Thursday, May 1, 2014

Happy May Day everyone! As I write this, it is 42 degrees outside. Gotta love Michigan. I have been super busy the last few months. Since I am a church musician when I'm not making soap, candles, rugs, stockings, fudge, or lamps, April was especially busy. Easter, you know, the busiest time in the church. Add to that additional grandkid time and something had to give - blogging. We had the Shepherd Maple Syrup Festival last weekend and our little Claire competed in the Princess pageant. Here she is hamming it up on the parade float with one of her friends. She's the one on the left.



So now it's time to gear up for making soap for the Girls on the Run race bags. So far I have 87 soaps done out of the 650 that I need to do. Also, I did 4 batches of Apple Jack and Peel soap for a barn wedding. This is the third request I have had to make soap for weddings. Must be a new trend.



I've also started making tin can lamps. I absolutely love them!! These are timer lamps. Some are electric and some are battery. They glow for 8 hours and then automatically turn themselves off for 16 hours. Then they turn back on.













In February I had surgery on my hand for carpal tunnel. That slowed me down for a couple of weeks, but I am back to making rugs



This summer I plan to get back to quilting. I have missed that so much. The problem is, there are too many things I love to do and not enough time to them.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

It's been a while so I thought I'd better update.  October 15 is my annual traditional "start thinking about Christmas" day.  (December 15th is my annual  "wish I'd started October 15th day")

Anyway, things have been hopping here at the Sugar Bush.  The grandkids keep us all busy.  The guys have started the fall harvest, and we are two shows into our fall craft show schedule.  We continue to be blessed by wonderful support from our customers.

The stocking orders are starting to pour in and it's a challenge to keep on top of them.  (A good challenge, to be sure.)

This year we have been experimenting with different fudge flavors - Kit Kat Crunch, Peppermint Patty, Snicker! Snicker!.  (Shown is the Snicker! Snicker!)

 I have yet to make the pink peppermint yet, but speaking of peppermint, I made a batch of peppermint soap last night.  I am chomping at the bit to cut and see the pretty swirls inside.  But when I went to put it on the cutter, it felt soft so I will wait.  I did unmold the overpour, though.

Madison has started pre-school so Meghan is now becoming my Sugar Bush helper.  She is unpackaging all of the bulbs for my lamps.  I ordered her Sugar Bush tee shirt.  She is very excited.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

First of all - Happy Father's Day to all of the fathers, father figures, Godfathers, etc out there.  I hope your day is wonderful!

After last week's batch of Lavender and Lemongrass, I was itching to do a re-make on a lot of our soaps. (Maybe itching isn't the best word to use).  I actually made 4 batches of soap last week.  I normally make soap on Mondays, but because warm humid weather is approaching, and because we do not have central air, I decided to make soap while the sun didn't shine - so to speak.

 I noticed that I was almost out of Lemongrass - so I made a batch of that:

Then I discovered I was almost out of Country Roads  - so I made a batch of that.  

Actually, I made a batch of this a couple of weeks ago and the colors bled and morphed.  Good soap, but not terribly pretty.  I was thrilled with the way this batch turned out.

My Lavender stock was dangerously low (it's always dangerously low) - so I made a batch of that.  

I was so excited by how this turned out that I had to try an idea I've had in mind for a while.

So - I made one more batch.  I'm calling this one Americana.  It  got a lot of attention on our Facebook page.  Now I have a ton of ideas swirling in my head for some special edition Christmas soaps.

I have also been experimenting with different flavors of fudge.  We have added Snicker! Snicker! to our line.    Made with peanuts and caramel bits, that one disappeared pretty quickly.  



Next was a fudge inspired by Heath Bars.  This one has almonds and toffee bits.  We had a contest on our Facebook page and the winning name was Almond Toffee Delight. 



 I want to do a pink peppermint fudge for Fall and Christmas which will have some of those soft peppermints ground up in it. Then there will be a Peppermint Patty fudge which will have Junior Mints in it.  Now I am getting bombarded with other ideas from several people.  I have this summer to finalize all of this and then in September we start getting orders for Christmas Stockings. (Which we have been working on since January)  

October starts our Fall craft shows and we have added two more to the four we usually do.  And to add to the fun, we are having a change in leadership at our parish (where I work when I'm not playing with grandkids or making soap, fudge, candles, and rugs.).  Not only will we have a new priest, but for the first time in my time at the church, we will have a man as our business manager.  Lots of changes ahead.  

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Well, our first craft show of the season is behind us. I'm always a little nervous about the first one - mainly because it is the furthest one away, and a bit hard to read. The rest of our shows are in this area where people know us. We did see some familiar faces yesterday and we are getting to know the Carson City regulars so that makes it fun. We didn't take as much to this one, but we still did better than the two previous years. It's funny because my soap just doesn't sell in Carson City, but the primitives do very well. The pantry side of the business isn't quite as high there either. But our last two shows of the season pretty much leave all of our inventory depleted.  We have some very faithful supporters and they help us keep going. Each venue has its own personality and it is a challenge to decide what we will take to each show.

We got quite a few stocking orders the last few days. I did these this week, but still have about 10 to go in the batch. We are at over a hundred already which is good. I was a little worried about how these would sell since so many people are tightening their belts these days. Here is part of this week's batch of stockings.

 It's fun to be a part of so many families' Christmas!

Word of the day:
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Saint(s) of the day : St. John of Capistrano, Priest (1386-1456)
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 22:34-40.

When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together,
and one of them (a scholar of the law) tested him by asking,
Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?
He said to him, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Madison and Meghan were here today and they helped me with the fall decorations.  I could not get Madison to smile.  She is holding an artificial fall mum and taking her job very seriously.

