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Classical Living
by Frances BernsteinEnhance your life using the riches of the Roman tradition. An authority on ancient Roman culture, Frances Bernstein shows you how to draw on the wisdom, history, myths and ancient prayers that were a part of everyday Roman life to achieve abundance and serenity in your own. This beautiful volume combines delectable recipes such as fava bean salad for good digestion and a healthy body with rituals such as water healing in a luxurious bath to nurture oneself and to honor the deities who rule each month. As the author illustrates, "Sexuality, fertility, nature, and spirituality were so closely interwoven in antiquity that it was difficult for the ancient pagan to imagine them apart." From autumn's introspective thresholds and winter's purification rituals to the warm fullness of spring and the bittersweet heat of summer, Bernstein shares stories of ancient Roman practices and festivals and offers modern rituals to help you create meaningful, new traditions of your own. In January, give gifts of warm honey cake to banish darkness, instill good will, and bring about harmonious relationships. Honor Bacchus, the god of March, and Liberalia with a rustic wine tasting, and celebrate Venus, the goddess of April, with a sensuous bath brimming with floating rose petals. Remember the fate of Adonis in July with celebrations of renewal, or design a sacred landscape in your garden with fountains, bells, altars, and blossoming flowers to please the goddess Flora. With poetry, wisdom, and historical insight, Frances Bernstein offers Roman traditions and rituals for modern spiritual practice, making Classical Living an inviting source to treasure throughout the year.
The Shabby Chic Home
by Rachel AshwellWonderful wide-plank floors, paned sash windows, an old brick fireplace, the charm of living with a home's small imperfections and making them a virtue. These are just some examples of what makes up a Shabby Chic home. When she first saw what would be her future home, Rachel Ashwell, founder of the Shabby Chic line, was put off by its dark, witchy exterior, gloomy interior, and overgrown garden. But for weeks afterward, she couldn't get the house out of her mind. She went back, took a closer look, and started to see the charm that lay hidden beneath the surface. Excited by the challenge, she bought the house and went to work on it. Inspired by the original design of the 1920s house, Rachel was able to transform it into her bright, cozy dream home, one that had the hallmarks of a Shabby Chic home: a practical amount of space, a relaxed atmosphere, and a comfortable beauty. Through simple instructions and detailed before-and-after photographs, Rachel reveals her decorating and entertaining secrets. Even the most apprehensive novices will learn how to incorporate Shabby Chic style into their everyday life and home. Using her home as an example, Rachel shows you how to assess what needs to be replaced (in her home it was the dark tile in the pool and the bathroom doorknobs), make small structural changes (she exchanged a glass window for a glass door), and keep costs down while adding personal Shabby Chic touches. The gray marble countertop in the guest bathroom and the somewhat noisy glass-front refrigerator were fixtures she would have never chosen, but she left them alone and was pleasantly surprised by the character they added. In her previous books, Rachel showed you how to recognize beauty in overlooked places. Now, in The Shabby Chic Home, she teaches you how to find it in the nooks and crannies of your own home and then apply it to everyday life. She reveals how work, love, a lot of white paint, and Shabby Chic details can turn any new house into a comfortable, functional, beautifully designed home.
Shabby Chic: Sumptuous Settings And Other Lovely Things
by Rachel AshwellCreating beautiful, sumptuous settings for any occasion!Top designer Rachel Ashwell, founder of the Shabby Chic line, is known for her trademark style of transforming drab interiors into warm, inviting spaces. Simply by incorporating a few design elements and a splash of color, Rachel is able to make any environment, whether it's a home or a special event, beautiful and fun. In Shabby Chic: Sumptuous Settings and Other Lovely Things, Rachel proves that her style isn't simply about creating an attractive home but also about creating joyful and pleasant settings for those we love. In this beautiful volume, Rachel applies her distinct eye for style to six very different locations and celebrations, and offers helpful tips on how to host whimsical and unforgettable events.Whether it is casual or formal, big or small, this beautiful book proves that entertaining need not be expensive. From flea markets to local antiques malls, Rachel reveals that the trick to making any event or space something elegant—without breaking the bank—is simply a matter of inspiration, imagination, and the discovery of a fabulous buy.Inside, you'll find practical ideas for any occasion, baby showers to weddings, birthday parties to bar mitzvahs. When it comes to setting a scene, Rachel is an expert and with her easy how-to advice, you can be too.Rachel Ashwell is the creator of the Shabby Chic style. In 1989, she founded the Shabby Chic home furnishing stores and then later, the Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Couture stores. She is the author of Shabby Chic, Rachel Ashwell's Shabby Chic Treasure Hunting and Decorating Guide, The Shabby Chic Home, and Shabby Chic: The Gift of Giving.
