Annies Goat Hill Handcrafted Soaps

Summer Bundles

July 3, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

The Brown Bag special has been archived.

Today the Summer Bundles sale kicked in. It is a great bargain as well.

The current bundle consists of 5 bars of lavender goat milk soap, average bar size 3.5 ounces.

Silky smooth, all natural goat milk soap!

The total cost is $2o.oo, which includes a $5.oo flat rate shipping and handling fee.

The soaps are packaged in a cellophane bag, raffia or ribbon tied.

The Summer Bundles sale button is located at the bottom of my site’s store page.

I am writing this blog post on my phone…hope it works. My PC is doing funky things today.

Posted in Products | Tagged Goat Milk Soap | 3 Comments »

One of my younger nubian does, Aralynn, has been showing up outside of the lot each day. When I arrive at the barn in the evening she has been waiting for me in the driveway, next to the barn door. One morning I carried the full milk cans to my truck, and there she stood already. She didn’t wait long to escape that day. The good thing is, like many goats, she ends up in a place where she waits for me, she does not run off. With much unease, I kept thinking, “How and where is she coming out of the fence?,” seemingly right under my nose.

Sunday morning we made a trip around that particular lot with wire cutters, fence posts, fence post driver, the entire works in tow. We thought we had any possible escape route fixed.

Wrong…

I was very concerned about her getting out in the road. Concerned for her own safety, and for my liability. I already pay more than double farm insurance premium because of a similar accident involving one of our horses.

So this morning, as a final attempt, I asked my husband to help me spy.

As soon as I put that particular group of goats out of the barn I gave Bob a call.

He watched as well as he could from afar, and I glanced out of the barn window as often as I could.

Aralynn ate grain, ate some hay, then wandered up the hill.

I thought we had her spot figured out. Wrong. And, of course, she sensed that we were watching.

She came back down the hill. I watched her from inside the barn, through an old window. I could see she was not intent upon staying with the herd.

10 minutes later I saw her interest in some weeds outside of the fence. She was about 30 feet away from the barn, along the fence line.

At that moment I saw it happen. I saw one long dairy leg go outside of the fence. Then the second leg stepped forward. Like a well-oiled cat that could get slink through a mouse hole, the rest of her body slid through, lickity split, just like that.

There she was, in all of her glory, happily munching on goodies on the side of the embankment.

Ta-da!!!

She was slipping through a break in the fence where we had to cut horns loose last year, a gap no larger than 6″x6″. The fence would bounce back after her departure, so the gap looked innocent enough to us. No kidding, this small hole did not look big enough for a cat to squeeze through.

They always say, “If you can see through the fence…it might not hold the goats.”

I hardly have a bit of trouble with fencing, but this one got me good!

Problem solved…for now…until next time!

Posted in Goat Care (and General Farm) | Tagged Goats | 8 Comments »

The Good,The Bad, And The Ugly

July 1, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

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.

Posted in General Reflections | Tagged Boxer Dogs | 7 Comments »

Just What Is It About Goat Milk Soap?

June 30, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

I have often wondered, just what is it about the goat milk soap that seems to help my skin, and per many customers, seems to help their skin (and their family members) as well?

I no longer suffer from acne, those types of break outs ended in my late 30’s. What I do suffer from, however, is dry skin, and itchy bumpy skin especially in the winter months. I get the sandpaper skin effect behind the arms and the legs during the coldest of months.

I had a wonderful email conversation with an allergist/dermatologist out of Pennsylvania last week. She asked me several really good questions. I answered her as well as I could. I told her that I do not know if the benefits from goat milk products (that she is hearing about and observing from her patients) came from the soap itself (no added chemicals), or if the sensitive skin help came from the milk itself, or if the benefits came from the fact that it is pure soap (look on your store bought soap wrappers, most cannot legally describe themselves as soap)! The physician agreed, she did not know either, but she thought it was a combination of all of the above. She said many of her patients had come to her with improved skin, improved after using goat milk products, and that she was wondering why all of the benefits herself. So, I decided to do a bit of snooping around. I am a teach me type of person.

So, I began my Google search looking for studies on goat milk soap and goat milk products. I looked for results from actual studies. I did not find any. But what I did find satisfied by interest.

