Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 cup granualte sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. fine sea salt
1/4 tsp. ground cardamom
1/4 cup canola oil
4 tbsp. butter (melted)
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 large eggs
3/4 cup whole milk
1 cup frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 350〫and grease or line 12 muffin cups. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cardamom in large bowl. In another bowl, whisk the oil, butter, vanilla, eggs, milk together. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the liquid ingredients. Stir until combined. Fold in berries gently. Fill cups 2/3 full and sprinkle with sugar if desired. Bake in lower third of oven 20-25 minutes.

Blueberries are one of my favorite foods and last year Adrienne of Mince & Type (formerly of Adrienneats) featured me in a series on her blog about favorite foods where I shared a blueberry and yogurt snack.

The first one to croak was one of our largest roosters -- we had heard that the biggest can unfortunately die from heartattacks and that was apparently what happened. As for the other, we woke up the other morning to find our hoop house destroyed by the cows in the pasture. We watched the cows for weeks scratch up against it and sniff around for the chicken feed and they finally decided to destroy it in our last week. Unfortunately one of the chickens apparently got trampled on in the process. We only had a few days left of raising the chickens so we set up a temporary spot for them in our yard.

Then last Friday, Dustin loaded up the 24 birds and transported them to a processing facility in Marion, NC. It's a small operation that works with independent farmers and is USDA inspected and Animal Welfare Institute Approved. He had the opportunity to watch the process, which he did, and at the end of a long day brought home a cooler full of chicken for our family.

I'm so proud of my hub for committing himself to raising food for our family. We learned a lot in the process and feel so rewarded. Learning more about the food we eat and appreciating the sacrifice we ask of the animals we consume makes our meals so much more purposeful.

You can see more of this story from my previous posts..
Peeps  /  Teenage Chickens  /  Chicken News! 

I've been spending the past couple of days taking classes at Alt for Everyone. I've never had the opportunity to attend the conference in person so this online version has been perfect. Some of my favorite classes have been taught by this lady, oh and this one! 

I wish I could say that I've been making incredible progress in my showroom but it was being painted all week and I've been knee deep in dress orders. I'm adding a new store in Pittsburg (Glitter and Grit) and had several rush orders pop up so my fingers have been sewing away!

The hub and I are headed even further into western North Carolina, outside Asheville, this weekend to photograph an intimate wedding in the mountains that should be fun! So I hope you have a relaxing..or productive..or calm..or whatever you prefer weekend!

Sending lots of motherly love out there this weekend. It feels different this year (for obvious reasons) but it really has me pausing to reflect on my little miracle and the joy she brings me. They say motherhood changes you, and I believe that. I would go on, but it looks like nap time is over and I need to get back... :)

Taking my design aesthetic and transferring that into an interior space has been fun and challenging, especially with a shoestring budget and minimal square footage. But I've been picking the internet and antique stores over for the perfect pieces...

Chair  :  Side Table  :  Paper Flowers  :  Pendant Lantern  :  Rug  :  Crinkled Wheels

photos by dustin deal: avett brothers  // joe kwon (avett brothers) // tift merritt

Me and the wee one enjoy the sunshine and bluegrass..

(yes, those are strawberries!)