Sleep in Heavenly Peace

In my last post I mentioned that my father had been having some medical issues but was on the mend. Since Thanksgiving I have been going down on my days off to help my mom and be there for my dad while he was recuperating in an acute care rehab center. He was getting stronger and learning to walk again after a serious infection and pneumonia. He was able to come home to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with us. He was able to celebrate his 60th wedding anniversary to his beautiful bride, my mom.


He came home and was starting to settle into the routine of physical therapy, occupational therapy, dialysis, and the many social workers and nurses that were involved in his home health care.

Then he took a turn for the worse. The struggle and pain was too much and on January 16, 2012 the Lord took my dad up to heaven to live forever. He died quietly in his sleep.

I miss him so much.

There is a hurt in my heart that won't go away.

I am thankful for the time I got to spend with him before he passed.

I am thankful my darling daughter was close to him for her whole 18 years.

I will always remember his smile, his kindness, his honesty, his compassion, his will to live, his ability to always see "the cup half full" instead of half empty.

My father, like so many fathers, was a wonderful man. I have been so blessed to have him in my life. He taught me so many things by his example. I hope to be half the person he was, and then I will be with him forever in heaven.

Sleep in Heavenly Peace Dad! We love you so much.

Happy Holidays

Posts have been far and few. I had a health issue in my immediate family and I was needed more at my folk's home than in the soap shop. I feel so blessed that the people in my life feel that family comes first and I was given time off from work to be with my parents. My dad is on the mend and while I will still be spending my days off with them, I will be making soap. Not as much as usual, but it will have to do for now.

Please have a peaceful and wonderful New Year.

Many Changes

It has been forever and a day since I have posted. There have been many changes in my life. My number 1 helper (or rather I helped her), Darling Daughter (DD) has gone off to college. She had been doing most of the soap making for me the last couple of years. She was saving money for college. I miss her very much. I also started a new job in July. I am working 40 hours a week on the graveyard shift. This leaves little energy or time for soap making. Did I tell you I miss DD very much? I have managed to make a little soap but I have a lot of "out of stock" notices on my web site. I work the weekends so I will only be doing one Christmas show. My favorite high school, Douglas High School, right here in Minden, Nevada, has a wonderful one day show and I asked for that Saturday off. Hope to see you there!

Did You Survive The Holidays?

It was a fast paced holiday season with craft shows, filling orders, restocking the shelves, and making soap. I found the time to wrap some gifts at the fair grounds for Project Santa, did some baking (oh, the crack candy at my house was awesome), had family dinners, and even read a book.

I love to make soap, it brings out the creative side of me. I like to wrap myself up in a scent and close my eyes and "see" the soap I am going to create. It is really cool when the soap turns out the way I "imagine" it.

While setting up at one of the holiday craft shows I found myself next to Katie Spencer. She is a wonder woman who used to sell to HUGE chain stores. She now sells her handmade items at Tumblewinds on Esmeralda St. in Minden. One item in her booth just fascinated me.


I love the origami feel to the ornament. I love the sharp angles. I love the bright colors. I just love these ornaments. Being the wonderful person that she is, Katie mailed the instructions and I made 11 ornaments to give as Christmas gifts.


Did I tell you I love making these ornaments?

Hold That Thought

You know, the one about not having much money. What to do, what to do.

I found myself with a little time, that would be because we are not exchanging gifts this year due to lack of funds. The real problem here is, I LOVE TO WRAP GIFTS. I found a way to get my wrapping fix without spending any money.

In our little town we not only have service clubs like the 20/30 Club, Elks, Minden Fortnightly Club, Rotary Club, Lions Club, Kiwanis, we also have all the schools hold food drives around the holidays. We have a food closet that runs year round helping those people that need a lift. But the best project of all.......


is Project Santa.

I meet up with Marilyn Malkmus, organizer of Project Santa. The program helps provide Christmas gifts to kids living in Douglas County. There are Angel Trees at many stores throughout the county, people can pick an Angel and buy the gifts listed and then drop them back off where Marilyn makes sure they go to the right family. There were 786 children in the program last year and she said there are 100 more than that this year. She directed me to the book wrapping station. Every child will receive at least 1 reading book but judging by the thousand of books I saw there will be no shortage of books. Marilyn has many helpers that volunteer every year, and the rest are like me. I went for 8 hours one day, but anyone can go, even if for one hour. I saw so many friends there and made some new ones, Hi Katie and Steve! I got my wrapping fix taken care of, that is for sure.

