how much do I really want to make money

Well loads ofcourse but really you have to have some morals. I have been approached by an online gaming company who want to advertise pon my website. I just think of the greyhounds who are used and abused and murdered both by hanging in spain and by meat in japan, chiona, indonesia etc. All of whom once were born in Ireland or England. Yes I really want to connect myself and my business with such wrong doings! No I do not. I could seriously do with some extra income but this cannot be the only way and if it is then I prefer to give in and get a "regular" boring job. Choice made and that is that. Off to see what tatty has been up to now then.............

online business, xmas wreaths and cold hands

Well I am doing ok with ebay now I have sussed out most of the controls. Lost quite a bit listing wrongly or badly but seem to be doing better now. I am not doing so well on my own website which is a shame but maybe it will slowly pick up. Trouble is xmas soon over and I suspect no one will buy anything I make for a month or so after that so hard times will be ahead. Just heard from M that is snowing where he works - about 20 miles from here but no sign of snow as yet here. Sent a new soap sample to all team members but so far no feedback but having used it myself I think its rather a nice one. Just need to get someone else to tell me what they think - hint hint if anyone out there is reading this........................
Going to have a go at shampoo bars next week. Cant wait to be honest. i only ever made one and it wasnt too bad but now I want to aim to bring out at least 2 early next year since apparently the cosmetics regs are changing and the price of saftey assessments os abou ot go sky high so I need to get as much in there asap as I realistically can manage but ofcourse I still need to make sure its good quality else no point bothering at all. Doing Reading eco-veggie fayre this weekend and hopefully that will be a good one and other than that I am just sending out internet orders till xmas. Looking forward to xmas this year. No nasty company bullying me anymore and no nastiness at all hanging over us. Just hope we can continue to make ends meet..............
Oh and finally made a wreath for the front door but it is a bit large and so had to cut off the outside and it is quite difficult locking and unlocking to door since you cant get to the key holes! Still I do like my new wreath and its all hand made and natural after all....................
I cleaned out my chickens this morning and my hands were so cold I still have pain in the ends of my fingers and thats after about 4 hours. I didnt even use water just a citronella spray. It should stop red spider mites moving into their house and although I usually disinfect I do not want them to have to go to bed later with frozen disinfectanty water a;ll over the inside of their home. I gave them loads of hay so they should be able to snuggle together and keep warm. I do worry about them at this time of year. I want a turkey for xmas - as in to have as a pet but I do not think we can actually afford to feed one right now which is really sad cos I would have liked to have saved someone .............still there is always next year..............

slackness at blogging!

Well its a whole month and finally I am back blogging. Very strage this month has been. I have not done so many markets but have started to sell on Ebay - not my own products but ornaments. I suppose if it pays the bills............. It all began when I decided to sign up for dropshipping - dont do this its a rip off! - I paid my £25 and listed my items - followed the companies guidelines exactly, they say if they have less than 200 of something do not list for dropshipping so I chose things to list on ebay with more than 300 in stock. 3 days later I have sold my first ornament. Great thinks me. How exciting. Go to order from dropship company and they have removed from drop shipping list since have only 12 left and they keep them for their wholesale customers - after 3 days! So I ring them and politely ask what I can do. They assure me its most unusual and say that on this occassion only and because I am new to dropshipping they will sort it and send anyway. I have to email them the details. I am stressing. I decide they have 12 left and most of the other items I have listed are still available and obviously drop shipping doesnt work so I decide to buy everything I have already listed wholesale. Amazingly it comes the next day! And 3 days later the company have still not sorted out my dropship order despite telling me they will do so. Anyway so now I have the goods and I send onto the buyer. He gave me a really nice review too which is lovely. So I have loads of ornaments and am now selling em on ebay. Not what I intended to do when I quit my job but maybe it will generate the money I need to survive since my own company is not. Tho strangely every time I have a ebay order I am now also getting orders from my own website. The last 2 weekends I made more from the internet than at markets. Maybe this truly is the way to be free............

JUST A QUICKIE

Have no time this week to blog and now finally I sit down and Shaun of the Dead is on the box. I do love shaun of the dead. One week into website course holiday and have sorted nothing- we have 2 weeks off but a test / assessment when we return!. CS2 just not the same as dreamweaver and I cannot afford to buy dreamweaver. I need to do meta tags tho! Urgently. Its just not good for business not being SEO ( serach engine friendly for the uninitiated!)
Doing the first Mind body and spirit festival tomorrow. Exciting but may be a flop yet. Starting to get loads of sales calls and buying a new mobile so I can switch the work one off after 6:30 since I have had a call at 8pm every night for the last 4 days and its getting a bit much. I would really like to believe this means brackencraft will be a success but i cant quite do it. Believe that is! And what will I do when I get a huge order? I want it to happen but can I fullfill it? Ofcourse I can but I will not be able to do the markets. That would be great but then I do have regular customers now and it isnt just a case of letting them down. I really do enjoy the markets and currentlyt that how I make it work. Tho not getting up at 1am to be there for 2am which is Wellesbourne would be a good one. Its just too expensive to get a permanent pitch and to be honest we dont do every week cos I am now getting regular events. Back to the course- not going well. I just feel like the thick kid in the class! Maybe I am. Last year went amazing but this year just not as good. Maybe its the teacher but it could be me! Either way makes no difference in the end. I do hope I pass tho. Weird cos maybe thats the problem. Last year I wanted to build a website and didnt care about the qualification. Having done well last year I want to do well again so it matters what grade I get. Maybe I should just relax and have fun again.....................after all I already have a website that works and I will make it SEO eventually even if I have to buy CS4 to do it!!! Onward and upwards etc. I do hope tomorrow will be a good day. Otherwise my future is outside in the wind and the rain forever.............

vegan fairs

Vegan fairs are just wonderful. We had a stall at West Midlands Vegan fair and it was a great day. We had fun working which is always a good one. I dont think they will make me rich moneywise but just being there was great and knowing you can eat everything and you dont need to check the ingredients was just brilliant. We had chocolate cakes nd tea and coffee for breakfast, fish and chips for lunch and all sorts of munchies all day long. Great day. I would happilly do one every week. Sunday was ok. Castle Donnington market. We work next to some lovely people there so thats good but I do prefer the vegan fairs.
Today I need to get round to doing the books up to date. I keep putting it off - hence I am now blogging! Will need to get round to it soon cos have website design tonight and altho half term have loads of stuff to work thru so I will hopefully pass the assessment. Also in course of practicing intending to wow up my website a bit if I can!