Here we go:

From the American Academy of Dermatology I began looking at their various online brochures. One in particular drew my interest. For dry skin it was recommended to use a mild soap, okay, we probably learned that in first grade. But, next (and I copy):

For severely dry skin, a moisturizer that contains urea or lactic acid may be helpful. Both ingredients help the skin hold water. These ingredients are so effective that over-the-counter and prescription moisturizers contain them. The one drawback is that these ingredients can be irritating if you have eczema or cracked skin.

Goat milk…high in lactic acid. There you go, bingo!

I continued to read on, do a bit of self-diagnosis, see the photo above, and I found other photos looking very familiar. My winter skin condition is called keratosis pilaris. It consists of tiny bumps, sometimes itchy, harmless, but bothersome…the treatment (to diminish the appearance and itching of the rash) also included creams and lotions that contain lactic acid. The condition never completely goes away it just looks better after treatment. Yes, I agree, I can attest to it diminishing!

I cannot rightfully say my products can cure your skin problems, I am not licensed to sell my products as a drug or medication. And I try so very hard to not sound like an irritating infomercial for goat milk soap, but my customers with sensitive and allergic skin are very happy campers, and so am I. Why? I believe it is a combination of things (as stated above) mild soap, no added preservatives, stabilizers or chemicals (other than those that contain fragrance and/or non-natural colorants), and the lactic acid (which works with the skin’s PH balance).

Interesting…and I loved sharing it with you!

Posted in AGH Business News | Tagged Goat Milk, Goat Milk Lotion, Goat Milk Soap | 4 Comments »

Water, the Sustainer Of Life

June 29, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

We all know about water. Our bodies, without me looking the exact numbers up, are probably comprised of 95% water (if not more). All living life depends upon water.

Now to my story…

We bought a farm, not known to us, with a low water table. We generally have enough water for livestock, and then we conserve some for our own use.

We burned up a well pump recently because we had done so much laundry (from kidding season, winter, etc…). So, we installed a brand new pump, water a-plenty. But now?

Last night, an hour after I returned from the barn and cooled off (it was nearing 100 degrees), I began to prepare for dinner, no water. I knew, just knew, something was amiss. An hour later, no water. By then the water should have regenerated itself.

This morning, no water.

When I went to the barn to feed this morning I found the hose on the ground and a water spigot turned on. Yes, a goat had worked the handle up and away from the spigot. It had ran all evening and all night.

Bonnie sure was proud of herself, especially the spot on her head worn down to the skin. Guess what Bonnie’s famous trick/line/title is, from her prior owner? “Back Rub Bonnie.” Yes, she gives some serious back rubs. Plant your feed on the ground, space them apart, because when you get a back rub you need to retain your balance. Apparently she did a major back rub on the spigot, enough to move the handle up and allow the water to flow.

Is the well pump okay? I really do not know yet. It is working, but it will take quite some time to know if we are going to have to spend the bucks again for a replacement. The good news is, we do the job ourselves. It is still very costly.

There is now a lock on the water supply at the barn. No head rubs will ever move that arm again.

Life on the farm…tee hee…

By the way, as I wrote this blog post I looked up the water composition in a human body, 60%.

Posted in Goat Care (and General Farm) | Tagged Goats | 8 Comments »

The Weekend Tractor Project Part III

June 28, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

The old gal is starting to receive a new coat of paint, one section at a time. This is her instrument panel. The old Massey Ferguson red sure is a nice hue, not too bright, a beautiful deep cherry type of red.

New gauges await the instrument panel. We will need to let the panel sit for several days now, since it was just painted today.

The faded gal is going to love her new red!

It was good visiting with our friends today. We have been busy for a number of weekends. My husband has been studying, I have been working in the soap shop, and it has been too hot to throw open the garage doors (even though our friends have air inside the shop). Today we enjoyed our great friendship once again!

You can follow prior tractor project posts here.

Posted in Family & Friends | Tagged Tractor Project, Weekends | 2 Comments »

Girls On The Hill…Beautiful June Day

June 28, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

Sometimes we write about a little bit of nothing…

And Aleecia says, as she stretches her neck way out, “That fencepost sure tastes good!” She is quite the attraction, spots and all. A beautiful, big girl. Always the first to come see what I am up to, and “chat.”

