beauty that moves

the simple woman's daybook

FOR TODAY

Outside my window... cool breeze and warm sunshine, a sweet marriage.

I am thinking... that I wish our walk after dinner last night ended differently.

I am thankful for... finding the eggs of one of my customers at the co-op yesterday.

From the learning rooms... training myself to worry less about what others might think and just follow my own heart more confidently. That is definitely a learning process.

From the kitchen... the simplest of preparations as the season's bounty continues to surround us.

I am wearing... a green linen sundress

I am creating... big changes as a result of last night's events.

I am going... to take a look at something in the country today.

I am reading... A Plain Life (almost done and it is so good), started The Alchemist

I am hoping... to have enough strength, for myself and for her. For all of us.

I am hearing... neighbors chatting on their front porch.

Around the house... suddenly I am faced with a lengthy list of projects, I am breaking out the clipboard. Thankfully, I feel highly motivated.

One of my favorite things... the long stretch of a summer evening.

A few plans for the rest of the week: I need to take a break from the blog for a bit. I sense there may be a shift for our family in the near future that I need to support and give my full attention to. I'm a little disappointed as I've really enjoyed finding a nice rhythm here over the summer. I will be checking in with email and my shops if you need to be in touch or would like to order a little something. I'll be back soon though... I hope you will be too. Take care.

More of The Simple Woman's Daybook...

a different kind of weekend (and it was lovely)

Playing tourist close to home can be a nice change of pace. Randomly visiting an open house (in our own state) and peeking into the windows of another, just to let our imaginations play a bit, was very refreshing too. It is good to keep an open mind about these sort of things.

I hope your week is off to a great start!

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There are a few items on sale in my sewing shop today... cleaning out!

summer studio tour :: 5

Allow me to take a moment and sincerely thank you for the warm welcome and supportive opening of my new shop this week. There really aren't proper words to express what it means for me to earn this modest living, doing what I love, as dinner simmers on the stove and my schedule remains flexible to the changing rhythm of my family. I could never ask for more.

This week I've spent a great deal of time tending to shop orders and playing around with an idea that I'm not quite ready to share yet, so this is a fairly small studio peek today. I do have this one work in progress, trying my hand at painting with no sketching whatsoever first, paint brush only - it's surprisingly different! I can't help but feel a sense of childlike wonder as identifiable images appear beneath each brush stroke. I'm truly fascinated by this. This gentle, violet-eyed lady would like me to focus a little more and add a hairdo already, she's waited patiently for a few days now. I should probably tend to that today.

I'd love to know what you've all been cooking up in your workspaces this week!

the perfect summer snack

I discovered this combination twenty years ago and still look forward to it every summer. This year, I thought it was history due to the absence of gluten in my life now, but a friend turned me on to what I have found to be the most passable gluten free bread out there, Udi's. It will surprise you. So now, this summertime classic is back on the menu!

Toast two slices of bread. Let cool for a minute, add mayonnaise, thick slices of fresh tomato, sea salt, black pepper, and dried Italian seasoning. I know, you'd think it should have fresh basil because it's so readily available in the summer... but this is more about a food memory for me. Twenty years ago in my area there was not a lot of fresh basil to be found. It wasn't in every garden the way it is now. I think the Italian seasoning makes it! Serve this open faced.

Tomato heaven... I promise.

from a pallet of wood

As part of our planning and purging in preparation for our Vermont move (ha!), we let go of many, many things that didn't make the "do we want to move this to Vermont?" cut. Our deck furniture was one of those things. It wasn't beautiful. It came with this house when we bought it and served it's purpose (in an early 90's hunter green sort of way) while we were here. We felt no need to bring it with us though... to the swap pile at the dump it went!

It feels liberating to get rid of stuff that you don't find to be beautiful or useful, especially big stuff! There was no love lost with the absence of our hunter green deck furniture... until we realized that we were not in fact going to be moving at this time. Hmmm... where do we sit?

Where do we have dinner from May through September?

The deck is our secret place here in the city. The front porch is pretty, but the deck is tucked away out back and is really the only private feeling spot we have. It gets a lot of use in the summer.

We searched tag sales, roadsides and flea markets for 3 1/2 months for the right second hand outdoor dining set to make it's way home with us. We had no luck, nothing could be found. Finally, we broke down and purchased three red adirondack chairs. It was a start to reclaiming our precious outdoor space, sitting on the deck (literally) was getting old.

Then, Emily thought we should have a little coffee table to go with our new chairs. Something that we could rest our iced tea, projects, or even our feet on while we hung out on the deck. Refusing to buy brand new for this idea, I remembered Rachel's pallet table that she made and showed it to Adam. Using the idea of repurposing a free pallet (thanks Willards!), he set to work...

Two hours later we had the perfect, outdoor, don't care if it gets rained on, wooden table for our deck! He used fallen maple tree branches for the legs (peeled the bark off) which I think are so cute, though he probably wouldn't say they were cute. It is sturdy! And so much more us than a predictable glass topped, metal framed table.

In the end, we have a table that is the perfect size and height for our little sitting area out back. We are still holding out on purchasing brand new for our dining set, but I don't know how much longer we can wait, August is just about here already! Until then, if you ring the doorbell and we don't answer - come around back and you'll find us here. I'm sure we can rustle up a tall cool drink for you.