Happy New Year!

It's been almost a month since I last posted! And that's the last time I've made soap. That will change come tomorrow morning. My New Year's resolution is to make a lot of soaps now so I'll be ready for the spring shows and the farmers' market season starting. Then when it's time to work in my garden, I'll have more time to devote to tilling, planting, and caring for it. Last Spring, it rained so much that the garden was too wet or it was raining so that I couldn't work in it. Or I got a call to substitute teach on the "nice" days and I hated to turn them down. So, I was late in putting in half of my garden and the other half didn't get planted because I was busy making soaps and attending all of the markets. But don't think I'm complaining. I had a very good year with my soaps. I gained more customers and regulars came back to for more of my goat milk soaps and I'm looking forward to more of the same this year.

Back on the gardening topic, I usually start receiving seed and garden catalogs around Christmastime. This year I actually received one the week of Thanksgiving! Received a couple of new ones this year; however, I'll probably only order from my 2 favorite catalogs and buy the rest of my seeds/plants at the local feed store and from some of my market vendors.

Backtracking a bit....My family and I had a good Christmas. My sister and her family, who live in GA, came home to visit. My other sister lives in the area, but I didn't get to see her over the holidays. We visited over the telephone. Watched my kids and their Sunday School perform their Christmas program, which was very nice for a small group. Spent Christmas Day with my in-laws for the first time in many years. In the past we celebrated Christmas at their house on a different day because we've always had to pick up my oldest daughter from her father and it was too late in the day to drive for 3 hours, eat Christmas Dinner and leave right away so we could get home to do the evening chores: feeding animals and milking the goats. Last year my father-in-law said he wanted Christmas on Christmas Day this year, so that's what we did.

I did finally finish my Christmas sewing projects. I had bought Christmas fabric to sew aprons for my mom and sisters' gifts. I have enough leftover to make an apron for my oldest daughter, when I get around to it. She'll have to use it for next Christmas.

The temps here are COLD!!!! Have to go out several times a day to thaw the chickens', rabbits', and goats' waters. Hubby will not be riding his motorcycle to work this week! Weatherman says there's a chance of snow in middle of the week. I'm tired of winter!!! I'll have to remember this cold when I'm sick and tired of the heat and humidity in August.

Well, the kids go back to school tomorrow and hubby goes back to work. And I'll go back to making goat milk soaps, with Lavender, Castile and Coffee soaps at the top of my to-make list.

Lots Going on at Patchwork Acres

Gee, I'm not blogging very often, am I?  What's happened since I last wrote.....well, our big news is that we have twin baby goats, a buck and a doe, born the day before we left for Chicago.  I thought they might wait to arrive while we were gone.  They are beautiful and look very much like their sire...black and white with a little brown.  My son's goat is due next.  The poor thing grunts and groans as she moves around and even while laying down.  Anyway, it's great to again have goat milk to drink and to save for my soap making.  In fact, after I finish blogging, I will make yogurt and buttermilk.  Have to have buttermilk to make cheese and my family and I love fresh yogurt with fruit and granola cereal.  

Hubby and I drove to Chicago for our oldest daughter's college graduation.  That is the most memorable graduation I have ever attended.  It was cold and it rained and the graduation ceremony was held outdoors, rain or shine.  I didn't bring a jacket, though we had Hubby's umbrella with us.  University staff handed out emergency rain ponchos for the graduates and their guests.  I bought a colorful, Mexican blanket at a gas station on our way into Chicago that I used as a shawl.   The rain eventually stopped before the end of the ceremony; but we were sitting under a tree and it dripped on us for a while.  We were surprised by how many people were standing up during the graduation ceremony, thus blocking our view.  I was thinking that we drove all that way to see our daughter graduate, then I'd better be able to see her walk across the stage.  Hubby finally asked one woman who was standing up if she'd mind moving because we couldn't see.  She did move, but I don't think she was too happy.  We could hear a few people behind us talking..."yeah, that guy asked her to move.   We can see now."  Hubby and I aren't fond of  big cities and we were glad to see Chicago in our rear view mirror.  We're happy to be back home in rural MO.  And a big thanks to my in-laws, who stayed with the kids while Hubby and I were in Chicago.  The kids don't get to see this set of grandparents as often as they'd like and they all enjoyed spending time together.  The kids will get to spend a week with Grandma and Gramps later in the summer before school starts again.

