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Organization is Working

June 21, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

How is everyone? I am fine, great, happy…even though I still cannot arrange the photos within my blog again today…I am being tested!
I worked today…yes…I know, it is Sunday. The husband went to visit his tutor for assistance with an exam that he is re-taking this week and I decided to catch up a bit more in the soap shop while he was out.
I love the photo of the new Yuzu fragranced goat milk soap. I think my phone took a good shot of it. I took a new mug shot for the lotions. I’ll work on it again. Gone are the kraft labels. As much as I would have liked to make them work they simply had no stickability (I made that word up, it might exist though). Uh huh.
Lotions are my focus this week. Even though I leave the lotions on the website, they never show a back order, I can tell you, especially this week. I was sold out! Very few bottles remained. But I like ’em fresh, so that is how they go out whenever I cannot replinish the entire supply. But…my goal is to have the supply completely refreshed by Wednesday, all 10 scents.
I have been doing some cleaning and organizing as well. See the planner on the desk? It is working! The corner in the photos is my shop “office” so to speak. I have a real office in the house, where I am sitting now. I am considering moving my old PC into the shop so I can hook up an unused printer for labels. But…I am sort of (hmmm) out of room. The husband has suggested that I begin using a part of his wood shop for storage. He says he is going to have to build a new building. Nooo…nooo….and noooo.
Since I took you for a visit into the shop today. I thought I would show you what I was listening to as well. The CD is called Church In The Wildwood, Volume II. I think it was put together specifically for the Cracker Barrel stores. There are no vocals, the instruments are: hammered dulcimer, autoharp, guitar, fiddle and mandelin. Beautiful! Peaceful. I listen to many different kinds of music. If you knew what I was playing in my truck this week you would think I was reverting back to the early 70’s. So I will leave that up to your imagination.
Is anyone else having problems with posting photos, specifically when you post more than one, does Blogger still allow you to move the photos within the post? Starting yesterday I have not been able to. It looks rather dorky to me to post 3 or 4 photos in a row with no verbiage. But that is what I will do until I get the problem resolved.

Posted in In The Soap Shop | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments »

The First Day of Summer – Tomorrow

June 20, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

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!

Posted in General Reflections | Tagged , | 6 Comments »

Website Payment Problems…Head Still On Straight?

June 18, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

Just what is the goat lady up to today? The rolling head, still on straight? Has she lost her mind completely? Nah! Just almost.

Actually, I began the day by cutting the large batch of lemongrass poppyseed goat milk soap I made yesterday. It looked so pretty I picked up my phone and clicked a pic before the soap bars headed to the curing rack.

Afterwards, I made two large batches of goat milk soap. The first unscented. Seems rather popular these days. The second batch is lavender rosemary. Purposely, quite a bit lighter on the rosemary end of the soap this batch. Rosemary is a wonderful essential oil. I love the scent, but it also has such good skin care properties, such as antiseptic and assistant to dandruff and scaly skin. But it sure can wake up the old nose!

Then the day broke loose. The head starting spinning, rolling along (as I told Alix of Casa Hice) in an email.

If you experienced payment problems today, if the website did not accept your payment, or if you ever do experience problems, please carefully note what occurred and give me a call, or shoot me an email. As we all know, one tiny problem can mean one big problem is brewing. Luckily all of the customer payment issues were told to be unrelated, but my doubting mind (because I want perfection) still wonders…but life rolls on (and right now it feels like my head is off rolling somewhere).

I had a great conversation with a good customer from California today. Yesterday her husband asked, “Do we have any more of THAT soap?” The phone call was rather on the desperate end. The payment was not being accepted and the husband wanted more of THAT soap. People that call me get what they get, they get me, I am never going to try to be anyone else. If I break out in laughter, please laugh along with me. This is one short life, and I intend upon making it all that it can be. We got the order resolved, and Mr. CA is going to have some of THAT soap to shave with. By the way, THAT soap is Moroccan Dreams, and Sandalwood Blend, as well as Patchouli Blend. Mr. CA shaves with THAT soap. So do I (my legs love it).

Have a beautiful evening, day, morning, whenever you read this…and if you find my head anywhere…treat it nicely. I need it folks!

Posted in AGH Business News | Tagged , , | 7 Comments »

Cinnamon Rose Goat Milk Soap

June 15, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

The past several weeks have been busy times in the shop with the filling of orders and keeping the inventory of soap and lotion stocked. You would think I would get sick of soap, but no, I still love to marvel at the soaps before I box them up and send them out. I even love to look at the lotions, and there isn’t anything colorful about them. Silly goat woman I am!
I am limping along temporarily with the camera on my phone this week. I wanted to get a good photo of this soap, but it blurred to a point. This is the cinnamon rose soap that I told you about. It also contains rhassoul clay, which is rich in minerals and helps to tone the skin. Rhassoul clay removes surface oil effectively, yet it assists with reducing flakiness and dryness from both the skin and the scalp. Honestly, I thought I would not like the scent when the customer requested it, but I love it! It will most likely be a keeper. It is not overpowering! I have not ran off with an end piece yet to test in the bath, soap is always “people” tested for quality on my farm, but from the looks of it, and based on the oils and clay used, I think I am going to love it. It looks nice, almost creamy-like, smooth, and smells terrific. It will hit the website within a couple of weeks (to be announced here).

