Wordless Wednesday ~ July 22, 2015

Wordless Wednesday ~ June 24, 2015

Winter Disconnect is OVER...Hello Spring!

A sign of spring

The landscape has dramatically changed around here the past couple weeks.  The ski slopes hope to remain open for another couple weeks, but for the most part our snow is gone and the green grass is slowly emerging, the buds are coming out on the lilac tree (YES!) and some trees are starting to bud out, as well.

Easter Sunday I caught a glimpse of the first flowers of spring emerging from one of the flower beds around the house.  These are miniatures, a gift from my hubby for our anniversary about 10 years ago.  I planted them in the ground and moved them two years ago, dividing them so they could "breathe" once again, and they were eagerly coming back to greet me once again.  Their beauty is a welcome sight after the long dreary winter we just endured and inspired me to sit and enjoy the beauty of my yard once again.

Just like I have felt a disconnect with my yard this past winter, the same rings true of doing business online.  Sometimes it is hard to feel a connection with customers when doing business online instead of face to face.  Orders come from near and far, mostly from people I have never met or had a connection with in the past.  It's hard to read body language, find out what the customer is looking for, and guide them to the product/scent that would appeal to them.  If the customer doesn't leave feedback or you never hear from them again it leaves one to wonder if they liked their order, or not?  Some customers return and the relationship grows.

Despite taking a couple years away from the soaping business, I do have customers from the past that are happy to have me back.  Our relationship is rekindled, much like seeing someone you haven't seen in a while. They know they can ask me to send an order on a short time line, and/or wrapping up a gift with personalized messages to send directly to their intended recipient.  The trust we've gained with each other is much like the bond between old friends.  

This week I received an order from someone who lives in the same town as I do and I offered to reverse the shipping charges so to personally deliver the order. The customer was delighted and agreed to the arrangement.  I've seen her around town but had never been formally introduced, so this was a great opportunity.

Gift from a customer

Imagine my surprise when upon arrival, she gifted ME the sweetest (personalized) gift for making the time and effort of delivering the order. She paints on tree mushrooms/fungus and painted this for my business.  This absolutely made my day and I walked away with a big smile on my face.  I hope she can be successful in her endeavors to market her artistic talent.  I know I will enjoy my gift for many years to come, and this will be displayed in a prominent place in my soaping room and on the table when I go to shows.

Moments like this definitely makes one realize it really is a small world after all.

Sunday Silence

Sunday Silence

Sunday Silence

Sunday Silence

Sunday Silence

What a Beautiful Sight in My Flower Bed Today

Lilac Breezes Blowing in My Bedroom Window

I have had the most glorious breeze blowing through my bedroom window all day long. The lilac is in full bloom and sharing her sweet fragrance with me all day. I could resist no longer, I HAD to get outside and take in the breathtaking beauty of my lilacs.

Gardening Frenzy

It's been a hectic week, but gardening is so relaxing to me. There is something exhilirating about digging in the dirt and seeing the fruits of your labor blossom and grow before your eyes. I have to admit I've never had a freshly planted garden look this good as I never buy plants this mature. And this is the first time I've been given all of the plants by my zealous daughter. I should have made the garden a touch bigger and will be fussing and fuming later this summer when I have to get around the tomato plants...whatever was Ashley thinking...18 tomato plants and 18 pepper plants??? There are 3 different varieties of each, so we'll all be surprised to see what we end up with. This will be a fun garden of guessing. I already know that one marker that said lettuce was clearly not lettuce but rather pepper plants. Everything else looked like what it was supposed to be.

After getting the garden planted, I made my way around the house to check on my perennial flowers. I see there is a lot of weeding that needs to be done. The Bleeding Hearts were smiling back at me today.



And the Lilac bush is so close to bursting open.

My Heart Bleeds for You!

I was thrilled to see my bleeding hearts getting ready to make their appearance when I took a rather brisk walk around the house to assess the progress of my flowers this afternoon. It's been cold here, had frost this morning, and saw white stuff falling from the sky off and on all day.

Not a lot of time to blog tonight, I'm headed to the open house at RTCC. My younger daughter brought a calf in and will be proud to show her off to all of the visitors. I'll take pictures and try to blog about the open house later tonight.

Sunday Afternoon Check of the Flowers

I'm not going to apologize for a lot of posts about flowers. I am excited because I've not seen any color but white for a very long time.


The Rhododendron's made it through the winter in spite of the tremendous weight of snow and ice that fell off our roof this year. A few branches were casualties, but they sure are getting read to burst with color once again.

The Miniature Daffodil's that were included with the Crocus that I blogged about earlier this week are starting to smile at me.


And the Lilac is so full of blooms this year, a nice treat after NO blooms last year.

I'm amazed at the details I'm able to capture with this camera. With the Super Macro setting I'm seeing details on my flowers that are not visible to the naked eye. Incredibly amazing! I'm using a Canon Power Shot S3 IS, 6.0 mega pixels.

Daily Check of the Lilacs

Oh, Happy Day! And the grass is getting greener every day!

Everything Purple ~ A Happy Day!

What can I say? I LOVE my perennial flowers and they love me back. I can't help myself...each year they take my breath away and I have to preserve their beauty with memories. I never tire of my flowers.

The lilacs are bursting...


The crocus my husband gifted me 2 years ago for our 20th anniversary are smiling back at me...


And their tiny beauty is simply breathtaking!

Flowers Showing Their Faces

Friday when I came home from work it was simply gorgeous outside. The snow piles quickly disappearing except for what was at the front of the house. Gazing down at the pile of snow that stood 2 1/2 feet high at the front of the flower bed, and nearly 4 feet high closer to the house, I feared my early spring flowers would die before the snow melted. I quickly took a shovel and started digging out my flowers. They knew it was time to come up, but the snow melt wasn't cooperating. If I hadn't uncovered them I'm afraid they would have withered with rot and we wouldn't have seen them this year. Amazingly, I awakened this morning to find the flowers poking purple at me. Just a glimpse. This afternoon they are in full bloom.

As for the remaining snow piled up closer to the house...we can only hope it melts before too much longer. I'm not shoveling any more! With the warmer air the past couple days it has gone down substantially, so there is hope! The snow closest to the house was just under the brackets for the plant holders that are attached to the house on Friday afternoon...as you can see, this afternoon the pile has been greatly reduced in size.