Soooo busy, a short post….

The last few weeks have been way too busy! I am a casual at work, with twelve on the staff we have been managing on 6 of us the past few weeks at a workplace that operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week there has just been way too much of it for this young lady 😦 But it’s nearly at an end I hope as I haven’t been able to get back to the markets with my soaps until today. Roger came with me, I think he got sick of my moaning about being too tired to do it 🙂 🙂 I spent 9 hours yesterday packaging for pressies – I finally gave in and bought a cheap printer to make my own papers bought as digital from Etsy (very cheap!)IMG_4249 I got Happy Mail 2 weeks ago and haven’t had time to share but here tis 🙂 A most beautiful Christmas Bunting from the lovely TeddyandTottie who ran a giveaway and then decided everyone should have one!

IMG_4240

And here on my wall where it is the only thing of Christmas I have managed to do so far… and it’s beautiful. Thank you T&T xxx

IMG_4243

Other than that we have been attempting to catch up on the garden, weeding and watering and picking a sack of Broad Beans for freezing. IMG_4239

Did anyone else’s mother used to cook these till they were hard, dark grey and utterly revolting? Does anyone else have memories of sitting at the table till they finished their dinner….of hours spent looking at hard grey lumps on their plate? Once traumatised by these things I now love them.

Other than that the onions are harvested, the raspberry glut has started with a vengeance and we borrowed a still today to make more vodka for berry liqueurs – considering how quickly I drank them last year I am going to need ALOT more this time around!

IMG_4260

I hope you are all enjoying the start of the festive season 🙂

33 thoughts on “Soooo busy, a short post….”

  2. YES!! I refused to have anything to do with broad beans until a few years ago when I discovered how to actually serve them! They were served to us children pod and all, boiled for twenty minutes as a greyish, stringy, sour mess. Then I discovered you actually were supposed to throw the pod away, cook the beans lightly and serve them in a vinaigrette as a delightful summer salad side. 🙂

    Your bunting is delightful 🙂 You sound as if you have been super busy – I haven’t had time to draw breath these last two weeks – I’m hoping it will slow down a bit so I can get my bunting made and something off to Marlene……….

    And I need to find time to peruse your on-line stock!!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • 🙂 I didn’t eat them for 40 years until I tried them at a restaurant in a salad and realised what I had been missing.
      Isn’t the bunting gorgeous 🙂 I need to sort Marlene’s gift too and there is something here I know I have forgotten that I need to do as well….hopefully it will come back to me!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • Don’t feel bad. I had to write to Pauline too as I had a brain fart and couldn’t remember what I had promised to do. I think we are all on a state of overwhelm these days. We will just have to be patient with ourselves and do what we can and let the rest go for the moment. It will all come together in it’s right time.

        Like

  3. The soaps look lovely as do the broad beans and raspberries. Yes, I, too, was traumatised by broad beans but now love them. I eat the pods, leaves and everything now, or, at least, I did. I didn’t grow any this year. 😦 Hope things quieten a little for you at work. It’s a stressful time of year.

    Like

    Reply

  4. Sounds like everyone had terrible memories of those beans. They weren’t ever served to us so if I had to guess, maybe dad didn’t like them either. I’ve never bought them either.

    Your soap wrappers look really natural and pretty. I didn’t even know you could buy the zip files from Etsy. Did you find you used a lot of ink printing?

    I can relate to your schedule. I feel so behind this year. I think I’ll re-evaluate what ‘needs’ to be done. It’s not life and death if cards don’t get mailed right? LOL Have a nice Sunday (I think)! Hugs K

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Hi Boomdee 🙂 think there they are Fava beans?

      The papers from Etsy range between $2 and $ USA for between 5 and 10 designs under scrapbooking papers You can use them for personal or small commercial. I could have just searched for some free online but it would’ve taken ages and as I am using them commercially I didn’t feel right about pinching design. The cartridges for the printer are supposed to do 480 pages at $57.00 which I think is reasonable enough.

