The Modern Shaker

Hi Friends! It's been a full 5 months since I've shared here! Quick personal overview: This summer, I was really sick and out of commission for 6 weeks (and doing better now), our 23-year-old was living in France, Italy, and Germany, our 21-year-old started her junior year of college in Santa Fe, the other 6 of us moved out of the new house and into our rental house 20 minutes away, and our 5- and 3-year-old started attending the local Waldorf school that our older kids atten

Dear Friend, We have exciting news! Mickey and I have started a company that designs and sell house kits, similar to the one we built here in the summer of 2024. We'll be introducing our company name and website soon, but in the meantime, I thought I'd show the simplified process of building the shell of the house in photos. There is a lot involved with every step (as you know by reading my blog this past year!), but in the interest of giving a broad overview, I'm just giving

Hi Friend, Have you been looking forward to spring as much as I have? We've had a tough winter this year in New England (good snow for...

Hi Friend, I hope you had a very restful Christmas and New Year's! We did not! But it wasn't without warning ... We knew we'd be renting...

Hi Friend, A couple of days ago, my 4-year-old asked, "Mama, do you do your bwog posts anymore?" I guess it's been that long! Six weeks,...

Hi Friend, Well, we finally have enough progress for another update! Our painters covered up the bright green primer on the exterior and...

Hi Friend, This week was more exciting than the last few, as we had a real life licensed electrician on site to run the wire from the...

Hi Friend, I"m continuing my theme of "imperfect action" by just posting a photo update for this week ... Exterior trim in various stages...

Hi Friend! Long time, no see! Six weeks actually. Has anything progressed? Yes. As fast as I would like? NO! So between frustration and...

Hi Friend, I finally have a bit of time, so I thought I'd check in. We are still in a state of flux - even more so because I've had to...

Hi Friend, Wow, do things feel discombobulated here! Everyone's shifting schedules, lack of routines, irregular events ... it's hard to...

Hi Friend, It's fitting that the close of this season - our summer building camp - is marked by the installation of exterior doors. The...

Hi Friend, We're wrapping things up here with the guys. Tomorrow, two of them will go to the Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island, which...

Hi Friend, I can't believe it's the last week of our summer building camp experiment here! I'm actually a little teary over it. These...

Hi Friend, We're picking up momentum now that the end of our summer building camp is drawing near - just 6 more work days left! First,...

Hi Friend, We're coming down to the wire here, as the guys' last day of work is next Friday - aaahhhh!! We have an aggressive schedule,...

Hi Friend, We're hanging in there! The heat, the humidity, and the insulation were all trying to get us down, but we've pushed through,...

Hi Friend, My girls are back after their week away, and we are picking up momentum again! Last week felt weirdly still - maybe the...

Hello dear friend, This week has been a bit wilder for me with two of my girls gone, so I'll keep it short. We had several visitors this...

Hi Friend, Not much has changed here since Thursday, with the holiday and storms and all. The guys are diligently putting up the 3" of...