It was a great way to get into the spirit of Christmas. All the gifts wrapped and sitting on the family's number brought tears to my eyes. I remember a friend of mine who was in the program a couple of years ago. Her little boy would not have had anything under the tree, if they had a tree. The generosity of the community overwhelmed her and made her Christmas.

So...even if you don't have money to spend, you can spend your time by volunteering for one of the service organizations. It is a great way to give back to the community you live in.

Merry Christmas

I May Not Have Much Money, Handmade From The Heart

Every year the Parent Teacher Student Organization (PTSO) gets together and makes up gift bags for the teachers at Douglas High School. This year with both my husband and I being unemployed I was not able to pick up the usual gift items. Still wanting to do my part I looked around the soap room and found some 2 oz. bottles I don't use any more. So...I spent the day making 150 bottles of lotions for the teachers. I know many of them and I thank the Lord my dear daughter has such dedicated and knowledgeable people to teach her. It was an honor to be able to bring a little of my handmade items to them.

First I sterilized the bottles and caps.


Second, I whipped up some lotion and scented it with a spicy cranberry scent, perfect for men or women.


Third, I poured into the clean bottles, labeled and packed them up.


Thank you Teachers of Douglas High School.

Tis The Reason For The Season

Long, long ago, in a far away land, my mother and father labored over a task of love for their children, of which there are 5. How my mother got my dad to work on ceramics, I will never know. But I am so happy he did. This is a true labor of love and something my family treasures. We only see it once a year, but the memories and thoughts and good wishes it brings lasts the whole year.





Thank you, mom and dad.
I love you.

A Long Time Ago

in a far away land (well, across town) I took and still am taking a SEO class from Cricket Walker. I learned a lot from Cricket and her very patient helpers. She is the reason I now blog. She is also the reason I gained 25 pounds in the last few years. Cricket introduced me to a blogger one day by saying "hey check out this blog!"

I fell in love with the writer's style and wicked sense of humor. And her husband looks great in a pair of chaps, sorry but I had to say that. The blog is The Pioneer Woman. I have been reading her blog for quite a few years, I remember when she only had 1,000 comments instead of 40,000 every time she ran a contest. Ree posts the funniest and saddest stories and fabulous recipes. I always get lots of compliments when I make one of her dishes.

While visiting my mom a couple of weeks ago I stopped by my sister and brother-in-law's house, to raid their garden. My BIL can grow some serious vegetables. I left with ALL of their tomatoes and a huge bag of these beautiful red jalapeno peppers.


So......I had to make Ree's Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeno Thingies. They are to die for and with the red peppers I used they are just as wonderful. Thank you Cricket, Ree and dear brother-in-law.

First you cut them in half. Taking care not to squirt any juice in your eye.


I then take a spoon and clean out all the seeds and veins. This is what makes the peppers hot. Next time I think I will leave a few seeds in to give them more heat.


Add a dollop of cream cheese.


Wrap in 1/3 slice of bacon. These are small peppers, for larger peppers I use 1/2 slice of bacon.




Bake in a 375 degree oven for 1/2 hour.


Yum, Yum, YUM!

My Lucky Day

17 years ago on a Friday the 13th I was blessed with a dear daughter. I had been trying to have a child for 10 years and as I approached 40 I was starting to panic big time. I had 2 miscarriages and my dreams for having a big family never seemed farther away. I never stopped praying and in the early hours my dreams came true and I delivered a baby girl.

My mom always told me "You will never know how much I love you until you have a daughter of your own." And boy, was she right.

I loved you the minute I knew I was pregnant. I loved you the minute you were born. Then I saw your face and fell in love some more. You were only a minute old but I knew I would die for you & to this day I still would.

Happy Birthday my sweet, sweet daughter.

I am going to make her some of these cookies from Tartelette. Yummy.

Other things that happened this day were:

1966 The Beatles
Unhappy with John Lennon's comments comparing the Beatles to Jesus, radio station KLUE in Longview, Texas organizes a Beatles Bonfire. Later that night, the station was struck by lightning. The station manager was knocked unconscious and the station had to temporarily shut down due to damaged equipment.

1965 Jefferson Airplane makes their first professional appearance, at the Matrix Club in San Francisco.

1961 Berlin Wall
East German Communists begin building a wall through the city to prevent the flow of people seeking the freedoms of the West.

1930 National Beet Grower's Association is incorporated.

1898 Spanish-American War
Fighting ends when the Philippines surrender to Admiral George Dewey.

1782 First Welsh immigrants to America arrive in Pennsylvania. They were Quakers and settled near Philadelphia. Source: An Almanac of the Christian Church

1587 First American Indian converted to Protestantism is baptized into the Church of England.

Births
1959 Danny Bonaduce American actor, radio deejay. TV: The Partridge Family (Danny).

