Ode to my girl, Freedom

Its been a year.

10 years ago, I met one of my best friends. 

 She came all the way up to the Yukon from Georgia.

Although her previous best friend loved her so,
life made it that he felt she had to go live with someone else...

He asked me if I'd adopt her cus me and her were already buddies.

 Without a thought, I agreed.

She was a special girl, I knew right away.  

With her buddies: 

 Everywhere I went, she was with me.

Up North, West coast, Prairies, in restaurants, cars, couches, moving from home to home,

...she was the one constant.

She was my princess.

rip pin around with mom.

The strange sleeping/sitting positions this dog had:

she'd get almost right under that pot bellied wood stove!!  loved heat.

here she's imitating how humans sit on couches

aaaah yes, feet up, life's a beach!



I miss this kid.

She died in mid November 2011

Snowy Owl:

The night she was dying, during the little sleep that I did get, I dreamed of a snowy owl.   It was a friend.  It was MAGESTIC, beautyful and a little bit scary. One of those dreams that feels SO real that you can smell and feel everything even after you wake up, you feel like you were truly there.

She's buried in the hills, on the edge of a tiny poplar forest.  

As Kieth dropped his tractor's bucket to dig the hole for her in the most calm, serene spot
in the hills of southern Saskatchewan, 

a great snowy owl stretched its wings and slowy, majestically flew away from its home 

directly above the spot.

He turned to ask me if that spot would do...

yes, it would.

Love you, my girl. 

Always.

Soap

and here's the soap line up for this year!!  

Ready for the Treasure's of home trade show this weekend

Citrus Patchouli

Mocha Oats

Lavender Rose Garden

Grease Monkey!

For the Mechanic in your life.

Mint - T - Tree

Coconut Cream

Only made from real coconut products! no Scents.

Calendula

or "Baby Skin"

The purest bar 

one more batch ready for cutting...

here i go to cut!

Its a winter storm today!  

the first real batch of snow we've seen yet. 

I like winter!!

prepping Salves & teas for trade show

Exciting news!!

I am doing a big trade show!!  

BIg for me, anyways.  

More expensive tables and lots of traffic!!

I am so pumped to actually SELL stuff this time.

I did a trade show last weekend in a tiny little town called Lake Alma, 

which the 35 residents call L.A.

sold a few things, but more importantly, I got most of my stuff ready for the upcoming shows.

And had a fun day visiting and trading!

Here's the Tea lid stamps.

potato stamps worked well last year, so I'm not gonna change it!

 ready for market

 Stickering stickering

 

Here's the colorful tea.

Its healthy, yummy and refreshing too!

Then the Calendula Salve

The consistency is better this batch.  I know how much beeswax to use now!

Its tricky to get it right.

I am so happy with how the stickers turned out!!  

Got them done at the local newspaper.

New this year is a Herbal Vapor rub!  

 

Eucalyptus,  wintergreen, spearmint... things like that -

And enough oils to have that cooling, soothing effect.

 Stickering is the fun part.

As are all the other parts.

More prepping posts to come!!

Halloweeeeen!

Attie LOVED haloween this year! It was pretty fun for us too,
to get back into the spirit of childhood!

~ Gratitude Sunday ~

{Sunday's heartfelt tradition. A time to slow down, to reflect, to be grateful. A list of gratitudes.} 

*
If you would like to join us, see below. 

Our gratefulness feeds one another. 

*

*  This Sunday, I am Grateful that I find myself here, doing a grateful post...  

Its easy to forget what is so very right in the world. 

*  First of all, I am grateful for my darling, Steve.   He's been going thru a very intensive transistion which is having a joyously positive effect on our household!

*  I'm grateful for the freezer full of beef and deer meat.  Beef given from my dad and deer brought in by my darling. 

*  Also grateful for Garden goodness:  the jars of tomatoes, salsa, pickles...  Stored Squash, pumpkins, potatoes and carrots that are squirreled away away downstairs for us to enjoy this winter. 

*  We are fed even when times are tough.

* Perhaps it sounds cliche, but I am ever grateful for our safety and feel for those who live in war or hurricane torn areas on this earth.  

*  I am grateful for the snow!  We've been waiting for the white stuff to play in.  I love how the crisp air feels in my lungs  :0)

*  I'm grateful to be so close to my family - 5 hours drive is far better than a 4 day drive how it used to be when we lived in the Yukon!  

* For the communities getting together today in Lake Alma for a good old trade show!  Visits with friends and meeting new people.  

* People (at trade shows)  who like to do tradesies with me and my soaps, Salves and Teas!  I'd prefer home made perogies, fresh garden salsa and lefse to money any day!!

* I'm grateful to the skilled woman down at the local newspaper for making all my labels - and especially for staying late on a Friday night, to do some last minute work...  My printer and everything else was working against me and I just could NOT print the simplest label. 

* So grateful and proud of my Attie for finally peein and pooing on the potty almost all the time!!

* glad that the sweet baby found her thumb so she can sooth herself some of the time.

*And that she smiles at us a lot!  It melts my heart.

* grateful as I remember last year at this time, when I lost my dearest girl, Freedom (my dog and traveling partner of 7 years).  The caring and kind help I received from friends.  Escorting us to a beautyful spot in the hills for her final napping place...  

Bless you dear Freedom. You're always at my side.

* I'm SO grateful for my neighbor next door who was cleaning out her wonderful sewing basement and gave me so much fabric, including a whole bunch of felted sweaters (!!!)  so I might make mitts for my family and to earn some income!!

* I am grateful as I pay the bills - that my house is warm, that I have light - even in the night time when the world is dark, that we have water flowing from the tap, shower and washing machine to make life easy, internet to keep connected with the world, phones to be connected with eachother...

* I'm grateful for Taryn for reminding me how awesome I have it!!