DIY Seasonal Allergy Treatments

Happy Friday, everyone! My "Small Measures with Ashley" post is up today on Design Sponge. This week's topic discusses Do-It-Yourself, all-natural treatments for dealing with the least welcome part of autumn's otherwise much welcome shifts, seasonal allergies.

Today I'll be busy writing what will be the first of a regular column I'll be penning for a new quarterly-published women's magazine. The publication debuts in December, and I'll share more details as they become available. After working on that, Hubs and I will, hopefully, get the crib assembled (you never know with IKEA instructions...).

Tomorrow, a former co-worker is throwing us what will be the first of three showers for Nugget over the next three weekends. There's tomorrow's festivities, followed by one next weekend, courtesy of my sweet mother, and then the one we're throwing ourselves on the 25th, more of a "Nugget warming" (as I've dubbed it) and less "baby"-ish (in other words, there won't be any baby games chez English, but plenty of DIY smores-building, local, seasonal food gorging, and hard cider swilling). After the shower, I hope to stop by my friend's Cindy and Laura's farm, as they're having a "Farm Day" showcasing all they've grown and the projects they've got going on (including 7 bee hives and a gorgeous flock of chickens!). They'll also have two other area food producers, SunBurst Trout and Imladris Farm, sharing their trout delicacies and delicious jams and butters. An out-of-town guest will be with us overnight that night, which I always enjoy. Sunday will see me back at work on my magazine column.

Should be a great weekend, all around.

*Image from here.

New Addition

Not content to add only to our human flock (8 weeks until lift off!!!), Hubs and I added 3 ladies to our feathered line-up yesterday. The hens have been lovingly tended to since teensy chicks by my friend Kristina and her husband Ian. We've been intending on increasing our flock for some time, as our girl's egg output doesn't quite match up to our egg consumption (we're heavy egg consumers chez English). Additionally, our ladies are molting, and they're 2 1/2 years old, both of which contribute to a reduction in egg output.

We've got them sequestered in our chicken tractor for now. Introducing new flock mates to an existing flock can get a little hairy (or would that be "feathery"?). It's best to keep them within sight of each other but out of direct reach for a few days. Hopefully, if all goes well, they'll get along like champs once they're in each others direct physical space. Georgette, our Barred Plymouth Rock, was ruffling her feathers earlier this evening at one of the newbies, making her neck plumage very much resemble an Elizabethan collar. Perhaps she was just strutting her stuff, perhaps she was ticked that the new crew was given raisins in their tractor that she couldn't reach (she's seriously bananas for raisins). Either way, I've got my eye on her.

I'll keep you posted on how the grand unification scheme pans out. 'Til then, fingers, toes, and claws crossed!

Friends With Benefits

Being friends with a professional, dairy goat-owning cheesemaker definitely has its advantages. Witness here Denise's bocconcini balls, blueberry buckle with ricotta, and aged chevre with juniper berries and herbs, graciously gifted to us when she, her husband Josh and adorable 2 year-old daughter Elora stopped over this weekend.

Its taken every ounce of resolve I possess to photograph these delicacies before devouring them. Thank God that's over with.

Have mercy.

Ode to the -er's

We're entering into what I believe are the annual fab four-those months ending in -er. The stretch from September through December really gets my blood pumping, my inspiration flowing, my energy levels soaring. While the heat and humidity of summer make me languid and lazy, the -er's make me, well, jazzed.

It's funny that I'm in the final 8 weeks of my pregnancy and yet I feel the best I've felt in months. Must be the crisp mornings, the welcome sight of plaid flannel shirts back into rotation, and all the apples I've been munching on.

-er's, I love you. Thank you for your falling leaves and vibrant skies. Thank you for your massive pumpkins, floral pears, and apple cider. Thank you for your family gatherings and gift exchanges and love in the air. Thank you for your striped knee socks and happier dogs and cozy kittens. Thank you for your foggy mornings and sweater-clad, under-the-comforter nights. Thank you for bringing us our Nugget.

