The Week's Reflections On A Sunday Morning

The fog is lifting and the sun is showing a lot of promise...promise for a beautiful Sunday, and a wonderful new week!

This has been a odd week at Annie's Goat Hill. So...I am going to do some ramblings here...a recap of sorts.

I was "off" by one day each day during the week. Somehow the holidays seem to do that to me. On Tuesday, of course I thought it was Monday. I worked on that thought all day on Tuesday. When the day started on Wednesday I thought it was Thursday. Ha ha! Working from home tends to do some of that too. Oh boy...but that is behind me (us) now.

We had problems with sick kids as well. There was a lot of humidity, rain off an on, no real closure to the dampness. It is dissapointing when you have a great kidding season, no loss of kids, and then you lose two just as they are near the weaning age. But, that is part of life on the farm. Had goat buyers on the farm yesterday, a good couple that come every year. They had the exact same scenario at their farm this week. Sort of knocks the air out of a person. It can be expected from time to time but it happens so quickly and helps us to remember how fragile these lives we care for really are.

I did accomplish a lot of soaping this week, but I need to do a LOT more! I am testing new recipes. Always a big job! Too soft, too hard, not conditioning enough, want good lather. Wave the magic wand, or add chemicals, and you might have it. But the magic wand is Mary, and Mary goes as natural as possible. I wouldn't have it any other way! When I placed my hands on my first bar of hand crafted soap many years ago I knew what I had, and I will continue to present it in that same fashion.

We had dinner with friends yesterday evening. Luise has Alzheimer's disease. Unfortunately she has really been progressing. She is becoming more quiet and her episodes of confusion seem to be growing worse. She has good weeks, but when the difficult times arrive they come in bunches. It is a very sad disease. I have learned a lot from being with her, and I feel blessed to be one that she trusts completely, but there is nothing very good that comes out of it. The good part is someone that I love that I can be a friend to, help whenever I can.

Last night the storms rolled through. When they announced the tornado warning I listening. Bob and I have been in one tornado, thankfully it was a small tornado that pulled us off of the road. But that was an experience enough! So, now I watch and listen. I do not freak out but I do not ignore. Anyhow, we lost power right at 9:00 PM. We tend to forget just how quiet it really is without the sounds of the refrigerator humming, or how dark it is without the lights on the barn, or in the church parking lot next door. It really is beautiful to only hear the sounds of the bull-frogs on the pond. But, yet, we are spoiled by electricity and want it back quickly. It arrived back after a couple of hours.

Today we are visiting with friends, probably going to work on the tractor project. And after we arrive back home for evening feeding, we are going to start the week off right, with rest.

Have a beautiful Sunday!

Fruit Salad and Goat Milk Soap

I throw in a strange title now and then...but then, what does fruit salad and goat milk soap have in common?

Perhaps color? Green, orange, yellow, peach, grape (violet), pink? Could be, very well could be.

Perhaps scent? Mango, peach, citrus...and perhaps a few other lovely fruits.

Okay, so far there are similarities...so let me tell you the real story. I headed to the soap shop today, knowing my goal was to make one large batch of soap. I looked through my essential oils, no, nothing appealed to me. Looked through my fragrance oils, no, nothing appealed to me.

Then the creative juices flowed, or were they fruit juices? If it involves me, it might be fruity...but wait...we are talking soap, not a tired old brain function. :)

I have a lot of small amounts of fragrances left in bottles. Enough to scent a couple of batches of lotion, but not enough to scent soap.

Then it hit me, just like a Hawaiin punch, summer fruit salad! The pen and ink came out, plans were made (I always record beforehand so it makes it to my spreadsheets later) and then the mixing began. Let me tell you, if it had been fruit salad, it would have been devoured.

Don't ask, because I am not sure what I am going to call it. I hope it continues to look and smell as it does today. If it does, someone may want to put it out of reach of the youngsters. They will love it...and perhaps the oldsters will too. I don't know any of those, do you?

