Saturday, September 24, 2011 - Deerfield Park Trail Run Day

Today Anna and I ran the Deerfield Park Trail Run.  I wish this picture had turned out better.  Ugh!

It was a beautiful course!!  We were told not to expect a personal best on this course because of the hills, but I beat my personal best.

About 5 minutes into the race I was the last person.  Not unusual for me.  So I prayed the rosary the first 15 minutes and then listened to a podcast for the remainder of the run.  About 1/2 hour into the race I passed a little girl and her aunt.  I hated to do it, but, well, I did it.  The scenery along this trail was absolutely gorgeous and the weather was perfect - just chilly enough to make you want to move.  After the 5K we stopped in at a store in Mount P. that carries a few of our things.  I was pleased to see that some of my soap sold.  That will help put a teeny dent into our negative cash flow going into the fall shows.  A very teeny dent.  I logged onto facebook a while ago and the shopowner messaged me about ordering some Christmas soaps.  Whoo hoo.

I did a soap swap recently with Claire from Beautiful Bubbles.  Claire is from the UK and I absolutely love to listen to her videos.  I received her box the other day and her soaps are so wonderful.  Look her up on YouTube.




Word of the day:
Saturday of the Twenty-fifth week in Ordinary Time
Feast of the Church : Our Lady of Mercy
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 9:43b-45.

And all were astonished by the majesty of God. While they were all amazed at his every deed, he said to his disciples,
Pay attention to what I am telling you. The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.
But they did not understand this saying; its meaning was hidden from them so that they should not understand it, and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Been busy trying not to stress out the last couple of days.  Nothing helps me do that like making a batch of soap - and as luck would have it, we still need a couple of batches for the shows this fall.  Last night's therapy session was Cranberry and Spiced Fig. 

I also worked on Christmas stockings. We have been getting orders early again this year. We are at 44 stockings for the season and we got 9 orders yesterday so today will be spent working on those.

Later, Clay and Claire are coming over to help me finish decorating for fall. First we will be going for a run with Aunt Anna because she and I are running a 5K tomorrow.

Word of the day:
Friday of the Twenty-fifth week in Ordinary Time
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 9:18-22.

Once when Jesus was praying in solitude, and the disciples were with him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say that I am?"
They said in reply, "John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, 'One of the ancient prophets has arisen.'"
Then he said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter said in reply, "The Messiah of God."
He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone.
He said, "The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised."

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

I have tons to do today. I got behind on my soapmaking so I have a couple of Christmas soaps that have to be done this week. I also have a couple of stocking orders to get out. But I just could not resist making one of these little guys. I'm calling him Frosty.  Hahahaha.  I am so imaginative.  He is available for $25.00 on our website

As usual, we are heading into the fall craft shows in debt.  It's not quite as bad as last year, though, because I invested a lot in primitive snowman tealights.  The $5.00 teacher gift items like the ones below seem to sell very well at some craft shows.

  I prefer all of our inventory to be handmade by us, but it doesn't always work out that way.  I am running low on container wax and pillar wax - both need to be ordered as soon as money comes in.  We are also going to have to re-think our budget and by we, I mean me.  LOL!

Word of the day:
Saint Matthew, apostle and evangelist - Feast
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 9:9-13.

As Jesus passed by, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post. He said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed him.
While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples.
The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"
He heard this and said, "Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.
Go and learn the meaning of the words, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' I did not come to call the righteous but sinners."

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Tuesday's batch of Peppermint soap turned out fantastic. My whole work area smells wonderful! I garnished the top with pip berries and some red pods that I had.  There are chunks of peppermint soap embedded in the loaves.  I cant wait for this to cure!!

Ooooooh, our Christmas Stocking ad is out in Country Sampler!  You can see it here.

On a sad note, I found out last night that one of our elder parishioners passed away.  She lived alone, but we have some wonderful men in our parish who maintained her lawn and checked in on her.  I remember her face the night she was baptized at Easter vigil.  I don't think she ever stopped glowing.  She was one of our lectors and despite her small size, she had a vibrant, rich voice.  We will miss her!

Word of the day:
Our Lady of Sorrows - Memorial
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 19:25-27.

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son."
Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother."
And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

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.

Battle Hymn of the Republic

9/11 tribute - amazing grace

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Madison and Meghan were here today. When Madison is here, she always checks the spot where I set new soap and she discovered a new batch of Honey, Oats, and Milk. She loves to hold a cupcake and sniff it. It's very comical because she does this many times during the morning. This morning she went home with another couple of bath fizzies to share with Meghan Mae and a packet of peanut M&Ms to share with Mama and Daddy.

                                     
I cut yesterday's batch of Cider Mill and I'm planning to make some Pumpkin Spice soap later today. The house smells sooooooo good right now.  Here is the cider mill.  It looks a bit different from the last batch.

             

Word of the day:
Wednesday of the Twenty-third week in Ordinary Time
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 6:20-26.

And raising his eyes toward his disciples he said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours.
Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man.
Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way.
But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
But woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep.
Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

We got some exciting news yesterday and in a sense, the fact that it was on Labor Day is kind of ironic.  LOL!  Nina and Jamie are expecting a baby at the end of April.  They've waited a long time for this.  I am very excited for them AND I am not worrying.  (Nina, are you reading this?)  LOL!