And, last but not least, I had to take a photo of my helping friends tonight. A goat is geared towards food. They always think they are hungry, it is what drives them! You can separate a bale of hay, divide it up, and the herd always shifts towards the last morsel you placed in the feeder. Go figure. Hey kids…the hay is the same from beginning to end! Thankfully this bale was still tied. The kids knocked the wheel barrow over as soon as I snapped the photo…the munchkins!!

Posted in In The Soap Shop | Tagged | 13 Comments »

Sunday’s Dairy Goats and Sheep

June 14, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

Dairy goats and sheep? Wait a minute…that looks like a kitten to me. My apologies, my better camera is out of order. Pictures today are delivered via my phone and my old “bad” digital camera. But not so bad that we turn kittens into dairy goats and sheep.

Do you think these two could pass as future Mr. Yellow Tom’s? Mr. Yellow Tom loves to rough house with one of these look-alikes already.

Nothing like a good old kitten fight. This is what I see and hear when the goats are not mulling around.

Moving on to the feeding of the boer goats. Dusty (a lovely boer/alpine) always needs a good head rub.
Moving on to the milk stand. Chandra the saanan says, “Hey, you have my milk…now let me go dive into the hay with my buddy Cammille.”
And Cammille the nubian says, “You have my milk too…hold on Chandra, wait for me!”

And after everyone is milked out, and the final (2) bottle kids are fed, and the goats are humming and crunching happily on their hay, bedded down for the night…up the barn driveway the goat lady goes…toting warm goat milk back to the house on the hill…reflecting on her many blessings.

And what does the goat lady find when she enters the house? Visitors? There are two new sheep, Wee Little Sheep, beautiful Nativity Sheep on the kitchen table.

The beautiful sheep pair arrived on Friday in a postal box decorated in sheep photos, marked fragile. These beautiful sheep are indeed fragile, beautifully made from clay and covered with lambs’ wool, lovingly handmade by Kathy. Sent to my Ohio home, chosen as winnings from being a commenter on Kathy’s blog, Spot On Cedar Pond.

Not only was the shipping box beautifully decorated in photos of Kathy’s wonderful Jacob Sheep, Kathy also added some additional personal touches. A stunning handmade card arrived with the package, displaying the yarn that Kathy so lovingly crafts (from shearing her sheep, to spinning and dyeing the yarn). With some beautiful spun strands of lamb’s wool threaded through the card. I keep repeating the word beautiful, it really was awesome!
Now I will show you the gorgeous “decorating” of the shipping box!

Kathy is a good friend, an inspiration to me. She is one of the women in my life that have kept me on my toes, in faith. I look for her daily blog inspirations. I hope you visit Kathy’s blog as well, and please do not forget to visit her Etsy shop either, where you will find her wonderful lamb’s wool creations, Cedar Pond Wool Craft.
Have a relaxing Sunday evening!

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

Up With The Roosters

June 12, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

Yes, the title and photo says it all. The day came to life very early this morning! I can just hear him crowing, the bossy fellow.
The husband is heading in one direction this morning for business and I am heading to the shop to work on filling orders and rebuilding the lotion stock.
Yesterday I took large boxes full of Annie’s Goat Hill Handcrafted Soaps gift sets to the retail location that displays my products. Once I returned to my shop I cut the rosemary shampoo bars from the freshly made loaf, the initial shampoo bars (made here). More on that product in the near future. I will discuss shampoo bars and what rinses can/should be used to maintain the proper hair PH.
The Brown Bag Special will continue through 6/30/09. At that time I am going to archive the sale. It was fun while it lasted! Many of the 3.5 ounce (average) bars are dwindling in number, but there is a nice supply still available for the Brown Bag Special. I absolutely love the newer chunkier bars (average 4.5 ounces)! The Brown Bag special, for those of you new here, includes 5 bars of goat milk soap (the same quality soap as the 4.5 ounce bars) for 15.00, plus a 5.00 flat rate shipping fee (special rate only for shipping within continental U.S.). These are assorted soaps, packaged in a brown bag (no individually boxed soap)…just right to get through the remainder of this slow economy! If you wish to place an order, the instructions and buy here button are located at the bottom of the goat milk soap store page on my website.

By the way…you know how honest I am…no rooster here…but I imagined up a strong image of the colorful proud guy crowing away a bit ago!

Have a fun Friday!!!!