Have a good evening! I am tired and heading to a hot bath with a bar of soap that I am testing. New recipe. So far soap #1 does not pass the test, a little soft. But it does really condition the skin. Soft with no lotion needed. It may just become a "speciality" soap...just for extra skin care purposes.

Blogging

The original pledge to myself was to never miss a day of blogging. Hmmm...I have broken my own pledge. 10 lashes with a wet noodle...not!

I remember reading a soaper friend's blog one day. She had not blogged for a week, and then she wrote (to the effect of), "My mother said to get busy making soap. She wants to see soap progress, not blog progress." Sorry for dropping the soaper's name, I have a number of wonderful soaper friends and the quote sticks in my mind, but not the name that goes with it!

Recently I have made great efforts to build the soap and lotion stock up. It is a must! As my best friend said to me, "You need to fill that warehouse!" Yes, sir!

Fill...fill...and fill...but I do miss writing.

All good things in their own time...patience.

A Beautiful "Me" Day

I love many things in life. I love my husband, my friends, my family, and my animals. If you notice, I did not mention any material things. There are other things that I love too, but they pale in comparison.

But sometimes, despite the need that we have for people, we also have a need to be alone. Today was one of those days.

Upon mutual agreement in our household, today I did what I love most, and the dear husband did what he loves most. I went to the soap shop, and he gave himself a good rest.

The curing racks are not so bare recently. I have been a hard working lady! I made a double batch of lavender peppermint goat milk soap today (not shown). Making the small single batches is no longer adequate. I love making soap in smaller batches. I feel like I have more control over the quality. So, instead of making larger batches, I still make smaller ones, just several at once.

I also received my new bottle and jar labels this week. I will be phasing out the kraft label look on the bottles. I love the kraft brown paper look, it fits into the scheme of everything (basics from the farm), however, they sure do not stick well. And as you know, WE NEED STICK! So, I have moved on to clear labels (below, and I apologize for the blur). Why are cameras stubborn just when you don't need for them to be? :)

Memorial Day Weekend

I hope you are having a beautiful Memorial Day weekend.

I had actually forgotten, Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day. Memorial Day is the day to remember those that have lost their lives in the line of service for our country. But it has grown into so many things through the years. The picnic or cookout to celebrate the beginning of summer, the opening of the swimming pools (especially in the northern midwest states), the big race of the year (when I lived in Indianapolis), and a day to remember our loved ones that have passed on.

When I was a child we would visit the grandparents on Memorial Day weekend. I remember the poppy sales (artificial poppies to pin on), and I just read that originally they were made by disabled veterans.

It is a quiet weekend here. I have been mowing and digging in dirt. The girls are happy grazing. Amazing how much some of the babies have grown. Just like human children, you do not notice their growth so much when you see them every day. But take a picture, or put them next to a younger kid, and wow, you see it!

I have been a little lost for words lately, writer's cramp? It happens!

Rose Garden Therapy

I had forgotten how therapeutic digging in dirt can be...

This evening we put 12 small rose bushes in the ground.

When we were first married we had a large rose garden. Our favorites were the Sterling Silver, Tropicana, and any red or yellow variety.

Tonight it felt good to be on my knees, pushing the cool soil back into its place. It felt good to get dirty (not that I don't as a goat farmer). It was like taking all of the cares in the world and hanging them on a hook, good-bye worldly thoughts, hello to God's earth. And it felt good to stand back and have high hopes for a beautiful rose garden.

And if all goes well, I will be sharing beautiful photos of blooming roses in the future with you. And if the spot proves to be successful, more rose bushes will be added. We can call it the Annie's Goat Hill Rose Farm. Soap and goats and roses.

Have a lovely evening!

The "real" baby rose bush...the photo above is a borrowed one:

Goat Milk Soap Making In The Shop Today

Power outages are definitely challenges to any of us, and it is truly a challenge to me on the farm.

Yesterday evening the power went out right before I brought the girls into the barn. I waited 20 minutes and then...I hand milked the 9 girls. Needless to say, my carpel tunnel syndrome is doing double duty today. But I am surviving. I really do enjoy milking, and wish I could do it by hand each and every day.

