Annies Goat Hill Handcrafted Soaps

Back To Making Goat Milk Soap Today

February 9, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

Had a busy day today!

The weather was beautiful, perfect. Started the day out with some fog. When the sun started coming over the ridge this morning, the fog turned orange and pink. It was fantastic.

I wish this photo had turned out better! I filled this mint green hutch today in a local shop. It really turned out great. You cannot see the raffia, special tags and other things that added the special touch to the packages. I tell the shops I will design the packaging to fit their store, however, I love it when I have a placement (like today’s) where I feel my design fits in like a charm.

This computer was on the fritz for most of the day today. I got it back online a 1/2 hour ago.

And I got back to soap production today. I am in the inventory process, restocking. Today was honey oatmeal and unscented goat milk soap.

The lotion shelves in my own shop are now empty. Lotion making is on the agenda for later this week. If you want to order lotion, however, please do so. I can have it ready in time for any shipment.

I feel good tonight. No back pain at all, so I am definitely on the mend. I have been active enough today to ward off stiffness.

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

Goats On The Hill

February 8, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

They are all M.I.A. today, hiding. Obviously not missing in action to them, just enjoying the sun as much as they can. The dairy girls (and a few boers) are on the other side the hill. One occasionally pops her head up.

Notice…no ice or snow on the ground! What you cannot see in this photo is mud. Get further down the hill, towards the barn, and the 2″ of standing water from yesterday is now mucky mud.

But I am glad…and I am happy. The average temperature in our part of Ohio is 40 degrees this time of year.

Didn’t sleep well last night. The coyotes are strong out here in February. I could hear them darting back and forth. Sounded surreal because they were moving fast. Probably was more like a scattering of them. Caleb, the LGD (livestock guard dog), that barks at everything, and most nothing, didn’t bark at all. I kept imagining him being the one under attack. The mind plays funny tricks on a person at 2:00 in the morning.

Anyhow…I hope you enjoy your Sunday too. We are off to visit friends for a few hours. I didn’t work much today (not on a Sunday). I priced and labeled gift sets for the shop.

Posted in Goat Care (and General Farm) | Tagged Goats | 5 Comments »

Tree Of Happiness Award

February 6, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

Sheepishly I say, I have only said this just a few times this week (a few too many), I am way behind in blogging, commenting, and especially behind in posting this award!

Joanna of Boonedocks Wilcox gave a Tree of Happiness Award to me. Joanna has a wonderful blog, filled with great animal stories, especially cute Sweet Pea! Last but not least, Joanna is a friend that I appreciate, and yes, she makes me happy!

The recipient of this award should list 6 things that make themselves happy.

You know, silly or not, this award even makes me happy because I love to talk about happiness!

To top 6 things that make me happy in life are:

My faith. My faith carries me through so many times in life. It picks me up when I am sad. It revives me when I am tired. It gives me the wisdom to do many things that are right, the first time. It gives me patience. My faith has helped me through troubling and trying times. And when I am happy, I do not forget, I know exactly why I am happy!

My husband. My best friend. He is one special person that has looked out for my best interests. Until I met him, I did not know what that was all about. Now, do not take that sadly, it is definitely a very positive thing. It was like peeling back the layers of an onion, my own wrappings, working through things that I did not know existed. Once I realized this person was subtly helping me through life, and he guided me to do it by myself, which was a very good learning experience, I blossomed. It makes me so happy that I could cry. Now, don’t you agree, that is pretty darn happy?!

My friends. I have adopted a very common word in my latter years, genuine. I absolutely love genuine people. They make life complete. They make me happy. They make everyone happy! I am one of those people that everyone looks to for a smile. The problem is, when I don’t smile, or when I am quiet, I catch it from everyone. I am watched like a hawk from my best friends, down to the casual friends at the corner convenience store. So, my common response to the much-loved pressure is, “Who holds my chin up when I am not up to holding yours? Hmmm…that is a big job!” I get reminded, “We do.” That is love, that is true happiness…that is a genuine friend. Thank you.

My animals. When I was a child I drew farm animals. When I went to the zoo I walked behind everyone that I accompanied. The petting area was my spot to hide in. When I visited family farms as a young child I would run around in the barns, the cow pastures, even the pig pens. Yep, I did. They were not muddy, thankfully! I remember my grandmother riding in the back seat of a car with me on a muggy summer day once. She exclaimed, “Whooo-eeee, roll those windows down! This child stinks!” Ha ha ha! I didn’t recognize my love for animals until I had a few of my own to tend to. I am blessed, very happy.

What number am I on now? Ah-hah…I need to tell you what #5 is.

My work. I am doing what makes me happy. Crafting soap, putting products on the store shelf, being creative, running my own business. I have no idea what drives me, but I can say I am happy. I am elated. Very seldom do I slump. And when I slump, something comes along (the light bulb goes back on) and I am driven that much more. I truly believe that each and every person that has a desire to do something in life, something creative, should do it. Give it a whirl! Do not let anyone stop you. Finances may hold you back today, but find a way to do it as soon as possible, and do not let any good intended well-wishers stand in your way! And guess what? Work is NOT work when you are happy doing what you are doing!

