General Reflections | Annies Goat Hill Handcrafted Soaps

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The Good,The Bad, And The Ugly

Posted in General Reflections, tagged Boxer Dogs on July 1, 2009| 7 Comments »

The good, the pretty…the roses continue to bloom. These looked so delicate to me. White and dainty.

I had a good day. I rode with my husband to Columbus. He passed his test this week, his hard work was rewarded. So, he went to get one of his certifications today. It was good to see him go, and it was good for me as well. I talked with people away from home, away from the grocery store, away from Wal-Mart, you name it. I love living here, and I love working alone, but sometimes I need the pinch of a reminder of the busy society that still exists out there!

I got some grass mowing in when I came home. It was a great day!

Now I have to share with you something that doesn’t quite fit into the realm of a woman that is trying to sell crisp, clean products. Soap?

For the weak hearted, or, instead, those that have a weak stomach, you may or may not want to look at what I am going to show you next.

My girl, Tyra, my 6 year old boxer, my constant companion, never does (much) wrong. She has to know everything that is going on around her, therefore she makes her twice a day rounds throughout the house. Generally she never leaves any indication that she has checked the premises out.

I have a small entry way at the front door. I am the only one that uses it. I have a red bench that I sit on to put on shoes, and I also plop down various things that I am taking out the door (milk cans, mail, udder wipes). The bench is my “reminder” spot. Sometimes I leave notes for myself there as well.

Now comes the bad and the ugly (not really)…

Look real hard at the center of the photo, in the middle…yeah, you see it, it is not a scratch in the red paint. No, it isn’t.

It is BOXER DROOL!

A little string of it.

Ha ha ha…

Obviously my girl was very interested in what I had sat out for the day.

She left me a surprise, along with a giggle, as I headed out to the mailbox on my way to the barn this morning.

Sorry…had to share.

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The First Day of Summer – Tomorrow

Posted in General Reflections, tagged Goat Milk Soap, Spring on June 20, 2009| 6 Comments »

Having Blogger problems. So, I decided (just for today) to leave the photos where they are and leave the writing where it is at! I am NOT going to fight it today.

I am not one that likes to complain about weather, nor do I like to make it a point of conversation everywhere that I go. I know it is hot for many of us, but somehow I just had to share. Photo taken in my truck on my way back up to the house from the evening feeding (20 minutes ago).

This is Ohio, pretty much north, and tomorrow is the first day of summer, so what gives with 93 degrees?

I love summer, dearly, dearly love it. I love heat. I do not like cold. I appreciate heat. Can I say that again so I will convince myself? I love heat.

We do not have central air. We cool the back of the house (where we lounge and where we sleep) with a large window unit. The front of the house (including the kitchen, this office, and 3 other rooms are not cooled). I have a ceiling fan in here with me. Ha. At night I love to hear the frogs and I love the fresh air. Seldom do I want the windows shut.

But…

Yesterday I changed the ink in one of the printers. The page kept smearing afterwards. I began to think I had a bad ink cartridge. Hmmm…guess what the problem was? Humidity. The paper was bunching up. Uh huh…good clean crisp white paper taken right out of the ream. Crisp? NOT!!

I am summer gal, though. Give me 6 months of summer. I will take it. Just tell me the animals and world will not suffer from such a drastic change first.

Okay…next pic. Remember the tiny little rose plants I bought for 2.99 each? One is going to bloom! I have had beautiful roses in the past, not at this property. By the looks of this bud and the growth that I am seeing in all of the plants, I think I found a good spot for a rose display.

I did not put out a large garden this year. I need to rethink my kidding season timing next year because I need to work freezing and canning into my schedule. I miss those tasks. They give me peace a joy. As I sprinkled plant food amongst the beds today I saw 6 new green tomatoes. I need a big garden again. Did I ever tell you who taught me how to can? My husband. When we first married he converted a small “barn” in our yard, with loft to a summer kitchen for me. It was complete with a propane range, a small wall A/C unit, a table to work with, and storage for the canned goods. Nobody taught him how to can, he taught me out of memory from watching his mother when he was a child. Amazing.

I worked in the soap room for a while today. It is heated, cooled, very well insulated (put together better than this old house). And I am heading back out there for a bit later. Moved soaps down from the curing rack. Adding them to the website at some point this weekend. And Now I need to fill the empty curing rack spots with new soap! I sold all of my lotion this week. Lotion is something that I make without a lot of hassle, but that does not mean a thing. I need to eat, sleep, dream about lotion for one full day. Fill the warehouse as one of my good friends tell me. Then he turns right around and says in the next breath, “You need to rest.” When I ask him about his contradiction, he giggles and says, “Well, you know me.” Thank you!

Have any of you updated to Windows Explorer 8? And if the answer is yes, are you having any problems? It sure is messing with my use of Blogger! Sometimes I cannot leave comments. Sometimes I cannot see photos. And right now I cannot move photos within a non-published post. Arghhhh…computers, love them, don’t love them, cannot live without them! And all the same…I am praying for patience. Loads of patience.

Stay cool…and hope you are enjoying your weekend, filled with many blessings!

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Who Remembers Penny Candy?

Posted in General Reflections, tagged Family on June 6, 2009| 8 Comments »

Penny candy holds special memories for me.

I rarely eat candy. Now put a plate of cheese in front of me, or fruit, quite the treat. Candy, no.