I was determined to make oodles of goat milk soap today, and I got the job done (a little later). Right before I started the 3rd batch the power went out again. So, the husband and I headed to town to get a much needed garden rake and a few flowers. I always get the red, purple and white petunias for the front porch.

I was able to resume soap making later in the afternoon.

I made a soap today that smells wonderful, grassy, with a touch of juniper berry. I love it. So far, so good!

I am running behind again...scooting down to the barn. Oh, by the way, we ran into the power truck down the road on our return home, my husband had to tease them, "Are we going to lose power tomorrow too?" Nope...the switch has been repaired.

Have a good evening!

Goats and Hay

Bonnie, my largest and oldest alpine says, "Mom, put that thing away, it is time to feeeed ussss!"

The alfalfa is receiving its first cutting in our area this week. Boy, does it look nice. I will receive my new bales some time around Thursday or Friday.

The Mennonite man that we purchase our hay from has been very apologetic because the 16 bales that he had remaining this week was not the usual alfalfa rich mix that I normally purchase from him. He did well, though. When I asked him last fall if he could supply me all winter, he answered, "I believe so." He did...wow...right on the nose.

My goats are spoiled. I supplement them with good hay and a once a day grain (the girls on the milk stand are grained twice a day). Throw the "bad" hay to them and they instantly come to the fence hollering for something else.

They have been a pushy and picky crew this week, not real settled. Not at all. Soon girls and boys, soon, remember, patience is a virtue! Actually, most of the bucks do not care. It is the does creating the scene!

I love this photo of Bonnie, taken a few moments ago as well. But darn, we didn't get the chin in the photo. She is a big, big gal!

On to feeding now...busy on the farm today!

Ocean Breeze Goat Milk Soap Passed The Test

When I create a new soap I always save the small sliver from the end of the batch as a test soap. Yes, I am blessed. I get to try all kinds of soaps. For the tried and true soaps I leave the end pieces for customer samples.

I am happy to announce that the Ocean Breeze goat milk soap passed the test yesterday!

It smells wonderful, best described as fresh!

What inspired me was the dream of a clear ocean, beautiful blue green color, white sand, gently rolling waters, along with a cool breeze. I have not gone on a vacation in years, but I am one to get up before anyone else and take a beach stroll. Absolutely heaven. Back to the soap...does the soap smell like the ocean? No! It can also be described as a scent close to clean cotton. Fresh!

The soap lathers well and has some nice glycerin qualities.

Ocean Breeze will be moved to the website tomorrow.

I do not need to tell you this, but I appreciate and enjoy it, half of the first batch is on reserve for Alix at Casa Hice. She scooped the bars up as soon as she learned that they had been cut. She has an Annie's Goat Hill Goat Milk Soap addiction. There is no cure.

There will be more Ocean Breeze soap in the soap pot in the near future, it is a keeper!

Have a good evening!

Was It The Blue?

As I was doing dishes early this morning I heard a bird hit the window right in front of me. I am a softie for animals and nature, so I immediately wondered if the bird was okay.

I looked up from a window a moment later and much to my surprise, because I had not seen one for years, was a beautiful indigo bunting perched on the picnic table. He appeared to be admiring the 12 packages of roses that we had purchased (at a deep discount) yesterday!

I am even giggling at myself over this one, but do you think he was looking at the blue? Do you think he first thought he saw a flock of indigo buntings on the table?

I remember the first time I saw an indigo bunting. It was the bird that got me interested in novice bird watching, 10th grade biology. We had walked into the field behind our school, and then into a small wooded area. There he was, a beautiful indigo bunting perched high up in the tree. He was beautiful. The colors were striking.

Here is a little information on the indigo bunting, along with a photo that I borrowed (not a photo taken through a rain streaked window, ha):

• A brilliantly blue bird of old fields and roadsides, the Indigo Bunting prefers abandoned land to urban areas, intensely farmed areas, or deep forests. The Indigo Bunting migrates at night, using the stars for guidance. It learns its orientation to the night sky from its experience as a young bird observing the stars.


