Ashley English's Blog, page 5

Hubs Considers: A Walk In the Rain

I'm still down for the count, folks. Working on getting this crud out of my nasal passages (and my eyes! It's moved into my eyes, oy vey!). In the mean time, I am honored to bring you another lovely, thoughtful guest post from my dear, sweet Hubs, who continues to nurture me back to health with warm meals, gentle words, and hot toddies. Oh, yes. I think it's the hot toddies that might

From Bolt to Vase

One of my most abiding pleasures in life is finding beauty in unexpected places. Whether that's in the gentle sway of laundry drying on the line, the cascade of leaves from a ginkgo tree, or the camouflage print on a toad's back (Huxley and I found an incredible specimen hiding out in the mint patch by the front door!), discovering the innate exquisiteness in nature is so very

Soup & Snuggles

So, that seasonal allergy thing I mentioned? It's still here. It's much better than yesterday, but it's still lingering. Swallowing last night felt like daggers were being jabbed down my throat. Not good.

Fortunately, Hubs came to the rescue. Instead of heading to his usual Sunday ritual of 4 hours (!!!) of competitive Scrabble in town, he stuck around, and after whipping up that amazing bit of

Happiness Is A Plate of French Toast

Happiness is a spouse who cooks up a batch of his inter-galactically renown french toast (and that's not at all hyperbolic, it's just that good)without solicitation. Super happiness is then achieved when he covers it in freshly made blueberry maple syrup. Over-the-top happiness is experienced when he makes it the morning that you are feeling haggard, and run-down, and congested after tending to

What I'm Digging

Happy Friday, friends! We hit the motherlode, rain-wise, this week. Oh yes. Most of Tuesday and all day Wednesday, it poured like there was no stopping. And it really couldn't have come at a better time, as the flora and fauna out here were parched and thirsty. Huxley was a huge fan of the rain's output, too (my favorite part is when he says "Hot!" clearly meaning "Cold!"). 

I'm so excited to

Strike It Rich

We use a lot of matches, chez English. There's the usual suspects, like starting the wood stove, that require us to strike a match. There's the gas range, which we light with matches, too. There's also the fire pit outside, and the grill on the porch. There are an abundance of candles and incense, as well, which I'm particularly fond of firing up. Finally, we employ them regularly in the bathroom

The Homemade Pantry (Humpday Giveaway!!!)

I love serendipity. It reinforces my belief in an invisible, physical interconnectedness permeating all things, made manifest only if you're still and quiet enough to notice it. It makes life seem a bit less scary, a bit more meaningful.

Such was the case recently with Alana Chernila. I belong to several book buying clubs. Her book, The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying & Start

Recent Acquisitions

We picked up a few new eating implements for Huxley recently, as his robust appetite had been resulting in a shortage of clean bowls and plates at the ready. Green Toys recently launched a new line called Green Eats. Our local natural home supply store, Nest, had a 4-pack of their plates for sale, all made from 100% recycled BPA-free plastic.

Green Toys makes some seriously fantastic

Southern Comfort

I love entertaining. I really do. Hubs often jokes that I'm always planning my next party, and he's pretty accurate in that observation. To me, nothing beats a house overflowing with guests, delicious food and abundant laughter.

That said, pulling off a big shindig oneself can often be prohibitive, for a number of reasons. The largest concern for many lies in the cost of feeding a multitude of

What I'm Digging

Hubs, Huxley and I dashed out this morning for a rollicking, romping good time at Mighty Mites, which is essentially just baby gymnastics. Like I said on here before, it's just about the best $5 I've ever spent. Forty-five minutes of running, crawling, bouncing, and giggling makes for a tuckered-out baby and two happy parents! 

Here's a smattering of this's and that's that caught my attention