19
Jun 13

Who Is Creative

Soap Cutter3I have always had an artistic creative bent. I remember a picture I drew when I was about 4 of our dog. I showed it to my mom and she asked me what all the little dots were and I told her they were the fleas. When I married Dean I didn’t think he had a creative bone in his body. He was stuck at the stick figure stage of art that honestly weren’t as good as the dog I drew when I was 4. But over the years I have realized how wrong I was.  The director of the Handcrafted Soap and Cosmetic Guild had a tour of our shop and was so impressed with all of the inventions Dean had made she asked Dean to speak at their annual conference. When I looked at all the gadgets Dean had thought of to solve problems, that I thought were roadblocks to our growth, I realized just how creative he is. I had always thought of creative as making something pleasing to look at. But looking at a problem and visualizing a tool that you can put together in a way to make it work is way more creative than just looking pretty. Thank you Dean for being a visionary and always proving me wrong when I say it cannot be done.

Who is Creative?  I discovered much to my surprise that Dean is very creative!

Checkout the 3:45 min video of our soap making process.  It  shows many of Dean’s creations.


31
May 13

View From My Window – June 2013

Although I feel blessed to live where we do and watching the seasons and wild life right from my office window, it doesn’t compare with seeing our twin grand babies and our son’s wedding. It was a little overwhelming to have it all happen in ten days, but we are very blessed just the same.

twinsOur grand daughters are, age 4 and 2 are very proud of their baby brother and sister and very loving with them. Faith tells me they are cute.

 

Hal & Jordi 1a

 

We had the pleasure of getting to know our son’s wife Jordi before their wedding. She is sweet and country and a perfect match for Hal. We wish them a life together growing in wisdom and love.


29
Apr 13

View From My Window – May 2013

Alabu Skin Care - three goatsSad goat news this month, you may notice there is one less goat in the photos. Our older wether, Suds, took sick. We noticed he wasn’t hungry and it was very hard for him to keep up with the herd. We nursed him the best we could but he stopped eating and drinking and stayed in the barn. Eventually we made the hard decision to euthanize him. It is always so hard to know when it is time to give up trying to nurse them back to health because you are only prolonging their suffering; you know they aren’t going to get better.  I’m sure we made the right decision, even though I’m not happy about it. So it goes with life on the farm.


17
Apr 13

We are what we smell?

Aromatherapy - Rabbit and Skunk

 

Here is a recent article in Scientific American. As I read this I thought of its implications to Aromatherapy. It gives anecdotal support to the effectiveness of Aromatherapy. The aroma from Essential oils has long been used in healing and to help change your state of mind. Here is some research that finds that scents can instill emotions.


01
Apr 13

View From My Window – April 2013

Blue BirdThe view from my window looks like we are still in mid-winter, except for seeing some of my favorite birds, like bluebirds. Most of them migrate south for the winter, but they have been coming to cheer me up lately. I have also seen a few red winged black birds, my mother- in- law always said they were a sure sign of spring. And then there are the critters in the barn. When Spring comes they all start shedding their winter coats which makes them all itchy and scratchy. The goats favorite response is too rub up against the stall walls. But Caddy likes the fence. He leans up against it and pushes against it back and forth up and down the length  of the fence. When I go out to take care of them I see his hair on the ground all along the fence. That’s how I know Spring is here even though the weather isn’t too convincing.