lip balm kits

Well it looks like I may yet get the lip balm kits out in time for xmas. I spent the last few hours making the base. I have already written the instuctions so will need to get M to follow them and see if he can produce a half decent lip balm from them. Then I will need to buy some 5ml bottles for essential oils cos no way will people want to pay loads for the 10ml which wont be needed. Thats the falvouring. I am sill avoiding fragrance oils. May have to give in on that one but I really do not want to. I will only want a few 5ml bottles tho to trial this so it will bump the initial costs up. Still I do not want to buy eg. 150 bottles until I know if anyone will buy this. Its still just an experiment and an idea right now so I cannot afford to invest too much till I know if anyone will be interested oin buying it. Besides the fact I have nothing to invest! If I lose a few quids or rather make nothing on the trials fair enough. Just do not want to lose loads again. I need to find a wholesaler who sells packaging next. I realy need so kind of box or even tuperware to put the whole kit in. Have so far found everything too expensive. Ikea tupperwares looking the cheapest but cannot believe they really are the best option.There must be a similar cheaper option out there somewhere......

unfragranced moisturiser

Today at last I finally got round to making an unfragranced moisturiser. You would think it a logical first one to make but not for me. Anyway happy to say its very good. I made it really cos of customers asking for one. Hope it goes well. I havent done the labels yet but will do tomorrow cos it goes on sale on saturday. We did ok last weekend and it almost looks doable as my future work right now but I dare not be too hopeful. I have worked out I can survive on about 7k tho 10 would be much better. Less than this and I will starve to death! No idea if my current earnings are going to achieve anywhere near this tho. Come april 2010 I may well be out of business by the looks of it right now! Still onwards. Better to try and fail than spend your entire existance dreaming and never to ever go for it. Make it happen! I am certainly trying to do so. I had a second internet order which is encouraging and have learned ( yesterday at the website design course I am doing on monday evenings)to make templates for my website. That will save so much time. Right now I have to edit every page if I add anything new that needs a link. Means completely redoing my website tho. Still its another project...................
I made more apple wine which is now doing itself as it does and right now I am sitting drinking a quite acceptable glass of plum wine which is a nice rosey pink. Mmmmmm. maybe I should start selling country wines instead of soap!???

pickling, preserving and wine making

Well its harvest time and this year we are in the thick of it all. Its been loads of apple wine making, elder berry wine making, damson, etc and then more of each and now I am pickiling cucumbers. Arent they called gerkins? Or rather are pickled cucumbers the same thing as pickled gerkins? I will have to google. Off to Incredible Veggie Roadshow tomorrow since we have a stall. I always fancied going to one but never have done and now am working at one so probably wont really get to have a look round. Never mind. Maybe we will take some money and sort it all out. Last week took only £90 over 3 days. Not good for survival that! Finally have bought some cello bags tho which means I am back in production making bath bombs. My handss are sore. I have started to react to gloves. I get a sort of exema. I cannot spell this but its a nasty itchy sore skin complaint and it happens between my fingers when I wear gloves. they are not latex either. I used to get this when I worked in a lab at a universiy but it went away. probably cos I moved into office jobs. I actually moved cos they paid better than lab work but anyway I have nasty itchy skin again. Not alot I can do about it either. A hazard of chemistry I think.
Back to the harvest thing. I went foraging. At the top of our road is a tree with sweet chestnuts. they are rubbish tho and the chestnuts that have fallen so far are sort of flat and empty. Not at all like the ones yoiu buy in tesco. I need to look for another tree cos somewhere around there must be one worth scrumping.
I need to buy some more sugar too cos none left to make any more wine or pickles and we stil have a tree laden with apples and soon the frost will come. I had better repot and bring in doors the geraniums too I suppose. they are amazing. I bought some seeds from Aldi for 35p and it said to start them in a heated propogator I think in april. then repot on etc. But we have no space at the moment to use propgators so i started in a pot in teh garden instead and it was June. Anyway they are proper geraniums - as in pelargonium geraniums not wild english type and they have actually flowered so if I can manage not to murder them this winter ( I am not good with house plants!) I will have a go at making some post hanging baskets next summer. My dad gave us loads of hangoing baskets - without anything in - just the wire baskets, so i wil see if I can make them. My last attempt at this I think was about 8 years ago and I spent loads on plants to go in it and murdered nearly everything in the process of making the basket. I cannot get the lobelia or dangly type of plants to drip from the bottom. I just kill them when I put them in the holes! There must be a nack to this that no one has explained to me!
Oh and I have a customer on my webiste! Hey its happening!

for William died friday 31st August 2009 - my friend

William was a cockateil. A pretty amazing one. This is her sitting on the lap top a few months ago. She did love M! On May 28th 2000 william escaped when we were decorating. She dissapeared as cage birds who get out do, squarking with delight off into the sun!. I rang the RSPB and the RSPCA. I was told they would keep a look out but unless she turned up within a few hours that was that. Also they only looked within 5 miles of the house where they come from. And then it hailed! We lived on the Wirral then in a small town/village called Neston. I asked the neighbours if they had seen her - some had aviaries so it was a possibility they might see her. I was told to give up since that was that. You never find them.