The Herbal Kitchen: Cooking with Fragrance and Flavor
by Jerry TraunfeldThe secret to transforming easy dishes into extraordinary meals? Fresh herbs. In The Herbal Kitchen, IACP award-winning cookbook author and acclaimed Herbfarm Restaurant chef Jerry Traunfeld presents simple dishes using herbs straight from the market, windowsill, or garden.Until recently, the fresh herbs available in supermarkets were limited to parsley and maybe dill. Today, thyme, rosemary, basil, cilantro, mint, and sage are among the many fresh herbs as close as the produce section or the farmer's market. Not to mention marjoram, lovage, tarragon, lavender, shiso, and so many others.Jerry shows you how to incorporate these fresh herbs into your everyday home meals. So whether preparing a workday supper for the family, a special dinner for two or four, or a feast for a table of guests, using fresh herbs in your cooking will result in fresh and vibrant food.The Herbal Kitchen includes some recipes that are home variations of the innovative dishes Jerry prepares at the Herbfarm, while others are fresh takes on familiar classics such as Herb Garden Lasagna or Shrimp in Garlic-Sage Butter. All are uncomplicated and prep time is minimal -- with the emphasis on spontaneity and the unmistakable flavors of fresh herbs.Start off with Asparagus and Lemon Thyme Soup, Spicy Verbena Meatballs, or Rye-Thyme Cheese Straws before moving on to Cinnamon Basil Chicken, Side of Salmon Slow-Roasted in Dill, and Root Ribbons with Sage. Delectable desserts include Warm Lavender Almond Cakes, Rhubarb Mint Cobbler, and a sinful Chocolate Peppermint Tart.Once you're hooked on cooking with fresh herbs, you'll want to grow them yourself. The Herbal Kitchen is filled with important tips for growing, harvesting, and handling each of the herbs used in the recipes. Valuable information on the varieties of each herb is also highlighted, such as how to tell the difference between Greek oregano and Italian oregano, why you always want to choose bay laurel over California bay, and what type of lavender is best for cooking.Filled with stunning photos of the herbs, the techniques for handling them, and the finished dishes, Jerry's definitive guide is sure to be a classic, reached for again and again.
Downsizing Your Home with Style: Living Well In a Smaller Space
by Lauri WardWhen you're moving a lifetime's accumulation of belongings from a larger home into a jewel box, the task can seem overwhelming—and so can your emotions. How do you decide what to pack and what to part with? How can you use the things you have so that they function well and look right?Downsizing Your Home with Style answers these questions and more. Learn how to:Create more storage Make your stuff look smaller and your space look bigger Update and modernize your favorite old pieces Multipurpose your rooms and furniture Find a new home for the stuff you no longer need From the initial evaluation of your new home to one year after you have settled in, interior designer Lauri Ward takes you through every step with detailed tips, lists of good buys, tricks of the trade, photographs, and anecdotal examples, so that achieving spectacular results is simple and affordable, whatever your style or budget.
Weeds: In Defense of Nature's Most Unloved Plants
by Richard Mabey“[A] witty and beguiling meditation on weeds and their wily ways….You will never look at a weed, or flourish a garden fork, in the same way again.”—Richard Holmes, author of The Age of Wonder“In this fascinating, richly detailed book, Richard Mabey gives weeds their full due.”—Carl Zimmer, author of EvolutionRichard Mabey, Great Britain’s Britain’s “greatest living nature writer” (London Times), has written a stirring and passionate defense of nature’s most unloved plants. Weeds is a fascinating, eye-opening, and vastly entertaining appreciation of the natural world’s unappreciated wildflowers that will appeal to fans of David Attenborough, Robert Sullivan’s Rats, Amy Stewart’s Wicked Plants, and to armchair gardeners, horticulturists, green-thumbs, all those who stop to smell the flowers.
