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Alyssa Took

@hobbithomemaking

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Hobbit homemaker, hygge homeschooler, urban homesteader. Writer of tips & encouragement to build your own Shire wherever you are. Modern Hobbitry! ✞

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It was often said (in other families) that long ago one of the Took ancestors must have taken a fairy wife. That was, of course, absurd, but certainly there was something not entirely hobbit-like about them, and once in a while members of the Took-clan would go and have adventures.
—The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien

I may be a Baggins through and through - give me my velvet dressing coat and quiet meal with a crackling fire, and if a bunch of dwarves showed up at my door unannounced demanding dinner, I’d be as irked as Bilbo - but there’s undoubtedly Took blood in my veins. The itch to pack up my pocket-handkerchiefs and let my feet wander down the Road to unexplored places comes more often than it should as a Baggins, so there must indeed be fairy blood in my background. But I’m not complaining. I’ll gladly go off on adventures, so long as I’m back in time for dinner 😉

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#keepyourhobbitryinheart hosted by @misskieranjane ❦ 19th October ‘my dear Bagginses and Boffins’ - Which hobbit family fits you best?

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कुछ लोगो को हम इज़्ज़त देना चाहते हैं
लेकिन वो अपने व्यवहार से साबित कर देते हैं
की उन्हें इस इज़्ज़त की कोई ज़रूरत नहीं 🙏😌
Reelinstagram #🙏🫶
Instagram #🫶😌
Reelviral #😌❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹#💖💖💖💖

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‘Sam sat silent and said no more. He had a good deal to think about. For one thing, there was a lot to do up in the Bag End garden, and he would have a busy day tomorrow, if the weather cleared. The grass was growing fast. But Sam had more on his mind than gardening. After a while he sighed, and got up and went out.’
—Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, JRR Tolkien

This passage feels all the more relatable these days. Like Samwise, I long for a time when trimming the verge and cutting spent blooms are my biggest concerns. But like Samwise, I find myself part of a much larger tale that’s forcing me beyond my familiar borders out of love for the land and the people I love.

But if I had my druthers, if the evils of this world weren’t so widespread and bold, I’d much prefer to stay in the Shire with my hands in good clean dirt and a pie cooling on the windowsill. I also love a good wander in the woods and unlike many hobbits, do not share the Shire’s suspicion of water (and have been swimming since I was a very young hobbit), so I’d be quite content with a cozy little hobbit hole perhaps along the Brandywine River where it borders the Old Forest. (Yes, I know what the Gaffer would have to say about that.) I don’t need anything quite so grand as Bag End: so long as I have a good kitchen, a large pantry, and a comfy sitting room with overflowing bookshelves and a crackling fire to curl up beside in the evenings, I’d consider myself the happiest of hobbits. I might make my way over to the Green Dragon for the occasional evening of chatter and song, but I’m quite the quiet type at heart who prefers the company of purring and plants to crowds.

Where in the Shire might we find you?

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#keepyourhobbitryinheart hosted by @misskieranjane ❦ 12th October ‘dreaming of Bag End’ - Where in the Shire would we find you?

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‘… it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.’
—The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien

It feels fitting, being as connected to the land as they are, that hobbit-holes would reflect the seasons. Piles of pumpkins, baskets overflowing with apples, acorns and bright leaves tucked in corners and bowls, hearty loaves of bread cooling on the rack as baskets of root vegetables and cool-weather crops come marching into the pantries. And I can just see Sam bundling sheaves of wheat and picking Rosie bouquets of snowdrops in winter, then violas in spring, nasturtiums in summer, and asters in autumn, can’t you? (Part of why Samwise is my hobbit 😉)

I grew up watching my mum change decorations out every season, every holiday, and while I don’t go quite as all out as she does, I do love having my home reflect the seasonal shifts. Autumn calls for accents of russet and burgundy and buttercream, soft blankets and cozy knit sweaters, warm plaids and gourds everywhere (still working on that one this year) and all the baking (not that I don’t bake year round, but there’s just something about fall baking). Oh, and as @cuppawhimsy mentioned, crafts! There’s something about cozying up in cooler weather that feels perfect for crafting - today, Halfling and I fashioned a garland of tiny witches’ brooms (after @woodlark ‘s tutorial, which I’ll share to stories!) from pine needles collected on our walk and twigs from our yard. It turned out so cute, if we do say so ourselves! (The hobbit door wreath is from a few years ago, and I still love it.)

Tell me, are you a seasonal décor person?

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#keepyourhobbitryinheart hosted by @misskieranjane ❦ 5th October ‘doilies & dishclothes’ - What’s something hobbity you do to cozy up your home for fall?

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✨ IN HONOR OF NATIONAL HOBBIT DAY… 🤎🏡

A real-life storybook escape awaits in Paris, Arkansas.

📍 18 Spruce St | Paris, AR
🏷️ $274,900

Tucked among mature trees, this one-of-a-kind post-WWII stone residence is anything but ordinary. Handcrafted from local river rock, with turrets, curved stonework, sculpted railings, a bell-cast dome and a winding exterior staircase…

It feels like a little piece of another world. ✨

Whimsical. Architectural. Completely unforgettable.

🤎 Come discover the storybook.