I didnt give up. We lost her saturday about 11am. William however ( she laid eggs so was a girl but we didnt know that when we called her "Billy") was a free bird within the home. Despite stripping the wall paper and Shitting everywhere we still left her free! She could fly. She would "fall when the frost came"so said the RSPB if we ever heard of her again. I found the first real use for owning a computor and printer then (well other than writing your thesis/project!). I printed posters asking for info and put them in every shop within a 10 miles radius. Then on Monday I was on a flexi day and went into a shop in Thornton Hough. They said a lorry driver had had a cockateil land on his bonnet in the hail and he had taken her to a local couple who had aviaries. My heart lept but I coudnt belive this was real. I went and found the house. They were really nice. They called the cockateils out but no Billy. She was unusual - white faced so not average and not the same as theirs. Eventually a bird came out with no tail looking very sorry for itself. It was Billy. She hung on the bars of the aviary and looked at me. She knew me. I had found her. Despite all here she was alive. 8 nearly 9 miles from home. They told me to go home and get a cage. I cried all the way. I rang M and he thought I had found her dead cos I cried down the phone. He was at work in Coventry. But I told him she was ok! When I got back they had already caught her and put her in their cage which I took her home in and returned later.
The other 3 birds must have thought she stank. They kept away from her for 3 days. She was home tho and eventually all was well. She preened and ate and slept for 3 whole days. She never tried to leave again even when stupid mates leave the doors open which does happen. On Friday 31st August she had a series of very painful ( by the sound of it) strokes at about 11ish-am. I took her to the vets at 5:45pm and she had not moved since but had drunk water I dribbled down her beak. The vets say they have never know cockateils hve strokes. She has had fits but recovered within at most 30mins for about a year now tho. It may not be normal but thats how it is. She always go back up and flew round the room shitting as she went. She was about 14 so not that old but a reasonable age for a cockateil. Especially one who by its colouring is probably pretty inbred. I loved william. The vets sent us forget-me-nots. We will plant them in the spring when maybe they will survive. Our garden being pretty wild and uncultivated right now they would most likely die which would be sad. We planted a bush on her. Its of chinese origin which is bad. Looks like holly but supposed to get fragrant flowers on it. Also it wont disappear into our indigenous hedging. We will know where she is just like Rosie and Jim who also do not fit the hedging. So when we moved here we had 4 pretty old but beautiful cockateils. Now we have one. Benjy remails. Benjamima is also a girl - apparently Jim may have been too tho we always assumed him male but since he died we have been told he was probably not- by his behaviour, anyway 3 out of 4 definitely were girls. Billy laid eggs. And sat on them every xmas which was a pain. Laid em under cupboards. sofas all over the place till we lost patience ( not wanting to stand on/ sit on her!)and locked her in a cage. Oh and each bird had to have their own cage like seperate rooms else they had fights - no one else has problems like this so why us? We were inundated with cages! And they all lived 90% of their lives free!Billy tormented the dogs by landing on their heads and gripping with her claws. They used to wince cos it hurt. These dangerous dog hating dogs would never have hurt her and she knew it. She was there first and they wouldnt dare. She landed on them regularly poor lads. And on us. And in the middle of your dinner. She was a right pain really. She begged like the worst pidgeons you will find every time you ate toast, crumpets, chips or anythng she took a fancy to. Still she was my William. Benjy is doing ok now. She was devestated but now today she was so noisy. I made a business call -never again from now on will use mobile unless 0845etc. Wow did she shout! Embarrassing birdie. Still shes doing ok even if alone. The first week she was just moping but I suppose life just goes on and on regardless of you doesnt it. Making a point of talking to her is helping I think now shes the only one poor darling. Benjy is also a girl.- my beautiful darling. She is very like jim. She is the last one. I wont look to bring another bird home since it seems wrong however it all began because someone I knew never let their cockateil ( Rosie) out of the cage and then we had the others to keep her company. Benjy was a year younger than the others..........................

I am back!

Well its been ages and ages. Finally, yesterday my new laptop got here. I had to argue with the insurance cos they objected to me wanting a replacement IMB ( now called lenovo!) but eventually I won. They wanted me to accept a £299 PC world replacement. I had it as a named item so eventually after threatening a solicitor they gave in. Also turns out at some point in last 10 years the CIS changed their policy from "new for old" to "comparable" so I got £758 for my £900(in 2005) IBM!. AND worst of all they are downright sexist. I have complained ( with M) to ombudsman. He made a claim earlier this year ( yes its been a terrible year!) and they sent a voucher in his case but addressed to him not to us jointly which seemd right. They sent mine addressed to him only, whilst knowing I was the claimant, and the cheque was in both names. Well I suppose they can argue the cheque since the policy is a joint one, but my IBM was insured with them since before we ever officially lived together ( since I bought it in 2005 and altho we were together we only officially moved in together when we moved here in 2007 so they definitely know it is mine!). Every time I rang them they made me give Ms date of birth not my own as ID( I am sure this is wrong too as far as data protection etc is concerned and how can I prove my own ID when giving someone elses?), they persistently called me Mrs not Miss despite me repeatedly asking them to update the details. They kept ringing him and not me and they knew it was my lap top and my claim. The CIS are sexist. I am sick of them. Actualy took out a policy with em this year too but have cancelled even tho we lose on it and moved to another and also cheaper company since they have annoyed us both so much. I also spoke to 2 solicitors and Coventry law centre to see if we can take them to court for sex discrimination but apparently they have not discriminated, they are legally allowed to behave in a sexist manner. Well we used to insure everything thru CIS since they are considered Ethical but as far as I am concerned they are sexist and out of date. Stuck in a 1950s attitude towards women who live with men. I bet they would have treated me fairly if we were in a same sex relationship! Would they get away with this if we were both men or both women? I doubt it. Well over the rest of my life they have lost a lot of money since I have been with the CIS since Decenmber 1999 and never before claimed and I will never ever insure with em again. Not just with house insurance either but with all my insurance. Well they have lost me forever now. Also just about everyone else is cheaper so stuff ethics. Its all a con! Some ethical company to treat me as a second class person just because I got together with someone! Or because I got together with A MAN! Anyway they have f*cked emselves as far as I am concerned. In the end move your money and they may just get the message. Polite requests get you nowhere!. After all in the end Aparteid was beaten by people refusing to trade with south africa, not by people objecting to their ill treatment of people due to race. Money talks louder than anything else it seems. What a sad world. All equal people who have this kind of problem with CIS should stand up and be counted. We are equal. They WILL learn!

Well as for everything else, Yey its so good to be back online! My chickens are doing well tho still have a few feathers missing. Still self employed tho its not looking good but I start at Brum Rag market this friday and maybe that will be my turn around. Brackencraft of the 1980s has joined new Brackencraft and I am making recycled patchwork hand bags. Will take some photos and post in next few days. We are finally clearing the shed and have done some bootsales which sadly have raised more cash than the proper business - still Brum here I come! I am starting ( assuming they get enough students) part 2 of webdesign in a couple of weeks and off to enrole tomorrow. Will now be able to finish doing my website but need to suss out how to upload again since lost all the settings on dead laptop. Still I did it once so must be able to do again. Managing to eat very frugally too since we have hazels in the garden - made pesto today and had with mushrooms and pasta and have made loads of home made wine. Drank the red wine kit all but 1 bottle which is for Christmas but also have banana, bananna and cinnamon, plum, damson, elder( 5 gallons!), plum again and also now hawthorn. Wine kits taste ok after 1 month but real wine doesnt! I have bottled it. The banana is very sweet - good with mince pies/ puddings maybe. Its very cheap anyway. And very alcoholic but the bit we tasted which was not very nice being very yeasty but could be good in a few months time. Loads of apples on the tree too so will have a ago at apple wine and have discovered we have a quince tree. Well I think its quinces but not positive. Didnt notice them last year and when looking on internet they show pictures which look like mine but the core I would have expected to be like pears but it isnt its more like a mango so I am not positive but hopefully if made into jelly or wine they wont poison us! I am doing the Viva veggie roadshow in Cheltenham and also West Midlands Vegan fair in next month or so, so its posibly going to be a brilliant month. Well you have to believe dont you. And I do believe so it must happen. I have my laptop so now life must be getting better. I will write again tomorrow. I am on a roll now and off to check my neglected email................Ah life is good. I have no money, business is cr4p but I just cant help it. Life is great...............