American Eden: From Monticello to Central Park to Our Backyards
by Wade GrahamThe story of our nation and ourselves as told through our country's most significant gardens and their creators. From Frederick Law Olmsted to Richard Neutra, Michelle Obama to our neighbors, Americans throughout history have revealed something of themselves--their personalities, desires, and beliefs--in the gardens they create. Rooted in the time and place of their making, as much as in the minds and identities of their makers, gardens mirror the struggles and energies of a changing society. Melding biography, history, and cultural commentary in a one-of-a-kind narrative, American Eden presents a dynamic, sweeping look at this country's landscapes and the visionaries behind them. Monticello's gardens helped Jefferson reconcile his conflicted feelings about slavery-and take his mind off his increasing debt. Edith Wharton's gardens made her feel more European and superior to her wealthy but insufficiently sophisticated countrymen. Martha Stewart's how-to instructions helped bring Americans back into their gardens, while at the same time stoking and exploiting our anxieties about social class. Isamu Noguchi's and Robert Smithson's experiments reinvigorated the age-old exchange between art and the garden. American Eden offers an inclusive definition of the garden, considering intentional landscapes that range from domestic kitchen gardens to city parks and national parks, suburban backyards and golf courses, public plazas and Manhattan's High Line park, reclaimed from freight train tracks. And it exposes the overlap between garden-making and painting, literature, and especially architecture-the garden's inseparable sibling-to reveal the deep interconnections between the arts and their most inspired practitioners. Moving deftly through time and place across America's diverse landscapes--from Revolutionary-era Virginia to turn-of-the-century Chicago to 1960s suburban California--and featuring a diverse cast of landscape-makers--whether artists, architects, or housewives, amateurs or professionals, robber barons, politicians, reformers, or dreamers--Wade Graham vividly unfolds the larger cultural history through more personal dramas. Beautifully illustrated with color and black-and-white images, American Eden is at once a different kind of garden book and a different kind of American history, one that offers a compelling, untold story--a saga that mirrors and illuminates our nation's invention, and constant reinvention, of itself.
The Hip Girl's Guide to Homemaking: Decorating, Dining and the Gratifying Pleasures of Self-Sufficiency--on a Budget!
by Kate PayneWith The Hip Girl's Guide to Homemaking, it's possible and even convenient to create an inviting space for living and entertaining on a budget. From unique decor ideas to growing strawberries on your fire escape, Kate Payne shares fun, low-cost (and often free!) creative solutions that will make anyone feel more accomplished in minutes.Inside this savvy motivational guide filled to the brim with small-scale creative home projects, Kate's tongue-in-cheek tone will keep you tuned in to her much-needed advice. In three easy sections, you'll learn how to create a comfortable space while being time- and budget-conscious. Section One, Home-ify Your Pad, features quick, convenient ways to make your place cozier with low-cost, special touches to help you tap into and show off your inner artist. Section Two, Impressive Acts of Domesticity, teaches how to impress others (and yourself) with the gratifying pleasures of self-sufficiency—a first-time guide to cleaning, sewing, repairing, and other previously out-of-the-question tasks. Section Three, Life After Restaurants, frees you to release the take-out menu, avoid pricey bar tabs, and entertain others in the space you've so thoughtfully and gorgeously created. User-friendly "how-to" sidebars, illustrations, and tips and tricks throughout the book offer easy-to-follow recipes and do-it-yourself craft suggestions for making your home hip, comfortable, and inviting. Keep in mind that this is not your grandmother's handbook and it's not the kind of wisdom your mom knows how to impart. Modern women need a modern approach to domestic pleasures—a guide to doing household things on our own terms, because most of this stuff isn't as hard as we've been led to believe. Don't worry, she's not asking you to host Tupperware parties or iron your underwear. But as all beginning home keepers know, a sure fire way to feel bad about ourselves is to consult Martha Stewart. So ditch that 2-inch thick handbook, dust off your pots and pans, and join Kate on this journey to incorporating creativity and self-sufficiency on the home front.
Seeds
by Richard HoranFrom the wooded road made of golden hemlock running past L. Frank Baum's childhood home to the lonely stump of Scout's oak in Harper Lee's Alabama, author Richard Horan gathers tree seeds-and stories-from the homes of America's most treasured authors. At once a heartfelt paean to literature and a wise, funny, and uplifting account of one man's reconnection with nature, Seeds celebrates Horan's triumphs and calamities on his quest to link trees with great writers-a delightfully original meditation on the nature of inspiration and a one-of-a-kind adventure into literature.
