glass scrub jars

So much for not posting this week! I was too excited about this find not to mention it. I'm not a fan of plastic in general, although I do recognize its many convenience and sanitary benefits. I've been looking for short, wide glass jars to put scrubs in for ages, and happened upon these ones at the grocery store with Phillip this morning! A plastic one-piece lid would be ideal (I know what I just said, but metal rusts in the shower) but these look great! Now that I look closely at them, I wonder if the coating might resist rust? I'll try it out. I don't yet make scrubs and such to sell, but I do give them as gifts and make them for myself. I might start selling them if people are interested... any local people who might be interested? Just out of curiosity.

wedgeport craft fair

-- from knittinging - (?)

Thanks so much to everyone for coming out to today's craft fair! And a special thanks to Ingrid and Blogless Annie for helping with everything and spending your day with me. For the scoop on today's craft fair, check out my post on my other blog, here. Thanks so much!

We'll be on vacation for a week or so, so there will most likely be little to no posting this week. I'll be back with lots (and an update to my Etsy shop) next week! Happy July!

free soap for blog readers!

Here are some of the sets I've put together for tomorrow's craft fair. And I have a special treat for blog readers! Come on out to the Wedgeport Fire Hall tomorrow between 9:30 and 3-ish, tell me that you read my blog, and you can have two free bars of soap from my Bits and Pieces Basket! This basket is full of end bars (the slices off of either end of a soap log) and soap which just didn’t turn out as perfectly as I had hoped, but is still perfectly useable and lovely. So come on out and get your free soap!

garlic curls and 'thank you' from Phillip

Did you know that garlic grows these lovely curly tops? We've never grown garlic before, so this was a pleasant surprise.
Some water droplets stuck around on the pea vines this evening.
A bug sniffed the peonies,
And this is what Adam spent a bunch of his day working on.

I spent much of the day getting gift sets together for Sunday's craft fair (none of them are completely wrapped yet, but all of them are almost there) and hanging out with Phillip. He's one heck of a cute baby, you know. And polite, too!

well, naturally update

I called my credit card company this morning, and they are in the process of completing a charge-back to Well Naturally. See here for the details, if you missed the story. This involves them sending me a statement which I have to sign, attesting to the fact that I paid for goods which have not been received, which I then send back to them and the credit is made to my card. What a hassle, but here's the great news - the Well Naturally site is down! Hopefully this won't be happening to anyone else.

what your fridge says about you (thanks, S!)

What Your Fridge Says About You

You aren't greedy, but you don't really deprive yourself either. You strike a good balance with the stuff you buy. You are a very thrifty person. You don't like to waste money... or food. You are a very adventurous person. You love to try new things, and you get bored very easily. You are responsible, together, and mature. You act like an adult, even when you don't feel like it. You are likely to be married - and very busy.

What Do the Contents of Your Refrigerator Say About You?

popcorn enlightenment

Reader (R): "So what's up with the popcorn?"
Sherrie (S): "Oh, I've been eating it every day for the last week or so. I even had it last night for supper. Yup, just popcorn for supper. And those pieces in the picture? I set them aside, and had to finish the rest of the popcorn before I could pause to take a picture. It's that good."
R: "Why? It's just dry corn."
S: (eyes widening at the shock of hearing such a statement) "Dry corn? It's so much more than that! I've moved far beyond the monotony of butter and salt, the icky flavoured powders, and even Tex-Mex seasoning. This is different."
R: "Why?"
S: "I've discovered the secret to making the absolute best snack in history."
R: "Uh-huh."
S: "No, really! You try it. Air pop some organic corn kernels, top with butter and then - oh, then! - liberally sprinkle it with sugar. The more butter, the better the sugar sticks. The salt in the butter and the sweet of the sugar combined on those little bumps called taste buds is divine!"
R: "You do tend to get a little bit excited about things. Is this really that good?"
S: "Oh, my, yes!"

And you must try it. The idea was inspired by Magzy's Kettle Corn (see a pic on Flickr here), which is my favourite new food for 2008.

strawberry jam day

Phillip watched as we (Annie, Adam, and I) hulled the 18 boxes of strawberries we picked this morning at Wood's U-Pick.




And then there was jam, and it was good.

the kite runner and other summer reading

I finished reading The Kite Runner last night, in a reading marathon. I started when Phillip went to bed, and I couldn't even put it down during 'How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?' (It is the only show I've made a point to watch, like, ever. We usually only have the TV on for movies, which works out to be, oh, a few times a month. We're radio folks.) I haven't done that in a VERY long time. I stayed up until 11:00 and the book was done (wild, I know!) Here are my scattered thoughts.

It's always refreshing to be reminded that we're all human, and this book certainly did that. It's an incredibly quick read, which often (for me, anyway) means that a book isn't that good, just plot driven and fast. This story was completely engaging from beginning to end. The characters were thoroughly developed, but not in that fake way where you're reading along and thinking "Oh, the author is developing this character." All of the events were woven together in such a way that it felt like real life. Details were described so vividly that you really felt that you were there and observing the events unfold, but not in so much detail that it was distracting. The writing was pleasantly clear and succinct. I also found two typos in the copy I was reading. It's so satisfying to find typos in a printed book. It's also a disturbing book, and I almost didn't choose it for summer reading because of this. But since I borrowed it from a friend a few months ago, I thought it was high time I returned it. To sum up: highly recommended. And apparently there's a movie from 2007 as well. I don't know if I could watch it, both because of the events in the book, and also because I feel as though I've already watched it. I don't know if I want to let go of the movie of it I have in my head. Isn't it funny when you're reading a book and you picture events happening in places similar to those you're familiar with in real life, but it's this unconscious dream-like sort of thing where you have to make a point about thinking about it before you realize that's the case? Anyway, I'm rambling. My apologies for publishing this accidentally before it was finished. Next up is In Defense of Food and East of Eden (I've already read it, but feel the need to again. Another human book.) Happy summer reading!

roses

Some of our roses are in bloom. Once again, I wish you could smell them! You can tell from the light in the picture what kind of day it is here - foggy and kind of gloomy. And windy.

All of the advanced orders have been shipped, and I had some time to tidy and organize some soap things this weekend, which feels very good. It's my first weekday of summer vacation, which is always really satisfying, too. I think I'll take P to the library this afternoon. I'm sure he'll say 'buh, buh, buh' (book) many times over.

school's out for summer!

Yay! All of the details have been squared away until September - I'm on holiday! From my non-soap work, that is. I'll be busy this weekend, packing up advanced soap orders for the perfectly cured bars which were ordered earlier in June. Then a craft fair in Wedgeport the next weekend to prepare for. Did you catch that, locals? On Sunday July 6, I'll have a table at the Fire Hall in Wedgeport. I'll have all kinds of goodies, gift baskets, and other wonderful things. I'll post pictures once they're all set, so you can know what to be excited for. Happy weekend!