Now, take a gander at Anona, her twin sister. Aleecia has the same markings, only with white spots on top. Anona has the long ear-thing a’goin’ on! Can you tell, I love my nubians?

I still get called Annie from time to time. I just smile. Annie was our first bottle baby. She is very independant, yet, she does not know that she lumbers in the exact spot she did while young, waiting for her bottle. Goofy gal!!!

They are are all entertaining, a lot of work, but I would not trade it for the world.

Posted in Goat Care (and General Farm) | Tagged Goats | 9 Comments »

Folded On The Boxer Raising

June 27, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

From an earlier endeavor…this is my boy, Spike.

My 5 year old boy weighs in at 90 pounds. A big one. I know how innocent he is. He would kill you upon contact…kill you by means of licking. I have heard him growl once, perhaps bark twice…at the trash truck. You know, that big machine that puts mankind at risk?

Spike is quite the snorer, Even when awake, you always know when he is around. My sister says, “Get that boy some sinus medicine!” He is loud. When he lays down he sounds like the air brake being released on a semi truck.

We think there is nothing between Spike’s ears, empty headed. He just hangs around. His favorite things in life are tomatoes and apples (just like his late father, Samson). Forget the steaks, my boy is happy with the healthy stuff. And guess what he has to have done every single night? Mom is required to rub him right between his eyes. The natural sleeping pill. The big head and neck just sinks down. The eyes go dull. Down he goes. Hilarious.

Years ago I wanted to raise boxers. I still have 3, but I no longer breed. It is a huge responsibility. I had nice puppies, large litters, good sized pups, beautiful boxers but…after carefully raising two sets of litters, 20 puppies total, I decided to stick with goats. Puppies are a lot of work! And I tend to get too attached to them.

Spike is from our first litter.

Here is Spike at 4 weeks old, always weighed in 3 times more than his litter mates.

And again, below with his father at an even younger age.

Posted in Goat Care (and General Farm) | Tagged Boxer Dogs | 8 Comments »

Just Like The Rose, Blossom!

June 24, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

Do you remember what happens when I feel compelled, overwhelmed with thoughts that I feel I need to share?

The thoughts go to the blog.

If there is one piece of advice that I cannot give enough of, it is: Take care of yourself. If you do not do it, do not expect anyone else to do it for you.

Does that sound rather harsh?

No.

I am not just referring to physically taking care of yourself, even though mental can greatly affect your physical health, and in turn your physical well-being can put a huge stress on your mental health. What I was specifically referring to was, nurture yourself.

Allow yourself to blossom.

This particular idea (not a new one) has been on my mind a lot recently. And today when I saw the beautiful rose blossom opening with it’s own brilliancy I saw the connection before my eyes.

Before the rose bud opened it looked normal. As it began to open I saw a bit of what appeared to be rust around the edges. Just like a person that is rusty at remembering to take care of themselves. The person that forgets, or does not realize, that the world is at their fingertips. And then the blossom opened with wonderful colors, and the more it opened, the more anticipation came with it for the future.

If you have a passion, act on it. If you have a talent, allow it to grow. If you love something, make sure it is in your life. Sometimes the smallest of things are the biggest of things in our own hearts.

I am going to go through a list of people that I have noticed blossoming (leaving names out, sorry peeps):

A lovely lady lost her home, but now has a nice apartment and a new car. She is secure in her job, yet she is not happy. Someone listened to her one day, she talked about “everything that she had lost.” So the listener bought her a hummingbird feeder for her patio. Within a few hours she saw her first hummingbird. She cried. She realized that she had not lost everything, she just needed to remember what she loves, and she needed to remember that what she loves does not go away, it stays in her heart (the tiniest of things). And today she continues to grow, realizing the small things in life. And she is pursuing so much. She is no longer shut in to the pain, the world has many possibilities.

A wonderful friend is going through a tough time. She is taking better care of herself because it makes her feel good. She has had her hair re-done, her apartment painted (in the colors that makes her feel happy), and she is pursuing her dreams as a soap artist. Yes, a talented artisan! Through all of her troubles, she can still make her own heart sing.

