Faraway Farm

I highly recommend a visit to Faraway Farm Alpacas in Westchester, NY. The wonderful owner Leda Blumberg was more than happy to show my 5 munchkins the ropes, on a very cold day this past weekend. www.farawayfarmalpacas.com

waiting..waiting

Waiting. Not very patiently I might add, for all this snow and ice to go on its merry way. Trying to sell a house in the frozen north is not ideal. We visited an alpaca farm at the weekend, Faraway Farm, in Westchester, NY. It was so wonderful to be around these graceful animals once again, and to make plans for my own small herd. It is so hard to keep my excitement contained, the thought of us actually moving to a farm, and having horses, alpacas and chickens, a real vegetable garden. I just can't. But until this house sells nothing I can do about those dreams other than box them off, with the rest of our stuff, which is packed and waiting. Meanwhile I knit.

At Faraway Farm I bought a ball of  the rose grey alpacas Aladdin and Fiesta's yarn and started a pair of mittens for Amelia Rose. She of course ripped them out while I was sleeping the other night, being the crazy little monster she is! I managed to save them, and so off I go, dreaming while knitting, knitting while dreaming. Waiting..impatiently.

Oh Happy Days

Exciting news. We are finally putting this house in the woods on the market! Over the past few months I've been searching online for an old farmhouse to make our own, and recently actually been viewing some in person! Two weeks ago I looked at one on Somerset County, NJ. It has such a romantic sound to it, Somerset County, it almost wouldn't have mattered what the house was like. But it does. Of course. And to me it was perfect. A big blue 1800s farmhouse on almost 5 acres, with pines for privacy and open fields filled with horses and alpacas around. It wasn't the greatest layout inside, and the kitchen, although open to an eating area, certainly wasn't my dream kitchen, but I could see it working perfectly all the same. It had a greenhouse, flat grass, a huge porch, and bright sun filled rooms with wide pumpkin pine floors, and that was enough for me. Unfortunately when my husband viewed it, he decided it was a bit too rural for him, and he pointed out all the flaws, I hadn't really noticed.. love blinds you that way! The road to the main road was long and winding. Beautiful for long walks on a Sunday, not so beautiful for commuting to the office I guess!

On to the next. Last week he found a short sale in the Chester, NJ area, which is a lovely town filled with antiques stores and surrounded by farmland, but much closer to highways etc. I went to see it at the weekend. Needs so much doing to it, including septic, oil tank removed and such a lot of cosmetic stuff. But it's a good looking 1800s colonial with a big porch, and 2 fenced paddocks. Nice big rooms, and a finished attic, that could make a perfect craft room for me.

It has a huge kitchen open to the dining area with skylights and big windows. Really my dream kitchen. Even had a cast iron gas cooker, one of those very expensive retro ones. Perfect! My husband is there today, so I'm yet to hear what he thinks. Regardless of what happens with that house, things are definitely moving in the right direction, so I'm feeling happy and excited. Packing up this house and fixing all the annoying things is not so exciting, but at least it being cleared out it's starting to resemble how I wish we could live - less clutter, easier to clean. Certainly something to aim for in the next house anyway!

living vicariously through others until my time comes...

I've become slightly addicted to HGTVs new show "Fixer Upper" http://magnoliahomes.net/fixer-upper/ It's always been my dream to find a diamond in the rough and make it my own. The two houses we've bought previously have been at the top end of our budget, so we've never been able to make the changes we wanted a reality or let's face it, even fix things when they break! For years I've loved to watch the moving shows, but they all become much the same - people looking for the granite kitchen, the finished garden, the perfect house. I'd hate to move in somewhere that was finished to a high standard - but not my standard, not my tastes. I feel like I'd just live with cherry cabinets and beige granite because I'd feel bad about ripping that stuff out. Which is why I have NO intention of looking for any of that when it comes time for us to move.  I love browsing the http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/ site for ideas. The forums are so valuable for real life experiences of what to do and of course what to run a mile from. Now there are hundreds of shows on home improvement there's always something to watch to get excited about. Here are some great examples of a fixer-upper turned dream home - and surprisingly all of these were done with a budget of under $50k!

