It’s almost spring and time for our limited edition perfume.

Persephone (Limited Edition)

This perfume is our vision of Mother Earth’s reunion with her child.  This is Faerie Made’s play on the classic eau de cologne blend which I call a “Fae de Cologne” … bergamot, neroli, orange, folded lemon and petigrain with herbal rosemary, lavender & a tad of lavender absolute, clove bud, benzoin and a kiss of vanilla.

Thing is … we’re closing out our packaging on the perfumes and I”ve got a boat load of these. And they are not 100% full. Instead, they are 3/4 way full. So they are going to be discounted even more.

How about $10.00 for a close out price … yep, regular $17.50.  We do have the full size in our new glass packaging for regular $17.50 also.

Well, one of the changes for 2010 has been to move from what the polypropylene bottles we’ve used package our perfumes to glass. The one thing that is not going to change is the spray mist that folks love.
The glass bottles have arrived and we’re pleased. So at this time we’re working on closing out the perfumes in the old packaging.

So come check out our close out at our website … limited quantities and a fantastic price! Regular $17.50 for only $13.00!

Good Fences makes Good Neighbors?

Well, I dunno about that. We have a nice 5 foot chain link fence and that’s where my puppers spend their time unless they are inside or on a leash.  The back yard is their territory (or for my Cairn Terriers: terriertory heh) and they really guard it against roaming cats, occasional loose dog and random leaves.

We have a large city lot, about 1/3 acre.  The entire back area is fenced. In that fenced area we have our greenhouse, our garden, our outbuilding where Faerie Made’s office/packaging area etc is located. And our lot is long … and downhill.  Halfway down the length is our garden beds for our veggie garden. Then all the way down to the bottom our property ends at the property of these new neighbors with a dog my dogs do not like.  See, the dog comes in their back yard which, yep, you got it … is near our dogs’ territory. And the dog loves going all the way to our fence to hang out.

This causes our dogs to go ballistic.  So all the way down they go, to bark at their enemy. We have to shlep down and herd up 2 terriers and a lab (Temperance our Std Poodle is too little to roam). Over and over and over ….

The past 3 days we’ve been up and down a record number of times. It is exhausting. We’ve held out hope that the neighbors will follow through and put in the fence they said they would and frankly we’re tired of having to get our dogs up away from their dog.

So … we’re fencing in our fenced in yard. The upper half near our house will be enclosed for the dogs to have space. We don’t have to herd so far. Then our gardens on the other side will be free from puppers digging in it.

In one week I will have orders go all over the world.

I will have local people driving to pick up orders.

I will have packages going to Florida or Michigan or California. Then I’ll have an order going to British Columbia or Japan.

I love knowing that people in New Jersey or Australia are enjoying my soaps and body care and reordering.

In my quest for immortality I’ve begun eating yogurt every day. Actually, I’ve been doing this a while. I love yogurt and now I love thick greek yogurt. Greek yogurt is yogurt that is strained so it’s very high in protein. So every day I’m eating 2/3 cup of plain greek yogurt with a high fiber cereal and a piece of fruit.

Greek yogurt is really good. But it’s also expensive. We usually wait until it’s on sale and stock up.  However, it still adds up dollar wise, especially since the entire family loves yogurt.

So recently I came up with the great idea to purchase a yogurt maker and make my own yogurt.

I picked up the Yogourmet Yogurt Maker at Amazon.

I grabbed what I needed: pot, milk, non fat milk powder, measuring cup, spoons, thermometer,  yogurt starter and the yogurt maker.

Into the pot I put 2 quarts milk and the milk powder

Heat the milk to 180 degrees F stirring occasionally, then cool to 110-115 degrees F.

Add starter to the cooled milk (this time I used fat free greek yogurt from the store) and stir it in well.

Place it into the yogurt maker with a bit of lukewarm water and allow to incubate for at least four hours (after my third try, I realized 7.5-8 hours to be what I liked best). The Yogourmet allows it to stay at a temperature of about 110-115 degrees.

After 7 hours (don’t peek, don’t stir!) I checked it out.  The whey had separated out (since I don’t have any thickener in it or gelatin, that happens), so I poured it off through a bit of cheesecloth. If i was straining it for greek yogurt I would be draining it off anyway so that’s cool.  If you strain it for several hours (like 6-8) you can get yogurt cheese.

It’s really good.

Next up … sampling different starters. I”m picking up some here.

My husband has mentioned making cheese. We’re doomed.

Threw this together for lunch. Took just a few minutes and is very tasty and nutritious.  It’s basically what veggies you have in your fridge, tofu (or other protein) and some whole wheat spaghetti noodles. I used carrots, onions, and broccoli.

Necessary are: ginger, garlic, tahini, tamari (soy sauce), honey, rice vinegar, & thai chili sauce. Fish sauce is optional. I like it, but you don’t need any. oh and fresh cilantro added at end.

Okay, cook noodles according to directions. Stir fry the tofu & veggies, minced garlic & ginger together in wok with a bit of pam, tamari & fish sauce.

Blend with a spoon about 4 tbs (1/4 cup) tahini, 2 tbs honey, tamari to taste, 3-4 tbs chili sauce & 2 tbs vinegar.  These are approximates. Do it more to your taste!  We love it really hot, but had my husband’s kids and they like their food pretty bland (one finds ginger to be spicy ugh). So if heat is what you want, add some red pepper flakes or fresh hot thai peppers!

Drain pasta, toss with veggies & tofu, add sauce and chopped cilantro.

yum.

I”m feeling it in me bones I was outside this morning at 7 walking Temperance, our new Standard Poodle pup and it just felt . . . different.

I know folks are still digging out of a blizzard just a few hundred miles from me. I know we just had the kids miss another day of school because we still have snow on the ground and we had a lovely round of freezing rain/ice.

But I also know that Imbolc signifies the mid point between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox. And my Star of Bethlehem flowers don’t lie. They are greening up.

We will have spring! I know it!

Honor the fae inside all women!

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