Slower Lower Deleware

Tomorrow I get to go visit a great friend of mine in Delaware for a few days. I am hoping that the weather is good and that we get to have a bunch of fun. I am sure we will do the regular things- go to the outlets and the casino, but I also hope to get my first golf lesson in, take a ferry trip, see the boardwalk, and generally just enjoy each others company. S and I have been getting to be closer and closer friends over the years and we don't get to see each other much. It is hard with our life and craft schedules plus the distance between where we live. I wanted to stay longer but my obligations keep me from being able to, so that just means I will have to visit again soon.

I went over the soap making schedule yesterday and am very excited. I expect about 15 more days and I will be done till the fall.

Friday was a heartbreak day for me, it was the day I kept getting letters from craft shows not accepting me. I was declined from three. One because there were already too many soapmakers, and the other two just sent me form letters telling me they had too many people apply and not enough spaces. So I set out hunting for more shows and sent out an application to one, and have another to be sent out soon. There is a fourth I am waiting to hear from, and according to their application I should have heard by now. So now I have to bug them and also take a chance on double booking myself because IO have another show that same weekend with the application due. It just spins my head around to keep all this information straight.

I got a letter for Jury Duty.. I sent them a letter back, hope they let me out of it. It would be right in the middle of Mayfair...what a PITA that would be.

Why was I half naked at 2 am?? Not why you may think...

So last night around 9 pm I was exhausted. I had made 200 bars of soap that morning, did lots of research into health insurance and retirement plans for my dad (always such a fun thing to research), mailed out an order, went to the grocery store, labeled lotion bars, made up four gift baskets, did laundry, and started my taxes. I was mentally tired. So I went to bed. First I tried to watch some TV and realized that RuPaul's Drag Race was more interesting than this season's American Idol. So much for brain numbing entertainment.. on to Discovery channel.. boring... Animal Planet was about a bear attack, and NatGeo was telling and showing me about a child in (I think) China with a huge facial deformity (too depressing). So I tried the PBS channel. Not riveting entertainment, but not depressing.. so I set the TV to turn off in 30 minutes and tried to relax..

30 minutes later the TV turned off and I was wide awake. I tried counting backwards, forwards, and even reciting my abc's. Now it is 10, and I get up and check my email, bounce into Ravelry, and play a few games of cards. Back to bed...There I play solitaire on my cell phone and finally decide that something needs to be done. So I take a sleeping aid. It is 11 pm, I am expecting to be awake around 7am, with a huge void of time, no bathroom breaks, and no real dreams to remember either.

Instead I am yanked out of this sound sleep at 2 am by the cat.. who has decided to puke..on the bed..and more decidedly ON ME!! WTF???

I spring up, toss the cat onto the floor and take off my PJ top cuz it is pretty gross at this point. I take the comforter off the bed and put it in the corner of the room to be looked at better in the morning- can I wash it or does it need to be dry cleaned? The top sheet goes into the laundry basket, and upon inspection the bottom sheet is clean...

So I wander to the hallway closet for some new blankets. Have I mentioned we are remodeling our bathroom? Well, the pile of crap from the bathroom makes it almost impossible for me to open the closet door. I can open it enough to pull out two light blankets but not the extra comforter. I am still in a sleeping pill induced fog, and as I look back, I am amazed I just didn't get up and sleep the rest of the night in the spare bedroom, would have been a better choice...

Back to the bedroom with the two blankets. Put on a new PJ top- long sleeved because now I am cold, and flannel PJ bottoms. Curl up and go back to sleep..

Only to be awoken at 5 am by the same cat, on the same bed..this time disaster was averted due to a quick swipe of my feet sending her to the floor to make a mess.

So much for my sound sleep. And if you were driving around Emmaus at 2 am and saw some woman stumbling around her house without a shirt on.. well that may have been me..I realized this morning that some of the blinds were open...great....

Spring is springing!!

This weekend I started to plant my garden. Peas, Fava Beans, and Radishes were sown directly into the garden. Then it rained like crazy for two days.. hope those little seeds didn't float away...

But I also started seeds indoors so I can transplant seedlings outside. Last time I tried this, I left the window open and they died, this year I have them in egg cartons (the clear plastic kind) so they are like little hot houses. Keeping the cats away from the tender shoots and keeping them nice and warm in the sun room.

