The Social Porcupine

Do you ever feel you have dozens of dreams begging you to bring them all to life? And you would, if only they might co-operate and become one vision . This is what the Living Room Academy was for me: a culmination of a lifetime of thoughts and ideals. It started out as a flippant invitation that a woman I worked for said, "But why wouldn't you do this?"  Besides seeming initially impossible to undertake, I didn't want to commit to such a project as opening my home up to other young women for a summer... I love my summers and couldn't imagine forsaking all the things I would normally do to teach summer classes to strangers.   I won't go into why I decided to do this as I've already written on this in depth, but I do want to reiterate that I'm glad I didn't choose the convenient, lackluster path of complacency.  I hosted two courses this summer 2023. Six girls came to live with me, although only four of them were able to stay for the endurance of th...

Last weekend I taught hand sewing and embroidery at Turtle Island , an off-grid thousand-acre nature preserve in North Carolina. I also participated in blacksmithing and netmaking classes and went on a long quiet walk... discovering I shared a birthday with one of the founders. It was a beautiful weekend to unplug and pick up skills. The students were a delight. I watched them fall in love with sewing, some of them claiming they'd never thought such a thing possible. The truth is matters of femininity are far from despicable once we move past the lie that we're incompetent. The word empowerment gets thrown around a lot, but it's simply capability and joy.  Some call it domestic servitude... because they want more corporate slaves and fewer competent women guiding communities. A skilled, capable woman isn't a doormat. She's a queen with a broom in hand ready to beat the pulp out of that doormat so you'll feel welcomed in her domain. ,, ...

  Young women, What do you wish your grandmother taught you?  I know many of you were raised with traditional values and have the desire to run a pleasant, blessed home. . . but have no idea how to begin. Perhaps cleaning your room is overwhelming enough, let alone envisioning yourself ever sewing, mending, cooking, embroidering. You want to be a capable, diligent woman, someone who makes others feel comfortable.  You know you are meant to repair that emergency tear with thread, herb, or handkerchief.  And you are right.  This is why I'm opening my home up in Montana this summer as The Living Room Academy .  You have the extraordinary opportunity of learning how to keep a home cozy and wholesome. For two weeks you will be living with me in my Montana home and following me throughout my everyday activities. We will cook and clean and sew and knit and embroider. In the afternoons we will take walks in the mountains, and before bed we will gather to read ...