Farmer's Market

Our farmer's market season is underway. We are vending at two markets this year. A busy Saturday market and a smaller, newer, weekday evening market. I'm mostly pleased with how it's going so far. The soaps are not selling quite as fast as I had hoped but I am getting good feedback from the people who are buying. I didn't really know what to expect sales-wise and I think we are doing okay. My son is selling excess produce from the garden and excess periennial starts. He is selling out at most markets (but he hasn't had a huge quantity to start with yet). More produce will be ready soon. The markets should pick up in the next few weeks. It's almost strawberry season here and that will draw huge crowds to the market. Hopefully many of those new customers will be interested in soap. :>)

Respite again

We did more respite care last weekend. There is a lot I like about doing respite. I get a chance to know the kids w/o having to get involved in all the drama of their court cases, visits, etc. Also, usually before their quirks move from 'cute' to 'annoying' it's time for them to go home.

This group consisted of three sisters. Ages 11, 8, 5. They were from a city and clearly were used to city life. My 6 yo took great pride in showing them the goats, chickens, deer heads on the wall, etc. I could tell they thought they had been abandoned in redneck-ville. lol They are very sweet, quiet girls. I hope they weren't too terribly bored here. I have decided I need to invest in some books/activities/games/????? for pre-teen girls if we are going to continue to do respite for that age. Any suggestions? We're set up with boy stuff and little girl stuff but not much to do for older girls.

The only issue was that there turned out to be more transporting involved than I had been told upfront. When I was first asked if I could do respite, no transport was mentioned. (But I didn't think to ask either). Then it turned into "they might have a visit but since it's a holiday weekend I don't think they will" and I was left with the impression that someone would pick them up at my home if there was a visit (not sure if that was my misunderstanding or if I was intentionally led to believe that). Then a few hours before they were to be dropped off it was "Oh btw, you'll need to take them to _______ (city over an hour away) for their visit and then pick them up again 5 hours later." HUH???? At that point I should have said, look, that's not what I agreed to, you'll need to make other arrangements".....but I was feeling trapped because I wasn't sure if I had misunderstood all along that this transporation was going to be expected and I didn't want to leave the other foster parent in a lurch.

So I took them. $60 in gas and a lot of driving time out of my weekend. I'm not in
foster care to make a profit but I also cannot afford to have to spend money from our personal budget on respite transport. I'm not even sure how much I'm being reimbursed for caring for them...probably about $75 (it was just for one night) but I won't see that money for a month.

I learned a valuable lesson. Next time I'm called about respite my first question will be "How much transportation will be expected?" Then if it changes later I can confidently say, "I'm sorry, that's not what I agreed to do."

Say Cheese!

I just finished my third batch of goat milk cheese. So far I've made chevre, fromage blanc, and fromagina. All 3 are soft spreadable cheeses, similar to cream cheese. Yum! I made one batch into a cheese spread seasoned with creole seasoning, black pepper and onion powder. It was so good! I spread some on a tortilla, added some fresh lettuce (from our garden) and made a roll up.

I'm hooked! This is so much fun. :>) I need to get this baby goat sold so we can have more milk for the house.

I want to try mozzarella next.

So much for that.

So much for blogging every day in May. lol Between a slow computer, slow internet, and an ISP that was completely down for several days I didn't keep up. I'll try to do better from now on. :)

The kids are all asleep. This is the last night the respite kids will be here. It has gone very, very well. I couldn't ask for a better group of kids! I'm going to miss them when they leave. Hopefully their foster parents will want to use us for respite again.

A great homemaking website

I've been on Laine's email list for over 8 years. I have gleaned so many good ideas from her letters. Check out the archives at http://www.lainesletters.com/

Ten People, One Bathroom

Day two of respite care for the sibling group of five has gone well. Really sweet kids. No issues today except for the "I had that toy first" and "It's supposed to be my turn now!" type stuff that is normal whenever you get a group of small children together. They'll be here one more night.

Full House!

Our respite care kids arrived last night. What a sweet group! Five kids, ages 9-2. It's going good so far. :)

powerful quote

“I've come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It's my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or de-humanized.”

~Dr. Haim Ginott~

One Toddler + One box of Corn Starch

Recently Made Soaps

The soaps with the daffodils are Oatmeal, Milk and Honey scented. The other photo shows a variety of different scents/designs. Our farmer's market season begins this month so I'm soaping like crazy to get ready for it. :)

Blogging in May

My friend challenged me to blog every day in May. So far so good. LOL We'll see if I can keep it up. :>)