Sand will always be a grind. Sand makes glass, which make bottles. You will need a good deal of them for embalming. So grind grind grind that sand. You can get a bit of iron from the swamp, some rocks from all over the place, and there is some marble at the Witches Hill, but don't bother. Eventually, you will want to get all of your iron, rocks, marble and coal from north of the swamp. There is a whole camp there where you can sleep and build. Set up a few chests and two furnaces there as well to smelt everything on the spot! Definitely bring a lot of coal back with you for your home needs - firewood is a chore to grind. For wood - gather it from around your house or directly below the vertical road next to your house.