My Newt

Last night while getting ready for todays Crieff Market (despite having no shows for weeks we still needed to work til midnight to be ready) I found this outside the workshop door.

It was a bit of a shock as I have never seen anything like it before. We both stopped and spent a few minutes watching and photographing it and trying to guess what it might be.

Our options were

1. A Komodo Dragon

2. A dinosaur

3. An extra from Primeval

Some research on the internet today has helped narrow down the field a bit.

Komodo Dragons only live in Indonesia so that was ruled out.

It appears that dinosaurs are extinct, so not that.

No sparkly anomalies nearby so not Primeval either.

A bit more reasearch has revealed that it is most probably a smooth newt. It is very rare to see one in your garden never mind on your doorstep, but probably more likely than finding any of our original options.

We have now registered our sighting on a website which records where amphibians are spotted to help identify populations and habitats.

Good Crieff

Had our first monthly Crieff Market of the year today. We hadn't been looking forward to it as the weather forcast was not looking good. The forecast did improve as time went on and we were a bit more optimistic and spent the last two days with our fingers crossed.

This must have worked as this morning we woke up to a nice sunny day which thankfully continued for the whole day although it was a bit breezy at times.

The good weather and the easter holidays meant it was a really busy day with one of the most successful Crieff markets we have ever had. As usual Crieff Cranachan and Lemongrass and Lime were the best sellers but our one off Easter Bunny went well too.

Also selling well were our new range of Hand and Body Lotions which proved very popular. These will be on the website as soon as I take some photos.

So all in all a good day, and my fingers are now crossed that all of this years shows will go as well. After all it worked with the weather this week!

2009 The year ahead

It's been a long time since my last post, I just haven't gotten round to writing anything. Anyway I will update some of the things I have been up to.

I expected January to be a very quite month, especially compared to December. It was thankfully a lot quieter than December but not as quite as I expected. I have made favours for several weddings, I had no idea January was so popular for getting married. I've also been making bars for VisitScotland to take to several events in Europe promoting Homecoming. This is a series of events throughout the year to encourage people to visit Scotland. My soap complete with Homecoming logo have been included in goodie-bags for the journalists and travel writers at the events (photos to be posted at a later date)

This week I have been planning my calender of events for the year ahead. It's already looking like a busy year, with events pencilled in all the way to December already. I will be starting to return booking forms this week so look out for updates on the website soon.

Also attended our first event this week, a Ladies Pamper Evening in Stirling. It did take a bit of time to remember exactly how to do everything but once into the swing of it everything fell into place.

Anyway, here's to the year ahead, and more regular posts, I promise.

The Christmas Rush

It's been a hectic few weeks for us in the run up to Christmas. We have done 17 days of craft fairs, markets and events since the end of November. This works out at 4.25 days every week, but most done on Saturdays and Sundays with Dave and I doing separate events on the same day. This of course means lots of time spent in the workshop making things for the next show and not much time for anything else. This is why there have not been many posts but I will try to catch up with all that has been happening in the next few days.

Our last show was on Sunday at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh and we were both looking forward to having a bit of time to relax. Sleep has been an item on my whiteboard 'To-Do-List' all week, and the only Christmas present Dave has asked for is a day off! However, since Sunday I have made 52 wedding favours, a rush order of 50 bars for Jamesfield Farm Shop, done all of my Christmas shopping and written all of my Christmas cards. We will deliver these tomorrow, using our 'Just In Time' management principles again! Maybe next year I will be organised! So it is safe to say we are still looking forward to some time to relax.

Soundtrack to work this last month has been: The Wombats - Is this Christmas?, Vampire Weekend - A-Punk (great tune at 2am to keep your spirits high). Anything Christmassy, from good ol' Bing to The Waitresses, including Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You (I mean, for goodness sake!). And for the record... always Jeff Buckley, never Alexandra! You all know what I'm talking about.

It Never Rains But It Pours

Our central heating boiler packed in about a month ago. Now usually we'd find the money somehow and get it fixed but this time it died a death and it's never to be switched on again. So a new system for our wee cottage is now going to cost around £800 just to get the boiler, nevermind the gas conection charge. Finding the type of system and the money is the the easy bit sorted out (we'll not the money side, so much) we now need to find the time for David to install it. The run up to Christmas is our busiest time and we really never have a moment to spare. Dave and I have managed to heat ourselves by our open fire (which badly needs swept) in the living room and a wee electric fan heater in the bedroom (I woke up the other day and the room thermostat flashed 7 degrees. It flashes under 10 degrees to warn you there's a hypothermia risk!). So we've been coping and trying not to mump too much, I just keep thinking about how my grandparents managed to lived without double glazing and central heating. I must admit that I love wearing my fantastic 'Icebreaker' thermals - Don't laugh. They were bought for our travels to Spitsbergen and I now wear them as an extra layer at our Winter markets. My Icebreakers are the best thing since sliced bread, especially the boxer-shorts.

