The Fountains of Carrots Podcast

Welcome to our FIRST EVER live recording of the podcast!

That’s right, Haley and Christy–usually separated by a few thousand miles–were together in the flesh at the FoC Raspberry Cordial Catholic Literary Gathering and we recorded with an audience with dear friend and fellow Anne-phile, Meg Hunter-Kilmer.

For those of you who couldn’t be there with us in early November, we wanted to let you in on some of the fun! The three of us have a great time answering questions from the audience about L.M. Montgomery’s beautiful books including what makes someone a kindred spirit, whether Diana will have a mid-life crisis, if we’d be friends with Philippa Gordon or Jane Andrews in real life, and so much more!

Things we talked about:

(Links to Amazon are affiliate links)

The Anne of Green Gables series

Patreon!

Do you love FoC and want to help us keep doing what we’re doing (and more!)? Well, we have just the thing for you! You can become a patron over at Patreon and get fabulous perks while supporting your friendly neighborhood podcasters.

Head on over to support the podcast as a patron (it’s only $5/month–cost of a cup of coffee!) to get:

* Monthly special episodes available exclusively to patrons (we call it Fountains of Carrots After Dark)* Access to the patron-only Slack community for conversation and fun* A Fountains of Carrots sticker mailed to you* Access to the Advent Book Club

Speaking of…you have just enough time to track down a copy of The Reed of God, our Advent read. We love this beautiful book by Caryll Houselander. We’ll be offering daily reflections and study questions via email each day of Advent for our patrons and discussion in our patron Slack community. (We also have a 25% off discount code from Ave Maria Press for patrons to order their copies of the book! ) Sign up to become a patron today!

Come hang out with us!

Haven’t joined in on the fun with 4,500+ other FoC listeners in our facebook group? It’s your direct line to some fantastic folks who also care about faith, culture, books, and whatever our current masterpiece theatre craze might be! Join in with the link below.

* The Fountains of Carrots Raspberry Cordial Social Club on Facebook (our Facebook group)* Connect with Haley on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and her blog* Connect with Christy on Facebook, Instagram, and her blog

You can listen to us on iTunes, and we’d love a quick rating or review. If you have an android device we’re also on Stitcher. And as always, you can find all links, show notes, upcoming guests, and listen to all episodes at Fountains of Carrots.com.

Can you believe that after five years of podcasting, we’ve never had a whole episode about Our Lady? But we knew exactly who to have on for this discussion: our friend Katie Prejean McGrady!

Katie graduated from the University of Dallas but now lives in Louisiana where she is wife to Tommy and mom to precious little Rose. She’s an author and also been speaking all over the country and internationally since 2007. Her newest project is Ave Explores with Ave Maria Press. This initiative includes articles, videos, podcasts, social media exclusives, surprising facts, and resources for classrooms and parishes.

In this episode we do a deep dive into our relationship with Mary: how we first came to encounter Our Lady, how she inspires and walks beside us, books that have helped us grow to know her and more!

So grab a cup of coffee and enjoy the conversation!

Things we talked about:

Ave Explores

The Reed of God by Caryll Houselander

33 Days to Morning Glory by Fr. Michael Gaitley

Katie’s books:

(links to Amazon.com are affiliate links)

Follow: Your Lifelong Adventure with Jesus

Room 24: Adventures of a New Evangelist

Lent: One Day at a Time for Catholic Teens

How to connect with Katie:

* Twitter* Website* Facebook* Instagram

Sponsor

This episode is graciously sponsored by Nikolaus Design.

Use the discount code CARROTS to get 10% off!

The Rosary played a significant role in helping converts Meg and Kyle Tietz find their way home to the Church. But they ran into a recurring problem – rosary beads kept breaking in their hands. Kyle, decided to teach himself to make an indestructible rosary that was so beautiful, it would inspire frequent prayer. Nikolaus Design (named after Kyle’s confirmation saint, St. Nicholas) was born from that mission! They create rosaries that are beautiful enough for special occasions but durable enough for daily prayer and they offer wire-wrapped, heirloom rosaries made from semiprecious gemstones, Swarovski crystals, Czech glass, genuine turquoise, and our specialty – handmade sterling silver Southwestern pearls.