• The sequences of notes in Indigo Bunting songs are unique to local neighborhoods. Males a few hundred meters apart generally have different songs. Males on neighboring territories often have the same or nearly identical songs

Borrowed info from : http://www.allaboutbirds.com/

Rose Goat Milk Soap Wanted Today

I worked in the soap shop today until a few minutes ago. Working with soap makes for some of my most fulfilling moments in life.

To the left is rose scented goat milk soap, and to the right is the plumeria that I always carry. Both contain a touch of complexion clay. The colors are very nice, they do fade somewhat while curing, which I like. The rose soap will be ready for sale in 4 weeks. Plumeria can be viewed in the soap store on my site.

I have received a lot of requests for floral fragranced soaps recently. I think it is the spring bug!

I had a lovely phone conversation with a potential customer today from New Hampshire. She had been reading the blog and stated that she saw that I studied soap making books (years back) that I had borrowed from the Indianapolis Public Library system. It is a small world, the friendly woman on the phone was also from Indianapolis! And, she asked for rose scented goat milk soap, the second request that I had received today. I told her, "Would you believe I have a fresh batch in the mold right in front of me?" I enjoyed our conversation tremendously!

There is a rose blend soap in the discount section on the website currently. The scent definitely has lingering rose base to it. That particular soap also contains the complexion clay.

Have a wonderful Friday!

Plumeria from the website:

Lost Signal (Found Now)

We had some nifty storms last night as the sun set. Leaves and tiny branches are scattered about.

I counted the goslings this morning, all 6 are still with mom and pop, including the 7th that we did not count a few days ago. Last night I thought about the goose family, and what did I see when I looked? They seemed to be floating along on the pond. I suppose the wind really wasn't as bad on the water and downhill.

We dealt with losing Internet signal a few times (hence the photo of the mighty blue modem), along with some dust. You can look at it. I have some dust in the general area, tee hee. It was wonderful to see all 4 of the steady green lights back on!

I used my phone for certain services, company email for one. I really need to sit down with it and determine just what I can and cannot do. Plan A in case of a real power outage.

Other than the glitch with the equipment, no power outage (just flickering), I have been working on the newsletter and answering email. We ran some chores this morning...boy does that get expensive these days!

If you wish to receive the email, the newsletter sign up button is located near the bottom of my site's index page. The newsletter is published once a month, and possibly twice a month in the future. I try to keep it short.

Did you know that today's Internet readers are considered scanners? Many readers do not want to read long text. Make it short, concise, and most people are happier. It is a fast paced world!

Take care...have a good Thursday evening!

Rosemary Mint Goat Milk Soap Spotlight

Today I am spotlighting my rosemary mint goat milk soap.

Rosemary is not for everyone. If you love it, you normally seek it! I am one that likes it, especially in the summer months. If you have never had a chance to experience the scent of rosemary essential oil, I can describe it as fresh, strong, pine like, yet sweet.

Aromatherapists report that rosemary essential oil is helpful for re-energizing (due to mental fatigue or depression). Rosemary essential oil is used in soap products to help remove excess oil secretions in the hair, and assists with skin blemishes and dandruff. It also has some antibacterial properties.

This soap contains a touch of peppermint, along with finely ground rosemary leaves. Peppermint is said to have some energizing benefits as well.

I want to remind everyone, when considering the use of essential oils (especially in their natural oil state) always pay attention to your allergies or special health concerns (such as pregnancy, epilepsy, etc..). Be safe and be aware. There are a lot of good sites on the Internet that explain the precautions, such as Aromatherapy.Suite101.com .

Have a good evening!

Sunday's Tractor Project-Sandblasting Begins

The tractor project continued yesterday. I always have a good time with our friends, learning about tractor parts, listening to the guys find more problems, and better yet, find solutions. They love what they are doing! I loved hearing the tractor run.

Sunday was the day to begin removing parts from the old gal that need repainted. My husband, pictured above, finally got to use his new sand blaster. He donned a mask, then a hood, long suede gloves (his welder's gloves) and went to town sand blasting.