1951 Dan Fogelberg American singer. Music: Longer (1979, #2) and Leader of the Band (1982).

1930 Don Ho d. 2007 (Donald Tai Loy Ho), Hawaiian singer. Music: Tiny Bubbles (1966, #8). TV: The Don Ho Show (1976-77).

1929 Pat Harrington Jr American Emmy-winning actor. TV: The Jack Paar Show (Guido Panzini) and One Day at a Time (handyman Dwayne Schneider).

1926 Fidel Castro Cuban president. He was so opposed to capitalism that after conquering Cuba he ordered the destruction of all Monopoly games on the island.

1921 Neville Brand d. 1992 actor. TV: Laredo (Ranger Reese Bennett) and The Untouchables (Al Capone).

1919 Rex Humbard d. 2007 American televangelist, founder of the Cathedral of Tomorrow (1952). He was the first televangelist to have a nationally-broadcast TV show (1952). Source: An Almanac of the Christian Church

1899 Sir Alfred Hitchcock d. 1980 British Oscar-winning director, "The Master of Suspense." Film: Vertigo (1958) and Psycho (1960, with its famous shower scene). TV: Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955-62). Quote: "Television has brought murder back into the home - where it belongs."

1897 Detlev Wulf Bronk d. 1975 American scientist, educator, "Father of Biophysics." He served as president of Johns Hopkins University (1949-53).

1895 Bert Lahr d. 1967 (Irving Lahrheim), American actor. Film: The Wizard of Oz (1939, the Cowardly Lion).

1888 John Logie Baird d. 1946 Scottish inventor, "Father of the Television." He gave the first demonstration of true TV in London (1926) and later patented a 3-D TV system (1944).

1860 Annie Oakley d. 1926 (Phoebe Anne Oakley Mozee), American western performer, member of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.

1818 Lucy Stone d. 1893 American woman's rights activist, abolitionist. She and her husband founded Woman's Journal (1870). She allowed her New Jersey property to be sold for non-payment of taxes, asserting that she was being taxed without representation.

1814 Anders Jonas Ångström d. 1874 Swedish physicist, for whom the angstrom (a unit of length equal to 10-10 meters) is named. He showed that hydrogen is present in the Sun's atmosphere (1862).

1655 Johann Christoph Denner d. 1707 German woodwind instrument maker, credited with inventing the clarinet.

1422 William Caxton d. 1491 the first English printer (1475).
From the website ThisDay Trivia

Drumroll Please!

I have been waiting patiently and checking my mail box ever since Lynn from Lynn's Lovelies let me know she mailed my package. Lynn makes beautiful hand made crocheted items and I knew as soon as I saw a hat and bootie set that I had to have it for Baby Mia. I meet Lynn through Link Referral. This is a site that lets your blog or web site review and be reviewed. It helps with your rankings and drives traffic to your site. I loved Lynn's shop and told her that. We started talking about how much we liked the other's products and.....a trade was born. Rats, she wrapped them so good I have to wait for Mia to see them! Wow, there is even rose petals in the package, smells so good! That is a very nice touch, I don't have to hunt around for wrapping paper and ribbon, it is already done! She even put in a hand made card for me. Thank you Lynn, I did have a blast! In her Etsy Shop Lynn makes and sells a variety of crocheted lovelies for babies, preemies, dolls, and ladies. She also makes crocheted roses, flower and leaf motifs that can be be used in your crafting, scrap booking or sewing projects. Lavender is one of her favorite flowers and she makes Pretty Lavender filled sachets, pincushions, and small pillows that can be custom made in the colors and size you desire. She also has hats, pins, scarves, neck warmers, ornaments and keepsakes. Oh no Daddy, I am tired! Do these make my feet look big? I need a new photographer, Daddy, help! Can I go back to sleep now? Now Mia is already 2 months old but she was born a premmie so is still a newborn, just larger. Lynn had to adapt her pattern to fit Mia as she is over 10 pounds now! We live in the high desert near Lake Tahoe and the summer times can get a bit hot so I asked Lynn to make the baby set big enough to fit Mia this fall and winter. Thank you so much Lynn, trading with you was a blast! To see the soaps I sent Lynn, check out her blog!