skanked by Robins and Day

Well I tried to book the van in for its free service as offered when we bought it along with its 3 month warranty. I got told there is no free service so we have been skanked by Robins and Day in Coventry who are obviously DODGY CAR DEALERS! I am not happy. So may as well Name and Shame them. The warranty is up now anyway and we have only had one problem which I think was due to very hot weather. The alarm kept going off but it was only for a couple of days when it was very very hot the other week. Either way Robins and Day are dodgy car dealers so everyone beware. I didnt realise till today that they didnt put it on the receipt. The guy who sold it to us tho - Mark Whelan - definitelyt said it included a free service which we would need to book it in for in the next few months so now I have tried only to be told there is not one included.Well we havent had it so we have been ripped off by ROBINS & DAY, Peugeot dealers in Coventry

annoying neighbours

They have all fallen out with us. Next door not joined on is a stuck up *1tch anyway and always has been - told us when she cut our hedge back ( last october)without asking and I told her not to that we have brought down the tone of the neighbourhood AND are not good enough to live here. I think its me she particularly hates cos she thinks I am just common. Well I probably am! I complained to local councillor about her cos she told me she would continue to cut back our indeginous trees as and when she liked. We don t want to involve a solicitor cos it makes it harder to sell the house so I got local councillor involved and she confirmed our rights and told her to leave our trees alone. This silly cow also prefers the leylandii we are chopping down to the proper english shrubs we want to keep! The rest of our neighbours we got on with till last thursday when I got a shed put outside the back door. Well realistically to get rid of huge monstrosity of shed we need somewhere to put our stuff and we cannot put new shed in old spot till old shed is moved. Only hard standing is right outside our kitchen door and we dont want the new shed to rot.Within about 5 mins of the workmen who delivered and put together leaving, next door ( tilll now friendly) neighbour complained about it being outside back door. We dont want up garden since will simply be robbed and also only current hard standing ( till removal of huge tumble down wreck of shed) is outside back door. Its convenient there and we dont mind if we look at a shed cos it makes the kitchen very private. It does not in any way obscure light from next door and she actually has a shed the opposite side of the fence - tho roof is lower! She can just about see the peak of the roof - its about 4 inches over the top of the fence-and she is moaning. We would prefer to leave it where it is though I have told her its there cos we cannot take down old one and replace unless we can empty it and we cannot put it where old one is till we have removed that - catch 22 etc. She not happy so now most of street - or at least neighbours immediately both sides hate us. I dont care, M doesnt care but its a bit ott cos whats wrong anyway with our shed? Its not even a cheapey one and cost us nearly £400! All it means is she cannot spy on us out of her bedroom window anymore cos she cant see! ha! Anyway shed is just a store though I think its probably the first of several and maybe we can make the middle original shed into a workshop! They will end up dotted about the garden. Its a bit at a time though due to lack of money.

Chickens fun - infact very popular with next dooor but one neighbours both sides who used to keep them years ago so thats a good thing. I cleaned them this morning and Gwen was sitting shouting at me the whole time. She even sat on the top of the dirty straw in the bucket moaning at me! She is always in the way and moaning - shes the boss you see!I do like my chickens............

I hurt one of the cockateils. She sat on the lounge door and I closed it. I thought her toe was broken but today shes using it but I have grazed all the skin. She was going to the vets today ( I did it yesterday morning) but shes healing so quickly and can climb and seems not too bothered so I am just keping an eye on her and will see if it heals. Birds are different to mammals and heal really quickly so hopefully the damage will be gone soon. I feel so awful about it. I know they sit on the doors and usually I check and for some reason I didnt look. M is going to shave the top off the really well fitting door so it will look all bodged but at least I wont be able to trap a cockaleils feet in it so I prefer to have ill fitting doors it seems. Its the new door too and cost a lot since our doors are all 32 inches tall so we cant get the normal cheapey ones, so quite sad.

life in general

I am trying, somewhat unsucessfully to blog regularly again. Not happening!! Life is just too hectic. its good tho dont get me wrong but I could do with more time each day. We now have 3 more chickens and they have a better home. See below for a piccie. It should get even better for them eventually cos we are extending the run to just about double the size to the waste bit of land next to them.Had great difficulty taking piccies of them since when you go in to their house they all come to see you and you cannot get far enough away from them to take a good photo!



This is their home. This is my chicken`s house with run and you can just about see the girls. Below is a piccie of and egg and also of one of the girls.














This is the egg - yesterday.
We had 4 eggs yesterday and 5 two days ago. They do not all lay where they should tho and some are laid out in the run. I am not too sure who it is yet who likes to lay outside. Its been pretty amazing watching my girls change from scared of gthe daylight frightend hens into proper dirt bathing lovely friendly chickens. A local chicken breeder has outraged M by saying they are only fit for dog meat since at the end of their productive life. They are lovely. Muriel likes being cuddled, Sally is the adventurer and has least feathers but can fly ( not very good really and I hate the idea of clipping wings but if they are to come out and range around the garden they will have to be clipped.)





















This is Gwen. Shes the boss and pecks every body. She is looking quite fluffy. When we got he she was nearly bald. All but one have had their beaks clipped. They are in somewhat of a mess. They are all jagged and rough and I am watching to check they do not split further. Apparently they could do. They are very gentle creatures -tho vicious to each other and I am so glad we had them. I am very onld on Wednesday ( half way to 90!) Scary or what. So these lovely girls are my brithday pressie. Well I did say to M wanted a chicken for my Birthday and a Turkey for Xmas. Maybe the turkey is a no-no now tho!

Yesterday I was in the kitchen which is at the back of the house but about 50-60m away from the chickens. Windows and back door were locked.I heard the loudest clucking ever. No idea what freaked them out but I thought someone must have been murdered by the level of noise, but when I went running down to see them they all came to tell me something had happened. Maybe they saw a cat ( there are 2 next door)or a fox, who knows but the noise they make when scared is loud and shocking. good thing I didnt have a cokeral cos we would definitely have problems with neighbours with that level of noise!

NOT ENOUGH TIME

Well there just isnt enough time in a day to fit everything in. Its starting to really annoy me. I need a planner to run my life and not just the work bits cos I NEED a planner to work out when I can fit in the play bits. How sad am I!

Felt a right idiot today. Took car into a garage cos have what I am pretty sure is a tracking problem but they just wont have it. If the tyres wear I shall send em the bill! Not sure theyd pay it but worth fighting for cos I still think it pulls to oneside but being a woman ofcourse I cannot be right - or so they made me feel. Me and M both drove several different bits of road and it always pulls to left. They say camber. I will send em the bill in about a month!