My age. I am happy to be 50 years old. I realize now that I hold a lot of wisdom, but more importantly, I am wise enough to know there is always room for growth, with much more to learn. Bring it on! This is a wonderful age. The best is yet to come.

There are a lot of things and people in my life that make me happy (my sister, my farm, books, gardening, music, primitive furniture/crafts), too much to list!

Now…I am going to give this award to 6 blogs written by people that bring me happiness! I like this award, may the branches of the tree reach out and bring more happiness forward. 🙂

Thank you for your smiles…

Amy I (Heart) Nubians, Make Mine Mini

Alix Casa Hice

Corrie Lomond Soap

Heidi Soapaholics Anonymous

Kathy Spot On Cedar Pond

Jennifer Goats In The Garden

Posted in Family & Friends | Tagged Award, Friends | 6 Comments »

Soap Shop Activities

February 6, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

Good Morning!

Yesterday was a busy day. We visited handfuls of shops, some with pretty interesting soap.

One $15.00 bar of soap really fascinated me. The shop manager told me that she tried the soap herself. She said you have to have a wide place to set the oblong-rounded soap or you constantly have it dropping to the tub floor. We had a good giggle over that discussion!

I can honestly say this, none of the big brand soaps that I picked up during my excursion matched up to my rustic goat milk soaps. They do not smell as good, and most importantly, they are definitely not the silky soaps that Annie’s Goat Hill Handcrafted Soaps are. I am not Crabtree & Evelyn, no doubt, but their goat milk soap holds no candle to mine!

In this economy, many of the local shops (in a 5 county area) are leery of adding products to their line. They are having difficulty selling what they have on hand. The walk-in customers, holding onto every penny, are extra concentrated with caution in our rural area. I am not sure if you are aware of this, but our area has been suffering from a lack of jobs (as the overall U.S. is), but we are also gradually losing 10,000 jobs out of one location. The story appeared on 60 Minutes a couple of weeks ago. I also wrote my own article on the topic in December.

I refuse to succumb to the economy, I am too happy to let that even begin to etch the surface. For all of us, no matter what our jobs are (mine is a soap and bath product maker, goat keeper), we will be on the upswing again, and when it happens, if we are smart enough to keep our feet on the ground, the roller coaster car is going to sweep us back up up first, right on front, and carry us to the top of the hill in front of those that missed the car the first time!

Today, after I go and visit the Country Home Crafts shop, in Hillsboro, Ohio, where I am gratefully moving products into this week, I will begin filling the curing racks in my own shop again. And the buzz in my head says, you may see a change in my own shop in the very new future. An exciting change!

I have a lot of blog reading and commenting to catch up on! I haven’t forgotten…just swamped, and still nursing a very achy back.

Have a wonderful Friday!

Posted in In The Soap Shop | Tagged Gift Packs, Goat Milk Lotion, Goat Milk Soap, Retail Location | 8 Comments »

Goat Milk Soap Gift Packages

February 4, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

A little sneak peek of gift packages going out to some Ohio shops tomorrow. Sets will be available on the website soon as well.

Despite the slow start to the morning, I accomplished quite a bit today.

I fumbled with some behind-the-scenes website problems, but did get things up and rolling again just in time for lunch break.

Then I headed out to the shop and got the packages ready for delivery tomorrow. Thank goodness the sidewalk between the house and the shop was ice free today, despite the 2 degree wind chill all afternoon. Such a warm single digit! 🙂

No signs of immediate labor tonight in the goat barn. Way to go girls!! Good job!!

Heading to the kitchen now to get pancakes on the griddle. Seems like a Log Cabin sort of day. Have a great evening!

Posted in AGH Business News | Tagged Economy, Goat Milk Soap | 8 Comments »

Goat Milk Soap and Lotion Shop News

February 4, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

Good Morning!

For those of you that have kindly been asking how I am recovering from the fall, I had a very bad night. Woke up to a lot of pain around 3:30. Wish this pain would stop. It is better, but it seems to be moving, which tells me I am healing. It will take time. I am always a trooper, always, but this has been tough! Today I am suffering from very blurry eyes. I just realized it is the Motrin. I need to back off of it for a while. Drats.

I discovered a problem with the website this morning. Google had quit crawling. I spent a couple of hours fixing the issues this morning. I am certainly not an expert at the wearing of the website responsibility hat, but I have made great strides! Yeah!

Bob has been stamping soap boxes with the logo this morning. After lunch we are boxing up gift sets of soap, lotion, and bath salts. These are for delivery to a number of Ohio gift shops tomorrow.

Soap making will be back on the agenda for Friday. If you have any special requests, you can shoot them my way.

Newsletters are to go out next week, final deadline by 2/16/09.

We received just a dusting of snow last night. Local people received anywhere from 6.5 to 10″ of the newest white covering within a very quick 3-4 hours last night. We were blessed with none of that!