You will not find rosaries constructed with these unique handmade beads anywhere else! Rosaries by Nikolaus Design are perfect for gifts for weddings, baptisms, confirmation, graduation, or Christmas or as a gift to yourself to inspire a deeper devotion to Our Lady’s Rosary.

Visit nikolausdesign.com to view the beautiful rosaries that are available or follow them on Instagram or Facebook. (And don’t forget to use CARROTS for 10% off!)

Patreon!

When we watched The Little Rascals when it came out in 1994, little did we know that Porky would end up being a Catholic convert–and a Latin Mass goer. That’s right! Zac Mabry, child actor turned CPA, is on the podcast today!

Zac is a fellow podcaster (he makes The Roman Circus Podcast with Matt Baker) and a contributing editor to The Catholic Herald. He’s also a Texan like Haley and he’s here to answer all your burning questions about the Latin Mass.

In this episode we clarify some of the confusing terms used to refer to different liturgies, explain why the Latin Mass is so great, and give tips for folks who are interested in attending a Latin Mass but nervous to try it out. We talk about everything from veiling to how traditional Catholics aren’t like the trads you might meet on Twitter. This episode is a little controversial and a lot of fun. So grab a cup of coffee and enjoy!

How to connect with Zac:

* Twitter* Instagram* Facebook* Podcast

The Raspberry Cordial Catholic Literary Gathering

HEAR YE, HEAR YE! Ticket sales are CLOSING Nov. 1st for our real life soiree/retreat/extravaganza with everyone’s favorite melodramatic redhead, Anne of Green Gables, as our theme!The event is coming up quickly November 8th and 9th in Waco, TX!

You don’t want to miss it, so be sure to head over and grab your tickets ASAP!

Sponsor

This episode is graciously sponsored by Nikolaus Design.

Use the discount code CARROTS to get 10% off!

The Rosary played a significant role in helping converts Meg and Kyle Tietz find their way home to the Church. But they ran into a recurring problem – rosary beads kept breaking in their hands. Kyle, decided to teach himself to make an indestructible rosary that was so beautiful, it would inspire frequent prayer. Nikolaus Design (named after Kyle’s confirmation saint, St. Nicholas) was born from that mission! They create rosaries that are beautiful enough for special occasions but durable enough for daily prayer and they offer wire-wrapped, heirloom rosaries made from semiprecious gemstones, Swarovski crystals, Czech glass, genuine turquoise, and our specialty – handmade sterling silver Southwestern pearls.

You will not find rosaries constructed with these unique handmade beads anywhere else! Rosaries by Nikolaus Design are perfect for gifts for weddings, baptisms, confirmation, graduation, or Christmas or as a gift to yourself to inspire a deeper devotion to Our Lady’s Rosary.

Visit nikolausdesign.com to view the beautiful rosaries that are available or follow them on Instagram or Facebook. (And don’t forget to use CARROTS for 10% off!)

Patreon!

Do you love FoC and want to help us keep doing what we’re doing (and more!)? Well, we have just the thing for you!

[powepress]

Haley may live in Texas but her Texas cred can’t hold a candle to today’s guest’s! Kathryn Whitaker, a graphic designer, voice behind the popular blog Team Whitaker, speaker, author, and VERY Texan mama is here to talk about the life experiences that inspired her new book, Live Big, Love Bigger: Getting Real with BBQ, Sweet Tea, and a Whole Lotta Jesus.

When Kathryn’s son, Luke, was born premature her world was rocked by a medical crisis unlike anything she’d faced before. Her family came out the other side transformed. In this episode we talked about how to be a good friend when a family you know is in crisis mode, the most important things to do when your own family is in a crisis, and ways to cope to survive these seasons when they inevitably arrive in our lives.

We usually recommend brewing some tea, but with Kathryn as our guest, we will simply have to suggest grabbing a Dr. Pepper!

Kathryn’s book:

(links to Amazon.com are affiliate links)

Live Big, Love Bigger: Getting Real with BBQ, Sweet Tea, and a Whole Lotta Jesus.