New directions and old friends

Did Leamington peace festival, Last time I went (as a punter/customer- depending how you see life!) I was 26! Now I am middle forties so all has changed|!) made a living. This is good. Its where I should be! I need to do lots of festivals. I have never enjoyed work as much as I did last weekend! Mind you was really hard work since my mate was ill so I ended up having to work alone and when it gets hectic thats difficult. Some shoplifting too cos I cant watch everything at once and serve pepes. I really need some help at big events like that. I still enjoyed it tho dont get me wrong and with luck I will do again next year.

free the chickens

Had a really hectic weekend and we are both still knackered and its only tuesday! On Thursday decided its nearly my birthday ( wont say how ancient I am)and emailed Little Hen Rescue since I would love to have some ex-battery chickens. I first got in touch with them when I found a knitting pattern for jumpers for hens on the internet and decided then - January- I would like some hens but we were not ready gardenwise. We still are not really but its just time and we have demolished about half of the tumble down buildings so do have some space now. I was intending to get them mid-July but they emailed back to say they had booked us in for Sunday! So having done a market in Derbyshire I came home swapped from van to car, left M to take care of the rest of the pets( dogs cockateils etc) and drove to Norfolk to get my chickens. We have 3. Should have got 6 tho so have asked for 3 more in about a month. They are lovely! They are a bit bald but not as bad condition as many. Because I live so far away from the rescue place they gave me very feathered good condition birds. Or relatively speaking. One has a floppy comb due to malnutrition and all are underweight. The state of some of them there was pitiful. They have a hospital wing for birds with broken wings - normally they are left to suffer untreated on the battery farms. One pen has birds with a disease who cannot got to homes. Another has birds who have legs so weak they cannot stand up. All will be rehomed eventually though apparently - except those with diseases. These people do such a worthwhile job and work long hours for free every weekend to rehome these poor creatures. The woman who started Little Hen Rescue is called Jo and she has also rescued cockateils. One of her cochateils has had its wings stapled. Can you believe that? What kind of human being would do such a terrible thing to a bird. Being a parrot it can climb and lives in an aviary with other rescued cockateils but the idea of this poor bird having its wings stapled haunts me. Apparently the vet reckons the staples cannot be removed due to having grown over. Poor animal.
Anyway Little Hen Rescue is wonderful. Inspiring. They had 10,000 birds to rehome last weekend else they would be slaughtered. They managed to rehome most of these. The place was very difficult to find and i just got lost and they came and recused me - made me feel a right prat I can tell you but anyway if you ever fancy recuing chickens ( they also do geese and ducks) I would recommend them. My chickens are currently in temporary housing but even this small 6ft by 2 ft run is better than they are used to. The house is good tho and till today only one had ventured out of it into the run and to get them out I had to force them thru the door cos I wanted to clean the inside of their house and didnt want to attempt with them in the way. On battery farms they have 6 chickens to a space the size of an A3 sheet of paper so mine have a huge area even though I feel guilty cos it is small! It will be better once the new run is built. Mine seem quite happy tho scrattching around and munching on food. You have to give them mash to begin with cos they are not used to anything else and make sure they are drinking but it all seems to be going well so far. I have given them some tomatoes, cougettes and carrots which they ate, but they didnt like pasta. The run is very makeshift since we expected to have another 3 weeks to get ready but it didnt work out like that so now we will have to move the wood store and they will then get a space about 10ft by 14ft to live in which is more like it. Also then I can get another 3! M worked very hard on Saturday, sunday after the market( whilst I drove to get them) and monday after he got home from work, to make this home for them. He is very tired still today. This proves how fast you can work tho when something needs doing.I wish we could be this fast at renovating the house. The new chicken run will be ongoing for a couple of weekends I reckon cos to build it we have to move loads of wood but its seasoned now and in reality we are unlikely to be given huge amounts of fire wood ever again so probably wont need such a huge storage space for it so it will be a new chicken home. My birthday has come early this year. Time to get back to making stuff for the festival now.......

Leamington Peace Fair / Festival

Well I have got on to Leamington Peace Fair but now its a festival apparently. Very exciting cos I didnt think I had. A fellow trader I know heard about 6 weeks ago he was on so its quite a surprise and its not long away ( june 13-14) so I just hope I will have enough stock to do it. Could have done with longer to get it set up. Also have already outgrown 8/10 ft market stall and now also have a table which is fine till it rains so today have had to rin g up the company who make them and order so evtra bits to extend to a 14ft ( because we have an 8 that extends to a 10 we will now be able to have a 8, 10, 12, 14 ft stall as needed which is a bonus. Also buying front extensions to make it better in the rain cos by the time theres a plastic sheet up there is no/ very little space to get customers in! I am really excited about Leamington peace fair. Have not been since around 1989 and apparently its grown from about 12 stalls to about 150!!!!! And we will be there!

I am now making candles and room sprays too which I have sold one of each already and they only went on the stall on saturday. Did not do very well this week end but sold enough to replenish supplies for new products and now finally getting round to buying gify fair trade stuff to go with everything else. We need a bigger range to get the company to work cosw if it carries on like this I need to get a proper job!

I am encouraged tho. On saturday was ready to pack it all in but then I just cant stay dismal for long I spose. Made more bath bombs today and will do the rest of what |I need for this week tomorrow and then off to banbury cross ( literally!) on thursday to do the market for the second time. Thden was going to milton keynes friday but may have to leave that till next week since sold more by the looks of things over bank holiday than I realised so may need to do friday making new stock for the weekend but I will see how much I manage to make tomorrow. Now time to pay tatty`s blog a visit I think!

mouldy moisturiser

My moisturiser went mouldy. Only one but worrying.Maybe they dont keep that long. Maybe someone opened that one. Like home made jam it goes off. Maybe thats good cos proves it natural etc but I am not so sure itd going to be good for business!Talking of which my first ever hit( as in to my website I mean) called me. Well he may not be my first hit but either way hes the first to ring me up and I was very unprofessional and just said hello not "Brackencraft" or can I help you or something professional sounding anyway I need to professionalise myself a bit and the result is there are paypal buttons now and they work! Have yet to do them all - takes me ages!

Maybe I will one day achieve self sufficiency after all..........
Now time to read everyone elses blogs. I have been so busy for ages................

a great week and life just gets better

Well we just did a very tiring and hard work bank holiday market. The sun was out and it was busy and the day was great. Makes me feel sure this is the right direction. I just need to find out the best markets and stick with them now so I make enough to survive. Its looking good today. I had a vague hope of selling out which didnt happen but sales were steady and we could make this work. So long as we can pay the bills and leave enough money to replenish stock all will be fine. Tomporrow gotta see an accountant to try to deal with this stressful tax stuff...................

Its been busy.............

I have been stressing. First the Vegan Fayre which was ace tho the coffee was suspect in that the "soya milk" didnt curdle and altho sometimes I manage it mostly when I make coffee with soya milk it curdles. The stuff in jugs sold at BVF didnt! Worrying but too late and all over with anyway. Will note for future reference.