It's been a busy but productive week and a half. I have upped my soapmaking schedule to 4 days a week so I can get all of our seasonal soaps cured before the craft shows. So far I have made Pumpkin Spice, Apple Jack 'n Peel, Vanilla, Honey Oats and Milk, and last night I made Sugar Plum Fairy. I put heart embeds in the loaf. I've never done embeds before. The hearts were from the batch of Fairy Tales I made a few weeks ago. I am pretty pleased with how the Sugar Plum Fairy turned out.

Last Sunday, I sang at a 9/11 Mass of Remembrance down at the Cathedral. There were about 350 people there.  Most of the people I knew had been there earlier for the Commissioning Mass and left shortly after I arrived.  In the video below I am singing at the very end and the song is chopped up because the videographer is trying to capture different scenes.

 


Word of the day:
Tuesday of the Twenty-fourth week in Ordinary Time
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 7:11-17.

Soon afterward he journeyed to a city called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd accompanied him.
As he drew near to the gate of the city, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the city was with her.
When the Lord saw her, he was moved with pity for her and said to her, "Do not weep."
He stepped forward and touched the coffin; at this the bearers halted, and he said, "Young man, I tell you, arise!"
The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.
Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, exclaiming, "A great prophet has arisen in our midst," and "God has visited his people."
This report about him spread through the whole of Judea and in all the surrounding region.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

The Viet Nam war was the war of my childhood.  It was a highly unpopular war and the servicemen who survived it arrived home to find more battles to fight.  It was a sad, sad time in American history no matter what side of the aisle you happened to be on.  Harold's brother, Lenard Moeggenborg was one who did not make it back. Today is the anniversary of his journey back to God.

It is also the anniversary of the death of another brother-in-law, Richard Packer, and of our last baby - Joseph Lewis.

Today I packed up a rather large order which included two of our small pip grubbies.  I love to make these!

These were scented with Peppermint and they smell wonderful!!  I delivered the order to the school and ran into several former co-workers.  I love Shepherd.  It is a beautiful little town.  As someone who comes from the big city, I find it wonderful to have such a beautiful place in my life.  After dropping Carol's order off at the school, I stopped that the bank and the post office.  It is rare that I go to Shepherd and don't run into at least 2 or 3 relatives. 

We received another stocking order off of Etsy today.  That makes 4 this week.  I can only wonder what September, October, and November will bring.

We are considering doing another show in October next year.  This is one we've done before, but we have learned a lot about craft shows and feel that we could really do well if we were to go there again.

Word of the day:
Saint Bartholomew, apostle - Feast
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 1:45-51.

Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth."
But Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, "Here is a true Israelite. There is no duplicity in him."
Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree."
Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."
Jesus answered and said to him, "Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this."
And he said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see the sky opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Today was a "putter" day.  Madison and Meghan were here for a bit while Sam and Kelli went to a funeral for Kelli's great-grandma.  Meghan took a nap and after she woke up, Madison wanted to go on the front porch and sit on the swing.  So we did.  We watched cars go by, we heard birds squawking, Madison rang the dinner bell and threw a ball around the yard.  The guys were gone for dinner so it was just a fun kind of lazy morning.  After the girls went home, I shredded up a batch of lard and lye soap to put into our homemade laundry soap kits.  A salad shooter sure makes the job a lot easier.

I also measured out oils for 4 more batches of soap.  Tomorrow I will be doing a batch of Fairy Tales.  I have some bars left so I will concentrate on cupcakes, itty bitty bars, and perhaps some mini cupcakes.  (tee hee, Deb)

After I measured the oils, I packaged up some laundry soap kits, made a couple of stockings, and then baked the batch of cookies I mixed up yesterday.

Went for a short run tonight and just finished cooking up a batch of liquid laundry soap.
Time for bed.

Word of the day:
Thursday of the Twentieth week in Ordinary Time
Saint(s) of the day : St. Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga, Priest (1901-1952)
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 22:1-14.

Jesus again in reply spoke to them in parables, saying,
The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.
He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come.
A second time he sent other servants, saying, 'Tell those invited: "Behold, I have prepared my banquet, my calves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the feast."'
Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business.
The rest laid hold of his servants, mistreated them, and killed them.
The king was enraged and sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.
Then he said to his servants, 'The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come.
Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.'
The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests.
But when the king came in to meet the guests he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment.
He said to him, 'My friend, how is it that you came in here without a wedding garment?' But he was reduced to silence.
Then the king said to his attendants, 'Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.'
Many are invited, but few are chosen."

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Well, I finally got to make soap last night. I made Pumpkin Spice (sorry Deb). I make our Autumn soaps in the summer because our craft show season is insane starting with late September (when the stocking orders begin to roll in too.) I upped the goat milk on this. The lye concentration was 6.5 ounces of water and 16 ounces of goat milk. I put the batch in the refrigerator to keep it from gelling. I took it out this morning and it is really oily. I can't tell if the zap I am getting is from lye or fragrance oil. We shall see. The soap began to heat up a bit after I got it out of the refrigerator. I used no coloring, but swirled it with a cocoa powder mixture. I have used this in bar soap but it did not turn this gorgeous shade of orange. Perhaps the oven processing made a difference in the bars. I love the way these turned out. I am hoping the the moisture really is oil and not something else. Time will definitely tell.

Word of the day:
Saturday of the Sixth week of Easter
Saint(s) of the day : St. Francis Caracciolo, Priest & Co-Founder of Congregation (1563-1608)
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 16:23b-28.

On that day you will not question me about anything. Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.
Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.
I have told you this in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures but I will tell you clearly about the Father.
On that day you will ask in my name, and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you.
For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God.
I came from the Father and have come into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father."