beauty that moves

the rhythm of family (a giveaway!)

Have you peeked inside? I think you'll fall in love with this book... perhaps you already have. 

Amanda Blake Soule along her husband Stephen Soule have written their first book together. As of yesterday, The Rhythm of Family: Discovering a Sense of Wonder Through the Seasons, can be found in bookstores everywhere.

I spoke with Amanda about this book two (or three?) summers ago. The writing was not quite underway yet but the green light had been given by her publisher, so the ideas were brewing and she shared a tiny glimpse of her vision with me. When I asked Amanda what her third book was going to be about - she spun this beautiful description in which I heard the words "Steve will be co-writing... we'll follow the calendar for a full year... through the lens of family life... projects, music, recipes, essays... feeling inspired by Tasha Tudor"... and so on.

I have been on the edge of my seat for a very long time. 

To finally see these ideas in print is a such a pleasure. I adore the format, truly. I think you will too. Each chapter in this book represents a full month of living for the Soule family, spending their days close to nature and each other. There are twelve chapters filled with seasonal, family-centered essays by "Mama and Papa," as well as "Make" and "Do" sections that will inspire you to Write a Family Manifesto, make Flower Essence Lotion, or Have a Preserving Party... and there is so much more.

Don't these ideas just make you want to get busy living? 

The Rhythm of Family is a sweet, inspiring, gem of a book. It will feel comfortably familiar to anyone who already knows and loves Amanda's work, but you'll sense a subtle new direction in which she and SoulePapa travel together. And you will be pleased, so very pleased. 

Also, if you peek between pages 119-123 you'll find a couple of summer salad recipes, contributed by yours truly. Thank you Amanda and Steve for inviting me!

Would you like to win a copy? I have an extra copy for you! Please leave a comment on this post and I will draw a winner this coming Monday morning.

Good luck!

We have a winner!

Madalena said:

I would be honored to receive this beautiful, and so much more than a book,giveaway. Thank you!

and so we begin!

Tomorrow morning we will officially throw open the doors to our little homeschool. I thought a fresh painting for the wall would be a nice inspirational gift to ourselves. We've also decided to include a Chai Latte stop on our walk tomorrow morning, a festive treat for celebrating the day... here we go!

a few thoughts

Just a few random thoughts this morning.

• I'm glad I took advantage of another sunny, warm day yesterday by painting a few more pieces of porch furniture. Bright white for two chairs and cherry red for the $8 thrifted rocker.
• I've spent a great deal less time on the computer in the last month or two and it has felt amazing. Some days I don't even turn it on. It wasn't a conscious decision, I guess life was just filled with other, less technological tasks. It has left me feeling inspired... starting this coming weekend I'm aiming for computer free weekends. We'll see how it goes!
• There has been an incredible amount of spam in the comments lately and I'm very sorry about that. I try to delete as many as I can, but often Typepad does not notify me by email of new comments and typically spammers leave their comments/advertisements on older posts in hopes that the blog owner will not notice.
• Thrifting has been amazing around here lately, I think I need to re-open my vintage shop sooner than later.
• I have so much news to share. Well, I have news. I'm still trying to figure out what makes sense to share here and what doesn't.
• I've been rethinking my blogging ethics. What I'm comfortable writing about and what should remain private. It's good to revisit our ethics once in a while and allow them to evolve as life changes.

• I'm enjoying 'taking' drawing lessons from some of my favorite children's illustrators. These drawings are not to be considered my work, but they are helping me to learn new techniques and develop my eye, looking at lines and shapes rather than whole images or scenes. This practice drawing (which is still in progress) was deeply inspired by the drawings Beth Krommes did for Grandmother Winter.
• I am (very slowly) putting together a new batch of Cash Budget Pouches and they will be ready sometime in April. I'm excited about the new colorways and bigger inventory!
• Sometimes I feel a little bored with myself on this blog. Not sure what that means. Do any of you feel this way too, bored with yourselves? I don't think I'm going to be done anytime soon... but I can't help but think, how do we know when we are done?
• I'm not really eating any dairy (most days none) and my body seems to be deflating.

I guess that's about it for now. I will work on sorting out all of the things I'd like to share here and get on that very soon. So many changes, so many opportunities, so many big decisions (some will surprise you!). Life is certainly chugging along and I don't think I can keep quiet too much longer! That is, if I can remember to turn the computer on...

veggie eye candy as a thank you

Your words were more amazing than I could have imagined or expected. The time you all took to share ideas; wishes; and support... I am eternally grateful. I also think it's pretty cool that your messages will forever remain in that special journal of mine as I print them and glue them inside.  Thank you. A world of thank yous isn't enough. Considering the thoughts that were shared in the comments of yesterday's post, and the direction I am already heading in, I feel like I am on the right track and it will hopefully make for happy passengers in the future (that is you!). If you didn't get a chance to chime in yesterday and would like to, please go right ahead! ;)

For today, some pretty pictures to make you smile. They were taken in October at the Brattleboro Farmers' Market. Such a fine and groovy market. I love the permanence (see in the photos) of most of the booths, made out of trees and branches and such... as if to say, "We are your farmers, and we aren't going anywhere." Such peace of mind.

collecting ideas

In this notebook I collect ideas. A few months ago I was looking through Writing Down the Bones and it was mentioned within to use single subject, spiral bound notebooks and really lovely, flow-y pens to collect and record  your thoughts. The thinking being that while many of us gravitate toward pretty journals and such to capture our innermost thoughts, there is something so satisfying about filling the lines of a notebook page, the type we are all so familiar with from our school days. It feels natural. And the flow-y pens? Well, they just move quickly. For me (and most people) it is easier to type my thoughts as my writing hand can't hold the pace with my active mind. Still, a computer isn't always available, and it is just good practice to put pen to paper, to unplug the writing process.

So, this is my notebook. Inside it's pages I have been gathering ideas, bits of inspiration, fragments of sentences and occasionally, a complete sentence or paragraph. I hope that when I am an old woman I look at this book as one of my greatest possessions. I hope that out of this journal, my first book will be born. Or perhaps my only book... a bound forever collection of many things that I am deeply passionate about.

Let me tell you friends, this baby is in the early stages. There is no news to announce. No dates to share. At this point there are talks... and talking is good and exciting and full of promise. But it is by no means the final deal. If and when there is something final to announce, you will be the first to know! Don't hold on to your seats though, it is likely many, many months away before there are further details to fill you in on. These things take time. It just occurred to me that this is probably the most anticlimactic post of all time. So sorry about that.

Let me get to the point of it all... let's talk about the title of this post.

I wondered if you could help me fill a few pages of this journal? I have a clear direction in mind (one that has been lovingly supported in those talks I mentioned... although I am choosing to be a little reserved and vague about the direction at the moment, thanks for understanding), but last night a light bulb went off and I realized I was not collecting ideas from the most important archive of information that I have, my readers! It would mean so much to me if you'd stop by the comments today and answer a question or two. This makes me feel super vulnerable and awkward... but I guess if this project indeed comes to be, I need to press on through those edges of my personality. Feel free to be anonymous... just be nice if you do so. ;)

• If you could walk into your local bookstore and pull a book off the shelf, written by me (lady behind the blog Beauty That Moves...), what would you hope to find within it's pages? What particular areas of this blog would you like to see largely expanded upon?
• Why do you read this blog and what do you hope to take away from your visits here?

Yikes! This is scary... but hopefully awesome.

The best part of this? Those talks that I keep mentioning... your comments will be such an important contribution to the dialogue! Thank you so much for taking the time to help me out, I hope to repay you someday with something beautiful that can be held in you hands and enjoyed forever.

ETA :: oh! what timing for folks to have trouble leaving comments. i hope it is fixed soon if you were one of the ones... i'd love to hear from you! off to work now, i'll check back later. ;)