The house I fell in love with months ago is still on the market, so there's always a chance it will become my dream forever home! (I have the agent letting me know if any offers come in). It's priced very low, and with the profit from the sale of this house we would be able to make it beautiful with cash to spare. There's so much potential. It's on 15 acres, we could sell 10 of those for over $100k in that area and still have a huge piece of land. There's a walkable attic ready to be finished. A double garage could be added with a master suite above. There's a big red barn with 6 horse stalls, fenced paddock, pasture, a stream.. need I go on! Here's a picture of it.. 

...imagine it freshly painted, with shutters, rambling roses, a horse in the background, a few chickens dotted around and children playing and you there you have it. So until I have it, in the bag, I keep that image in my head on days like today when I'm faced with the end of school rush, piles of laundry, noisy landscapers and a messy corner office that I can get no work done in! Happy Wednesday people - the weekend is just down the hill.

Planting season

So yesterday I spent the morning planting up two of my four raised beds in my garden by the pond. I'd love to think by summer they'll look like this - but that's pretty adventurous! I've started with green beans, broccoli, carrots, kale and lettuce. When the threat of frost has gone I'll move to the third bed for the tomatoes, peppers, melons and cucumbers. The fourth bed is my biggest and I'm keeping that for flowers. I've been at a loss as to what to surround the beds with, as right now it's a brown dirt mess, mulch for that large of a spot is expensive, wood chips attract termites, and gravel - again too pricey. I think I'll plant grass there instead, it's the most economical option and will definitely make that area look more complete. Right now it's pretty barren, bar a few hyacinths. It's very frustrating gardening here in Rockland, for the obvious reason - rocks. We also have a lot of what they call "Squaw Root" which is very hard to work around, and with the endless tree roots from the semi woodland setting - it's not exactly prosperous. But I have Bramble Farm in my heart and know it will happen sooner than later - so I will plod on with what I have right now and make the best of it as much as I can. One thing I need to do everywhere I plant - is to deer fence. They eat everything around here, even the plants labeled "deer resistant". So long as I can get the front and back garden areas tidy and pretty - it'll do, especially when it comes time to sell. I have so much organizing of clutter and collected garbage to do on the inside of the house it feels sometimes like selling is many MANY years away. I have to keep believing that what I really want, and how I want to raise my children is within reach, even on grey days like today, when nothing seems possible except crawling under a blanket and sleeping! Onwards and upwards.

off to the farm we go

Two farms in one week to be precise! I can't believe Spring Break is almost over. We lost so many school days with the severe winter snow we had here in New York, sadly cutting off 3 days of this vacation time. So this past week we did a couple of day trips to get some country air, and inspiration for Bramble Farm of course! Firstly we went to the Stone Barns Center for Agriculture near Sleepy Hollow. It's such a breathtakingly beautiful place. Even without the green of Summer and the flowers to match, the buildings alone were awe inspiring.

Next we went to Muscoot Farm in Katonah. I completely fell in love with this property. Everything from the old white farmhouse to all the gorgeous red barns and outbuildings. Their selection of animals was just right, and the children had a wonderful time.

https://www.stonebarnscenter.org/
http://muscootfarm.org/

Rapunzel Birthday Party

For my daughter's 6th Birthday last week I went with the Rapunzel Tangled theme and I think I pulled it off! I printed wanted posters of Flynn Rider, strung yellow streamers all over the room for Rapunzel's hair, and make these pretty paint cupcakes and lake cake. She loved it!

birthday cakes for princesses

I'm in the midst of thinking of a design for my just turning 6 year old's Birthday on Friday. For my eldest daughter I chose a Frozen theme - they love that movie so much - who doesn't!? It worked perfectly because I had the Frozen Disney Infinity Elsa and Anna figures to put on top. This time I have Rapunzel - so I've been googling Tangled cakes and so far here's what I have - all amazing!

I was going for a garden cake with the tower and then the figure standing next to it but now I'm thinking the lake cake looks perfect as I can print the other bits to put on top - and have lanterns hanging from the ceiling.. will update with pictures later this week!

dress making... for dummies

I feel like I'm staring at a map of the London underground. And so begins my journey into sewing! I made skirts for the girls last year and that was easy enough. Thought I'd try some simple pants for baby because I got some really cute polka dot farm animal fabric the other day. 

