Wow, that was some storm this morning! I thought we would loose electric but the lights just flickered some. We've had more rain the pass couple of weeks than all winter and spring.  Maybe it's because I figured out how to program the sprinkler system.
I have decided to make a cream and lotion of my own. I've researched and played around with some oils and such. I have a wonderful young lady thats willing to critique my products. So that will be nice. Maybe I'll do that this weekend.
I'm also trying to get all my internet sites together; website meta tags, linking from one site to another, trying to figure out how to get more people to come to my sites. Very confusing when you are just starting out!

Big Boy Toys

      I can't believe it's been over 6 months that I last posted! Time flies by so fast, it's sad! I've been overly busy, I guess you could say. Summer's here and  with it comes the grass cutting, gardening, weeding and cleaning. It just never stops! Don't get me wrong, I love the nice weather, even the heat and humidity, but there's so much to do outside during the summer months.
      We weren't going to plant a garden upstate this year, but there was a bag of potatoe seed calling out to me and so I took it home. We planted them with the new gadgets we got for the tractor. Very easy! I didn't like the 'big boy toys' but this tractor is really useful. We planted a 50 lb bag of potatoe seed in no time. If I were to to plant them by hand; till the dirt, remove the rocks, cut the potatoes, dig holes and cover them up, it would have taken me half the summer! We attached the gadget and ride through the garden and that's that! One Saturday afternoon is all it took. I highly recommend anyone who has more than an acre or two get a tractor with it's gadgets.
      We didn't put a fence around the garden in thinking that the deer don't like potatoe greens but we were wrong, as soon as they started to sprout the deer started to nibble on them. So we had to put up a fence. And again, with the help of the tractor, we put up the posts, one by one pushing them into the ground with the tractor bucket, easy peasy!
      I planted my tomato, eggplant, pepper, beans, zuccini and cucumber plants down state this year. As an added suprise, I planted pumpkin, melons and luffa. The melons didn't sprout, I don't know why, but the luffa and pumpkins are growing nicely.
      All this has taken time away from making soap and the other bath products I wanted to add to my shops. I would like to make bath fizzies, bath salts, lip balms and possibly get into some creams or lotions. It's all a matter of time though.

It's been a while since I wrote. I was busy getting ready for the holidays. We had holiday lunches and dinners to go to, gifts to give to all our business associates and freinds. Then there was our Christmas gifts, which if you ask me now I have no idea what we got the kids!
We then decided to go to Greece. We haven't been there since 2006, about 6 months before Michael was diagnosed. We don't know how well he'll be next year so it was a 'now or never' trip. Michael spent a lot of time with his brothers and sister, neices, nephews and cousins. We were there for 2 weeks which went by really fast, I wish we had a few more days but then again there's never enough time. It's truely amazing looking at the neices and nephews. My husband and his 2 brothers and sister have 10 children ages 4- 30, 2 are married, 1 has a child and the other is expecting in May. I remember them as children and as I sat watching them either taking care of their children or husbands and wives, I have to wonder where those years went to. We live our lives day after day not really thinking about whats going on around us.
I showed my sisters-in-law how to crochet simple fingerless gloves. By the end of the 2 weeks, each house had either crochet hooks or knitting needles out with something on them. I helped my brother-in-law make castile soap. That was very interesting! I had to change ounces and pounds to kilos and grams then my brother-in-law took it one step further and changed everything to percentages. Of course I made a mistake and miscalculated the lye ending up with much less and the soap ending up not saponifying. Once I realized what the problem was, we added more lye water and mixed it in. It came to trace very quickly and we put it in the molds. We'll see how it turns out in about 4 weeks.
We're home now and I'm going through all the mail and things. I had to make a batch of soap for my best customer so that it cures in time for her. I thought instead of making her a batch of 1 scent I would make a batch and scent it with different scents that she likes. I made  lemongrass, lavender and rose. I hope she likes them.
I've opened my Etsy shop again and had a few sales which was nice. I still have to figure out how to take nice pictures. All my pictures turn out dark or blueish. All I need is some time.
Thats about all for now. TTYS :)

Happy Thanksgiving

We had our first Holiday Craft Fair this past Sunday. I was hoping to do better but I guess everythings a learning experience. I should have made more gift packs and wrapped them with bows. I didn't want to offend anyone so I left everything neutral. In general though I didn't see a lot of customers buying things. Like one vendor said, " They were lookers not buyers."

Well, now I'm looking on to our next craft fair on Dec. 12. That will be the last one for 2011. I haven't lined anything up for 2012 yet. As soon as I know I will post it so all of you know, too.

I have to update my website and my blog here as well. I don't like the way the layout is with the pictures here. Maybe tomorrow while we're waiting for the turkey to cook I'll take some time out to tie up some loose ends.

Wishing everyone has a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving.

Pictures

I love taking pictures. My family bought me a nice camera and I take it almost everywhere I go. I love taking nature shots. I have so accumulated so many pictures I decided to share them with you. At the left is some of my work. I will be adding them to my web site once I price them. I have some picture that I had enlarged and matted that are really  nice. I hope you like them also.

Getting ready for the holidays

We've been very busy getting ready for the holidays. We will be at the Winter Wonderland Arts and Craft Fair at the Smithtown Sheraton on Nov. 20 and we've been making holiday soaps and getting ideas for gift baskets and such. We're really excited! Along with that, I've also been researching handmade lotions. I'm trying to find the perfect lotion. I tried one with grapeseed oil, that was a little greasy. Next I tried one with avocado oil, that one was nice. No greasiness and it left my hands soft. I will be ordering babasu oil to try that one also. I don't think I will have enough time to perfect it and send it away for testing before the holidays, but I'll try.

New soap scents are, Autumn Wreath, Hot Cocoa, Pumkalicious, Apples and Spice. Those are cured and ready. I have ordered Blueberry Muffin, Berry Christmas, Grape Soda and Raspberry Blitz. I'm going to try to make them as soon as possible so they're ready for Nov. 20th.

Well back to work!

Today is Wed. I have so much to do! We have been cleaning out the trees, getting rid of dead branches, trimming them so that some sun can get in. We have such a problem with mold and moss. Grass refuses to grow here. Such a shame, I would love to have a beautiful green backyard! The trees are also nice, but they have grown out of control. Luckily the goats have taken care of all the leaves. The only thing left when they're done is bare branches. But the branches need cutting and then piling up for the wood stove this winter.
Anyway, we still have more cutting to do, I have more paperwork than I can even imagine, we have a fair coming up on Sunday and our soaps aren't even trimmed yet! I will be showing all our fall scents; Apple Spice, Pumpkin Crunch, Hot Cocoa and making lotions also. Which reminds me I must also update my website! I think I have to start working 24 hours, sleep 4, work 24, sleep 4.......

Buy the way, we will be at the Bethel Fall Harvest Festival in Bethel, NY, the actual site of Woodstock, this Sunday 10/9/11 from 11AM - 4PM. I heard the weather will be great. Looking forward to seeing everyone!