Wow, what a hectic season of life it is!

You know, it seems like there is always something that has to be done, and before you can do that something that has to be done, there's always one more thing that has to be done first.  UGGHH!  Seems like my life is made up of just one more thing these days.

Well, I haven't been on here posting lately because I've been busy selling things.  First it was elderberry cuttings, then horseradish roots, now rhubarb crowns, and fragrance oils for candles, soaps, and lotions.  I still have horseradish roots available, if you are interested in any.  Also, I'm going to be ordering the rhubarb crowns on Monday, so if you need some of those, just let me know, I'll be glad to get you some.  Oh, I accept paypal by the way!

Now, friends, if you are into candles, soaps and lotions, have I got a deal for you!  I'm selling fragrance oils now.  In fact, I'm just waiting on my shipment of 1 ounce bottles so I can get them all ready to fill for anyone who wants some.  Below is a partial list of my fragrances.  If you by any chance don't see one you want, ASK!!!!  By all means!  I have more that are not listed here, plus I have a friend who literally has thousands of fragrances so I can purchase from her any time I need to, so please!  Don't be shy!   Okay, here's the list.  Now, just email me at dunroven@netins.net for information on shipping, etc, which of course will depend on how many you order, but you know, we will use those flat rate boxes and the USPS does this neat thing of giving, I think it is, 15% off, IF you purchase your postage on line, and that includes a free tracking/confirmation number!  Now how cool is that????  After all this time of having to pay so much to the post office, they are giving us something!  My husband says the 44 cent stamp is broken down into 2 parts of cost.  They are as follows:  1 cent for mailing the thing, and 43 cents for storage!  Okay, wonder why its called snail mail?????  LOLOL

Here's the list.  Let me know if I can help you with these or with horseradish roots or rhubarb crowns!

Apple Cinnamon

Baby Powder

Banana Nut Bread

Bayberry

Bay Rum

Blackberry

Black Cherry

Blueberry

Blueberry muffins

Candy Cane

Cashmere

Cappuccino

Carmel Apple

Cedar Berry

Chocolate Mint

Christmas Carol

Christmas Eve - Type

Christmas Splendor

Christmas Tree

Cider Spice

Cinnaberry

Cinnamon

Cinnamon Buns

Cinnamon Red Hot

Citronella

Coconut

Coconut Cream Pie

Cookies For Santa

Cool Water - Type

Country Kitchen

Country Spice 

Country Vanilla

Cranberry

Creme Brulee

Cucumber melon

Enchanted Forest

English Rose

Eternity for Men

Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus Spearmint

Evergreen

Festival of Lights - Type

Fireplace

Fireside chat

Frankincense and Myrrh

Freesia

French Vanilla

Fresh Baked Cake

Fresh Baked Bread

Fresh Ground Coffee

Fresh Peach

Fuzzy Navel

Georgia Peach

Geranium

Gingerbread

Gingersnap

Ginger spice

Grape

Hazelnut Coffee

Heather

Hearts and Flowers

Holiday Spirit

Holly Berry

Hot Apple Pie

Hyacinth

Karen's Ocean Rain

Lavender

Lemon

Lemon Pucker

Lemon Verbena

Lilac

Lily of the Valley

MacIntosh Apple

Melon

Mistletoe

Mulberry

Mulled Wine

Ocean Mist

Orange Spice

Patchouli

Pear

Pear Glace

Plum Spice

Plumeria

Popcorn

Pumpkin Pie

Rain

Raspberry Ice

Rose Jasmine

Sage and Citrus

Sandalwood

Sex on The Beach

Spiced Pear

Spiced Plum

Strawberry

Stress Relief Scent

Sugar Plum

Sweat Pea

Temptation

The Outdoorsman

Tobacco

Vanilla Bean

Victorian Rose

Warm Apple Crisp

White Vanilla

My newest cuties!

I want to give you all a chance to see some of the "critters" that we raise here.  Believe it or not, I WILL get into talking about candles and candies, but its spring!  And just like on Bambi, the critters are twitterpated!  Now that has nothing to do with being on Twitter, for those of you who don't know, twitterpated is being in love.  Oh YEAH!  Anyway, it also means BABIES!  Sometimes Lots of them!  Today, my cat Sheeba decided to bless me with her litter of kittens.  She had 6.  I have a waiting list for my kittens because they ARE something special.  I have 17 people on the list right now and the list just continues to grow.  We take a lot of time with these kittens and make sure they are extremely well socialized.  In fact, the last litter I had, one lady came and brought one of those carriers that has netting all around the side, and inside she had a couple of toys, right?  Well the kitten she was purchasing jumped inside of the carrier on its own, and started playing with the toys and while we were talking, it just cuddled up and went to sleep in the carrier.  No problem taking a fearful cat out of my home!  LOL

Anyway, here are the little ones for your delightful pleasure!  Oh and by the way?  My next waiting list is for kittens that I "suspect" will be born in October/November.  If you are interested, let me know!  They are $125.  They are well socialized, as stated, and they have been wormed.  I let you do the first vet trip so the cat will think you are their hero and not their enemy.  Also, I do not take kittens back into my home once they have left.  I don't want to inadvertently bring a disease back into the house with my wonderful cats.  Not that anyone would intentionally let their cat pick something up, but folks bring stuff into the yard or another animal crosses the yard and BLAM, you can have diseases just like that.  Sooo, my cats are protected, even from their own kittens.  Its just a little something I learned............the hard way.  Don't ask.