      No, not life and death, I tend to email cards nowadays or Facebook Christmas!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  5. WOW! Look at all of those raspberries! Stevie-boy and I have shared 3 ripe raspberries (so far) between us, huddled like small destitute children around the soul quenching warmth of a shared candle in the night ;). They certainly are delicious little things :). You know, I must be insane as I love grey broad beans! I love mushy things and mushy broad beans and Brussels sprouts were never something that I wouldn’t eat. Obviously I know how to cook them better now but it is testament to my internal food fortitude (or my survival instinct kicking in?! 😉 ) that I can, if offered, joyfully eat a plate of mushy grey food in order to not upset my host ;). Your soaps look really lovely in their new Christmas attire. A great idea and money well spent to tart them up in order that people can just grab a soap and plunk it into a gift hamper or stocking or just place it lovingly in someone elses hands. Hopefully you do really well out of them this year and send Roger off to the next markets while you put your feet up after a whole LOT of hard yacka by the sound of it. HAHAHAHA! That would be like sending Steve off to sell something that I made. They would all be sold in 10 minutes as he would get bored and would discount the price in order to sell them fast 😉

    Like

    Reply

    • 🙂 LOVE THE RASPBERRIES! We were out picking these until 8.45 last night – not bad considering we were out of the house at 5.30 am for the market! We were commenting as we picked, and ate, that actually meals just eaten in the garden as we worked would be a really good way to eat lol. But then we came inside, made toasties with leftover chilli and cheese and fell into bed to sleep for 11 hours! Long day. Roger loved the market and is a far better salesperson than I am, he was in his element. I thought he would get bored and grumpy but he cheerfully talked the ear off anyone he could 😉 I really like the packaging now and there is a couple of big markets we are going to aim for if I can get the time to do it all.
      You can keep your mushy greys, it makes me nearly heave thing about them lol

      Like

      Reply

  6. Ooh yummy berry liqueurs! I love your pretty packages of soaps. I bet they smell divine. I know what you mean about being part time and filling in for others on your days off. I don’t mind most of the time but I do reserve the right to say sorry, I can’t make it in today if I’m too exhausted 😊

    Like

    Reply

    • 🙂 Hi Cathy. I am rather partial to Berry Liqueurs!

      Yes, I have said no to a couple of shifts but just very aware someone else will have to do it and everyone is tired. I am fortunate my job is pretty laid back and most times not demanding but it’s the hours spent away from home and other things. Never mind, I suspect pay day will make up for it all again 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • Oh, I tried that Cathy – I ended up giving soap to everyone that commented (because it would be rude not to) and decided I might not do that again 🙂 I give some to my friends, Roger gives it to his….at our rate I may go out of business before I even really get going 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  7. Oh everything looks so beautiful. I have been using your soaps and they are amazing + the cream is perfect! I will touch base when I need more from you after the 15th:-) I have ideas who will get some soap from me for Christmas!
    Sorry to hear you are so tired + sure hope things slow down, I can relate to times I have felt that amount of exhaustion:-(long sigh- Having your own business, working, + growing -OH MY–that is hard.
    Broad beans not something we eat much in the USA. I tried to grow it a few years ago, but it did not appreciate our heat. I have not tried since. It sort of looks like lima beans in the picture. I have grown those + loved those as a kid.
    You try to get some rest:-) Maybe put your feet up and bask in the sun:-)

    Like

    Reply

  9. Just how fast did you drink that vodka? 🙂 Your soaps are lovely as usual. I am sure you will save time packaging them now that you will be printing out rather than making your papers. I noticed the papers on the items I bought and thought that must have taken a lot of time to cut and wrap.

    We didn’t have broad beans, but I was forced to sit at the table until I finished both milk and a chunk of cabbage boiled in apple cider vinegar. I still don’t like milk but I’ll eat cabbage both raw and cooked just not with ACV!

    Like

    Reply

    • Well, I didn’t guzzle it but it was very morish 🙂 Lets just say it was all gone by the time it was supposed to stand and mature for 3 months 🙂

      I can’t imagine why anyone would cook their cabbage in apple cider vinegar, ew, yuck!

      Like

      Reply

  10. It may have been a short post but it was entertaining. I love all the comments and sometimes come in late just to read them all. I missed the vodka part though and must read again. You can see where my mind is these days. I can’t eat anything mushy. Almost starved to death when living in Taiwan. My mother would beat us with a wooden spoon to make me eat mushy stuff but I took the beatings rather than the mush. Don’t think I’ve ever had Fave beans but who knows, maybe someday.
    I’ll order some of your soap as soon as I can breathe again. Like in 2 weeks. The clock is ticking here and I’m so far behind. Thanks for the entertainment and education. I like learning something new every day. 😉

    Like

    Reply

    • Thanks Marlene 🙂

      I use vodka to make the berry liqueurs and if it’s homemade vodka it makes for very cheap but delicious booze.

      Sounds like we all had food issues with our parents, I am pleased parents no longer do that to their kids, it causes such misery for a child!

      Life can be so hectic around Christmas and often it’s not actually the Christmas bit, it’s that so many other things are going on over a busy period anyway ay. I hope your sons move etc go fine.

      Like

      Reply

Leave a comment