How to connect with Kathryn:

* Blog* Facebook* Instagram

The Raspberry Cordial Catholic Literary Gathering

Don’t forget that our real life soiree/retreat/extravaganza with everyone’s favorite melodramatic redhead, Anne of Green Gables, as our theme is coming up quickly November 8th and 9th!

You don’t want to miss it, so be sure to head over and grab your tickets ASAP!

Patreon!

Do you love FoC and want to help us keep doing what we’re doing (and more!)? Well, we have just the thing for you! Our Patreon is finally up and running so listeners can support the work we do.

Head on over to support the podcast as a patron and get access to special episodes available exclusively to patrons as well as to the FoC Slack community!

Come hang out with us!

Haven’t joined in on the fun with 4,500+ other FoC listeners in our facebook group? It’s your direct line to some fantastic folks who also care about faith, culture, books, and whatever our current masterpiece theatre craze might be! Join in with the link below.

* The Fountains of Carrots Raspberry Cordial Social Club on Facebook (our Facebook group)* Connect with Haley on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and her blog* Connect with Christy on Facebook,

Today’s guest is none other than the producer, writer, and director, Jeannie Gaffigan! Jeannie is raising five children in New York City with her comedian husband, Jim. As if all of that wasn’t keeping her busy enough, in 2017 she was hit with the unexpected news that she had a life-threatening brain tumor and faced a dangerous surgery followed by a long recovery. Since then she has penned what must be the funniest book about brain tumors ever written: When Life Gives You Pears, a memoir that touches not just on the medical crisis that almost took her life but also on her faith, the support of her family, and the lessons she brought with her to the other side.

In this episode Jeannie shares with us about her Catholic faith, the power of prayer, how lessons about what really matters keep having to be learned over and over, the journey of being a recovering control freak, and what it’s like to be in the spotlight as a famous family who is Catholic (but never signed up to be your token Catholic celebrity!) When Life Gives You Pears was released just today, October 1st, and we both loved it. It’s a beautiful and vulnerable tribute to a faith that believes in miracles and you will laugh at every page until you start crying because it’s so moving. So grab a cup of tea and listen to Jeannie’s amazing story!

Jeannie’s book:

(links to Amazon.com are affiliate links)

When Life Gives You Pears: The Healing Power of Family, Faith, Hope, and Funny People

Other Things We Talked About:

* Jeannie and Jim’s non-profit: The Imagine Society

How to connect with Jeannie:

* Twitter* Instagram

Sponsor:

Today’s episode was brought to you by Rose Harrington, a home to botanical rosary art by Katrina Harrington. Her art is inspired by the tradition of Mary Gardens as well as paper, canvas and ceramic hand lettered goods, all made in the USA. 

In addition to the beautiful botanical prints, the shop features ceramic mugs made in Ohio with Katrina’s designs of the Morning Offering prayer, Offer It Up hand lettering, and a blue and white floral Fiat which lend you perfect reminders to pray the Morning Offering first thing in the morning with your morning cuppa, to groggily offer up whatever is making you reach for the caffeine or to pray, “Let it be done,” as Our Lady did.

During the medieval Age of Faith, rural Christians bestowed names upon flowers and plants to symbolically represent Mary, the Mother of God, as well as the life of Christ, the saints and the liturgical year. Katrina turned to these traditions to paint a botanical rosary – 20 flowers representing each of the mysteries of the rosary.  And they are gorgeous! Haley has Katrina’s botanical take on the Sorrowful M...

Before we introduce this episode’s guest, a quick reminder that our Anne of Green Gables retreat, the Raspberry Cordial Catholic Literary Gathering is coming up soon! Come and hang out with kindred spirits in real life in Waco, TX November 8th and 9th. You don’t want to miss it, so be sure to head over and grab your tickets ASAP (we have a very limited number available and we’re more than 40% sold out!).

Today’s guest is wife, mama of three, and author, Phoebe Farag Mikhail. Phoebe is a Coptic Orthodox Christian and the daughter of a priest and the wife of a priest! She runs the blog Being in Community and recently released a book titled Putting Joy into Practice.

In this episode Phoebe shares about what it’s like when your dad’s the priest of an Orthodox church and some of the history of the Coptic Orthodox Church (we learned so much!). We also talk about pursuing Christian joy through spiritual practices–some familiar and some new to us. Phoebe has so many rich and insightful ideas to offer, so grab a cup of tea and listen in!

