A week full of music, family and the particular joy of watching people live their best life
This week was one of those weeks that fills you up. I started the week with two things on the calendar and somehow by Friday I had been to a concert, a dinner, a phone call with a friend and the Special Olympics. My heart is full and I am a little tired.
It started Monday evening with Joyful Noise, a singing club that is part of the Arc of Moore County, which supports people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. My niece is a member. We went to their yearly concert and I am not sure I have the right words for what it was like. Uplifting does not quite cover it. Joyful is exactly right, not just the music but the volunteers, the families, the pride in every face. One of those evenings that reminds you what really matters.
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Then a mid-week dinner with friends we have not seen in a few months. Lots of laughing, catching up, and good food, the kind of evening that gets going and you realize at some point it is very late and nobody has moved. Thursday a long phone call with a friend. Last but not least Friday, the Special Olympics, watching my niece compete. There is nothing quite like watching people live their best life.
Armchair Wanderlust
Buckle up, armchair travelers, because this week I am taking you somewhere you have probably never thought about going: the Faroe Islands.
Eighteen fragments of rock in the middle of the North Atlantic. Fifty-three thousand people who chose to stay in what the documentary calls the most impossible corner of Europe. The film explores what it calls the Isolation Paradox — how a place this remote, this unforgiving, creates community that is deeper and more real than anything you find in a city. Ancient turf-roofed houses next to a modern digital revolution. People who are not surviving the elements. People who chose a life that means something. I watched it twice.
In the Garden
Bunny Guinness this week, and if you do not know Bunny you are in for a treat. She is one of the best garden designers working in England and she has a wonderful way of explaining why a garden works, the textures, the sightlines, the way a space invites you to stay. This week she shares the design of a sheltered garden built around a 13th-century stone undercroft, all about accessibility and plant choices and creating somewhere you actually want to be. Intimate and beautiful.
On Homing and Homeworthy This Week
A beautifully restored 1750s farmhouse in Cornwall on Homeworthy this week. The owner is a journalist-turned-Pilates instructor and a book lover, which you will see immediately. Thousands of books, vintage pieces collected over time, layered and warm and completely personal. The kind of home that tells you who someone is the minute you walk in. I watched it and realized that you can never, ever have too many books.
Also, Callie Coles’ house is for sale. If you are on Instagram and you are not following Callie, she is famous for her ponies and various other animals who wander freely through her kitchen, and her house is every bit as wonderful as her feed. Worth a look.
Podcasts Worth Your Time
Three this week, all of them excellent.
First up, Candice Bergen interviewed by her daughter Chloe. If you watched Murphy Brown and I did, and loved it, you will want this one. Candice Bergen has lived an extraordinary life and the people she has known and worked with and the stories she tells are fascinating. Something about being interviewed by your own daughter brings out honesty, humor and love.
Table Manners this week features Kristin Scott Thomas, who I would happily listen to talk about anything for any amount of time. She is warm and funny and completely fascinating. They cover growing up with four siblings, her mother’s cooking, leaving drama school to go to France as an au pair (which is, if you think about it, how she became the actress she is), auditioning for Prince, and her new film My Mother’s Wedding, which she directed herself. Her directorial debut. The woman continues to astonish.
And Emma Thompson on GQ, going through her most iconic characters one by one. The scene from Love Actually alone, her reaction when she discovers what Alan Rickman has done, alone in the bedroom, pulling herself together before she goes to the Christmas concert, she talks about it here. “There is no woman who does not know what that is like,” she says.
A Skill We Stopped Teaching
Sam Hamper explores how the act of drawing serves as a meditative tool for developing true attention and observation skills. By looking closely at the natural world, participants can anchor themselves in the present moment, shifting away from passive consumption toward a deeper, more intentional engagement with their surroundings.
A Little Something Different Here on the Blog
I want to share something with you because you may have noticed a change and you may want to know where this is going. I have been blogging for fifteen years, and I am aging along with the blog. In a few months I will be sixty. Apparently I am in midlife, although my mind has me somewhere else, and my body some mornings lets me know in no uncertain terms that no, I am in fact aging.
What that means for Pinecones & Acorns is that I am writing more. More as in longer, more personal, more about the things that women our age actually think about and talk about with friends and family. I will still have Monday Musings, Friday Favorites and Weekend Meanderings every week, the Sweet Treats series with Sheri, the Seasonal Table with Cindy, and recipes sprinkled through. But alongside all of that you will find more posts in the longer format, the things I think and feel and find interesting, written for the women who are traveling the same road.
If that is your thing, I am glad you are here and I invite you to join in the conversation in the comments.
What filled up your week? Tell me in the comments.
Don’t forget to visit Juliet at Make Mine a Spritzer and Kim at Northern California Style — we always have lots to share.
If you enjoyed this post, I would love it if you shared it. You can find me on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterestand X — I would love to have you along.
Have a wonderful weekend, friends.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Weekend Meanderings No. 109 | Vivaldi, the Met Gala and a Walk on the Lizard
The Bower Bird Home — How I Decorate and Why I’ll Never Be a Minimalist
The Best White Dresses for Summer
On My Radar
I just want to say I very much enjoy your thoughtful “meanderings” I’ve got a good decade on you, and while the aging body is a bit frustrating at times, and the loss of family and friends is a hard part of this time of life, there are times of great joy and appreciation for this change in priorities and it takes me back to that intense pleasure in the little things I felt as a kid. There is so much to be grateful for. Love listening to your journey. (and thanks for that amazing brownie recipe!)
