Ashley English's Blog, page 13

What I'm Digging

Happy Friday, friends! It's grey and overcast here, which suits this wet weather-loving lady just fine. Hubs and I are cuddled up with homemade stollen and cardamom coffee, with plans to make batches of spiced apple butter later. Tonight we're headed over to Lynne's for dinner, followed by a trip to Rene and Billy's tomorrow for their sweet daughter Trumie Rose's first birthday. Should be a great

The Glove Connection

A few posts back, I mentioned that I was sporting fashionable yet chilly fingerless alpaca gloves. Ever the sweet soul, Cat over at Neo-Homesteading tipped off her buddy John of DR Power about my glove plight. A stranger to me, John, in an act of extreme generosity, then shipped me a complementary pair of Elkskin gloves from his company, DR Power Equipment. Made by a small company in Oregon, the

An (Almost) Winter's Day

   Huxley and I took a walk down to the mailbox today. I gave the UPS guy permission when he dropped off a package last week to just give me a call with future deliveries and leave them on the mailbox. Our driveway is insanely bad right now (more of a 'challenge' than a driveway, really), so driving a big, brown parcel truck up this craggy canyon of a drive is no one's idea of a good time. When

Suzie's Sourdough Circus

I love all of the small world overlaps that occur when blogging. My editor was super close friends with Anna growing up, whose blog I just adore. Sara is friends with Grace, which I discovered on Twitter. And Katy, whose blog is gaining increasing renown, went to college with Hubs. Small world, indeed.
A few weeks back, Katy sent Huxley a package for his birthday. The package contained an

Light Up the Night (+ Giveaway!!!)

  For some, the months of winter are dreaded days. The trifecta of cold, wet weather, minimal daylight hours, and time spent indoors renders them cranky and dispirited. For me, though, this is a glorious time of year.

A perennial homebody, I can contentedly go for days at a stretch without leaving the property. In fact, I just did this very thing, sticking around chez English this past Tuesday

What I'm Digging

 Happy Friday, friends! Hope your weekend is off to a great start. Ours began a bit roughly. We were up oh, somewhere between 15-20 times last night, placating a whiny, wiggly, generally miserable teething baby. Poor fella!

I've got all kinds of grand plans for us this weekend, though, including some new additions to our flock (including a rooster!) and a photo opportunity with a certain

It's Getting Hot In Here

Oh. My. Since my last post, chez English turned, for two days, into a house of affliction. Hubs and I came down with some kind of nasty stomach flu. On a good day, contracting stomach flu is miserable. Add a baby, 2 dogs, 4 cats, and 7 hens to the mix, and you've got two extremely bone-weary parents.

We're all on the up-and-up, though, and, best of all, Huxley never picked up the nasties himself

Deck the Halls (+Giveaway!!!)

While the weather outside today may be frightful (well, truth be told, it's not all that bad, just grey, misty and a bit cold), indoors, chez English is just delightful (it's for the sake for the rhyme, folks, so humor me, if you will)! I've mentioned lately that the holiday spirit descended early this year and has held me in its sparkly, shiny, happy grasp for weeks now. Its effect can be

What I'm Digging

Hi friends! Happy Friday! December is fully upon us now and we're into the holiday spirit, big time, chez English. I'll be hosting my 4th annual Ladies Cookie Exchange tomorrow. It's always a good time, with lots of raucous laughter, hearty hooch swilling, and delectable sugary bliss.

Here's a sampling of what's caught my eye, tugged at my heartstrings, and intrigued my senses this week:
*These

Chow Down and Put Up

BRRR!!! It was capital COLD here in the cove today, greeting me with a 25 degree slap in the face this morning as I went to feed the chickens. Which made me realize that, while my fingerless alpaca gloves are indeed chic, it might be time to seek out a pair that are as big on warmth retention as they are on style. Note to self...

As we move into the colder months, if you find yourself short on