Yeah. So far, haven't got past staring at the pattern for 5 mins! I also got a dress pattern thankfully haven't opened it yet so that cat can remain in the bag for now - think it would send me over the edge!

you can please some of the people, some of the time...

It will never be easy for me to deal with in business the type of people I would never want to have contact with in my personal life. When it comes to selling things online, you really have no choice in the matter. And as such you will come across people who no matter what you do for them - they will not be happy, will give you grief, and cause you to on occasion wish you had never got into the online marketplace. ahem eBay ahem.. I don't really want to give eBay any time on my blog but I will say that their single worst thing they ever did was to take away a seller being able to leave negative or neutral feedback about a buyer. Yet a buyer can leave both. Ridiculous. Take my situation right now. I sold an item shipped it, took 8 business days, in the current horrendous weather - to be expected. However after just 7 days the buyer opened a case against me, no message to me, just a case against me, for non receipt. I, not wanting to get bad feedback immediately refunded her and fully expected for her either to leave feedback saying how I was fast to respond and graciously responded with a full refund, or to just not leave feedback. However, she left me a big grey neutral - saying she never received the item. The tracking on this item shows it will be delivered today just over a week after the auction was won. But she's already left the feedback, and both her and eBay refuse to do anything about it. It is so upsetting and ridiculous. But nothing I can do. And it's all very well me telling myself to lock it in a drawer somewhere in my mind and forget it. Not happening. Maybe this is that drawer though, we'll see! Rant over..

snow day fun

So as of right now here in the lower Hudson Valley - it's pretty much a white out. We've had over a foot of snow and it's only noon!

Not exactly great play outside weather yet - but if it has stopped where you are - this is such a fun thing for the bored kids to get busy with. Just pop some food coloring and water into some squeezy bottles et voila - outdoor painting fun. Love this idea!

Valentine Volcano Cakes

These are what I'll be making my sweethearts on Valentine's Day.. nom nom nom!

 

Chocolate Lava Cakes

Yield:
8 servings

Ingredients

Baking spray, for spraying custard cups
2 stick butter
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
4 ounces semisweet chocolate
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
4 whole eggs
6 egg yolks
2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup all-purpose flour

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Spray four custard cups with baking spray and place on a baking sheet.

Microwave the butter, bittersweet chocolate and semisweet chocolate in a large bowl on high until the butter is melted, about 1 minute. Whisk until the chocolate is also melted. Stir in the sugar until well blended. Whisk in the eggs and egg yolks, then add the vanilla. Stir in the flour. Divide the mixture among the custard cups.

Bake until the sides are firm and the centers are soft, about 13 minutes. Let stand 1 minute. Invert on individual plates while warm and serve

Cheese Soup - winter's best friend

I just glanced at next week's temps - 40s - not bad I thought, with the children being home from school I wanted to actually leave the house with them and venture forth.Then it hit me - the big snow warning on Thursday THIS week arghh! Not again. Forecast is for up to 12" by nightfall. And with that I bring you cheese soup.

Cheese Soup

Yield: serves 4-6
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

3 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped
1 sweet onion, finely diced
1/2 red pepper, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups of stock (your choice)
1 cup half and half
4 ounces sharp white cheddar, freshly grated
4 ounces extra sharp yellow cheddar, freshly grated
4 ounces colby jack, freshly grated
fresh herbs for garnish
salt and pepper to season if needed
bread rolls for serving

Directions:

Heat a large stock pot over medium heat and add chopped bacon. Fry until crispy and fat is rendered, them remove bacon with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel to drain. Reduce heat to low and add onions, peppers and garlic, stirring to coat. Cook for about 10 minutes, until vegetables are translucent, stirring occasionally. Increase heat to medium-high and add in butter. Once sizzling, which in flour and cook for 3-4 minutes until flour is nutty and golden. Add in stock and stirring constantly, cook for 5 minutes so the mixture somewhat thickens.
Add in half and half, then reduce heat to low and gradually add cheese while stirring. Stir until smooth, then fold in bacon and serve immediately. Garnish fresh chopped herbs over top if desired.

[Because any cheese soup can get "gloppy" after it sits, I suggest making this as close to serving time if possible. If the mixture gets too thick, add a bit more liquid and stir over low heat. ]

Thank me later!