Buying Local Ingredients ...



... Is something that I've always wanted to do, but I never knew where to begin.

That is until my bestie/business partner took me strawberry picking last week!!!

It was such a joy to be out in the sun, picking from the Earth.

(Cottle Strawberry Farm located in Fayetteville, Georgia)

 We quickly filled our $11 Cottle container, but we were not quite ready to return home. 

So we decided to do one of our favorite past times, HOUSE STALKING!!!

Which lead us past a small sign that advertised FRESH FARM EGGS!!!!!!!!!!! Can you believe our luck?

But since it was already late in the day, we vowed to return another time.

And return we did!

(Fresh Eggs from Flintwood Far, in Fayetteville, Georgia)

For a carton we paid $5, the owner a very kind woman, told us that if we like these, then she will sell us 30 eggs for $10.

She was also kind enough to reassure me that her chicks/hens "scratch" for their food and that she and her husband allow them to also go out on the land to scavenge as much as possible. While they are not fed organic feed, they are more on the natural route either way being as they are allowed to "scratch" and eat things like worms, etc. Plus she feeds them veggies like lettuce that she grows herself. She also puts natural grapefruit oil in their water.

I've read some horrible things online about the way chicks/hens are fed and the owner herself told us about a gentlemen who also raises chicks/hens, who laces their water with of all things, BLEACH!!!!

I couldn't imagine eating an egg laced with bleach! YUCK!

Since my bestie and I have never used fresh farm eggs before, we decided to spilt the carton so that if we don't like them then at least we didn't waste $5 each.

I can't wait to start baking with them...

~N~

Honeysuckles Smell Like....

... home.

In Georgia, honeysuckle bushes are EVERYWHERE!

They are so beautiful and fragrant.

I remember as a child, there was a honeysuckle bush right next to our front porch. My mom pulled the flower into her hand and showed me how to sip the honey from it's natural cup.

This became a little tradition for me in the summertime.

Sadly there are no honeysuckles near my apartment...

But there is a street that I take to go home from work that is lined with them.

That sweet smell always seems to ease me even after a long day at work.

~N~

Sometimes You Just Have To Do What's Best...

(It's time we leave & explore)

...For you that is.

Remember my post about my apartment?

I do, vividly!

I love the excitement I had about having my own place and starting new goals. Sadly though, since moving here all I've really done is WORK and get further into debt.

Even then, I still LOVED my apartment. But that has all come to an end. I am no longer happy.

Since last year, July to be exact, I've been calling my rent office because my dishwasher is no longer working and the door has fallen off. ( I've also been calling since January of this year about my upstairs toilet being busted. They fixed it 2 weeks ago, before that I had to run downstairs every time to use the downstairs 1/2 bath).

~~~~~SINCE LAST JULY!!!!~~~~~

To date, the darn dishwasher is STILL in the same condition as last year!

I've called every week to put in work orders. I've even spoken to both the manager and co-manager in person AND on the phone about the situation. (Once, the co-manager left me on hold and would not pick up the phone when I called back)

So again I decided to try to speak with the manager in person, did I mention AGAIN!!!! His response?

~~~~~Slight hostility!!!~~~~~

He told me that the complex has money so there is no reason for it to still be busted and that I should have come and spoken to him. But this one is the real reason I've decided to pack it in, this man told me that I should stay on him so that the problem gets fixed.

I work a 40 hour job PLUS I come home and put in another 8 hours for my business. I don't have the type of time that most have, where I can continually go to the rent office to complain about something.

SO if I'm calling almost EVERY week then that should let you know that the problem is not being handled. I mean come on, numerous work orders coming in for the SAME problem AND from the SAME apartment and you can't put 2 and 2 together???!!!!???

Not only has he forgotten that I DID come and speak to him in person but he's also LOST his mind to think that I'm going to STAY ON HIM TO DO HIS JOB!!!

My job is to work and make sure that I hand in my rent on time. Which I have done very well since the day I moved in. My job is not to stay on top of another person's responsibilities!!!

Even when I did attempt to call him about the dishwasher still being broken a week after our last encounter, he left me hold on, only to have his secretary tell more lies about someone coming to fix it.

That was the last straw!

WHY am I giving my hard earned money to a complex that is too lazy to fix what's broken and too insensitive to apologize for their mistakes!

That is why I have decided to move back in with my mother and younger siblings. Only until I finish getting my self out of debt and with me not giving up $600 a month to these jerks I can do it a lot faster!!!

Wish me luck!

~N~



The Wait is Over... & A Surprise For You...

(Hard at work!)

Wow!!!

There has been far too much time since my last post.

Truly sorry...

Starting a business plus working my day job has consumed so much of my time

and energy. Much more than I thought it would.

The business is going well, trying to get the online part of selling our baked goods under way

is a bit of a struggle but it will all work itself out!!