I grew up with a father in the United States Army. We traveled quite a bit. We even moved three times in a matter of two years within the same large army base.

I really cannot remember where my father was stationed at at the time, he was definitely not home. That summer my mother would give 50 cents a month to my brother and I. She would walk with us to the Ben Franklin store, off base, and we would spend what seemed like a joyous hour finding all the treats that we could spend our wealth on. We would walk out with a little brown paper sack bulging with candy.

But wait…there were other things in that sack. Do you remember the little girl’s fake watches? They had a metal face and a piece of elastic for the band? I loved the pink ones! My brother would buy little painted metal cars and still buy candy with his 50 cents.

And I believe the bubble gum was two pieces for a penny.

Fake lipstick candy. Candy necklaces, which I see children still enjoy.

But see, it isn’t about the candy. It is about the memory. It is about taking that tiny amount of money and so carefully spending it. Maximizing it. Making sure it was not spent on something that went away in a few hours. And the memory of my mother, surely it was good for her to take that walk, and I would imagine it made her feel good to see her children happy. None of those things I was aware of because I was a child. As a child should be!

So…do you remember penny candy?

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Memorial Day Weekend

Posted in General Reflections, tagged Holiday on May 23, 2009| 4 Comments »

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!

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Was It The Blue?

Posted in General Reflections, tagged Nature on May 16, 2009| 15 Comments »

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/

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The Husband’s Rock

Posted in General Reflections, tagged Husband, Nature on May 6, 2009| 9 Comments »

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!

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Plastic Bricks Museum

Posted in General Reflections, tagged Hobbies on April 30, 2009| 1 Comment »

I received the monthly Country Living magazine today from my power company.

I like to browse the magazine from time to time, forgetting that most are Ohio-based stories.

I stumbled across an article about a Toy and Plastic Brick Museum, was in awe of the creativity and skill in the museum pieces. Talk about talent.

I remember walking across the dark living room shag carpet when my youngest son was not quite school age yet, stepping on a Lego, ouch(!), and reminding myself, “That boy loves his

Lego’s!”

After looking up the Toy and Plastic Brick Museum on the internet I found their blog, and their location, Bellaire, Ohio. Cool! I wanted to leave comments on their blog, but it apparently is a closed type of thing. Shoot!

I am not into toys, but I do think a hobby and creativity helps everyone. It could be soap, it could be weaving or spinning, gardening, you name it, but the old saying, “Everyone needs a hobby,” is oh so true!!!

Anyhow…the picture above is my favorite from their blog! Which one do you like?

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Colors Of Spring

Posted in General Reflections, tagged Spring on April 29, 2009| 7 Comments »

Today was a day to work in the office. I worked on placing supply orders, balanced books, and then I stepped outside to enjoy the day for a few minutes.

The colors of spring bring so much hope to the heart. I love the cool days, yet I love the hot sun. There is no better sleeping weather at night than when there is a cool breeze!

And, yes, there are dandelions everywhere. But truly, they are pretty! And they mean spring is back.

And yes, there are weeds that need mowed on the slope, but they also bring the beauty of spring with them.

How about those wonderful colors when the maples are first getting their new spring leaves?

And the different colors of green?

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Ahhh…Spring’s Promise

Posted in All In A Day's Time, General Reflections, tagged Spring on April 26, 2009| 5 Comments »

Tyra and I spent a few moments outdoors a bit ago. The day promises to be another bright and sunny one, filled with warmth, and the promise that we can enjoy the outdoors again for a while, which renews me inside and out!

We have a number of older lilac bushes here, 5 perhaps. They received some freeze damage this spring, but they still smell wonderful, especially in the early morning cool!

Heading outside with a cup of coffee to enjoy the birds and solitude.

Tyra agrees…she says, “Lets stay out here for a while!”

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March Goat Milk Soap Thank You Pack

Posted in General Reflections, tagged Economy, Friends, Goat Milk Soap on March 17, 2009| 8 Comments »

On this bright and beautiful March day, with green grass sprouting, the world is full of new things, and good news.

As I have been saying, and I am far from being an expert, I think we will see our economy on an upswing. I developed the attitude to not worry. Why worry? Worry does not change a thing. Well, let’s back into that, worry does change our happiness. It does change our demeanor. But worry does not change the circumstances that led to the problem. And, as I have been saying, I encourage everyone to be creative, if you feel you want to be, start that Etsy store, fire up a website, promote your hand-crafted products in a farmer’s market, or start a small business. You will be in the train car on the down side and you will be in the front car on the swing back up. For about a week the “experts” have been reporting that the economy is strengthening. I am not worried. I do hope people begin to rebuild their lives, however (those that have lost jobs and homes). But whatever it brings, be happy, do not worry.

On this bright and beautiful day it is good to see the animals outside, enjoying the sun. Occasionally stopping to munch, as Aleecia is in this photo. But more often I see the girls kicking up their heels and playing chase across their lot. Carefree worry-less animals!

And on this bright and beautiful spring day I am announcing a package on the way to Florida, destination Casa Hice. A random pick of commenters on this blog resulted in pulling Alix’s name from the hat. Thank you, Alix. Her package consists of one of her favorite scents, a lilac based soap, and a lilac goat milk lotion, very fitting for spring. I see my lilac bushes are budding out green today, and I cannot wait to smell their scent in a month or so! I agree with Alix, a very nice scent.

Thank you everyone!

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