Now that school has started I will have a schedule adjustment.  There is RCIA tonight so I will be going out for my run in a few minutes.  I had mass with the kids this morning and yesterday was Labor Day so I will have the girls on Wednesday and Thursday.  We've been having problems with the sound system so after I got dinner on for Harold and Howard, I went up to meet with the technician.  I think hope we have the problem solved.  Before going up town, I managed to get a stocking made.  I have a batch of five knitted and ready to sew up so I can ship them by Thursday.

After I got home from church for the 2nd time today, I made a batch of Cider Mill soap.  This time I put pip berries on the cupcakes.  I love the way they look so I put some on the batch I made yesterday too.  Yesterday's batch was Honey, Oats, and Milk because I managed to drop the last batch all over the basement floor.  Arggghhhhh!  Below are pics of today's batch of soap.

I have two more batches to make this week - pumpkin spice and apple jack, but first I have to measure some more oils.  The fall soaps need to be done this week so there is time for them to cure before our fall shows.

Word of the day:
Tuesday of the Twenty-third week in Ordinary Time
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 6:12-19.
Jesus departed to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God.
When day came, he called his disciples to himself, and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named apostles:
Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called a Zealot,
and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
And he came down with them and stood on a stretch of level ground. A great crowd of his disciples and a large number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon
came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured.
Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him because power came forth from him and healed them all.

Cutting Honey Oats and Milk Goat Milk Soap

I cut the Honey Oats and Milk this morning and the whole house smells wonderful.
Haha, I just noticed that the cuckoo clock was going. I didn't even notice it at the time.

Friday of the Twenty-first week in Ordinary Time
Saint(s) of the day : St. Zephyrinus, Pope and Martyr († 217)
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 25:1-13.

Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
Five of them were foolish and five were wise.
The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them,
but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps.
Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
At midnight, there was a cry, 'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!'
Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps.
The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'
But the wise ones replied, 'No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.'
While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. Then the door was locked.
Afterwards the other virgins came and said, 'Lord, Lord, open the door for us!'
But he said in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.'
Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

Making Honey, Oats,and Milk Cold Process Goat Milk Soap

I am still queasy about seeing myself on video, but in the interest of showing the soapmaking process, I put aside my misgivings.

Thursday of the Twenty-first week in Ordinary Time
Saint(s) of the day : St. Louis, King of France (1215-1270)
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 24:42-51.

Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.
Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into.
So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.
Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household to distribute to them their food at the proper time?
Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so.
Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property.
But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is long delayed,'
and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eat and drink with drunkards,
the servant's master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour
and will punish him severely and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.

 

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."

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Whew! Been a long day!
Started with my two little sweeties, Madison and Meghan.  I am not allowed to get Meghan's bottle ready.  That is Madison's self-appointed task.  She gets very huffy if I do it.

After they went home I checked my email and found a large order of soaps, bath fizzies, and 2 small electric pip grubbies from Carol M.  I hand-pour those to order, but I have only one mold so I got on that right away. The pip grubby mold holds about a pound of wax so each one needs about 6 hours in the mold before I can take it out. Both are poured now.  Tomorrow I will insert the silicone bulb and cord.  I also ran short of the peach bath fizzies so I made a batch of those.  I had an order for a Christmas stocking so that is made and ready to ship out tomorrow.  I'll drop Carol's order off when I go to the post office.  I also made a dozen autumn nightlights.  It was a productive day.  :)



Word of the day:
Monday of the Twenty-first week in Ordinary Time
Feast of the Church : The Queenship of Mary - Memorial
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 23:13-22.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You lock the kingdom of heaven before human beings. You do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You traverse sea and land to make one convert, and when that happens you make him a child of Gehenna twice as much as yourselves.
Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'If one swears by the temple, it means nothing, but if one swears by the gold of the temple, one is obligated.'
Blind fools, which is greater, the gold, or the temple that made the gold sacred?
And you say, 'If one swears by the altar, it means nothing, but if one swears by the gift on the altar, one is obligated.'
You blind ones, which is greater, the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
One who swears by the altar swears by it and all that is upon it;
one who swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it;
one who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who is seated on it.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

I unmolded my Fairy Tales soaps.  The minis were really hard to unmold.  I had to put them in the freezer.

 This song has been running through my mind all day.  LOL!  Makes me think of my dad who loved Frank Sinatra (except Dad's voice was even better.)  I grew up with scratchy 78s and the cool 45s



Oh, it looks really nasty out.  It is as dark as dusk and the air smells damp.  There is a cool breeze coming in the back door and it is thundering and lightening.  Harold and Howard are over at Anna's and they were working on the roof.  My guess is that they are done for the day.  I sure hope this gets it out of its system before the 5k tonight.

Well, the power just went out - you can feel that the air is lighter now that the humidity is dropping.  The storm is moving east so I am  hopeful about tonight.

Word of the day:
Saturday of the Twentieth week in Ordinary Time
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 23:1-12.

Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples,
saying, "The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses.
Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice.
They tie up heavy burdens (hard to carry) and lay them on people's shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them.
All their works are performed to be seen. They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.
They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues,
greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation 'Rabbi.'
As for you, do not be called 'Rabbi.' You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers.
Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven.
Do not be called 'Master'; you have but one master, the Messiah.
The greatest among you must be your servant.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.