I just got back from the Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild conference in Palm Springs, CA. It was an awesome 3-day experience! Being the current President of the Soap Guild, I had responsibilities while there and was involved in the preparations (although Leigh O’Donnell, the Conference Chairman, was truly the mastermind behind it all). I loved having the opportunity to see old friends and meet new ones. We soapmakers certainly are an interesting and passionate lot!
Yesterday I got a call from the owner of our local Feed Store (capitalized because that’s actually the name of the store). Since it was 7:00pm on a Sunday evening, I knew something was up. Turns out that a woman in town, Carolyn, had become the unplanned foster parent of 11 mallard ducklings.
The back-story is that there was a momma and her babies trying to cross the road. The momma got scared by the cars and flew away, leaving the ducklings scattering. If you’ve never seen baby ducklings before, they are extremely small and very uncoordinated. A passing man picked them up (to save them from being run over) and - instead of leaving them safely by the road for momma to return to, he packed them in a box and took them to Carolyn.
Carolyn had just raised some chicks, so she had facilities to care for the ducklings overnight, but she lives in town (and is in her 70’s) and didn’t want the duck.
Long and short of it is that now we have 11 ducklings safely in our baby-duck-and-chick raising pen. As of this evening they were all healthy, warm and somewhat confused.
We’re hoping that some of them will be females. Turns out that of the 18 or so other ducks we still have living on the pond, only 3 are females. I think the drakes out there would appreciate evening up the score a little!
Tonight after dinner I looked out the window and saw an elk in the yard. The picture isn’t very good since it was dusk and he was about 75 yard s away, but it is proof that he was there!
We have several small elk herds that wander through the ranch, but they generally stay near the tree lines and away from people and roads. They come out into open areas to graze.
I recently received an email from Melinda Coss, a soapmaker and author from France. She’s involved with a program called Township Trades in South Africa, teaching teens business skills through soapmaking. Take a look at the video - it’s awesome!
OSWA - Oregon Small Woodland Association, Coos-Curry County Chapter, has a new President. As of the Annual Meeting (sometime in March) I will be taking the reins for the local chapter. I’ve been on the Board (and not really doing much) for a year now. Last week I decided that if I’m going to do it, I might as well DO it. It’s not as if I don’t know how to be the President of a small non-profit group!
Today has been such a diverse day. Normally people tend to stick to one or two somewhat related things during the course of business. Today I’ve been all over the map.
First thing this morning I worked on preparing a time line and pack of documentation to deliver to an attorney in time for him to read it before a 9:00 am meeting tomorrow.
In the middle of that I had to stop and check on the fence repairs around the barn.
While doing that, I found out there was a herd of about 30 elk down the hill, so everything stopped while we jumped in the truck with binoculars and camera to go check it out.
I just had a great article published in Aromascents E-Magazine! If was fun to write - to review all of the things I know about the wonders of soapmaking and condense it down into just two pages. Once again I was struck by the wonder of what happens in the soap pot and how the magic always happens to make soap.
My nieces and nephews called me “Andaree” when they couldn’t quite say “Aunt Marie”. Now grandson Coven is calling me “DammaRee.” It’s moniker I never expected to have, but the joy when I hear it is so far beyond anything else! The experience of being a Grandmother is just great - I love it!
Coven came to between Christmas and New Years. His first “by myself” trip. Jere went to Portland and picked up Coven along with his daughters who flew in from Florida and I flew him up to Portland (thank goodness for Frequent Flyer Miles!) on New Years Day.
That’s what the license plate holder on my truck says now. I kust put the new Handcrafted Soap Guild license plate holder on my truck. Required a little cleaning up of things to get the mud off, but I think it looks pretty nice!
It’ll be cool to drive around and have it be known that I’m a member of the HSMG and a soapmaker. Maybe it will get people thinking when we’re towing a horse trailer or carrying a load of hay.
Tonight after dinner I looked out the window and saw an elk in the yard. The picture isn’t very good since it was dusk and he was about 75 yard s away, but it is proof that he was there!
OSWA - 
I just had a great article published in 
My nieces and nephews called me “Andaree” when they couldn’t quite say “Aunt Marie”. Now grandson Coven is calling me “DammaRee.” It’s moniker I never expected to have, but the joy when I hear it is so far beyond anything else! The experience of being a Grandmother is just great - I love it!
That’s what the license plate holder on my truck says now. I kust put the new Handcrafted Soap Guild license plate holder on my truck. Required a little cleaning up of things to get the mud off, but I think it looks pretty nice!