Phoebe’s book:

(links to Amazon.com are affiliate links)

Putting Joy into Practice

How to connect with Phoebe:

* Phoebe’s blog* Facebook* Twitter

Sponsor:

Today’s episode was brought to you by The Jane Austen Card Game Kickstarter Campaign. Janeites everywhere will love this rollicking good time of Austen fun that friend of the podcast, Nancy, has cooked up! Head over to the Kickstarter page to learn all about it and support the campaign so that an evening of delight over Jane Austen’s characters can become a reality! Follow The Jane Austen Card Game on Instagram!

Patreon!

Do you love FoC and want to help us keep doing what we’re doing (and more!)? Well, we have just the thing for you! Our Patreon is finally up and running so listeners can support the work we do.

Head on over to support the podcast as a patron and get access to special episodes available exclusively to patrons as well as to the FoC Slack community!

Come hang out with us!

Haven’t joined in on the fun with 4,500+ other FoC listeners in our facebook group? It’s your direct line to some fantastic folks who also care about faith, culture, books, and whatever our current masterpiece theatre craze might be! Join in with the link below.I

*

We’re back from our summer break with a brand new episode! And we have a HUGE announcement to make. We’re holding a Fountains of Carrots meetup/soiree/shindig this November in Waco, TX featuring none other than our favorite Anne of Green Gables! It’s called the Raspberry Cordial Catholic Literary Gathering and we want you to come!

We’ll start things out November 8th with an evening hangout at the world’s most charming bookshop, Fabled, in their “Spare Oom” special event space. You will love this sweet place! Their children’s section is accessed by going through a wardrobe door and walking through fur coats! We’ll sample some of their Raspberry Cordial drinks and get to know each other.

Saturday, November 9th, we’ll meet up at the Reicher Performing Arts Center with talks on Anne of Green Gables in light of Catholic faith from international Catholic speaker Meg Hunter-Kilmer, as well as from your friendly neighborhood podcasters Christy and Haley. We will drink tea, do some literary nerding out, explore Waco a bit, break so you can walk over to beautiful St. Louis church for Confession and Mass, and then meet back up for tacos from Haley’s favorite Waco restaurant and party! We may even squeeze in a live taping of the podcast!

You don’t want to miss it, so be sure to head over and grab your tickets ASAP (we have a very limited number available).

(And psst! Patreon patrons, don’t forget to use your patron discount BEFORE September 15th!)

And without further ado….we have a great episode for you today! St. Hildegard of Bingen’s feast day is coming up on September 17th and we’re celebrating this holy renaissance woman by chatting with the wonderful Emily Stimpson Chapman. Emily recently wrote a beautiful study on the Doctors of the Church (and St. Hildegard specifically) for Endow and has so many insights to share!

Emily is a wife, mama to an adorable one-year-old, beloved Instagrammer, and renowned Catholic writer, speaker, author, and the voice behind  The Catholic Table.  In this episode we talk about why Hildegard is such a wonderful saint to be rediscovered in the 21st century, her many talents and quirks, and the example she sets as a fiercely strong and holy woman. Grab a cup of coffee and get to know St. Hildegard!

The Endow study about St. Hildegard and the Doctors of the Church

Our first episode with Emily

Some of Emily’s books:

(links to Amazon.com are affiliate links)

The Catholic Table: Finding Joy Where Food and Faith Meet

Demi’s children’s books are at the very top of our list of favorites. We were thrilled when her latest picture book on Mozart was released and may or may not have begged her publisher for an interview. Because we love her. And much to our surprise, she agreed to talk with us! We tried not to fangirl but totally failed and she was ever so gracious. The conversation was an absolute delight.

If you live under a rock and haven’t discovered Demi’s work yet, you’re going to love her art and the gorgeous books she creates. She is an award-winning author and illustrator of over 300 books who lives in Washington with her husband. Many of her books are about famous historical figures including many Catholic saints! While Demi herself isn’t Catholic, she depicts the saints so beautifully and in this interview she shares all about her artistic training at Immaculate Heart College in Hollywood, CA and the inspiring nuns she studied under.

