The apothecary shoppe is filling with artisan items. Linen stockings, cottage aprons, handkerchief soap, little soap boxes, orange vanilla lip balm, cotton noel sacks, and a variety of hand made goods all soulfully made and wrapped with care. It's been a busy week and if all runs accordingly to past seasons, will continue to be crazy busy. It's the season to season business's. In between, a calm steady flow, but in between, a fast paced flowing like a rapid river! Every now and then, it requires a deep breath in and a deep breath out. That's it...
Every season I attempt to predict which Bittersweet item will be the "hot" fly out the door creation. This year, it seems more than one Bittersweet appeals to folks. Soap Boxes, Stockings, Cremes, Lip Balms, Soaps of course, Aroma Mists, Linen Sacks, all making the list this holiday season. This means the maker of all that stuff will surely be ready for a winters break after the big day!
I received a large box of juniper bundles last week from my floral supplier. The aromatic greenery barely made it to the shoppe shelf before I sold out. Forgot to add the greenery to the list. The shoppe is filled with it and I love it.
The ladies group I spoke at on Friday welcomed me with open arms. The Fortnightly Study Club, the groups name has been around since the early nineteen hundreds. I believe, if memory serves me correctly, named after Florence Nightingale. I spoke about my business and the century old home it's housed in. It was dead of winter COLD that day so I had on many layers. The ladies complimented me on my wardrobe and asked if I could demonstrate my layering method. I was of course, eager to share. If you know me... I had a surprise bag of goodies from our artisan chocolate shoppe sitting at the table, a lovely card written by Judy, and a disbursement for my time. The ladies interesting and carried a vast amount of knowledge about history. I really enjoyed being a guest. Thank you Judy for inviting me. I captured an image.
Later on Saturday, Julie watched the shoppe and I scurried around downtown to work on Jill & Jules projects. I stopped by Main Street Goods and picked up a four pack of this. There's a guy at the radio station that helps with the shows editing . If you've ever been around radio, you know things don't magically happen. Anyway, I felt I should offer him a little something for his time. He told me he really, really, loved this carbonated drink so I have it resting in the fridge. A pumpkin pie also comes into play and I don't have time to make one, so I'll grab what is equally as good at this place.
Speaking of the radio show... It airs this Friday at two o'clock. I'm leaning towards a holiday show for November and December.
Changing the subject back to soap... I'll be transporting the Cranberry Spice to the brick and mortar shoppe on Wednesday! For some, it's their favorite holiday flavor. More orange vanilla lip balm to be made. You guessed it, it's not only my favorite flavor, but customers too!
Oh yeah! It's chutney making time! I need to go pick up a box of golden raisins and I'm set to go. I picked up the cutest little four ounce canning jars yesterday that will yield the perfect amount of cranberry chutney.
It's the holiday season... Oodles of thoughts can take over and spoil your cheer if you're not careful. I have found with my busy schedule, if you take things with stride, and don't sweat the small stuff, which by the way, in the big picture all that stuff would be considered small, relax, take a deep breath, moment, and simply be thankful.
Enjoy caring and sharing holidays.
Warmly,
Jill 00 (two hugs are always better than one)
