Silent Sunday

Silent Sunday

I'm BAAAAACK!!!!!

Hello everyone!!!
Just a quick hello and update!

I'm FINALLY back online again!!!! This time I think it will be easier to STAY online... I'm finally getting the feeling of not completely sinking into a deep pit.... both financially and mentally.... it's a nice feeling :D

I don't know where to start on an update.. so I'm just gonna run with this real quick as I have a million and one things to do OUTSIDE as well as inside today!

Let's see........... I have tons of great beading projects I've been working on.. some finished some still progressing... LOVING my embroidered piece but I'm gonna save the details on that for when it's finished :)

It involves Tiger Eye. My all time Favorite Stone.....

I have new peeps!!! Beautiful, tiny and adorable balls of fluff!!! So far only 4 but more are still in several nests around the farm!

I am still totally in love with my job!!! Seriously... I work in a BEAD SHOP. Can it BE any better than this? Yes it can... because I have the best boss ever and we have SO much fun every single day!! I keep thinking I'll wake up one day and be stuck in some horrible job I hate.....  I love the feeling that my opinions and thoughts actually matter and that people look to ME for advice and information.... REALLY!?!??! ME!??!?!?! wow. It's so uplifting and humbling at the same time.

And our totally fun beading group Beading Babes was featured in a small spot in Beadwork Magazine! How cool is that!??! Karyn is just AWESOME for putting this all together and keeping us motivated with fun new projects. All the ladies in the group have been great sharing info and advice on Facebook and on their own blogs. I am thrilled to be a part of it all!

The only other major life change recently is the purchase of a new mattress.. OH. EM. GEE. what the heck took us so long to do this!??!??! It's HEAVENLY! Last night I fell asleep and STAYED asleep.. without clutching the edge of the bed to keep from rolling into the middle! hahahaha! Ok.. so that was a bit exaggerated.... but not the pure joy of a decent night's sleep! YAY!!!

So now I have to go to farm chores... the grass isn't going to mow itself!! Although I am seriously considering fencing the entire yard and turning the horses out..........................................

so thank you all for still being here while my blog went silent..... I hope to keep you better entertained henceforth!!

Silent Sunday

Time Flies!!

So, I had a blog post ready to go on Monday but evidently I never finished it and posted it! It's been one of those weeks!
I don't know if I've mentioned it (hahaha! YES I HAVE)  but I seriously LOVE my job at Obsessions!  It's not even 'work'... well it IS.. especially when I'm having to pack up and account for a trunk show of GORGEOUS stones... see? Even the paperwork is fun!!
I am working on a few projects, mostly getting things ready to teach at the shop next month :) We are doing a 'Back to Basics' course over the next few months to teach some basic stitching and I have a few patterns to teach that go along with the initial stitching class. Should be great fun and introduce some new ideas to our students!!
The sun is shining a bit longer every day and I can't tell you how happy this makes me!!
LOVE this picture I found online:

I'm so excited to start working in the garden!! I layered cardboard scraps under my compost this winter and it honestly looks like I won't even be using the noisy, smelly, noisy, noisy, noisy tiller this year! Did I mention it's kind of noisy? The first few years I felt I HAD to use it, good old Carolina red clay takes some time to get to a workable stage... but I have really decent soil this year! Thank you to my chickens :D

They have really made such a difference in the garden plot! Great fertilizers and great job of keeping the soil nice and loose! I highly recommend them! :D  Although I do think they will not be quite so pleased when I have to keep them OUT of their favorite digging spots.

What are your garden plans this year? Going all out and doing a huge garden or just containers on the back porch? Trying any new veggies?

Silent Sunday

Silent Sunday

I have decided that Sunday's will be my 'Silent Sunday' post. No 'talking' just a beautiful picture that moved me that particular Sunday. I hope you enjoy.

Baking and baking and baking.. and some butter

Happy Friday blog-friends!!!

I had today off! YAY ME! Last night with great aspirations I made a 'to do' list.. this included waking up early, getting on the elliptical for 20 minutes and taking Guinness for a much needed walk...  it also included working on the Beading Babes Challenge since we have extra time added before reveal.

So, alarm clock goes off... snooze... goes off again... snooze.... Finally wake up when the pups start pitching a fit because they have to GO. Sheesh! ;)  Wake up, wander outside... OHMYHEAVENSITSCOLDWHYISITCOLD?!?!?!? Seriously.. it was 60 on Monday, it was 22 when I woke up this morning!! Um.. shock the system much?  I know it IS winter still.. .. but yeah....
After shivering through the morning chores, I came inside still planning to follow my list... sat down with my tea and toast... and said... eh, stuff it.. I'm Baking Today!! :D

Karyn sent me a recipe a few weeks ago from Andrew Thornton's blog  and I have to say.... these are now my absolute FAVORITE brownies!! They are just the perfect balance of sweet and moist without being too sweet the way brownies can sometimes be... and I also have never cared for iced brownies.. but these.. oh the icing is divine!!!!! *faints*

 After the brownies I was still in 'bake mode' so I whipped up this recipe I found on Pinterest this week. I am a HUGE fan of beer bread.. I love it.. I use all different types of beer to see what I like best.. Guinness is a great favorite for when I'm in the mood for a darker bread.. but for a great, light and fluffy and yeasty bread, you can't go wrong with Pabst Blue Ribbon!! But today I only had Busch Ice on hand.. but it still turned out delightful!!! 

AND I also made some butter. Yes, butter. I simply love fresh made butter... and it's so simple to make!!!

Ok.. yes.. I know it's Walmart brand cream.. but I haven't been able to locate a good source of local fresh cream.. there is some sort of approval required to sell it for human consumption in this state but I'm networking and trying to find out a source.. ...
So, all you have to do... get your cream at room temperature... break out the mixer... and let er rip!!!!  This is a few minutes in to the mixing.. my mixer is set on 9 which is close to the highest speed but not quite, you really want to break up the fat globules in the cream....

At this point, we have whipped cream!! It's yummy too but we want butter so keep beating!!!

 Now we are seeing something!! Here you can turn the mixer down to medium as it will start making a mess as the buttermilk separates from the butter.....

 And here is our finished product!! This is from one quart of cream... I think about a pound of butter and maybe 12-16 oz of buttermilk.. I don't drink it but I will probably use it to make pancakes in the morning :)

So there you have my Baking Day! I hope you all got some yummy food inspirations!! Back to beading tomorrow!!! :D  Anyone have any favorite recipes they want to share?