Then had to make it work. Got my first mail order which is amazing. Hope she liked what she ordered! Then what next? Had loads of hassle uploading the website and total disaster so far with forwarding the rest of the domains to see the same thing. I have had very detailed instructions tho from web host ( Godaddy -) their customer support when you are an idiot with doing your own website is ok it seems cos have managed most things once I email for help! Havent had time to try yet since went on tax course for new businesses ( HMRC run) and now scared to death. Most unproductive 2 days ever after that downloading and printing credit card statements , bank statements and loads of wsated time and wasted paper making excel print company accounts to 2 sheets and one page wide each month. Finally worked out you adjust the % manually and try test page! Well never been actually been taught excel ( my excuse) and when did use at uni was just for graphs so I can do that but not the admin type stuff. Well can now!

Spent today at Rugby - ok but yet to work it all out and did stock take- for scary tax return stuff! Tho still have to actually weigh the ingredients in stock and no idea what I actually have!!!! Well vague idea but theres all sorts of weird things from failed experiments that I probably have to sort out now. Tho spose could be time to have a clear out. Also time to reorder stuff short of which is loads.

Doing tomorrow and monday markets so hopefully the bail out will happen now before the company goes under. The BVF saved me last time. May be this time it will be bank holiday. Wonder how it feel to actually start to make money or does it ever happen to normal people. Will it always be down to luck if I get bankrupt tomorrow! Its all fun I spose and have to say I have never felt free-er or happier!

more work and work and work but maybe its worth all the stress

Well its been a long long while and I have been sooooooooo busy. Doesnt matter. BVF is this week. A week today infact. Feels like time to get round to blogging anyway. With a small bit of luck and some real work the website ( the REAL website) will go live tomorrow tho have yet to suss out paypal!!! Also to take some reasonable photos ( am so bad at photography!) Still the learning curve is every increasing. Maybe that means I will earn loadsa money! I wish!!. Well yesterday turned up at Hinkley market to find there was no stall. Thats after making £15 loss 2 weeks on the trot at Morton in the Marsh ( the apparent dead cert winner!!! And I am so lucky to get a stall there!!!!!!) Not for me and my product it would seem. So thats the end of that. I intend to try Coventry.............send em(back) to Coventry! Well no doubt about it every time I manage to leave the place I seem to end up back again. Well whatever. They have a Lush and a Body Shop and my products sort of encompass both - on top of that its reputedly the home to animal rights and I have no problem with that and all my products are now Vegan Soc registered- well all except the lip balms -due to me not sending all stuff in - an error but I do expect they will be registered very soon so no problems. So why not. Also the fact you know half approx of the city could actually go in your favour couldnt it?? Either way it has to be a big city and why not old Cov! Almost my hometown - well have spent more than half my life there tho not actually from there at all. My mum is tho so maybe thats it. Anyway would rather try Cov than Leicester so Cov it will be. If possible friday but I have also asked for a place at the new sunday market at the Ricoh Arena which just might be good. I dont do a Sunday anywhere else tho the fact its indoors will be a downer in summer but might turn out great in winter I spose! Who knows maybe its better to work where people DO know your name. Anyway I give in. Time to try the home town. Last week was a record, I took over £130 in Rugby. Today tho down to £40 and to be fair the stall nearly took off several times. Other traders lent me clips and sheets to try and stop the wind. Theyre a great bunch of folk tho. Beats office politics. Oh and the company I used to work for ( yesterday time was up!!!)have said they will pay me what they owe ------still we have to see the money yet----I will keep you posted! I sort of wish they didnt give in and that they would go to tribunal cos theres so much they will get away with if they dont!Tho still I could lose but I would love to see them there..............am I just evil?? Maybe! Or maybe when you have very little to lose morals are more important than money! Right now I feel so happy to be truly free for the first time in my entire life since I went to Uni to escape the (freedom!) of unemployment!. But I am making no money and this cannot continue unless I start to make enough to live on. That unfortunately is just life! Anyway onward to Brighton Vegan Fayre to make the company name and to maybe oneday be a real self employed person who actually makes enough money to pay the bills. Until next Saturday then have to sign off since will be making stock, Getting website online ( I truly hope and even pray!) and everything else I have to do to make it happen. Wishing all the world that all their dreams come true..................Oh and all my mates I really have made some new soap and will send as soon as can get it sorted. Its all ready and seems very promising its just a bit mad right now.....................And theres 4 new not three! All the best to everyone who may come accross this.............

grievances, market trading etc

Well its been a long time it seems and I have been so busy had no time to blog. So this is a big catchup. Gave my notice in on Friday 13th February and was told by work I would be paid till the end of of the notice period Friday March 13th)but dont need to work. Spent last week getting markets sorted and then on Monday, yesterday, I did my first market in Hinkley. It was ok but didnt make alot. I was doing well till about 9:30 when the charity collectors arrived. Took about £30 then after the charitry collectors who had mini ponies - poor creatures were forced to stand up for 5 hours. Personally I reckon that is animal abuse at its nastiest since the general public saw them as cuties collecting for disabled children but the poor ponies were seriously not happy and should not have been forced to stand in a shopping precinct having to put up with humans stroking them. They were clearly unhappy but most folk would not have realised. Nor would I normally but I happened to be right next to them and when they are there for 5 hours it suddenly truly hits home how cruel this was.

Anyway, market a bit disapointing but it was my first there and am doing Friday as well. Today had grievance meeting and it was fun! The face of the MD when he realised the T&G had an electronic copy of the file which they forged saying it was sent to me on december 07 when infact it was created in January 09! It was so funny. His hands shook and his face went red! Anyway the emails since when they have discussed have been really funny. They think they have a secure system and me a hacker! If only I had the knowledge. All I did was search using the name of the person who placed me with the company ( from a recruitment agency) and told the pc to search the entire network including hidden files. I even carried on working whist it did its thing. Then emailed the file in question to my Union rep using their email system! My knees were shaking when I did this, even tho I was sitting down, since MD was pottering around behind me. I found my file without any security breach. Ages ago too before they even decided the outcome of the original grievance meeting since today was actually the appeal. So infact all their employees could access their files if they just guessed the right search word, since they obviously have no security at all! I am expecting them to try and take it further tho. I am sure I have done nothing wrong but whether they believe me or not who knows! I am glad they are furious tho. They have been really nasty to me. No idea if they will pay me yet but they are mad if they dont cos I reckon with the T&G behind me I stand a good chance of winning and not only have they ripped me off they have committed fraud in forging the T&Cs of employment and saying I had them a whole year before they actually gave them to me. Even then they only gave me them cos I raised a grievance! Liars indeed!