Okay, here are the little darlings!  (I call them lion cubs).

Ain't they cute???????

WOW, How Easy is this????

Okay you all know the feeling when that pesky check engine light comes on right?  First thing you think is oh no!  What can this be.  How much will it cost to fix it?  Where is the best place to get it fixed.  Can I really trust my mechanic to tell me whether or not this is REALLY a problem or just a light that's on the fritz?  These things are especially true if you are a woman and have not had much experience as far as car repairs go.  I have a little experience since I had a brother-in-law who believed that it was NOT good for a woman alone to be clueless when it came to her vehicle.  He knew his mother had been "taken" too many times when he was in the service.  So when he had the chance, his sister-in-law (me) before I was married was taught a few things.  But again, this little light represents a possible hazard that we are totally unsure of.  Even the most seasoned farmer that works all day long on his huge combines can be intimidated by this little tiny light.

WELL!  I have found a solution!  When you get to a computer, log yourself into this site!  http://www.repairpal.com/ !  I was amazed when I found this site.  It asks you to simply register, give just a very few details about your car, and from there you can track your service, ask an expert a question, or what I really liked, was that I could look at Problem Reports and Recalls for my make and model of vehicle!  Guess what?  The first one on the list was the very problem I am having!  Next, I was able to click on Estimate, again, give just a few details, and it showed me what I should be paying in my area!  Lowest price and highest price!  Click on Directory and voila!  Up pops a listing of the service centers in your area as well as a map to find them!

There is also an area on their site called Encyclopedia.  Don't know what something means?  They break it down for you!  You can find all you need on this website about cars, and in a clear and understandable format so that you don't have a lot of frustration trying to find anything!  http://www.repairpal.com/ will even allow you to make notes about the last service you had so that you can easily track the services you need on your car.  I don't know about you, but I spend a lot of time on my computer.  It is my calendar of events, etc.  Now just by adding this website to my favorites, I can click on it, and see what services need to be done, when I had that pesky check engine light fixed, and what the mechanic told me it was, and what it cost!  I find this site totally awesome and I hope you do too!

My Anniversary! Also warning, pictures of my still born goat. Its for educational purposes.

Its our 17th wedding anniversary!  WOOHOO!  Some friends have invited us to their house for supper tonight, so we're planning on going.  I'm working today and my husband had to make a trip to pick up some supplies that will be going into the new store we will be opening on May 1!  Yep!  We have a HUGE building, and its going to house a candy store (mine, as I make about 50 different types of homemade candy, give or take a few!  (Need candy????, let me know!  I'll be glad to make it for you!))  It will also have an antique store, a tea room, a candle shop, where you can get my custom made candles, scented to your liking and for any special occasion you have including weddings, birthdays, or just a gift.

I can't hardly wait to get the store open.  I type as a medical transcriptionist right now, and have done that for 21 years, but the years have taken a toll on my hands, and I'm very ready to get back to "making things."   I love to see people enjoy the things that my hands have created.  Whether its candy or candles.

This past week has been one of joy and sorrow.  We raise Boer goats and one of my does had twins.  One is going to be leaving me today.  They were premature and she is just not going to make it.  The other one has taken off like a whiz and is doing terrific!  Another doe had 2 beautiful full term babies, and both were stillborn.  I found out my goats now have a problem called Iodine deficiency.  I had no idea, but a weed in the hay that they were eating, is what caused it.  The weed is called flixweed, and it really is a devastating thing.  I have one more doe to have babies, and I'm really worried about what is going to happen with her babies.  The only thing I can be thankful for is that I know what the problem is, and I have now taken steps to correct it, including giving salt, soda, and a block of minerals.  Now most folks give loose minerals, and I'd love to do that, but you can't get them here, so the block is the next best thing, and that is also why I'm also giving them salt.  Some folks also say to paint the underneath side of their tail with 7% iodine, which you have to get from a vet, and with my husband gone right now, I can't do that.  Hopefully I will be able to get it soon and never have to go through this again.

I'll post a picture here, if I can get it to come on.  Those of you who have goats should be very concerned about this happening to you.  The babies were all born with a goiter.  And the big thing about that (besides the size of the goiter), is that according to experts, the does that are born in this condition, generally do not survive.  But, I have at least 1 that IS going to make it. They also say that the bucklings DO survive.  Why that is, I'm not smart enough to know, but I am certain it has something to do with the hormones.

I can't get the picture to post, but if you can click on this link, please do so.  If you can't, please copy the shortcut into your address bar and go look at it.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d57/dunroven/100_1243.jpg

Please, take a few minutes and look at the neck on this baby goat.  I give you this picture and the information above about the iodine deficiency in hopes that you will have a care with how you care for your critters.  This could have been prevented had I been warned about the possibility.  Because even if the goats had eaten the flixweed, if I had been supplementing their diet with the minerals, salt, and soda, they would have been fine.  Now, I'm the loser as well as the mother goats.

Gotta get to work, but I'll be back more often now.  Things "seem" to be settling down a bit.