• Book Reviews
  • Mennonite Memoir: A Sampling
  • Privacy Policy
Plain and Fancy Girl
  • Welcome!
  • About
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Get My Books
Select Page
Secrets of a Spool of Blue Thread

Secrets of a Spool of Blue Thread

by MarianBeaman | Jul 10, 2019 | blog, book review, Family / Nostalgia, Literature, meditation, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia

  Among the relics of my sewing days, I found just one blue spool of thread. Otherwise, I have the basics for mending: black, white, and beige. Once an avid sewer, never a full-fledged seamstress, I made dresses, little boy suits, pinch-pleated drapes – even my...
7 Tips: Forest Bathing

7 Tips: Forest Bathing

by MarianBeaman | May 29, 2019 | blog, book review, Family / Nostalgia, neighborhood, Neighborhood / Environment, Tips, Uncategorized

Forest Bathing: Taking in the natural world through one’s senses       How to: Forest-Bathe Savor sights, sounds, follow your nose as you head into the forest or park. Listen to the tap-tap-tap of a beak on wood or the two-tone note of a birdcall. Walk...
Rachel Held Evans and My Brother Mark

Rachel Held Evans and My Brother Mark

by MarianBeaman | May 22, 2019 | blog, book review, Family / Nostalgia, meditation, Memory, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Uncategorized

Rachel Held Evans died on May 4, 2019 at age 37. She left behind a grieving husband Dan, two small children, and a host of admirers including me. She was the author of four books; I read her first one. Her untimely death ignited a public outcry. The Washington Post...
Lets Eat Grandma

Lets Eat Grandma

by MarianBeaman | May 15, 2019 | blog, book review, Gratitude, Literature, Mennonite History, Mennonite Lore, Nostalgia, Recipes, Tips

My Grandma liked to cook and she liked to eat. She has a starring role in my memoir, spotlighted in two chapters: Grandma’s Bountiful Table and Easter & Politics. Everyone had a seat at her table. I treasure time I spent preparing meals with her and having her...
Chopped! Writer as Sous-Chef

Chopped! Writer as Sous-Chef

by MarianBeaman | May 1, 2019 | blog, book review, Lists, Quotations, Recipes, Tips, Uncategorized

What to Do When You are Sick of Writing (or any other brain-sucking activity) Just ask Caroline Carlson, who wrote The Door at the End of the World, a book I won (by the luck of the draw) for commenting on L. Marie’s website. Woo Hoo!   Here is...
Walking Crooked, Writing Straight

Walking Crooked, Writing Straight

by MarianBeaman | Mar 6, 2019 | blog, book review, Lists, meditation, Quotations, Tips, Uncategorized

“Nana, let’s go for a walk!” Ian was tired of being penned up inside while his older brother worked in our yard. “Of course!” I tell him. Squirrels scamper, cardinals cheer. Even though the sky is misty gray, the earth looks and sounds alive.    ...
« Older Entries
Next Entries »

Translate Page

Read the Latest

  • What Help Looks Like
  • Little Girl and a Coffin in the House
  • Sign Post

Search By Category

  • Amish (8)
  • Amish fiction (4)
  • Award (6)
  • blog (437)
  • book review (85)
  • British History (3)
  • chalk drawing (4)
  • Christmas (8)
  • Cliff Beaman artist (94)
  • Coming of Age (143)
  • Conflict (93)
  • Easter (13)
  • Education (119)
  • Family / Nostalgia (486)
  • Folk Songs of the South (3)
  • Gratitude (61)
  • Kiev Ukraine (5)
  • Lists (40)
  • Literature (125)
  • meditation (157)
  • Memory (231)
  • Mennonite History (196)
  • Mennonite Lore (321)
  • neighborhood (32)
  • Neighborhood / Environment (33)
  • Nostalgia (249)
  • Novel writing (2)
  • Novel writing (2)
  • Paska (5)
  • popular culture (80)
  • Purple Passage (25)
  • Quilt (12)
  • Quotations (273)
  • Recipes (51)
  • Reflection (122)
  • Romance (34)
  • Southern lady friends (15)
  • Tips (124)
  • Travel (63)
  • Tree surgery (4)
  • Ukraine (6)
  • Uncategorized (628)
  • Facebook
  • X
  • RSS
© Marian Beaman - Just a Plain & Fancy Girl - Contact us regarding problems with site.