The Modern Shaker

Dear Friend, Happy 4th of July! We'll soon be in a community parade with some friends before listening to a reading of the Declaration of...

Hi Friend, Things are moving along here. The outside walls are totally framed out and sheathed. We decided to frame for 3 big windows...

Hi Friend, To go along with my "all hands on deck" theme, I want to mention some other team members who are integral to this project:...

Hi Friend, It's been a good week up here on the hill. The form of the house is taking its final shape as the rafter trusses are built and...

Howdy! There's so much going on that I wanted to write an extra post this week. First, the kids finished the staircase, and I love it....

Dear Friend, This past week, everyone worked on the 2nd floor 2x6 tongue-and-groove spruce decking, which is both the 1st floor ceiling...

Dear Friend, It's been three weeks since all the kids have been here. Week one was spent wrapping our heads around the magnitude of this...

Dear Loved One, I have been in my own crazy little world these last two years since Anna (baby no. 6) came along, especially since it...

We are blessed to be in a community that appreciates old-fashioned living, and consequently, where kids have little access to electronic...

I love seeing little country churches dotting the landscape. Of course, in New England many of these houses of worship have been...

I'm embarrassed to say that I was never really interested in history until I realized that it involved people from my family. It was only...

For a few years now, we've been part of a group of families who sing folk songs one night a week in a living room or around a bonfire....

In the last several years, I have come to appreciate the craft of needlepoint. Originally known as "canvas work" in the 17th century,...

I grew up in Texas, and wood stoves were not something with which I was familiar. But once we moved into our 1830s New England farmhouse,...

When it was time to replace the high, narrow Craftsman-style window in our kitchen that was not in keeping with our Greek Revival...

It took me a while to figure out that my very favorite paintings are oil portraits of people with serious to semi-serious expressions on...

I taught myself to knit when I was 23, and it felt empowering to take a ball of yarn and turn it into a hat or a scarf. My children...

When it comes to medicine, I'm all about purity of ingredients, gentleness on the body, and effectiveness in uprooting conditions so that...

I've had a latte every morning for about 12 years now. It's a daily ritual that I used to have in cafés - oh, how I love a beautiful...

I did not have any dogs growing up, but I knew that once I got one, he would have to be as handsome as he was useful. I was attracted to...