Posted in Products | Tagged | 5 Comments »

Busy In The Goat Milk Soap Shop

June 10, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

I am a busy lady this week.
A retail location where I sell some of my products needed a replenishment of gift sets. I have been putting various sets together that include lotion, soap and bath salt/fizzies. The store carries handcrafted furniture and primitive candles/tarts, handmade purses, and beautiful homespun items for the kitchen and bath. My gift crates (made from reclaimed wood) and simple packaging fit right in. It puts a smile on my face!
I am working on a wholesale project as well, and keeping up with customer orders.
I have also been successful with keeping the curing racks full. No gaps. Pull one batch down, move those soaps straight to the website, put a brand new batch right in its place (ready in 4 weeks).
It has been busy, but I am enjoying the blessings in my life! I hope you are doing the same!

Posted in In The Soap Shop | Tagged | 6 Comments »

Mr. Yellow Tom Is A Helper Too

June 7, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

I am the sole Annie’s Goat Hill Handcrafted Soaps business person. I manage the goats (my husband helps with purchasing the hay and occasional goat treatments) and I operate the business end of everything. My hats include management, shipping, producing of product, accounting, finance, marketing and customer service. I love my hats…love, love, love them!

My closest friends ask me, “What are you going to do when you can no longer handle this on your own?” They see the growth, so do I. I do not know what the answer is. They are aware that I am aware. But, for now, it will be left to prayer. Leaving something to prayer does not mean that I do not think about it. My best thinking times are not done while sitting down and staring at blank space. I could be on the lawn mower, in the shower, or even feeding the goats in the barn. I do not worry about these questions, I just ponder from time to time. Making life’s decisions, those that are not needing immediate attention, means (to me) to sit back and allow the random thoughts to roll through. It is like putting everything in a mixing tumbler. Let it roll gently, not violently, let everything big and little sift out. The answers will come.

I am way off track from my original topic here, but that is okay, and it all fits together! I like for people to know me for who I am, that is important.

As I was thinking about things in the barn this morning, preparing the milk machine for the girls, I saw yellow ears pop up out of the bucket that I toss used baling string into. Mr. Tom, the yellow cat from the last litter on the farm, had been napping in the bucket. The crazy fellow!

Mr. Yellow Tom was pretty much abused by his older brother, whom is fondly called My Boy on the farm. My Boy is a gentle cat that drank a lot of goat’s milk as he was up and coming. I can rub his belly, play with him like a house cat. And when I find the teeth and nails getting over zealous, he listens to me when I say “that is enough.” I find him following me around like a lost puppy. And I tell him, “Stay out of the road, I need you around for a while.”

My Boy beat up on Mr. Yellow Tom when he was about 2 weeks ol. Mr. Yellow Tom would screech, the claws would fly, and I always said, “He (yellow) isn’t going to make it.” Well, those two are buddies, they were playing after all. And Mr. Yellow Tom ended up being pretty mean. You could not pick him up without a lot of human arm and leg damage.

Two weeks ago something changed. I found Mr. Yellow Tom rubbing against my legs in the milk room, “Meow, meow, meow.” I decided to pick him up. Hmmm…what was that, purring? He now lives in the milk room 90% of the day. He is a fantastic mouser. He has a purpose, and he works for me, even though he does know it! He can sleep with the baling string any time that he likes. He earns it. And I do not need to pay a penny to the state for worker’s comp…hmmm…he is quite the deal!

We have 6 brand new kittens now. Two yellow striped, two black and grey, and two black. The black kittens are mean. I am trying to make a Mr. Yellow Tom out of them, not sure I will be successful. But…each day they get a bowl of warm goat’s milk. They could be well on their way towards earning their own Mr. Yellow Tom Awards!

Posted in Goat Care (and General Farm) | Tagged , | 6 Comments »

A Beautiful Start To The Week

June 7, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

I love Sunday’s.
As a child I insisted on Sunday School (SS), even if the rest of the family were going for donuts. Our building was seperated by miles from the “adult” church on the Army base. I loved SS, and even Vacation Bible School. Each and every Sunday I am reminded of those days. Carefree and filled with a warm beginning to the week!
I finally changed my calendar to June this morning. What a fantastic photo taken by Lynn M. Stone. I have seen several pieces of her goat photography. This one is simply beautiful. LOVE the colors!
The photo was difficult to take. Why? Notice the dark ring around the edges? Twice this week I dropped my camera on my shop floor, which is concrete. The zoom lense no longer focuses in and out as it should. So, temporarily, I will take close up photos of soap (the photo taken on in Introspection post below was one of them) with the broken camera, and distance photos with my old digital camera.
Anyhow…I did fill every single curing rack in the shop this week. I do not have a lot of racks. I probably need more. At one point during this past week I decided that just setting the goal of making more soap was not going to work, I needed to see measurable results. I did.

This week I am focusing on upping the production of goat milk lotion, creating shampoo bars (especially rosemary for Lynnanne). Non-business related, I need to get caught up on the lawn and weeding before the weather pattern brings the rain and storms in later this week.

But today, God’s command for a day of rest, that is exactly what I am going to do. I am going to relax, visit with friends this afternoon, come back home and relax again.
Please, enjoy your Sunday!

Posted in In The Soap Shop | Tagged | 9 Comments »

Who Remembers Penny Candy?

June 6, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

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?

Posted in General Reflections | Tagged | 8 Comments »

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