Next what have I been up to! Wrapping hundreds of mini bars of soap for the BVF. Wish I had more space infact for storage since getting enough stock together for this is a nightmare. I should not have signed up for it this year at all I reckon. Made loads of bath bombs last week and sold the majority in 2 markets so had to make more today. Made another 69 and some mini ones but that wont get me thru till next wednesday. I have markets Friday, monday and tuesday before I can remake stock so will be making more again tomorrow and also need to make some more soap. Finally got the mini bars for the BVF giveaway out of the drying cupboard so now have to fill it all up again. Have about another 6 kilo of bars to wrap for then. I cut them today so they can finish drying in next few days before wrapping.

Saturday I finally got hold of rip off printers - he arrived at my market stall infact. Assurred me he has emailed me - I checked, no email! Yesterday checked again, and today - no email. The W4nk3r wants to get me again I expect. Last time he gave me a quote over the phone of about £300 for the labels but I never got it in writing and when eventually I got the bill it was £849 so this time I have insisted to get in writing and he has not so far given. The company is INSPIRATIONAL LABELS in Rugby. If anyone reads this I would suggest going elsewhere! Anyway I have yet to get the quote I originally asked for more than 2 weeks ago so I think I now have no choice I have to get a new printers! I have 3 new soaps, all ready to sell ( samples to go to testers yet but they are safety assessed) and I have no labels so cannot see the point of making any more bars till I get it all sorted. I shall just have to make the original bars for the BVF. And find a new printers.

My new lip balms are selling well tho. Sold 2 organic ones at 2 markets and one that is not organic so it is [probably going to be a good one. Lip balms are affordable tho. Have yet to make the body butters or moisturisers but now have the ingredients and the packaging so its all systems go for the whole lot. I will try to do body butters tomorrow and moisturisers will more than likely be next week I think. One project a week and it will just happen without stress.

Branching out into selling BioD is working out well too so maybe this will all work out now. I am considering doing refills for the washing up liquid and have some interest. If I can find some other folk interested I shall take the plunge and buy the kit tho its quite a big outlay to get set up and also I now need a new car since my little darling rusty but reliable ancient fiesta is just too small.

Thats about it I think other than listing everything I am trying to sell which would be boring as hell evevn for me! Oh and struggling with CS2 - its just so different. I cannot find the different tools and need to do another course now to finish my website. I am still plodding along with it tho and hopefully one day I will finally upload a real website.

more nasty chemicals - propylene glycol

• 
  
• I did a search for this chemical since its in many organic and natural cosmetica and I am on one with this topic right now. I already knew the chemical structure etc but I didnt know the following altho it doeswnt really surprise me.
  
• 
  
• What is Propylene Glycol?
  May cause severe adverse health effects and has been found to cause contact dermatitis, kidney damage and liver abnormalities! Check this out! ... Propylene Glycol (PG, ... PROPYLENE GLYCOL is a colorless, ...
  http://antiagingchoices.com/harmful_ingredients/propylene_glycol.htm

organic rip off cosmetics products!

Well its been a full 10 days and I have not blogged. Expanding my market stall range to sell household eco cleaning stuff now. Bio D and also shampoos and stuff from Faith in Nature. And I have managed to get a supplier for fluoride and sls free toothpaste. It was actually quite difficult when I went into it tho cos its suprising how many companies who call themselves natural use nasty petrochemicals in their products. Even some I had respect for until the last few days.

Also something I am finding that really bothers me is the "green " companies who use chemicals that are derived from say coconut oil so start off natural but then they undergo identical chemical processing to petrochemicals ( sometimes using petrochemicals) and they end up with the same chemical structure as a nasty chemical people avoid and they say its natural. How? To me that isnt natural. I think its a con myself.

How can a chemical that is from coconut ( or any other vegetable oil) be better than a identical chemical made in identical process from petrol. Its still the same chemical. It will still have the same or very similar side effects and health hazards whether it came from crude oil or crude coconut oil. Thats just a fact. Its just people percieve this as different. I know I am using an old arguement here but from the opposing side.

Hopefully this will make sense when I write it down. Scientists used to argue that a nature identical compound was as good as a natural compound. For example perfume oils that were synthetic were said as having the same properties as natural ones - generally people go for the natural ones since most people dont believe this. I cannot see how something that has undergone serious chemical changes can be called natural despite it starting life as coconut oil! It may be vegetable in origin but by the time it has been through several chemical modifications it is no longer coconut oil and no longer natural either.

Thats not to say it is bad ( personally I dont like it) but I do not really see how it can be said to be any better than the petrochemical it is replacing. Its not natural whatever anyone says. I am by training and lab experience an organic chemist so it used to be my job to synthesize and to formulate such chemicals. They are just chemicals at the end of the day whether from crude oil or coconut oil and I for one do not want them on my skin!

Anyway many organic health care product companies are using synthetic surfactants derived from petroleum such as olefin sulfonate, cocamidopropyl betaine, sodium myreth sulfate, and parabens preservatives.

These are just a few ( without naming and shaming since I am a very small company and they could bring me down!). I just wont sell their products!

Examples I have discovered in the last few days are:

From a well known, and highly regarded amonst the vegan community, organic toiletries manufacturer who I considered stocking their products:

olefin sulfonate - can be derived from petroleum or coconut oil

Cocamidopropyl betaine - derived from coconut using petrochemicals.
(ie made from coconut oil reacted with petrochemicals. Not nice!)

"Cocamidopropyl Betaine is classed as a semi-synthetic: definition: Function: Surfactant/Foaming Agent. Origin: Semisynthetic compound derived from coconut oil obtained from the kernels of palm trees. Restrictions & Adverse Effects: may cause contact allergies in some individuals * Reference: Cosmetics Unmasked, Dr Stephen & Gina Antczak"
source:http://www.theremustbeabetterway.co.uk/acatalog/Cocamidopropyl_Betaine.html

Is this really any better than using SLS? Much as I personally dont like SLS its been around for donkeys years and the side effects are well known. It came into its own during WW2 and has been used in pretty much everything since then. Yes it causes allergic reactions. Buit at least we know exactly what it does even down to penetrating a few mm into the skin it comes in contact with and probably causing cancer! We have yet to learn what these so called new (un) natural compounds do!

Not that I want to use SLS either - dont get me wrong but its unrealistic to go round claiming these new (un)natural chemicals are a better option. As far as I can see they certainly should not be in anything calling itself "organic". That is just misleading to the general public who trust these "ethical" companies.

Many of these companies also use synthetic fragrances and flavours. Another con!

I also accidentally bought some vegan ( again a well known manufacturer) face packs. Unfortunately - me being a pauper! - will have to carry on selling these but unless they turn out to be seriously popular I wont be replacing them. They contain artificial colours, sls, flavours/fragrances etc. Again not nice.

