Wednesday, 28 May 2008

Days off work, hooray!

I am off work today so easy to find the time to blog. Had a good holiday. We ripped kitchen appart, wallpapered ceiling, painted it and nearly got kitchen back together again. Also had to take up floorboards upstairs to put new light fittings into kitchen so whole house in chaos. Got to try and sort out the house in the next couple of days too. Well make the most of 2 days holiday etc. Bedrooms are terrible state since we had to take up floorboards in both back bedrooms to do lighting so house is all chaos again! There is piles of stuff everywhere and dogs lying all over it making clean clothes and sheets etc stinky!

Intending to have mega soap making over next couple of days and then with luck will finally launch business. need to start to find outlets now. Considering some companies I know locally since a good customer so maybe they will try us out. Other than that have to rely on vegan society etc. Gotta sort out lab testing and also officially register the company cos so far have not yet done that. Its all such fun!

A friend went to visit a mine which is now open to the public so not actualy a mine anymore. Sounds horrible that mine! I didnt know they still use canaries. I did know pit ponies were treated badly. The worst conditions now are the brick kiln ponies in India ( and similar areas). The problem is often the pony has badly fitting saddle and harness which makes wounds and they get infected. Thats besides the heavy loads they have to carry. They rely on charities like the Brook Hospital who care for them and provide better harnesses etc. When I first heard about it it actually made me cry - anyway these ponies are often owned by kids of only about 14 who have to make enough money to care for several generations of familly. You can see why the animals come second once you realise the conditions the people have to suffer. Brook helps both owners ( by re-educating them) and the horses and ponies by treating wounds and giving better harness etc. Its still a terrible life they have to lead. Sounds an interesting place to visit tho. My Grandfather went down the mines in Wales. He was not very old when he worked there. On his first day there was a bad fall and his best friend died next to him. His older brother got him a job as a page boy in Brighton ( so he must have been quite young I think). Anyway years later he died from lung cancer which they reckon was directly related to the pit he spent only 2 days working in! That was about 1920s/30s I think.

Will be making much more soap this week. Didnt make any over weekend since chaos everywhere. Intending to remake cinnamon with more fragrance also several others which have ideas for. Have 40L of olive oil which is main ingredient so intending to go for it and then assuming all goes well to get certified and start up selling. I feel its time now. Also I can now get trade prices for all sorts of fair trade stuff so am considering a second company. Its terrible you know cos I keep going off at tangents. Having spent years trying to come up with an idea to go self employed I am finding them round every corner. Have decided to forget coconut oil for now since can buy cheaper from chester! maybe in the future tho when I need more or larger quantities. Also now have a sustainable source of Palm oil from columbia so no problems with guilt over orangutan habitats! had to do that since greenpeace keep emailing me about the indonesian rain forest being murdered for soap! Mine is sustainable tho!

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