#NationalHobbitDay #HobbitDay #Hobbit #HobbitHouse #StorybookHome

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“‘Today is my one hundred and eleventh birthday: I am eleventy-one today!’
‘Hurray! Hurray! Many Happy Returns!’ they shouted, and they hammered joyously on the tables. Bilbo was doing splendidly. This was the sort of stuff they liked: short and obvious.”
—The Fellowship of the Ring

Many happy returns to our illustrious Masters Bilbo and Frodo Baggins - may the hair on their feet never fall out! - a happiest of hobbit days, and happy fall & blessed Mabon to all! 🍂

We had a hobbit meal last night (a small tribute, as I’m feeling under the weather), but we’re still trying to schedule our annual hobbit party because we all have kids/are caretakers and September is full of family birthdays, so trying to find time is proving difficult. But today after we sang hobbit drinking songs on our way to drop off Young Jedi, Halfling and I took our morning walk to visit the cows, picked some wildflowers, and had leftover hobbit food (and tea, of course) for lunch, so it’s been a quite slow, lovely day overall.

I wanted to make a special note of the beautiful print of the party tree my dear friend (and fellow Ring-bearer in many other years) @acornerturned sent me - I unfortunately could not capture the photo I had in my head, but hopefully you can appreciate the beauty of the art nonetheless.

If you could choose to celebrate hobbit day with no worries for the outside world or pesky real-life obligations, what would you do?

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#alongexpectedhobbitday hosted by @misskieranjane & @thelastkindlyhome ❦ 22nd #tolkientuesday ‘The party tree’ - Happy Hobbit Day and many happy returns to Masters Bilbo and Frodo Baggins! How will you be celebrating?

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How to properly toast a book that holds such a special place in so many hearts? How to capture the charm, the scope, the life lessons, the deeds both grand and humble?⁣
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How to explain its success, its staying power, its fiercely devoted and ever-growing fan base?⁣⁣ How to explain our adoration, our passion, our obsession for this unlikely and ever reluctant hero, his quirky and lovable band of dwarves, and their often grumpy guide?⁣⁣
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We could say it launched a legacy unlike anything, arguably, there ever has been or will be. We could say it irrevocably changed the face of fantasy. We could say it set the bar so high, established so many precedents and tropes and themes and details as cannon that every fantasy writer, whether wittingly or no, pulls from Tolkien.⁣⁣
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But I think, perhaps, its enduring influence is due to this: it’s a tale about an ordinary person tested against extraordinary circumstances wielding little more than his wits, compassion, and good common sense. We need more tales like that.⁣⁣
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Happy book birthday to The Hobbit, and Many Happy Returns.⁣⁣

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My Middle-earth meet-cute is quite simple: I fell for Smaug. Specifically, the illustration by the Professor himself. (In my defense, Tolkien’s famous print makes him look quite cuddly, I just wanted to pat his head.) I’d first met Middle-earth through a book in our home library of stills from the 1977 Rankin & Bass film The Hobbit, but it was when I discovered Tolkien’s illustration of Smaug the Magnificent that my obsession truly began (and also my obsession with dragons 😉)

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#alongexpectedhobbitday hosted by @misskieranjane & @thelastkindlyhome ❦ 21st #middleearthmonday
‘Food & cheer & song’ - Happy book birthday to The Hobbit! Share your Middle-earth meet-cute - who or what introduced you to Tolkien?

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A prayer for the days ahead ✨

Save and share with kindreds — find @taylorparra @hobbithomemaking on Substack for an Autumnal Equinox offering ♥️

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“Would that there were kings in Gondor, as there were once upon a time, they say! For it is said in old lore: ‘The hands of the king are the hands of a healer.’ And so the rightful king could ever be known.”
—The Return of the King

It feels fitting that the man who saw the very worst of men would write Aragorn. Faramir. Boromir. Samwise. Frodo. Éomer. Théoden. Merry and Pippin. Thorin. The man who sat in the trenches and watched men who could have been friends blow fellow humans to bits, who saw the boys of his childhood fall to the power plays of powerful men, who knew firsthand the evils of arrogance and self-proclaimed superiority.

Can you imagine what this world would look like if those lines rang true? If men were caretakers, if they cried openly and hugged unashamedly and stepped into positions of power not to prop up their own fragile egos, but out of a genuine desire to be of service. Aragorn doesn’t take the crown because he wants the power; indeed, he spends much of the trilogy refusing it. But he recognizes the privilege he has, in his lineage, his lived experience, in the expectations of his people, and so he takes up the mantle not to satisfy some part of himself needing external validation or adoration, but because he is needed.

Boromir, beautiful Boromir, struggles with the lure of a seemingly simple solution to his people’s problems and the poisonous temptation of the Ring, and recognizes his mistake. Faramir (book Faramir, and don’t even get me started there) looks temptation in the face and stands aside - and does the right thing not for recognition or glory, but simply because it’s what’s right.⁣ Samwise realizes if he does not step in and continue Frodo’s quest, all will be lost. He’s terrified, but he takes the Ring and prepares to go on.

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Something that struck me as I was thinking this over: Tolkien’s men are all driven by love. Aragorn and Théoden, Boromir and Faramir, Éomer and Thorin, a love for their people. Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin, a love for each other and the Shire.

And lest you think I’ve forgotten Éowyn and Galadriel, Arwen and Lúthien, (yes, I did start with our Tolkien men, because the quote is about kings, and

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Overthinking the overthinking is too real 😅

Happy Friday Funnies all!! Maybe we should all try and go no contact with our inner critic this weekend? I’m sure most of us could use it!!

#therapistsofinstagram #therapyhumor #mentalhealthmemes#therapistlife #fridayfunnies

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Happy Feral Friday. I hope you get some bare feet on actual dirt, some sunshine on your face, and time to hug a tree this weekend. It might change your life. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

#nevadatherapist #renotherapist #lasvegastherapist #ecotherapist #feralfriday

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