Sunday, June 25th, 2017

Last Thursday I took Madison out for her birthday splurge.  It's a new tradition I am starting with the grandkids.  We give them money.  They give 10% to God, save at least 10%, and then I take them shopping with the rest.  We went to Maddie's Two favorite stores - Claire's (where I forgot to take a picture) and 5 Below.  At Claire's she bought some earrings, and she bought a friendship necklace for she and her best friend.  

At 5 Below she found some lab putty, a lanyard with her name on it, and a handsanitizer and magnet with an emoji that is apparently all the rage.  Silly me, I thought it was chocolate ice cream.

After shopping we went to lunch.  She chose Pixie.  I haven't been there in years.  We sat in the Elvis booth.  Maddie said he creeped her out.  

Usually, when I take the grandkids out for lunch, they have to have milk as their drink, but on birthday splurge day anything goes (almost anything).  She had a blue slushie with her cheeseburger and fries.  

 We ended the day with a visit to the antique store in Shepherd where my friend Shelley works.  Maddie loved walking around and looking at all of the "old stuff."  She was particularly fascinated with the typewriters.

It was a fun day and we both had a good time.

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On Thursday night we had torrential rains.  Ove 30 roads in Isabella county had to be closed due to washouts.  Unlike the flood of 1986, our area was spared the worst damage.  We have water in the basement, but we usually do with a heavy rain.  I couldn't believe the pictures I was seeing on Facebook.  

Today was the Henry Moeggenborg 39th annual reunion.  Thank goodness we had a covered pavillion because, of course, it rained.  Then it got very chilly.  Summer was nice for the 2 days it lasted.  

After the reunion we went down to Nina's so Harold could fix the switch on her water pump.

When we got home I finished making some candles that I had started after church.  I am changing up labels again.  I seem to do that a lot. 

It was a long day.  Tomorrow Claire and Garret are coming down and we are going to work on the garage.  The annual     Pizza Party/Fish Fry bash is fast approaching.

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

I took Meghan and Madison to the shop with me yesterday.  I decided I needed to put them to work so they labeled some bags for me.   

While I was there I got two Etsy orders.  I was out of the Old Red Barn candle so I made a batch.  I love making the grungy candles and most of them have a story behind them.  This is a picture of our barn as it began to burn.  Twenty minutes later it was gone.

Oh my aching back. Spent most of the day in the dungeon trying to get it into some kind of shape. 

I have learned to make a list of things to accomplish because if I look at the whole picture, I get overwhelmed.  First I finished getting all of the fragrance oils organized. That is kind of a big deal because it's too easy not to put them back and then they pile up on the table. I end up ordering oil I don't need because I can't find the bottle (until the order arrives).

Next I started finding a place for things.  That is also key.  When everything has a place, I am much more efficient.  I sorted jar candle lids, candle odds and ends, tart odds and ends.  The average person wouldn't see a difference, but I know I have made progress.

I also needed to do inventory for the shop up town.  I made 2 batches of lavender room spray and collected things I was running short of.  I work there tomorrow.

I packaged up the Apple Jack soap that finished curing last week.  I have started wrapping the soap in tissue paper rather than cello bags.  That serves 2 purposes.  It allows the soap to breathe and it allows the customer to smell it.  Samples are one less thing I have to deal with at craft shows and at the shop.

There is always some overpour with each batch.  I love the goat soap mold.  I do bag these because of their irregular shape.

I got all of my paper work and bill paying finished before heading down to the dungeon.  I still have laundry to fold, Christmas stockings to make, orders to process for shippng, and a bit of quilting to do as my reward..

Thursday, June 15, 2017

Busy day today!  I made two batches of foaming hand soap. We were just about out of both at the store.

Claire and Garrett helped me bake some cookies, but the oven thermostat is wacky and 2 of the batches overbaked.

Made 2 batches of wax melts

I have also been working on a series of Made in Michigan candles.  Hmmmmm, all three involve chocolate.  I am sensing a theme here.

Today's batch was Detroit and the Sanders Ice Cream Shoppe.

Monday was Mackinac Island and Traverse City

I still have 5 stockings to make and 1 stocking for an order.  

Thursday, March 23, 2017

Time has sure gotten away from me - as it always does.  To say I've been busy doesn't even come close.  Since I last wrote, our oldest daughter got married, moved to Midland, acquired two children, changed jobs, sold her house etc.  I know, that is her change, but somehow when life speeds up for our kids, it speeds up for us.  In my case, Kelli and I have now taken over Anna's duties.  Thankfully, the grandgirls are now getting old enough to help.  My biggest challenge through all of this has been learning to get organized.  I am not a naturally organized person, but I do love organization.  

Between the shop up town, the online shop, and craft shows, I am pretty much always making something.  Lately I have been stocking all of our 1/2 pint jar candles.  I finished all 48 scents on Monday.  Now I have to tackle the wax melts.  I also need to get our foaming handsoaps stocked.  I am embarrassed to say that I still have winter hand soaps in the store. 

Soooooo, on the goal docket today are 3 scents of foaming handsoaps and I am going to try and get 4 sets of wax melts done.  We shall see.