The Man Cave Book
by Michael H. Yost Jeff WilserWhat separates the men from the boys? The Man Cave. Boyhood Fort Man Cave Who's allowed Not girls-they have cooties Not women-they have authority Primary materials used in construction Wood, stuff your mom doesn't want Particleboard, stuff your wife doesn't want Key activities inside Goofing around, avoiding responsibility Goofing around, avoiding responsibility Peak periods of use After school, weekends After work, weekends Slumber parties with buddies? Yes No Food and beverages consumed Soda and unhealthy snacks Beer and unhealthy snacks Spend the night inside? Not as a habit, but it's been known to happen Not as a habit, but it's been known to happen Money spent on space As little as possible As much as possible Is this a phase you will outgrow? Yes No The Man Cave Book is a tribute to great and glorious man spaces and the craftsmen behind them. Complete with instructions and insights into creating your own unique refuge and shrine to beer, sports, and everything else that's right with the world, this is an essential manual for any man cave enthusiast.
Survival Mom: How to Prepare Your Family for Everyday Disasters and Worst-Case Scenarios
by Lisa BedfordFrom the creator of TheSurvivalMom.com comes this first-of-its-kind guidebook for all the “prepper” moms keen to increase their family's level of preparedness for emergencies and crises of all shapes and sizes. Publisher’s Weekly calls Lisa Bedford’s Survival Mom an “impressively comprehensive manual,” saying, “suburban mom Bedford helps readers learn about, prepare for, and respond to all manner of disasters. . . . From 'Instant Survival Tip' sidebars to a list of 'Lessons from the Great Depression'. . . Bedford's matter-of-fact yet supportive tone will keep the willies at bay.”
Harvest: An Adventure into the Heart of America's Family Farms
by Richard Horan“Richard Horan has brought us a welcome view of America to defy the prevailing political and financial nastiness. This is a timely and important book.”—Ted Morgan, author of Wilderness at Dawn“A lively visit with the dauntless men and women who operate America’s family farms and help provide our miraculous annual bounty. Richard Horan writes with energy and passion.”—Hannah Nordhaus, author of The Beekeeper’s Lament“Horan’s new book evocatively describes the peril and promise of family farms in America. I loved joining him on this journey, and so will you.”—T.A. Barron, author of The Great Tree of AvalonIn Seeds, novelist and nature writer Richard Horan sought out the trees that inspired the work of great American writers like Faulkner, Kerouac, Welty, Wharton, and Harper Lee. In Harvest, Horan embarks upon a serendipitous journey across America to work the harvests of more than a dozen essential or unusual food crops—and, in the process, forms powerful connections with the farmers, the soil, and the seasons.
Good House Hunting: 20 Steps to Your Dream Home
by Dennis Wedlick Philip LangdonWithout a doubt, the most important investment of your life will be your home. No other purchase will matter more to your lifestyle, financial future, and personal well-being. It is never too late or too soon to set a course for creating a home that will provide the maximum return and fulfill your dreams.With step-by-step instruction, Good House Hunting will take you on an inspirational and practical journey to finding your dream home -- both within your imagination and out in the real estate world.For home buyers, Good House Hunting will help you navigate the complex process of finding the property with the greatest potential.For home owners, Good House Hunting provides the framework to help you maximize your current property.For dreamers, Good House Hunting sets out the course for dream home planning, so when you are ready you will have a plan.If you long to discover what home would be a worthy investment for improving your fortunes and accomplishing your dreams, Good House Hunting is for you.
150 Best Eco House Ideas
by Marta SerratsFeaturing an extensive collection of full-color photographs, 150 Best Eco House Ideas features eco-friendly house designs created by internationally renowned architects and designers who have achieved practical, innovative, and stunning solutions adapted to the specific needs and tastes of their clients. Included here are the latest innovations in sustainable home design, including solar paneling, wind energy systems, environmentally-friendly heating and cooling solutions, thermal glazing, and trombe walls.150 Best Eco House Ideas covering the diversity of current trends in sustainable home design, and is both the perfect resource for designers, interior decorators, and architects, as well an inspirational sourcebook for all homeowners interested in creating warm and inviting homes that cause only a fraction of the environmental impact of those created using conventional building methods.
150 Best New Apartment Ideas
by Francesc Zamora MolaThis information-packed volume explores the manifold ways in which architects and designers meet the various challenges of designing and decorating apartments for their clients. Featuring an extensive collection of apartments from around the world, 150 Best New Apartment Ideas provides an in-depth look at the most stunning, innovative, and practical design solutions working today. Covering a wealth of information and showcasing the latest design trends, this little book is an inspirational source of ideas, perfect for the homeowner and the professional alike.
