Sometimes there is a lifetime between a dream and making that dream a reality. Here’s an excerpt from a recent interview describing my move to France and becoming an accidental “on-purpose” entrepreneur.

Here in southwest France, the fresh greens of spring are replacing the dull gray shades of winter. Sunshine streams through our front door noting longer days across the stone floor. The rains have slowed and the garden beds are waiting to be turned and planted. Nature's cues are telling me that it's time to attend to the potager.

Over the past year, I gathered plant materials to create a collection of handmade natural inks. Each represents one of the four seasons. This 2020 “vintage” documents our stay here in our small hamlet in southwest France. Much like a vintage in winemaking tells you when the grapes have been harvested and processed, my ink’s vintage also captures a particular moment of time and place.

I am drawn to a house that has been forgotten. There is something about her plea to be cared for again that pulls me in . . . every time. I want to remove layers that have covered the authenticity of its structure to reveal its history. Restoration is a process of both preservation as well as an integration of our own new stories into the house.

On these nine hectares in southwestern France, I’m learning that the nearby forest, just a short stroll away, has much to offer both my culinary desires and my artist’s dyepot. With that revelation, I am embracing the noticeable shift within me from gardener to forager.

In France, every morning the shutters are opened. Every evening they are closed. Like clockwork, you can tell when the new day begins and when it is time to say goodnight to the world. Everyone goes through this ritual each day. Everyone. Everyday. Volets serve several practical purposes but they also are an effective communication system.

For my family, 2019 is a year of new beginnings. New schools. New home. New business. While all the changes can feel unsettling, I am focusing on the making of a new life . . . to create a new way of being in the world.

When one decides to make a major shift in one’s life path, the uncertainty can be unnerving. Moving to or from a remote island demands determination and wherewithal. Surprisingly, I found that the actual leaving was not as difficult as I thought. Our Hawaii coffee farm prepared us for our next adventure . . . living in France.

I love things that are utilitarian, beautiful but serve a purpose. I look for objects with patina, a history that you can see and feel. Not everything has to be old; but I like to see the maker's hand, so something artisan and handcrafted from natural materials that are simple in design.