Searching For a Spacious Place
Visiting from Ann Voskamp's place today? I am glad you are here. My name is Christie Purifoy, and I live in a Pennsylvania farmhouse with my husband, four kids, thirteen chickens, two cats, and rather too many woodchucks. I am always watching for beauty, wonder, and mystery, and I write dispatches from the golden hour. Welcome to Maplehurst....
Simple Hospitality (Or, Giving the Gift of Peace)
“Peace is our gift to each other.” - Elie Wiesel We hosted a large reunion of old friends for the 4th of July weekend. As usual, the week before found us tackling a long list of neglected home repairs. At one point, while my husband hammered in a nail, I told him we’d probably live in squalor if it weren’t for our house guests. * *...
Let’s Begin Losing Our Lives
Ready or not, I will write about simplicity. But are you ready to read words on simplicity by a woman who lives in a 7-bedroom farmhouse on four-and-a-half acres? Because even if I explain that three of those bedrooms are on the third floor. That they don’t all have closets. That the ceilings slope against the eaves of the roof so that it is...
Making Room For Peace (A Series On Simplicity)
He stood, leaning on a shovel, taking a break from digging out tree roots in my neighbor’s yard. He was on one side of the split-rail fence. I was on the other. He looked past my shoulder, watching the chickens scratch and peck. He said, “I like your chickens. Your home. It is like my country. It is like my home in Mexico.” * He’d been in our...
This is How to Carry the Weight of the World
Recently, someone wrote a blog post about a terrible injustice happening in our world. I hear your deep sigh of recognition. Who wrote the post? What was the injustice? You know it almost doesn’t matter. Aren’t our facebook feeds and blog readers and twitter accounts spilling over with painful stories of injustice? There is so much darkness....
These Farmhouse Bookshelves (Beach Optional Beach Reads)
There are so many ways to ask the same question. Beach or mountain? Rain or sun? Coffee or tea? Read or jog? My answer for each one is the same: cozy. What I mean is that, while I usually choose mountain over beach, if given a choice between climbing a fourteener and sitting in a beach chair with a novel, I will change my answer. Beach, all...