Prefab Houses DesignSource
by Marta SerratsFor many, the idea of prefab housing may bring to mind trailers and other less desirable images of home life. But this idea couldn't be more wrong! Rather, the newest trends in prefab have emerged as a great way for a design- (and cost-) conscious generation to achieve the dream of home ownership. Today, prefab houses are manufactured to the highest standards of construction and aesthetics. And with the internet, these houses can be ordered from all over the world--affording people everywhere the opportunity to acquire an affordable home of distinction.Prefab Modern explores the best prefabricated houses on the market today, from all over the world along with a resource directory on how you can purchase them. Included are case studies from all over the US and around the world, from top architects and designers.Prefab is the inevitable next step to "cool" housing as the market looks for reasonably priced housing for first and second homes. Prefab Houses Designsource is the perfect guide to this undeniable and fascinating trend.
Jamie Durie's The Outdoor Room
by Jamie DurieJamie Durie, international award-winning horticulturalist and landscape designer, reveals the secrets behind his incredible designs on the ever-popular HGTV series The Outdoor Room, now viewed in over twelve countries. With dynamic photography, including Jamie's personal travel photographs and a sneak peek of his private garden, this information-packed companion to his smash-hit t.v. show is as hardworking as it is stunning. Complete with detailed site plans, zonal plant lists, and helpful eco-tips, it covers everything from the basics of landscape design to practical, hands-on information, such as how to design your own private garden using Jamie's philosophy. From an exotic Balinese-inspired dining pavilion to a private English-style garden with an adjoining children's play area, Jamie shows you how to incorporate his techniques and design principles to create a personal and truly unique garden, giving you and your family and friends the opportunity to reconnect with nature in the privacy of your very own outdoor room.
The Inspired Home
by Karen Lehrman BlochThe Inspired Home: Interiors of Deep Beauty opens the door to twenty-five of the most beautiful homes in the world--ones owned by top interior designers, fashion designers, artists, and stylists--to reveal how simple principles borrowed from nature can inspire gorgeous, innovative interiors that both calm and embolden us. To create this unique volume, Karen Lehrman Bloch interviewed renowned aesthetes with homes all over the world, including interior designers Juan Montoya, Darryl Carter, and Vicente Wolf; fashion designers Donna Karan, Alberta Ferretti, and Consuelo Castiglioni; stylist Lori Goldstein; and artist Michele Oka Doner. The direct and practical advice featured inside, along with a wealth of extraordinary photographs of the homes, teaches us how to feel visually, understand color and texture, and find objects, new and used, with a sense of life. An inspired home, Bloch reveals, fulfills our physical and spiritual needs, provides an enduring sense of rejuvenation and pleasure, and is both easily attainable and timeless.
Shabby Chic
by Rachel AshwellValuable flea market finds... A peeling, antioue vanity in muted sea green... An elegant, cracked chandelier... An enormous, slipcovered sofa with deep, cushions... Comfort, the beauty of imperfections, the allure of time-worn objects, and the appeal of simple practical living: these are the cornerstones of what has come to be known as the Shabby Chic style. Like the cozy familiarity of a well-worn pair of faded jeans, the dilapidated elegance of an Italian viIla, or the worn grandeur of faded velvets and mismatched floral china handed down from your grandmother's attic, the Shabby Chic style is a revived appreciation for what is used, well-loved, and worn. It is a respect for natural evolution and a regard for what is easy and sensible. The hundreds of lavish photographs in this book invite you inside the unique world of Shabby Chic. Rachel Ashwell, founder of theShabby Chic home decor stores, for the first time provides her invaluable and much-sought-after advice on how to re-create Shabby Chic style in your own home. With engaging text and easy-to- follow instructions, Rachel details the Shabby Chic basics in a way that will put even the most apprehensive or novice decorators at ease. From flowers to fabrics to lighting, Rachel illuminates all of the elements essential to this unpretentious yet truly exquisite style. A behind-the-scenes look at a flea market lets readers in on Rachel's personal secrets of how to cull hidden treasures from flea market trash--an old trunk, its paint peeling around the edges, can be given new life as a coffee table, while a chipped white iron salvage piece becomes the perfect frame for a vintage mirror. This book tells you not only how to restore these pieces but how to find the perfect place for them in your home. Gorgeous color photographs and accompanying text reveal how this relaxed look works with a variety of different styles, from Victorian to Mediterranean to contemporary.