Pictured below is the "before photo" of the tractor's pull hitch (in an old water trough converted to a sand blaster tub) before it was sand blasted. The next photo is the hitch looking nearly new. Amazing. The guys then put the metal frame of the tractor seat in the trough. It came out beautifully clean, ready for paint too. The cushion part of the seat itself is on order. Expensive!

The '56 Massey Harris model 50 is going to be really spiffied up!

Happy Mother's Day

Mother's Day holds fond memories in my heart.

One of the memories that brings a smile to my face is the visual of my brother sneaking off to a shopping area on his bicycle each Mother's Day. He would arrive back balancing baskets or trays filled with petunias.

I can feel the warm May sunshine as I reflect on my mother happily planting her new petunias in her window boxes. She definitely would not work outside in cool weather. But she also never liked to close the windows to her house, something that I believe I acquired from her. The love for fresh air, the openness. Thank you, mother, for your devotion, for being my best friend.

The other special lady in my life was my grandmother. She was something else. She spoke her mind. There was no shy bone in her body! And she still was not very quiet about her appreciation for getting kisses from the "nice young man (men)," even at 80-something years old. I loved her stories. And I also loved her sayings, such as, "You ornery wart!," with her Southeast Missouri draw. She inspired me with her gardening, canning, cooking and crafts (sewing). Grandma lives in my heart very strongly. Grandma was a good lady who left some wonderful memories. I hope she knows that.

I wish a Happy Mother's Day to you, and to your mothers as well!

Hold Onto Your Hat Saturday

Ms. Akira has funky ears...and they are really funny in today's wind! It is a definitely a hold onto your hat folks type of day!

Akira is a doeling born to Bonnie, an alpine, and Emery, a nubian buck, last season. She is a large girl, and one that loves to chatter. I truly appreciate her. I am hoping for a nice sturdy girl on the milk stand someday from Ms. Akira.

I did not sleep very well last night, and some time during the night I heard little peeping noises. I would hear one little peeper, then silence, 20-30 minutes later I would hear another. I thought, "The goslings are hatching." Sure enough, there are 6 little fuzzy geese following mom and dad around today. I am always relieved when the eggs hatch, no smashing, no turtles bothering the eggs. The pair of geese come back and visit each spring. We love to see them return, and are sad when the family leaves.

I cannot get very close to the family today, so I tried a photo from across the pond. The babies look like specks, but they are scattered behind and below their proud and watchful parents on the ground.

Goat Milk Soap Beginnings

Tonight I worked on packaging customer orders. It was hard to leave the shop. Yes, I take my time in the shop. I look at the soap, pick bars up from the curing rack, hold the end pieces from the batches in my hand, smell them, and I will admit, admire them as well. I try my own soaps out at the 2 week mark. I truly feel blessed when I carry that sliver out for trial.

Friends have recently asked me how I decided to make soap, and why goat milk soap?

This beautiful photo of a basket of handcrafted soap was taken in 2003. My soap company was named Grassypond Farms. I lived in a house on 42 acres, with a 2 acre pond, 3 horses, boxer dogs, 52 chickens, no goats, in an area called Grassy, MO. I had a website at that time, no storefront. I sold a lot of soap to locals, antique stores, florists and craft malls. The soap did not contain goat milk.

I am going to push the fast forward button to quickly arrive at today, and I promise to tell more stories later. You might be stiffling a yawn, or even holding your eyes open with tooth picks, if I tell you everything in one blog post!

I have loved soap since my younger days, about 8 years old is when I first crossed paths with a bar of handcrafted soap. In fact, on a school field trip I bought an old fashioned soap ball. It was primitive, and I was in love. Fast forward through the youngster years, I collected soap. Yep, a shoebox of soap in my bedroom! Fast forward through the young adult years, every book I could possibly borrow from the Indianapolis Public Library system on soap making, perfumery, aromatherapy, was read thoroughly by me. Fast forward to 2003. I had a wonderful basement, about 1400 square feet, and suddenly realized that I had the space and the time to begin my soap making endeavor. I taught myself the in's and out's of crafting cold processed soap (the process that I use, more on that later), via. the internet and all of the reading that I had done. The stories I will be telling about the soap molds and batches of soap that hit the trash can, oh boy...it was a trial for a while. Thank goodness I had a husband that wanted to help make it all come together. He was very creative with the building of the molds.