EJ, thank you for your kind and thoughtful comment. The loss of family and friends is the hardest part of life, my mother-in-law passed away at almost 98 and she said the very same thing, she had no friends left, no husband and many of her cousins were gone aw well and they were younger. I think as we age the little things become more and more important and that is a good thing.
So happy you enjoyed the brownies.
Oh my goodness, absolutely delighted to be here and so looking forward to your new shares, insights and loveliness! Your writings are so appreciated. Thank you for that!
B, thank you! Happy to have you here!
Hi Elizabeth,
I have read your blog for years and I am truly loving these longer more personal posts.
Enjoy your weekend.
Thank you Rita! Have a wonderful weekend.
I think you are a great writer, Elizabeth!!! More is more!
Thank you Mary Ann!
Hi, I love reading your posts and enjoy all of the various content and links that you post. Thank you for making my day more enjoyable – really appreciate your writings, both long and short.
Vickie, thank you!
Yes Elizabeth, more of these more intimate chats with us older gals. I stopped reading other bloggers as I’m just not into just what they are changing in their home design, although I am happy for them but I needed more to start my day than what I can add to my stuff pile:0)..I do like stuff but at this age it needs to be something I will use or cherish. I also watch flower garden friends like Garden Answer. Plus you respond if needed to a comment…who does that anymore? Bless you! So many times I’ve asked others a question and no response..yes they are very busy for sure and I understand…blogging is work…I am grateful to have such wonderful people showing me more of this great world.
Lori, I am a huge fan of Garden Answer and I am excited to see what they do to their house during the remodeling. I love reading blogs and I do agree with you, I get tired of all of the things for sale, mainly because I do not want to buy more stuff, I have a ton already! Have w wonderful weekend!
Thank you for connecting me to some of these videos. I never seek them out on my own, but I found myself captivated by the Faroe Islands (such beauty) and beyond that, I loved hearing Emma Thompson speaking about her iconic roles. What a powerhouse of a woman–smart, vitally passionate about life and so deeply intelligent in her observations. And I couldn’t help noticing that Emma–like Kristin Scott Thomas–these women have real faces. Life-filled faces. Not plasticated features, but wrinkles earned through love, sorrow, experience and aging. How much more fascinating they are to observe and, ultimately, to admire, than those who seek to remain static in face and mind.
Mary, I loved the Emma Thompson video and the Kristian Scott Thomas vides. I too noticed and loved their beautiful faces, wrinkles and all. Truth be told I find some of the women who use too many fillers and have too much done a little scary looking.
Have a wonderful weekend.
I’ve noticed and love the direction you are taking your blog. I’ve shared so many of your videos and recommendations. Thanks for consistently great content!
Mayr, thank you for reading and sharing!
Hello Elizabeth,
I really enjoy your blog thank you for introducing me to so many fascinating videos and interviews. I am 62 so your mindset is perfect for where I am in life! This week I am focusing on my mother who is 93 and has flown all the way from England to be with us for three weeks. She is doing very well and I am so thankful to have her here. We have been to botanical gardens, a movie, dinner with my daughter and her husband, but many days are spent talking and reading and enjoying a easy day sitting in the garden. My lovely husband does most of the cooking for us so we can “be”. How lucky am I!! Have a wonderful weekend Elizabeth and please keep writing, it is such a pleasure to read!
I very much enjoy the way you write, so I am glad to know there will be more of it. Best link today is the 15 minutes in the Faroe Islands. In my heart it sounds delightful, but my brain says, no, probably not. But I love knowing that some people enjoy it. Reminded me of a book, The Place of Tides, by James Rebanks.
Sharon, thank you! I appreciate you saying that. I could not agree with you more, I think it takes a special kind of person to live like that. I have made a note of the book.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Hi Elizabeth,
I enjoyed everything you had to share.
I know it takes some doing. You are appreciated.
Somehow in my limited skills online, I stumbled across your blog. It is simply wonderful! You are a very talented writer. Thank you for sharing.
Ellen, thank you! That is very kind of you to say. I hope that you have a lovely day.
Elizabeth loved the Faroe Islands! Great videos by women I really admire / Candice and Kristin.
Love your writing and sharing more of your life.
Your week must have been wonderful. That concert sounds beautiful. Yay for your niece. .
I enjoy reading your blog weekly and look forward to it. You are very talented and one of the few bloggers that still write with meaningful information and insights, what blogging used to be. I am learned and discovered so much from your blogs and always pass the information on to friends. Please don’t change. Your blog reads like a magazine to me, with the different categories. Keep up the amazing job
Angie, thank you! That is actually how I designed the blog, like a magazine with a little of everything that I like and hope others like too.
I hope that you continue to read and enjoy the blog.
Have a wonderful week.
Elizabeth! Sounds like a busy week. The best kind of busy. Congratulations to your niece competing in the Special Olympics. How exciting for the entire family to see her achieve her dreams. Sorry I’m late getting here, we were away for a long weekend and it’s taken me a day to regroup. As always I love all your links, all very helpful in my bounce-back-into-real-life process. Ha! Love the direction of your blog … you’ve been at this a long time and always manage to keep it fresh. xo