Relish
by Daphne OzOz--a co-host on the hit daytime talk show "The Chew," bestselling author of "The Dorm Room Diet," and Dr. Mehmet Oz's daughter--offers simple, practical advice on living the best life right now.
Living in a Nutshell
by Janet LeeA fireplace on wheels? A chandelier light by Xerox? A shrink-wrapped designer closet? These are just a few of the more than one hundred innovative projects in Living in a Nutshell, a DIY guide of decorating ideas that fool the eye into seeing and believing a little lair is larger and more glamorous than its four walls. Here are fresh ideas for enhancing every living area of a tiny space. All are simple, affordable, portable, and big on style. An illustrated survival tool kit as well as extensive listings of untapped, off-the-beaten-track design resources and a select buying guide round out this invaluable book.
Embroidery pour la Maison
by Sylvie BlondeauThis delightful little craft book from French artist Sylvie Blondeau presents more than 100 projects for adding charm to your everyday things. With decorating ideas for things you use all the time, such as your aprons, your bags, your recipe and address books, this easy-to-follow embroidery book teaches personalisation ideas for both first-time and experienced sewers. Using step-by-step text and illustrations, readers will learn twenty-one embroidery methods - les secrets de la broderie - so they can easily embroider every project in the book and add charm to objects in every room of the house - kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, living room, laundry room, office. In no time they'll be adding cupcakes to their dishtowels, teapots to cozies, telephones to address books, bubbles to bathrobes, baguettes and macarons to their shopping bags. At a very affordable £8. 99, this is the perfect impulse buy, present, and home decorating companion. It is part of a new Harper Design embroidery series and is dolled up in a petit and colorful package, with each project inside looking as if it has been hand-stitched directly into the book. For the ever-growing world of crafters - the mothers, grandmothers, and new generation of crafters on Etsy and Pinterest, the women personalizing things for themselves and gifts for their loved ones - the books they flock to are the most charming ones, and no other embroidery book is as deliciously charming, as inspire et enchante, and as easy-to-follow as this one.
Embroidery pour le Bébé
by Sylvie BlondeauIn Embroidery pour le Bebe, a delightful little craft book from French artist Sylvie Blondeau, you'll find more than 100 adorable ways to decorate everyday objects for babies. With decorating ideas for things they use all the time, such as diaper bags, blankies, bibs, bottle holders, and toys, this embroidery book includes projects for both first-time and experienced sewers. Embroidery pour le Bebe is filled with easy-to-follow, step-by-step illustrations and text for creating a nursery full of personalized presents for a new arrival. The first in a series of charming needlework books, Embroidery pour le Bebe is a must-have for mommies- and grandmothers-to-be, crafters, or anyone who is interested in adding a personal touch to that perfect new baby gift.
Embroidery pour le Jardinier
by Sylvie BlondeauThis delightful little craft book from French artist Sylvie Blondeau presents more than 100 projects to add nature motifs to all sorts of things used inside and outside the home. Through easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions and a wealth of illustrations, new and experienced crafters will learn twenty-one embroidery methods—des secrets de la broderie—so they can easily embroider every project in the book. The charming motifs featured inside include things like strawberries, butterflies, chipmunks, and flowers. There are porcupines, cherries, pumpkins, and scarecrows. These lovely ideas can decorate all sorts of supplies, from tool and seed bags to gloves, pot covers, and smocks.
Chickens in the Road: An Adventure in Ordinary Splendor
by Suzanne Mcminn"It was a cold late autumn day when I brought my children to live in rural West Virginia. The farmhouse was one hundred years old, there was already snow on the ground, and the heat was sparse—as was the insulation. The floors weren't even, either. My then-twelve-year-old son walked in the door and said, 'You've brought us to this slanted little house to die. '" Thus begins former romance writer Suzanne McMinn's wild ride into self-sustainable living halfway up a hill on one of the most remote dirt roads in West Virginia, with a cast including her children, an enigmatic partner, the "rural neighborhood" of quirky characters, and a whole slew of ridiculous and uncooperative farm animals. An unlikely adventurer, the suburban-born-and-bred author tackles one daunting challenge after another on her new forty-acre farm, from hatching chickens and milking a cow to herding sheep and making her own cheese. Whether she's trying to convince a goat to accept its baby or just get her ornery neighbor to move over and let her pass on the road, every page of her adventure is fraught with laughter, passion, drama, and the risk of losing it all before she figures out why she's doing it in the first place. And when she does lose it all, she discovers a triumph she never expected—along with the truth for which she'd been searching all along.