Aldi? I know Belgium chocolate is so good. My sisters-in-law’s husband was from Belgium. Moved to Canada. We were a pair with our sweets. He said Belgium chocolate was the best. Do you agree?
Hello KAtherine, in the baking aisle, close to the other chocolate chips they have bags of chocolate chunks from Belgium. Some are semi-sweet the others are dark chocolate. Speaking of chocolate, did you know that I have a chocolate blog as well? I wrote it for years, then stopped in 2020 but have recently had it revamped and it is back on line. It’s called Once Upon a Chocolate Life.