Breaking Ground

We began this weekend to break ground on the new garden.  The old garden finally was turning up black dirt, and awesome veggies... but it was in the middle of the jungle, and filled with snakes, and rocks... and no one was willing to suit up just to watch me chase copper heads with a pitch fork.  (Including me)  So our huge front yard, with nothing but lawn and weeds, and dead Mimosa trees, is finally being turned into something useful.

The budget is still extremely tight for this whole project.  In the dream world, I'd have that white picket fence, raised cedar beds, and all of the trimmings.  In the real world we're pinching pennies for chicken wire, and breaking blisters to hand till the sod.  I'm just happy to have my fingers in the dirt once more, especially after such a horrid winter.  And I'm even happier to not have the company of so many snakes and rocks, especially the snakes.

It's exciting to see your land transform, to see things improve.  To know that so much hard work will pay off in the end.  Seeing the kids learn, and experience, and grow with the land.  I'm a hopeless romantic, who watches way too many episodes of Little House on the Prairie.  

Now to figure out a schedule for everything on my plate.  (Without drinking 3 pots of coffee everyday)

~Emily

Pumpkin Bread ~ Recipe

First thing is first.  Do not try to be an amazing food blogger photographer during tornadoes.  Also, don't set out to take amazing photos, while there's tornadoes, with your toddler helping, while your husband needs six loaves of your amazing bread ASAP.

Once you accept all those facts, then accept that this recipe is probably one of the unhealthiest recipes you'll ever read in your life... then you'll be ready for this amazingly easy, cake like treat.

Ready?

~Pumpkin Bread~

• 3 cups sugar

• 1 cup oil

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 1 small can, pumpkin

• 2 tsp baking soda

• 4 eggs

• 1 tsp nutmeg

• 1 1/2 tsp salt

• 2/3 cup water 

• 3 cups flour

Preheat oven to 325*
Mix everything together in a large bowl until smooth.  Coat your bread pans with oil, non-stick spray, or the like.  Pour evenly into 2 large bread pans, or 3 smaller bread pans, and bake at 325* for one hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center.  I've also used muffin pans, start checking your muffins at around 15- 20 minutes.  Let the bread cool fully before storing.

And there you go.  Piece of cake, or pie... or bread.  

~Emily 

I smell Spring!

There's sooo much going on around here, and I'm pretty sure my to-do list only says, "run around in circles".  I'm not going to complain too much though, some of the busy-ness is good stuff, like scrubbing up the new home for my Martha Cave.

Or getting ready to re-take all the photos for my shop!  That one I'm really excited about.  It's spring after all, and everything needs a fresh new look.  And I have a pile of brand new things that haven't been seen yet!  Unless you happen to follow me over at Instagram (@jemily383)... I tend to give sneak peaks of items in progress there.  ;)

Then there's the fact that I think Spring really is here, and that means cleaning out the goat hut, and the chicken coop, and the gardens...  Which means I better get the compost bins moved asap.  But not today, or next week, because somehow we're getting more snow.

And then there's my nerdy, office supply loving, excitement of upgrading some equipment around here.  Like a shipping scale, so I can get orders out quicker, without bugging the post lady three times a week.  And this is where I have to share a secret, my scale is going to cost next to nothing because of this thing called Swagbucks.  Have you heard of it yet?  You just sign up using this link (I don't use the computer version, I just grabbed the apps on my phone), and then when you browse for, say... White Goat Ranch, you could earn points.  Or you can take daily surveys, or watch videos, or go shopping.  Anyway, you use the app, they dish out points, and you cash them in for real giftcards.  Which I didn't trust at first, until I cashed in my first one for Amazon.  And now I'm hooked.  Anddd, if you use my links to sign up, I get points too, which would be awesome, and I'd be super grateful, as would my post lady.  ;)  So please check it out.

OHHH!  And I almost forgot, we finally were able to order the parts to fix my oven!!!!  For this scratch baker, and cooker, this is almost like winning the lottery... almost.  So be prepared for many post with my favorite recipes soon!!!  And many gripes about dishes.

Now it's back to work.  Thanks for stopping in!

What's going on in your neck of the woods?

~Emily

The Martha Cave is MOVING!

I'm excited.  Honestly.  Our basement is almost 100% empty.  The cobwebs gone, the floors ready for a deep clean, shelves being assembled.... And do you know what that all means???

HELLO REAL OFFICE!!!!

Currently all my crafting/gardening/writing/dog training goods and I are stuffed into my tiny laundry room that sits just inside my even more awkward kitchen.  Get the clothes off balanced during spin cycle, and you might just get skeins of yarn flying at your head.  It doesn't work.

Although the basement isn't finished, it's finished just enough that there's a working bathroom, and a small room with a lock.  And do you know what that means?!  A locked room all to myself!  Which means no one else should ever be going in there, which means I can splash pink all over the walls and floors, and girly it up in any style my little hearts desires.  Have I mentioned how excited I am?

Another bonus... Having the laundry room back to a laundry room.  I can't wait.

All the toys will be ushered into the basement as well, minus a few here and there that have earned their spot as necessary upstairs.  Also in the works will be a small art table for the kids in my "studio".  They'll have a place to safely paint, draw, glue... all that messy stuff I've been avoiding to allow among my pergo upstairs.  Mommy not home, and you conned Daddy into letting you paint unsupervised... tough, it's in the locked room of Mommy Awesomeness.  ;p  

I simply cannot wait.  

But there are a few hang ups.  We have to switch interweb providers.  Or something.  Or I'll be plugging, and unplugging the laptop, and hauling it up and down stairs all day.  And as it stands right now, I have no furniture for downstairs, there's bad lighting, few outlets... there's still a ton of work to be done down there.  Otherwise my Martha Cave will truly be a Cave.  ;(  But it's happening folks, and in the nick of time, I seriously have outgrown my mini Martha Cave.

Stay tuned for updates on building a Martha Cave out of nothing, lol!

How about you?  Where do you work?

~Emily

And it's Still Winter

I keep hoping, maybe if I don't watch the weather report, it won't be freezing outside.  My plan of avoidance isn't working.  It's still dang cold out there, and I still hate winter, and I am still dreaming of moving to the equator.

This weather seems to have frozen everything in its tracks.  We can't get this done because it's super windy, now it's snowing, now it's too cold... and this can't be done, until this is done, and if it would just stay warm for like three days we could do all of this.  Each day the to-do list just grows, and I'm seriously thinking about installing sunlamps in my entire house.  Winter, you so are not scouring any points with me.

And even though I'm not sure if the great garden build will happen this year, I'm thinking it's time to drag out the seed trays, and time to buy some dirt to play in... anything that makes it not so wintery for at least ten minutes.

The only bonus to this ice age is that I have no guilt what-so-ever sitting inside, next to the fireplace getting things made for the shop.  And I'm actually excited, because I've finally been able to pull out an old project, and update it to something that has really been taking off.

And the double bonus is that I am lucky enough to be working with a renaissance designer as a source for my buttons, and several metal smiths for a really exciting feature that will be added to these bracelets real soon!  You're just going to have to wait to see what we're working on!  I love, love, LOVE the resources my team on Etsy brings to me, and the amazing people I've been meeting!

To see more of the bracelets I have been creating you can check out my Jewelry Section in my shop!  

Now excuse me while I go put on ANOTHER sweatshirt...

~Emily