The four photos above are from past -er's, chez English. September is on bottom, moving upwards through the months until we meet old man Winter, taken in the wee hours of last December 19th's massive snow storm.

*Clarification-the apple tree image is from Sky Top Orchard, while the others are from our stomping grounds.

Honorable Mentions

Georgette (looking her finest, although not looking at the camera; she's coy like that, on occasion...) and I are mentioned in this month's copy of WNC magazine, available regionally. You can read all about it here.

Also, Rachael Ray's "Everyday" magazine gave a shout out to my "Keeping Chickens with Ashley English" book. Look for the mention on page 61 of the edition now available on news stands.

Thanks for the love, everyone!!!

*Image in WNC courtesy of Lynne Harty.

Green-Up Your Bedroom

Hi everyone! My "Small Measures with Ashley" post is up over at Design Sponge. Today's topic discusses easy and quick tips for remodeling your bedroom with the environment in mind.

I'm off in just a few hours to meet up with my mom and grandmother to look for some maternity clothing. In truth, I loathe most of what is offered out there for us pregos. I find most of it either depressingly matronly, poorly made, or attempting to be flirty and sexy in a way that doesn't appeal to either my pregnant or non-pregnant self. I've been saying it for years, but I really should just make my own clothing line. Maybe that will be my next "Homemade Living" or "Small Measure" endeavor-sturdy, durable, fashionable, ecologically-minded women's fashions!

After that, it's over to my friends Meg and Alisa's place. Meg, currently a photographer but formerly a hair stylist, is going to give my locks a much needed trim in exchange for some canned goodies from my pantry. I love bartering with friends. We've all got our skills, it's just a matter of figuring out the best means of sharing them with one another! Later in the afternoon, our friends Josh and Denise (who you might remember from this post) are stopping by to take an unused filing cabinet and Dogloo off our hands (Denise can use the filing cabinet for her emerging cheese business while their dogs, Abbie and Brutus, can snuggle up in the Dogloo this winter while keeping a protective eye out over their herd of milking goats).

We don't yet have Saturday plans, but Sunday will serve as my last day at the Cake Shop before settling in for the next few weeks to attend to some freelance writing gigs. And then, of course, there's all that nesting to get out of the way before Nugget arrives on the scene!

Wherever your weekend takes you, may it be a glorious one!

*For all you locals planning on attending LAAFF this Sunday, stop by my girl Faryn Davis's Fernworks booth. She's crazy talented and I'd buy all of her pieces if I could. Instead, you should! Tell her I sent you!!!

*Image from All About You.

Just A Little Patience

Last week, I shared some of Hub's artwork with you. The warm response it received made me elect to share a bit more. Just a reminder that these were all crafted by hand. BY HAND! It amazes me still, every time I look at them...

Striving to achieve a "Homemade Living" as we do involves more, at least for the two of us, then just chickens, canning, bees, and the like. It means creativity and artistic ingenuity. It also means patience, perseverance, and deliberation. Glenn is the poster child for these things. He's got more patience in his pinkie finger than I've got in my entire body, and that's saying something because, aside from when I'm ravenously hungry, I'm a pretty patient, delayed gratification sort of gal.

When the cats are screaming at us because it's 7 a.m. and they want their breakfast NOW, it barely phases him. When everyone else is all aflutter to make some hasty decision, he's weighing, patiently, all the possible outcomes and scenarios before acting. This is clearly evidenced in his art work. He'll be a splendid Papa to wee Nugget on account of this.

When I was little, my mom had my brother and I repeat a call-and-return series of words related to patience. It went:

Mom: What is patience?

Me and my brother: A virtue.

Mom: And what is a virtue?

Us: A virtue is "good."

Mom: So what are you going to be?

Us: Good.

I hated saying that little aphorism when I was young. I fully see the merit of it now, though. A well-lived life, a deeply satisfying "Homemade Living" sort of life, takes patience. It takes steadfastness. It takes clearheadedness. It takes commitment. Glenn's got all of that in spades.