Ok, now for the surprise...

Who remembers the lovely Victorian that I have been eyeing?

Well last Sunday, Kim my other bestie, her lovely daughter & my god baby Jade and myself decided to do some house stalking and we of course had to make the 45 minute voyage out to see my precious.

I swear that house knows me and is waiting for me. As soon as we pulled up I instantly felt like I was home. With the windows tightly boarded up, and most broken, all we could do was admire the exterior. No matter, I was still content.

After having our eyeful, we decided that it was time to drop me back off at my boring apartment (so unhappy here, but that's for another blog)...

As we were strapping Baby Jade back into her car seat, a man suddenly whips his car behind ours preventing us from leaving!!!

Turns out it's the OWNER of the house!!!

He saw us from the building that he was renovating and actually thought that we were VANDALISING my precious Victorian!!!

I expressed to him how much I adored the house and could never do anything to harm it. Not only did he understand but after a little persuasion from my bestie, I SO LOVE HER, he allowed us to view the house's interior!!!

I ALMOST DIED!!!!!!!!

Of all days to forget my trusty camera:(

No matter, nothing not even my forgetfulness could ruin that moment.

The house was built in 1920, with 9 bedrooms and 1 bath. I can only guess that it was used as a boarder home back in those days. We've all seen it in those old black & white movies, a lot of tenants sharing 1 bath room. Those days when coffee was 5 cents and sugar was 35 cents a lb. (Yea we wish we could return to those prices!)

Not only does it need new windows but it also needs a heating/cooling system and MAJOR rewiring! The owner says he would be up for financing if I had $50,000 but who has that! Not only do I not have that but I barely have $100 in the bank.

But I'm not giving up hope, not only will I own that home, I will restore it and make it a real home once again. That's a promise I plan to keep to myself.

Oh and surprise # 2:

I searched my computer and I found the pictures of the homes interior back when it was still on the market, enjoy:

~N~

(Welcome Home)

(I so picture a swing, hydrangea bushes & iced tea)

(She just needs some TLC)

(So much land with so much potential)

(The living room, through the entry way is maybe the world's smallest kitchen)

(Another view from the living room)

(The fireplaces are coal burning so they cannot be used)

(No clue which room this is, there were so many)

(I can almost picture the decorations I would love to create here)

(Fireplace's are so welcoming, I wonder if this could be converted?)

(I would love to keep all of the old furniture pieces, they are beautiful)

(Another bedroom)

(Upstairs bedroom)

(A beautiful shot of her exterior)

(She is just screaming for a wrap around porch!!!)

New Logos...

For my baking business!!!

A friend and myself started a baking business this year called, K & T Sweet Eats.

Basically, we make everything from scratch and try to add new eats each week.

Though this is not my true calling, it is still a great passion of mine and I love baking so why not share and make a profit.

I recently hired a good friend of mine to design our official logos and he came up

with 2 great concepts so I decided to use both.

Here they are:

So us!!!!

I love this one too!!!!

 Our newest Sweet of the Week:

New York Style Cheesecake with Strawberry Sauce

Come Treat Yourself!!!



Like So Many Before Me...

 I have decided to do the impossible...

Reupholster a CHAIR!!!!!

Isn't She Lovely?

Well it's not too imposeible and the chair is FREE!

Yes, FREE!!!!!!

It all started early one morning on my way to work, as I was driving along I noticed a living room armchair beside the dumpster.

It was calling my name.

 But since I was already late for work, I continued right on. Thinking to myself that if it's meant for me then it would be there after my 8 hour shift.

So on I went.

Well it turns out that it was meant to be mine, as soon as I returned home I noticed that it was still there patiently waiting for me to bring it home.

I had to have a little help getting it into my house, so I enliseted my roommate's boyfriend.

We planted my new lovely in the living room right next to my workstation.

At this very moment I'm washing the cushion cover and I have to disinfect the outside before I will even start the project of taking her apart very carefully.

Hopefully tomorrow I can stop at Hobby lobby and look over some fabric and get an idea of how I want her to look.

Wish me luck, I have the feeling I'm going to need it...

~N~

Gooble, Gooble Day & My Birthday...

Yes it's my birthday!!!! AND yes, it's Thanksgiving too!!!!

This does not happen very often so I plan to enjoy myself to the fullest today!

Hoping that everyone has a very safe and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Here's the centerpiece I created for my Grandmother's table today:

Lovely fabric from Hobby Lobby.

A beautiful basket, also from Hobby Lobby.

Yes!!! They look great together.

Time to glue it all together.

A great assortment of artificials from... yes you guessed it, Hobby Lobby.

Foam is glued in, time to arrange the flowers.

The end result! She 's going to swoon over this!!!

Oh and I think I'm in love with Hobby Lobby, did you guess:))
~N~