Not kidding.. I already have shoots! Purple pole beans and the kohlrabi have already started.. I seriously see green and split seeds. It is soooo cool. This is my favorite time because I like to check on the seedlings every day and be amazed by how much they grow and how fast they grow. I gave them a little spray of water, closed the lids, and will check on them again tomorrow.

My bet is the bush beans are next, with the peppers and tomatoes being almost last... those luffa will end up being the last things to sprout, I just know it!

Now I am better...

I came back with one heck of an ear ache. I thought it was from the flights, or the ear buds on the I-Pod, or general allergies. However, Tuesday night I gave a presentation about craft show metrics (or how to tell if you should go back to a craft show or not) and when I got home I thought my face was going to explode. The pain was unreal. My ears and my sinuses felt like they were going to burst. I took a double dose of NyQuil and covered my face and ears with a heating pad. And a few hours later I woke up, flat on my back, still with the heating pad over my face. Good thing it turns off on its own!

The rest of the week has been a series of yucky days. Ear aches on and off, post nasal drip, sore throat, general fatigue, and sinus pressure have been the typical symptoms. No fever than I have been able to detect. And I have been trying to let it run its course. Lots of tea with honey, rest, and sleep for me. No real medications except something before bed to help me get through the night without waking myself up with a dry cough. Just let nature do what it does and my body will find its balance.

Today I am feeling better and already have started my first batch of soap. Need to catch up on what I missed last week. I think I only have about 3000 more bars of soap to make. Then what I have should last me a good portion of the year. I have lots of show applications in that I am waiting on. I hope to hear from them soon so I can start some real planning of my schedule.

I also have been re-inspired. Years ago I would try and highlight an ingredient that I use or that is used in the bigger soap industry once a week. I really got bogged down with this research and the blog, and had to decide if I was a blogger or a soapmaker, and I decided I was a soapmaker. But after having a few cool discussions this week, I have decided I need to get back to doing that kind of research. But not once a week, I think maybe once a month would be a good place to start. I also think I will start by re-posting some earlier information and updating it, since some of it is 4 years or more old. I hope to get something done on this in the next week or so and then have a monthly informational post. I also now hope that since I have more readers, more people will benefit from this information than in the beginning.

I'm baaaack....

OK.. so I was away in paradise again. For those of you who don't know that C travels for work...a lot... sometimes I just have to sacrifice and go see him! So hard to have a view like this at lunch :)



And I got to go to the botanical garden...



And while I was gone.. dad started to renovate the bathroom upstairs...which he thinks is much more fun than what he did the last time I left (shovel a few feet of snow).

Today I am catching up. Got all the orders sent out, show applications are sent, bills are paid, most emails are answered, and I am off to start some laundry and hit the grocery store.

Clean Workshop

I didn't get pics of my renovated workshop up in January because I just started making soap- thus making it too messy (in my opinion) to take photos of. But here are a few pics now that it is all clean before my next trip away..

Lehigh Valley Food Co-Op

I am SUPER SUPER EXCITED about this.. but I have been approved as a producer-member of the Lehigh Valley Food Co-op...

What is the Lehigh Valley Food Co-op???

Well I think they (we!!) say it best on the web site "Our mission is to sustain ourselves, our local farmers, our communities, and our world by providing local and organically-grown products whenever they are available. We are owned, run, and governed by a membership that involves all of our producers and buyers.

At present this website hosts a virtual farmers' market for the Lehigh Valley (Pennsylvania), where our members can buy and sell locally-grown food. As not all foods are available locally, we also offer a wide-range of bulk foods such as flour, rice and soy milk. Drop-off sites are located throughout the Lehigh Valley."

So now you can get my soap at the same time as you shop for locally grown vegetables and meats, as well as great bulk items, and other organic goods.

I placed my first purchase last week and I super excited about the quality of the product I got- meat, fruits, honey, and beans, just to name a few things. I highly, highly recommend that you join the Co-Op. I love the fact that I don't have to walk through a rainy farmer's market anymore to get the best produce, and that I don't have to love my schedule around when I can shop- I can just order online and pick up on Thursday nights.

This is also a great opportunity for people and families to volunteer. Just a few hours a month can greatly contribute to your overall food budget savings.

So join the Co-Op and join in supporting our local economy!