Posted in All In A Day's Time | Tagged Gift Packs, Goat Milk Lotion, Goat Milk Soap | 4 Comments »

Goat Milk Soap, Lotion and Back Pain

February 3, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

We can be full speed ahead one moment, and at a dead halt the next. And that occurs at a blink of an eye.

Yesterday I was heading to the store, the first time I drove my own truck in weeks. We could not get beyond the ice on the doors on my truck! As I gleefully went down the concrete steps next to the garage, what I thought was water ended up being black ice. Up in the air I went, and down I was slammed, with a concrete step edge hitting in the middle of my back right hip.

I will not go into a lot of detail, but this isn’t the most fun I have ever had. I normally laugh when I fall down and “go boom,” as my dear husband says, but this time I cried and remembered the cell phone in my pocket. I called for help as I rolled myself up off of the ground. I went straight to bed.

I have a store placement to prepare for this week. I will be bottling lotion and I need to get more soap on the curing rack. It will all get done. Bob cannot make soap, but he can help me package up, feed animals, and take me to the locations that I also need to visit this week. Driving is out. We both have 4×4 pick up trucks, mine is taller, and just getting in and out is very “Slow Mo” right now.

So…nope, no whining here, I will get it done, in time. At least I can sit in a chair for a short while today. My blog posts and reponses may be a little less in volume for a few days. Send me an email if you need anything. Take care!

Posted in All In A Day's Time | Tagged Gift Packs, Goat Milk Lotion, Goat Milk Soap | 21 Comments »

Lemonade Stand Award

February 2, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

I received a Lemonade Stand award from Hidden Brook Farm. I am honored! I love The Hidden Brook Farm blog. We share many interests, and even better, she is a wonderful friend!

I have not yet completely followed through the steps yet for the Butterfly Award that I recently received from Alix of Casa Hice.

Because I treasure all blogs, and read such a variety, some that I follow annonymously, some I have book marked without following, etc…, it is extremely difficult for me to select 10 blogs to award, much less 20.

I look upon this as a very positive situation to be in, to be honest. I love all of your blogs!

So, I am going to select one blog to receive the Lemonade Stand award, and I plan to give the remaining 9 awards throughout the year.

Sweet Cottage Dreams, please accept a Lemonade Stand award from Annie’s Goat Hill! Congratulations! I love your blog, and I love your crafty work!

The Lemonade Stand award rules are:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post

2. Nominate 10 blogs that show gratitude or great attitude or both

3. Be sure to link your nominees within your post

4. Let them know they have received this award by commenting on their blog

5. Share the love and link this post to the person whom you received your award from

Enjoy!

Posted in Family & Friends | Tagged Award, Friends | 4 Comments »

Boxer Dogs

February 2, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

You might be asking, what is it?

I do not know if she has always done this, but I saw it happen for the first time several days ago. Tyra, my oldest boxer, takes a few morsels of her morning kibble out of her bowl and carries it to the laundry room floor. She plants her feet in front of the bits of kibble, and pretends to pounce around it, as if she were playing with a bug, teasing.

This morning I looked across the room and saw a smiley face. I know, it is not unlike the faces seen in the clouds, or in growth patterns in a tree, images that just look like something else, but none the less, her kibble was smiling this morning. It certainly made me smile!

Tyra is 6 years old, turning gray in the face, a big solid girl, one that likes to play, and sounds vicious when she does, but she would never hurt a soul. We rescued her when she was 9 months old. She has had 2 litters of pups for us, 10 pups each. She is now retired.

Here is our faithful friend…

Posted in Goat Care (and General Farm) | Tagged Boxer Dogs | 7 Comments »

Super Bowl Sunday

February 1, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

No…no Super Bowl party… just two middle aged people putting
more winter pounds on in the middle section. Touchdown!! 🙂

This is about the only frozen meal we will eat. And somehow we like it too much!

About myself and football…my father was in the Army. We travelled a lot. We were stationed in Indianapolis, IN, more frequently than anywhere else. So, I claim myself as a Hoosier girl.

After living in Indianapolis for most of my adult life, I became a Colts fan. I loved to go to the NFL games! I would go to work the next day with hardly any voice at all. It got to be very expensive, though. I either sat in the nosebleed section or I had tickets from work.

The best tickets were the pair that were given to me by a co-worker for a Christmas Eve game. We lost, I didn’t care. I missed part of a family get-together because I revelled in sitting 4 rows above the home bench. I was in heaven.

The days of the NFL are way behind me. Oh yeah…but I strongly remember sitting behind the goal posts in the RCA dome, as the Steelers slap cheated the Colts to death. Sorry…that slipped out.

And which team actually grabbed my attention 20-something years ago? The San Francisco 49-ers! Yeppers! They were awesome!

The Cardinals and the Steelers, wow, I would have never dreamed that one up! We will not be watching the Super Bowl in our household. May your team win. 🙂

And may my waistline expand a bit more. I have cookies in the oven…again. I lost 12 pounds when kidding season fired up last year. Perhaps I will do it again! That’s it…I am storing up energy for that event!

Posted in All In A Day's Time | Tagged NFL, Reflections | 4 Comments »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »