beauty that moves

apple picking sweater

 

A couple of weeks ago I had a birthday, the day marked my 37th successful trip around the sun. To be honest, I'm not really thrilled about this number.  It's an odd little number that doesn't carry great significance as far as birthdays go, but I've just never liked the sound or feel of it. And now here I am, owning it for a full year like it or not, so I guess I better make the most of it! We celebrated with Thai food at a far away, dingy bar. We do not recommend this, unless of course you are not too thrilled about turning 37 and need a few good laughs... then you should hurry up and go because it turns out Thai food and happy hour in a typical, depressed mill town on a Friday night are an entertaining combination.

A fresh stack of new books and a little something sparkly were lovely surprises at the end of the day too.

It was several days later however, that I received the most unexpected and beautiful gift in the mail. Adam's mother has been quietly and secretly knitting this sweater for me for quite some time now.  I can't even tell you what my thoughts were upon opening it, because truly, I was completely speechless.

The color. It's green!

The buttons. They're wood!

It is so warm, beautiful and is the first handknit for me sweater I have ever owned!

For me, knitting my own sweater (and sweaters for my family), would probably be The Everest of crafting. What a capable feeling one who can do such a thing must have. I have so much to learn...

I do clearly remember having one thought (besides overwhelming gratitude) when I opened this package. I remember thinking, "This is the perfect apple picking sweater!" You know I had to try it out this weekend...

 

It turns out that yes indeed, it is the perfect apple picking sweater! With a sweater this beautiful to wear year after year while summer fades and autumn rises, I think I will happily be up for another 37 years of apple picking, so long as I have my handknit for me sweater to mark the occasion. Thank you Pamela!

won't you join me?

Good Morning! I'm on a borrowed computer so I need to be quick... and I have no cute photos to share either.

But...

Recently, I had the pleasure of chatting with two wonderful women. Lisa, of Polka Dot Cottage, asked me to join in on her fun (weekly-ish) Morning Coffee series, and Amy, of Progressive Pioneer invited me to join in her Mama Views series. Thank you ladies for an easy and gentle experience!

If you have a few moments today, join me over at Lisa's, then hop over to Amy's for a visit too! Take care everyone. ;)

a wild woman breathes

A few people thought the house pictured in the last post was our home, some of you thought we were on vacation and staying there. Well, it was actually neither, and both at the same time.

We had the pleasure last weekend of traveling up to Vermont (to the property that we will be moving to in July), where we blissfully roamed for hours. In no time at all, the house in the photos of that post will be our home, and we will spend our days living closely to the earth and one another, our perfect life long vacation.

There is so much I want to share about this life change, and I will share many things. But it is likely that what I write here is about all the information I'm willing to part with at the time. The short explanation of what is happening is that we will be renting this property with the option to buy it in a 2-3 years time. It is the best arrangement for us and a comfortable arrangement for the owners. Speaking of the owners; we think they're rather fantastic and part of my not going into too much depth about the details and location of this property has to do with the fact that it indeed belongs to someone else and it's important to us that their privacy is considered. All of this to say that the few times I have written about our Vermont move, I received a bunch of very sweet yet curious emails and comments from people wondering where exactly it is... how we found it... etc... for now I'd like to let what I do share be enough, I won't have much else to share beyond that. I hope everyone understands.

 

We headed up to do a little more exploring and started the day at a sweet little country fair. It was quaint, festive and unbelievably perfect. All I could think of was how complete it felt and it is so wonderful to think that it will become our country fair very soon. These photos are from our time there. Goodness, it felt so gentle and safe.

 

After our time at the fair we headed over to the property, I'm sure you can imagine how many photos I took while we explored the entire afternoon away. As we pulled up the driveway, greeted by a freshly painted house and fields that had just been hayed, my mind filled with the very thoughts that have been occupying my dreams and my days for months now; "I just can't believe it's really happening, it fulfills and surpasses all that we had hoped and planned for."

I made a little video collection of photos, with a song that has become an important part of the soundtrack to this chapter of my life. I hope you have a few minutes to watch it, and don't forget to turn up your volume! The title for this post was pulled from my favorite part of the song. 

Later this week, Adam has an appointment with a real estate attorney in Vermont. He'll also spend some time at the town hall checking out property records and such. Things are moving in a very forward direction, and it feels so incredibly good.

It was nice to stop in here for a bit this afternoon, now it is back to weekending. Emily's first soccer game is tonight and we are all rather excited around here!

things are good

I just wrote a whole post about where I've been, what I've been up to, then Typepad deleted the whole thing. I guess we'll just have to let that be... but I'm here, and I've been there. Things are good and I will be back regularly very soon, just not quite yet.

Almost all of my orders have been shipped, the final batch goes out by the end of this week at the latest. Then I will focus on bags and things for the shop for those of you very kind and patient people who have been asking. I'm gearing up to send off a few important and exciting emails... need to focus on that.

The seasonal shift from summer to fall is my favorite. So much to think about. 

I hope you are doing well, it's been awhile, hasn't it? Be back soon.

morning and night :: 8