Ashley English's Blog, page 22

Hanging Around

My wonderful mother-in-law, Barbara, and 12 year-old niece, Sophie, are visiting from Sarasota, Florida. I can't begin to tell you how imminently helpful it is to have so many extra hands available for helping out with Huxley. I could write 5 books with them around. Wait. Scratch that. I'll just stick with this one, for now...The little dude is "this" close to crawling. He gets up on all fours

Small Friends: Unabashed Apparel

I'm introducing a new column on small measure today: small friends. Popping up periodically in the future, "small friends" are folks I know whose work I find particularly inspiring. While their vocations will differ (chocolatiers to clothing designers, jewelers to bread bakers), what unites these friends is a commitment to environmental stewardship. In their chosen professions, my friends have

The Creative Connection

Some of you may know that I write a quarterly column for the lovely Stampington & Company publication Where Women Cook (the Summer/June issue just debuted! My "Homemade Living" column is all about getting the best farmer's market experience possible, along with 4 recipes for seasonal food bliss). Jo Packham and her creative team are a pleasure to work with. I love flipping through the publication

Guest Post: Little House In the Suburbs

Several weeks ago when I opened up small measure to the possibility of guest posts, Daisy Siskin from over at Little House in the Suburbs was one of the first folks to respond. Rife with posts on everything from DIY furniture polish to, most recently, homemade water kefir, Daisy's blog is one you will absolutely want to add to your daily blog roll. Today, she's guiding us through information on

All In the Family

WOW! What a weekend, friends! We three Englishes partook in the following socializing over these past few days: a forested, mountain-top (up on Cold Mountain, as in THE Cold Mountain) wedding with a creek-side, potluck reception on Saturday; a going-away party (with lemonade) to two lovely ladies who, as I type, are packing their moving van and setting their compasses west, towards Denver (I'll

Pure Green Living Love

A HUGE thank you to Pure Green Living magazine for featuring my book series in their current issue. I'm on pages 100-101 (you can turn the pages by clicking on the arrows in the middle of the pages). Based in Canada, this publication is imminently inspiring and so, so beautiful!

Around & About the House

Have you noticed how much longer the days are getting? We don't lock up the chickens until close to 9 o'clock these days! I find myself thinking lately about something that recently happened and then realizing that, wait, that happened only earlier today!Some slow-growing, slow-moving scenes chez English. A lovely fig tree Mother's Day gift from Hubs (I have BIG plans for a fruit & nut orchard on

And the Winner of "Making It" Is...

Ashley, over at Life of a Little Woman, lucky number #175, according to my random number generator widget. I'll be in touch soon for your mailing info. Thank you so very much to all who participated. I LOVE giving things away! Those of you who know me personally can attest to this. From clothing to housewares, scratch-cooked meals to generous hugs, I love sharing what I've got.

Putting It On the Line

We had some amazing fog and light out here in the cove this morning. I hung Huxley's diapers up to dry and enjoyed the ethereal glow.

Rosebud

Our roses are blooming, which means I'm making rose syrup and rose water (à la this method). Hot damn. I'm excited. I'm taking a bit of a break from my "Small Measures with Ashley" posts over on Design Sponge while I finish up the manuscript for book #5. Grace and I have yet to iron out the specifics, but I should be back up and running regularly over there in August, with perhaps a few posts