It was not until 2008 (late bloomer in the thinking aisle on this one) when I discovered the wonderful benefits of including fresh, rich goat milk in my soap. Wow...wow..and wow!!!

I am hooked, addicted, and all about fresh goat milk soap from the farm.

That is the end of my story for tonight. I will continue this later.

Ask questions...I love them!

Happy Friday!

Goat Milk Soap Today

Today I cut several batches of soap that I made yesterday.

This batch of goat milk soap is scented with a combination of pineapple, tangerine and pink grapefruit. I will announce the name of the soap and other information closer to the curing date (approximately 4 weeks from today). In case you cannot see the colors, they are pale pink and yellow. Very pretty, and smells luscious!

I worked in the shop and office afterwards. With pad of paper and pen in hand, updated the list of things to-do. I will be organizing that into a top priority, medium priority, and wish list. It has to be done now and then. We can definitely lose site of the big picture when we do not organize our thoughts!

Have a good afternoon!

The Husband's Rock

We have a lot of spring clean up to do around our place. Included in those clean up plans are the moving of some of the goats to new locations, such as this one. Goats are great for cleaning up woody and weedy areas. Set a handful free, and they can chomp it down in no time!

Each time my husband mowed the area where he is standing in the photo he would hit a rock. He tried to cover the rocks up with top soil. Nothing seemed to work.

He then told me that he was going to dig the rocks up. He did. There were some large ones! In fact, I think he said seven in total. This particular one is "his boulder."

What you cannot see is the creek that runs along the property line. All of the rocks were moved, placed along the creek bed, using the tractor and bucket. The bucks are going to love their new area, with a creek, and many large rocks to play on.

The dear husband reads the blog from time to time. He asked me last night, "Didn't you post about my big rock?" Here it is...and yes, he worked hard, and he deserves the credit!

The House Is Too Quiet

The house is too quiet. The last of the kids graduated this afternoon. They may be goat kids, but we do call it graduation day.

We really do try to not have house kids, but somehow a few end up visiting for a short while for various reasons. When we get down to the last couple of kids, they seem to remain up at the house with us for a bit longer than their forerunners did.

And now it is like sending a 5 year old off to kindergarten. The house is quiet. The kids are still on bottles (they get our support, though less than before), yet they are on their own, with freedom that is good for them.

Tonight the house is quiet. And it will be for a very long time. Silly as it may be...graduation day.

Sunday's Tractor Project-She Is Running!

This past Sunday we visited our good friends. It was a tractor restoration day. This is Bob (our wonderful friend, not my husband Bob) pulling back off of the street, returning to the garage.

This is the newest tractor project. She is a dandy! I love this one!

The guys did not know how soon she would be running, but wouldn't you know she is putting right along already! So far they have adjusted the hydraulics and the carburetor, and Bob has given her new tires. Great progress has been made.

This girl is going to take a lot of work, but I think the more work they need, the more interesting they get!

Ever Have One Of Those Days?

Do you ever have one of those days where you feel like you are out of sync?

See the doe in the photo with her tongue sticking out? Yes, she was bellowing at me, "Maaaaa...you are feeding kind of late, and I am growing impa-a-a-a-tient!"

Yes, it was one of those kinds of days.

There are two very significant things about me. I work hard, I am honest, and I have a good sense of humor. Wait, those are three things that I just let out of the bag!

Because I work hard, I get into a lot of funny predicaments, and because I have a sense of humor, I can laugh at it all (eventually), and many times during.

When I start my day with breakfast (peanut butter on 2 pieces of whole wheat bread every morning, with black coffee, followed with a bottle of water) and I drop my butter knife 3 times on the table, bang, pick it up, bang (you get the picture), then proceed to wad up my napkin and place it in my cup of coffee...somehow I begin to wonder if my day is in trouble. Yes ma'am (or sir) IN TROUBLE!