We were absolutely spellbound learning about Demi’s incredible life, the famous artists in her family tree, her artistic process, where she finds inspiration, and most of all her home library of (wait for it) EIGHTY SIX THOUSAND BOOKS! We also enjoyed hearing her thoughts on how children react to art (and create art). Hearing from Demi will make you want to stop, tap into that creative spark, and create something beautiful. We know you’re going to love hearing from her!

Demi’s two newest books:

(links to Amazon.com are affiliate links)

Mozart: Gift of God

Hildegard of Bingen: Scientist, Composer, Healer, and Saint

Books we talked about today:

The Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter

How to connect with Demi:

Amazon Author Page

Sponsor:

This episode is sponsored by Telos Art Shop: Modern Design for a Timeless Faith.

Exclusive discount available just for Fountains of Carrots listeners: Use FC10 for 10% off any order!

Gorgeous new Sacred Heart stacking rings are now available from Telos Art Shop! These rings are designed by Jessica of Telos Art and fabricated by a Catholic artisan in Florida. 

In addition to the Sacred Heart rings,

We’re thrilled to have Catholic novelist Eleanor Bourg Nicholson back with us today discussing one of our favorite books of all time: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Eleanor is a wife, homeschooling mother of four, director of religious education at her parish, former assistant editor at Dappled Things and the Saint Austin Review, has previously published a novella entitled The Letters of Magdalen Montague, and she has also edited the Ignatius Critical editions of Dracula, Mansfield Park, and Sense and Sensibility.

In this episode we nerd out on all things Jane Eyre! We start out with the importance of reading the classics and how good books make our souls expand. We also cover the very important questions such as whether Mr. Rochester’s marriage to Bertha was really valid and if he could have gotten an annulment and saved Jane a whole lot of heartbreak. We have OPINIONS! So grab a cup of strong tea and imagine you’re about to embark on a blustery walk on the moor.

Eleanor’s new book:

A Bloody Habit

Remember to use the coupon code CARROTS when ordering any of the Ignatius Critical Editions of the classics we discussed OR Eleanor’s book from Ignatius Press to get 25% off!

Books we talked about today:

Links to Amazon are affiliate links.

Mansfield Park 

Vilette

Jane Eyre

Great Expectations

Hard Times

A Christmas Carol

Wide Sargasso Sea

About Ignatius Critical Editions

Our past episode with Eleanor: Delving into the Mind of a Catholic Novelist

How to connect with Eleanor:

* Facebook

Thanks again to Ignatius Press for sponsoring today’s episode! What better time to read or re-read the classics than summer? Use coupon code CARROTS to get 25% off the retail price of the Ignatius Critical Editions, including classics such as

Colleen Carroll Campbell is a journalist, former presidential speech writer, author, speaker, wife, and mother of four. Her new book, The Heart of Perfection, brings the common struggle against perfectionism to light by offering personal stories and wisdom from the lives of the saints who were recovering perfectionists.

Today we chatted with Colleen about the hidden ways perfectionism sneaks into the spiritual life, how the saints have been there before, and how we can learn from the saints’ wisdom and lives in combatting perfectionism in ourselves. We also explore how perfectionism takes it’s toll on how we see God and his plan for us. It was great to talk about the distinction between God calling us to holiness not perfection, and how we can live that out.

We think you’ll enjoy Colleen’s insight and experience in our conversation!

Links for this episode:

(This post contains Amazon affiliate links)

Colleen’s brand new book:

The Heart of Perfection

Colleen’s other books:

My Sisters the Saints: A Spiritual Memoir

The New Faithful: Why Young Adults Are Embracing Christian Orthodoxy

How to connect with Colleen:

* Colleen’s web site* Facebook* Twitter

Patreon!

Do you love FoC and want to help us keep doing what we’re doing (and more!)? Well, we have just the thing for you! Our Patreon is finally up and running so listeners can support the work we do.

Head on over to support the podcast as a patron and get access to special episodes available exclusively to patrons as well as to the FoC Slack community!

Come hang out with us!

Haven’t joined in on the fun with 4,000 other FoC listeners in our facebook group? It’s your direct line to some fantastic folks who also care about faith, culture, books,