Last week was very uncomfortable with high temperatures and high humidity.  Heat advisories were out for much of the area for several days.  (I'm not looking forward to seeing our electric bill.)  The first hour of the last Tuesday's farmers' market was miserable until the sun started setting and a few clouds came in.  The breeze would blow a little and that helped a lot.  

Yesterday was nice, though warm, with low humidity.  Hubby, son, and I worked on cleaning up the spot for our new portable garage which will serve as our new hay shed.  It's nice again today.  My son worked down at the barn.  He was supposed to finish cleaning so we can start putting up the new hay shed.  I spent some much needed time this morning out in my garden weeding tomatoes until it was too hot.   I have jalapeno peppers ready, so it's time to get out the pepper jelly recipe!  Yum, yum!

Younger daughter isn't home this week.  She's on a servant event trip with the youth group from our church.  They went to North Carolina this year.  When she called she said the area/mountains were beautiful!

And of course, I'm still making soaps to fill my customer order.  The soaps for the B&B will be ready by next week.   I think I will next make goat milk soap with Dead Sea clay in it.  That is one of my favorite soaps and it's one needed for my customer order.  Plus, my supply for the markets is low. 

My son loves fruit pies and I made a delicious strawberry pie this week.  He and I finished it for dessert after lunch today.  Hmmm, what to make next.....maybe a blackberry, blueberry, and strawberry pie?  Sounds good to me!

So with that said, I should go for now!

May is almost over!

Well, I've been so busy that I've not posted in a while again.  Since my last blog, we spent the weekend of May 16 & 17  at Ironton, MO's Arcadia Valley Mountain Music Festival.  We always enjoy spending time there.  Arcadia Valley is very beautiful and full of history, such as nearby  Fort Davidson, a Civil War site with a museum and the original groundworks.  Anyway, the music festival was great!  There were numerous bands on 2 stages, several food vendors (with funnel cakes!!!!!), and various other vendors, which included me and my goat milk soaps.  Saturday was much colder than I remembered the weatherman predicting.  I didn't bring my spinning wheel on Saturday, but I did bring it on Sunday.  Met a teacher from a school in the area who asked if I did spinning demonstrations at schools.  I told her I did if I was invited.  So we gave her my business card and she will be in touch when it's closer to the time her school has their Fall Festival.  One thing we always enjoy about visiting Ironton is that we eat supper at Bailey Joe's BBQ.  They have the most delicious BBQ pork and their Cherry BBQ sauce is so good we have to buy a few bottles to take home with us!

The next weekend we spent in Cape Girardeau at the Southeast MO Meat Goat Association's Goat Show in Arena Park.  Even though we raise diary goats, we enjoyed watching the goat show and learned a lot.  We sold some goat milk soaps and we got to enjoy goat burgers, goat brats, and smoked goat meat.  Yum! Yum!

Because of the rain we keep receiving, I haven't finished putting out my garden yet.  I have all my tomato plants, but 7 out.  I still need to plant corn, different squashes, pumpkin, okra, cucumbers, sweet peppers, watermelon, Oriental eggplants, more lettuce, and some herbs. 

Tomorrow I will make another batch of  yogurt and then will pick some spinach and an onion from the garden to make fresh spinach dip.  More yummy stuff!  I'm looking forward to our goats having their babies so we have goat milk to make yogurt, buttermilk, and cheese.  I've been using store-bought cow's milk to make my yogurt for now; and while it's good, we enjoy the goat milk so much more.

All of my farmers' markets are open for business now.  And after 5 weeks of attending other events, I was finally back at the Bollinger County Farmers' Market this last Saturday.  It rained, even though the weatherman said it wouldn't until the afternoon.  Attendance was down a bit and most of the vendors left early because of the rain.  

The kids will start Summer School tomorrow.  I will make soap, wrap soap, work in the garden and run to town to buy feed and deliver Avon.  So I'd better get off the computer and bag up the Avon and get supper ready.