When you try to delete pictures from your camera, but a few moments later realize that you have your phone in your hand, you are IN TROUBLE.

It was one of those days, thank heavens this out of sync feeling is not an every day thing, and now the day is almost over. Life is a grand thing...and I feel there is a reason for everything. Perhaps this sort of disorder is to make us laugh? Perhaps!

Now I need to fumble through the dozen Post-It-Notes that I have scattered across my desktop, all from today, good random thoughts, that somehow I just could not seem to organize into anything that gelled.

I had a father in the military, I hear the evening call, "Day is done...gone the sun...!"

Have a good evening...and stay in sync, believe me, it helps!

Time For Yourself

As I cut the loaves of soap that I made yesterday into bars this morning my thoughts were on writing, sharing my thoughts with friends.

I am in the middle of making bottles, heating milk, but feeling compelled to "chat" first.

This is a busy time in many of our lives, and the "experts" say we will get even busier unless we deliberately make time for ourselves.

Some of us are older, some younger. But I personally remember a house with one phone. A phone that hung on the kitchen wall. And it had a dial, not buttons to push! That phone did not fit in a pocket, nor did anyone expect that phone to be answered every hour of the day, each day of the week. Nor did that phone have voice mail.

I personally love the connections that we have during this period of time, but sometimes we need to be disconnected. I really am not into catchy phrases, I pretty much march to my own drumbeat. One phrase that I truly did not understand was "me time." What???? It sounded very self-centered to me. Well...now that I understand the phrase more I will attest full-hearted that we all need me time! Me time is time without the pulling of committments, down time without the phone, without the computer, time to just do the things that makes our heart smile.

Yesterday, for me, it was making soap and mowing the grass. I felt like a teenager! Those are wonderful days!

Do not get me wrong, I love my friends, I love the connections, and there are too many people to count that I have to hear from every day (in one shape of connection or another). I do not feel complete without the connection of those people, BUT, and that is a huge but, we all need time without a tug or a pull. That is me time, and we do all need it for our own mental health. And remember yourself as newer technology continues to slide your way. You can say no. You can shut it off from time to time. I believe effectiveness stems from a balance in life. Try to be all, do all, and you lose yourself as the human being with a lot of worth you are!

The soaps that I cut this morning (above) are: spa salt bar (citrus blend), summer melon (muskmelon green and white), and a stress relief type of scent (citrus, light patchouli and others) with a slight violet marble. More on the scents once cured!

Thinking of Summer Goat Milk Soap

On this bright and sunny spring day I am doing what I rank highly up there as one of the loves in my life, working in the soap shop!

The pictured goat milk soap will be called Summer Melon. Yes, I have summer on the brain. Thoughts of muskmelon and cantaloupe, beautiful sunshine, and relaxing outdoor gatherings!

I also crafted spa salt goat milk soap today. After cutting the loaf into bars I will take some pics and tell you about the fragrance. I recently purchased a sea salt bar that I really liked, except that the lather left a lot of brown in the tub. My thoughts were it might be better than ever with rich goat milk soap added. :)

Well, that is enough of a break for me. Hope your Saturday is turning into something beautiful too! I plan to mow, make soap, and mow again. Another one of my favorite things.

I Thank You

I have had a few busy days. Not nearly enough time to write, but always enough time to say thank you.

Being a business person is not always about making money, in my opinion, it is about people. I want to make the best soap that I can possibly make, and I want you to enjoy the product. But, somewhere inside of me, I also want to make a difference in your day with a touch of encouragement, or a nice scent, or just by saying hello.

I thank you for being here. People in life is what it is all about!

I received a knock to the shop door a bit ago as I was taking photos, a local woman that was dropping off religious phamplets...the photo blurred as the door knock came. But, it was a nice visit after all, because I asked her in. And she walked away with a smile and a small bar of lavender goat milk soap! See what I mean...it is all about people. Thank you!!!