Something I Do In My Spare Time

I have always read blogs. I love blogs. I guess I am a voyeur, I like reading about other peoples lives. So when I saw that Anhoki (a soap maker I greatly admire for her beautiful soaps and all the help she gives to fellow soap makers) had her site on a "link referral" site I had to check it out. This is a picture of Anhoki's Animadikaci, an awesome beer bar.


Link Referral is a site where I review other sites and they review mine. It has brought a lot of traffic to my blog and I like the creative criticisms and atta-a-boys I have received. I reviewed an Etsy site, which is all hand made items, the other day and boy was I impressed. Lynn of Lynns Lovelies makes the cutest baby items


and when I saw one that was everything Mama Beth would want for Baby Mia, I had to tell Lynn in my review how wonderful it was and how I would love to buy one for my little girl, but being on such a tight budget I could not. And.....Lynn answered me and said how much she loved handmade soap and maybe we could work a deal. So.....I am waiting for my package in the mail, and I have Lynn's package all ready to ship.

So....if you would like some reviews on your web site or blog, go to LinkReferral.com and join up. And if you need some beautiful hand made crocheted lovelies for babies, preemies, dolls, ladies and keepsake gifts, go visit Lynn here or her blog here. And if you would like to try some fabulous soap, other than mine, visit Anhoki here.

When I get my package in the mail, after I give it to baby Mia I will show you all!

And yes, I love using other people's soaps!

We Are So Blessed

Thank you for all your prayers. Yesterday our girl came home! She was gaining weight, her temperature was holding steady, her breathing was fine. Why did it take so long for her to come home? A funny little thing most of us do not think of, it just comes naturally. She had to drink, swallow, AND breathe, all at the same time. Sounds easy, but not when you are born pre mature. That is something that comes along in the 34-36th week. Thank you for all your prayers. It is hard to see good friends going through hard times and I think your prayers helped our friends during their trying times.

Moving Can Be Traumatic On Animals

We moved into the new house and I am sorry to report the animals are not taking it well. They are nervous, scared and just can't relax, and I worry about them.

This is nervous.


This is scared.


And this is just can't relax.



I did find time to deliver my Dog Shampoo Bar to Max's Pet Supply. They told me what they Essential Oils they wanted and I created an exclusive soap for their shop. You can find it here.

Max's Pet Supplies
1363 US Hwy 395 #4
Gardnerville, NV 89410
ph: (775) 782-8088
fax: (775) 782-8083

Father's Day 2010

My family is spending this Father's Day working on an old 1983 Ford 3/4 ton pickup truck we are trying to sell. It has been sitting for a year so we are gassing and cleaning and changing whatever needs to be changed. I say we because my husband, daughter and myself are all part of the process. Everyone expects the dude of the family to work on cars but I have worked on cars all my life. I am teaching my 16 year old daughter to do the same. And where did I learn how to work on cars?

Why my dad!

My mom and dad did not believe in gender duties or tasks. For Mother's Day my dad would buy my mom


a new pipe wrench. For Father's Day he got a new vacuum. Before any of us kids (and there were 5) could get our driver's license we had to be able to change a tire. Or better yet, rotate all 4. My daughter can change a tire, because I taught her how. She will never be stuck out in the middle of nowhere, scared and not knowing what to do, because she has changed lots of tires. My daughter also checks her air pressure, changes her oil, checks her coolant, fills her washer fluid, and does not think that is a big deal. She also knows enough about how an engine works that when she has to go to a mechanic she will NOT be clueless.

I owe a lot to my dad. One time I told him that every time we get a little money ahead, something breaks. He said "No, every time something breaks, you have extra money." He always looks at the half full cup, never the half empty. Because of him (and you mom)


I try not to sweat the small stuff. Things will always work out, somehow. My family has gone through a lot of things in the last 40 years or so, both financial and medical. How your parents handle the problems of life teaches the children how to handle the same things that might happen later in their lives. Thanks to my folks, I feel like I can handle just about anything.

Happy Father's Day dad. I love you.

Update on Mia Anna

Mia has been taken off the ventilator and is breathing on her own without a oxygen hood. That is good. She is still in the hospital but is now eating and should start the weight gain. Like all babies she lost a little water weight after being born. Beth and Stebel continue the daily drive to Reno from Gardnerville. Jolene and I continue to tag along whenever they let us. Things are looking good!

Moms first day out of the hospital and on her way to see Mia for the first time!


Before they let you into the ICU to hold a preemie baby they have you wash up to your elbows with a scrub brush for 2 minutes each arm. But, boy is it worth it.

Ahhhhhh, now that's better!


They even let papa hold her. Isn't he cute?