A great friend has lost a lot of weight. She did not feel all that well before she lost the weight. She could have laid on the couch, moped, cried, allowed depression to take over, but no, she began daily and deliberate exercise. Today she revels in her new size, her new (younger) looks, but best of all, she feels fantastic, and she is vibrant and glowing. Not gloating. She took care of herself. Nobody else could have done it for her. She should be proud!

A dear friend has decided to build on her special talents. She decided to take her beautiful wares and sell them, offer them to others, open a shop where she takes the products that she has lovingly crafted to the public, and somewhere in her heart she has the urge to share that sense of joy with everyone that crosses her path. It took courage, but she has done it…for herself!

Do not forget what you love, despite the busyness and disappointments in life, do not forget who you are. You are special, and you have your own needs. Fulfill those needs.

Blossom!

Posted in Inspirations | Tagged Balance In Life, Goals, Inspirations, Reflections | 4 Comments »

Ocean Breeze Comedy Scene

June 23, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

Today I was making great progress in the soap room. I made a batch of lotion for a new product set (to be announced) and I prepared another batch of lilac lotion for a potential customer who owns a lovely shop in Michigan.

I knew I needed to make a batch of Ocean Breeze goat milk soap. It is a must to keep 2 or 3 large batches on the curing racks at all times. And I have to agree with you all, it is good soap. It smells good. It lathers up softly, silky, and it leaves the skin feeling smooth, conditioned. I am not left with a dry skin feeling at all after bathing with Ocean Breeze.

So, today I prepared all of the ingredients, weighed, melted, etc…, and then I headed to the house for lunch.

20 minutes later I arrived back in the shop. I lined the large mold for the soap batch. Mixed the soap ingredients and immediately realized the batch seemed too small. My thought initially was, “Did I make a 1/2 batch?” I make smaller batches when I am testing a new recipe or fragrance. I thought through today’s steps, all of them, and determined that I had measured out the full amounts of all ingredients.

As I questioned myself, the batch appeared to be going into trace (thickening) quicker than normal. “Think, Mary, think!” I told myself, as calmly as possible. You can start giggling here, by the way

As some of you are aware, Ocean Breeze also contains chips of white unscented goat milk soap (reminds me of a gently rolling ocean, white sand, sea foam).

I headed to the mold with the batch of very thick soap. Lined the mold with the chips, poured the soap. Well…there was NO pouring to it. I was having to lift it out by the large spoon full. As I pushed the last bits of white goat milk soap into the globs of soap, and saw that the mold was only 1/2 full, I suspected the culprit.

I had only added 1/2 of the oils!

What to do? What to do?

I knew I had a bad batch of soap either way I went, so I emptied the contents of the mold back into the soaping pot. And, yes, most definitely found the missing oils, right where I had left them. Again, could have already ruined the batch, so what the hay…might as well try it.

I began stirring all of that missing oil into the nearly solid mass of what should have been Ocean Breeze soap. To my surprise, it looked like lumpy pea soup with white chunks added. Ha ha ha. Lovely? Oh yeah, you betcha’.

My old arms got the work out. There was no electric gadget to whip through that mess. Stir and stir and stir. I had a vision of my restaurant quality stainless steel slotted spoon bending in half. Tee hee. Okay…stirred, and I finally figured it was time to try it again.

As I lifted the pot to carry it to the make table behind me I caught the corner of a container full of large utensils. Each and every knife, pail opener, you name it, fell handle first into the pot. So, each and every utensil was adorned with a nice thick blob of Ocean Breeze goat milk soap. I put the utensils on ignore status. I laid them on newspaper.

I poured the soap. It looked really peculiar. A little peculiar?

And the rest of the story is…the soap appears to be going through its normal process now. I think I saved it. I try to make Ocean Breeze a wavy type of soap. I want it to be irregular, but hmmm…not quite THAT irregular!

And the utensils…upon my return, I had to use a paring knife to clean the soap off of each and every handle.

I need a nap!

Normal Ocean Breeze…(today’s batch above):