Then...

On Sunday the washing machine went wizz, bang, wallop, FLASH while I was standing looking at it wondering why it was making a funny scrapping, gurgling, static noise. Bloomin' fireworks came out of the top as it came to a grinding halt. You've never seen me jump so high! So I've been through my whole wardrobe of clean clothes and I'm now on to the bizarre mix'n'match of clothes that really shouldn't be seen out in public together.

On top of that my cooker (inherited when we bought the house has decided to only allow me to use the smallest ring and half heat one of the large pot rings. The oven thermostate burst many months ago so I haven't baked for ages.

So, the new washing machine is getting delivered tomorrow, the cooker has been ordered and the boiler, well it been ordered and I hope that we will find some time before Christmas to get it fitted. I now have to go out and sell a hell of a lot of soap to pay for it all.

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

Bbrrrrrr! Minus 4.5 on the way home

from Gloagburn Farm Shop

The temperature reached -7.5 on the way out to our craft fairs today. There's a spot on our road on the way to Perth that's always the coldest. Dave clocked it at -7.5 (on the way to Edinburgh at 09:30) this morning and my in-car temp gauge read -6 at 10:15. Although the roads were scary slippy and covered in frost & ice the landscape was a wonderful sight. I didn't have time to stop on the way to take pics and it was getting dark on the way home so I stopped and took the picture above. It's all so Christmassy. The tune on the CD player is a mash-up of several recordings of White Christmas including Louie Armstrong, Elvis Presley, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Diana Ross and The Supremes. Very Cool Yule.

Barony Open Day

Wow. It's taken me till to day to get my feet back on the ground after the excitement of Sunday's Open Day. It's only now I can review everything that happened and sum it all up.

At 7am on Sunday morning I looked outside to find an unspoilt fairytale land of peace and quite, glistening whiteness (lovely) with a marquee about to collapse under the weight of snow on its roof (arrrggghh!). I'd managed to pick the only day a freak snow storm rolled into town. It was also the coldest day, I'm sure! However with a silver cloud attitude, it did make my little grotto look all festive and hid the weeds in the garden.

Anyway, this set us back time wise (it took Dave nearly an hour to clear snow from the marquee and fix the roof) and we were very surprised when the first customers came over at 10:10, bright and early. I felt so bad for the first couple of people to look around as I was not as set up as I would've liked to have been. The snow seemed to have everyone talking so it wasn't too bad.

The day was VERY busy and even though I had help from my friend Anne I still could have done with a few more pairs of hands to help out. Dave held the stall as I did wee tours of the workshop but as soon as someone needed a gift box I would be called into action. Anne kept the nibbles stocked up. The nibbles included mulled wine, brie & chutney on French bread and homemade lemon & ginger biscuits made by my friend Linda (gee, they were really good).

Boozy Mulled Wine &

Heavenly Non-Alco Glogg

Linda's Yummy Homemade

Lemon & Ginger Biscuits

I didn't manage to take any pictures during the day as I was so busy but once the last customer went I wizzed round to take some of the aftermath. I should have one of those official observers to take my blog photos. I'm finding that I'm too busy doing something to stop and take an interesting picture for the blog or I think I should have taken a different photo so it ties in with what I want to talk about.

Outside

Inside

As a first attempt at an Open Day I think it went well but there is now a long list of 'what not to do/must remember to' for the next one. I'm now in the middle of making up all the gift box orders taken on the day. Dave will have to get back into his workshop and make more of our handmade gift boxes for me to fill.

Our next stall is at Tullibannocher on Thursday night and I'm sure our Christmas soaps will go quickly. I can't keep up with the demand for our Tipsy Auntie and Candy Cane. If only I could employ some of Santa's elves to help!

Candy Cane (Pepermint Strawberry & Vanilla)

Tipsy Auntie (Mulled Wine)

Thank you to everyone who was able to brave the weather and make it over to Barony, especially those who came from further afield. I hope you managed to tick a few christmas presents off the list. If you couldn't manage over then there'll be plenty more opportunities to catch us before christmas. Or... give me a call and make an appointment to do your gift buying at a time that suits you.

Finally I want to say a huge THANK YOU to David, Linda, Anne & Peter for all the help.