Upside is now hopefully have a great wholesale supplier of veggie/vegan products many of which ARE natural and you can order online. I was a bit worried when I came to pay and the form asked for a VAT number and I am not registered but when I rang them they said it will be fine so hopefully it will be since I urgently need some more stock. I am now considering doing refills for eg. BioD washing up liquid too so have to check out with trading standards if I am allowed to do this! I reckon its a great idea but maybe the rules say you are not allowed.

Incidentally both of these above examples are from manufacturers of whom I have myself bought products and the first one is actually very upmarket.

Anyone wanting futher info please email me and I will let you know the details and what companies but no way can I afford to post this!

Imbolg - Brigid`s day

Today is Imbolg ( or Imbolc) the fire festival of Brigid, the warrior goddess of our ancestors. For me Brigid (who was christianised as St Brigid or Bride and who gives her name to the word bride) is the most interesting of our old gods. Brigid was the warrior aspect of the celtic triple goddess. Our mother.

Inbolg comes midway between the equinox and the solstice. Its the start of spring. The daffs and crocuses are just peeping through the grass in my front garden too so it is true. Not that you would know it was spring where I live since we have had a couple of inches of snow today and it is still snowing. I gave in and went to work in combats and my ancient shiny black docs - which interestingly are currently for sale in Topshop! Mine are circa 1993 tho and a bit or possibly very worn but also very comfy and they do not yet leak despite being old and worn a bit on the left foot from gear changes on my motorcyle ( which went years ago!). I originally bought these docs to wear when I took my landlord to court for illegal eviction thats how I know I bought them in 1993. At the time they seemed very respectable shoes. Strange how times change! Anyway have come to work "casual" which I normally make it a rule not to do. Partly cos it makes it easier to spot me if they know how I dress outside work and I like to try and keep my anonymity but also because I have loads of office type clothing that needs wearing out and not much "play" clothes so I like to keep them for "play". I cannot currently afford any new clothes so the ones I own that I like are a bit precious to me.

I dont have any great moments to blog about today but just felt the urge to write so I had better do that. Especially since I am so slack at getting round to blogging usually. Spoke to the guy who does my safety assessments today and he says my lip balms should be done in time for Brighton Vegan Fayre which is great. Just need to get making them as soon as he says I can. No point till then just incase they do not pass for some reason. Knowing my luck if I did they would fail on something at the last minute. Hopefully I will be able to make enogh money to buy the packaging for them ( ie aluminium lip balm pots) without using my credit card. Cant depend on that tho! I did not do as well this week on the market in Rugby as I did last which was a disapointment. The other traders didnt either tho and were putting it down to the very cold weather. Who knows. They are all telling me to stick with it tho so I shall. The guy who runs the market insists I need more products but until my safety assessment comes thru I wont have any unless I buy something in and so far I have not found anything to sell that will probably sell and no one else is selling! Difficult one. I am considering SLS and parabenz and possibly fluoride free toothpaste but other than that I am drawn towards the fair trade and hippy stuff but M reckons I will just get stuck with loads of gimicky stuff that only people like me want! Maybe hes right! So anyway I dont really want to go getting into debt for rubbish I cannot get rid of. Its all very difficult. I will investigate toothpaste tho and see what I can do cos that could be a good one that will give minimum effort and I can just sell and not need to safety assess or make myself.

Nearly finished with this slavery!

Market went very well and I am there for at least the next 5 weeks. Turns out last weekend is the traditional worst weekend of the year. People get paid early for xmas and then have to wait 6 weeks etc. Tho I had not considered that since I get paid mid month anyway and so does M. Anyway had best takings ever and if thats the worst weekend of the year I should be able to make this work. Ginger and Lime soap looking good but have yet to pH test etc and will expect it to be ready sometime mid February. Intending to make a citrous - not sure yet but Lime, lemon, orange and possibly grapefruit but may miss out grapefruit since apparently grapefuit essential oil is unreliable quality wise from one year to the next. Also have yet to make this francinsence & myhrr soap I have been planning for ages. Having time to make new as well as make stock is proving difficult! Thats as well as experimenting with lip balms. They are finally sorted and now also have fizzy bath melts tho doesnt look to hopeful with selling them. Or there was no interest last week. That could be a presentation thing tho and this weeks are like little cakes in petit four cases. Last weeks were ( and still are since didnt sell any!) half hearts. I am also doing heart shaped bath bombs which have turned out to be a complete nightmare to make but seem to sell really fast. So I have a problem here. I originally intended just to do these for valentines and mothers day but if they really are best sellers maybe they will end up having to stay. I am only doing 4 flavours of them - all with flowers. We will see. Maybe they are selling cos folk are starting to think of valentines day. I had a go at solid perfumes this morning. Nowadays I get up at 5am and do a few hours before going to boring day job ( 2 weeks till give in notice now so only 6 weeks left there!). Means I get to do some experiments. If I try to do at night have serious problems with making dinner etc and since M does shifts it simply doesnt work! Causes arguements and have to say he does have a point when he has to eat dinner at 8pm and go to work at 9pm so have had to stop doing that ( dogs dont like having to wait for dinner either!) and so I now do early in mornings instead. Anyway back to solid perfume experiment - by the smell of it there is no perfume left. Must have volatilized when putting into the hot oils/waxes. What a pain this is. have to work out how to get perfume into the hot wax/oils before they cool and go solid. I need to do aromatherapy by the looks of it as well to learn how to combine fragrance types and also need to do lots of experiments with perfumes. Well should be fun but its going to cost in both time and essential oils by the looks of it. I also want to have a go at making vegan milk bathsalts or bombs. No idea if this is going to work but nothing ventured etc...........have never seen anyone else making these either. Must do an internet search infact. Other than that I have actually blogged, honest but cant publish it yet cos of possible inductrial tribunal and it might end up stopping me from winning. They decided not to pay me. That was on Tuesday and gave me 5 days to apeal. I am going to but they obviously think because I have not yet gone back that I am not going to. They dont know I have a very interesting document in my possession. Will wait and see what the union tell me to do tho. Anyway market tomorrow and I am really believing now that this is really going to work. If it does then its a thank you to Sandy Maine for her book about making your own natural products bodycare business http://http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creating-Herbal-Bodycare-Business-naturally/dp/1580170943/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233308728&sr=1-1 cos thats what inspired me to go from a hobbyist cosmetics maker to a manufacturer albeit a small one.

If you want to do this you can do much worse than reading this. It doesnt give yopu business plans, it doesnt give you help in anyway really it just gives you inspiration and the belief to have a go and make it happen!

Well I think this weekend I will find out if I can survive doing this and if I can then slavery for me is about to end.............................................

inspiring words

I found the most amazing blog today. So Inspiring for someone about to chuck everything in the wind and take the ultimate risk.

http://www.todayisthatday.com/blog/when-one-door-closes-another-door-opens

Or is it really the ultimate risk? Date now is set ( still unofficial but this will be it even lovely other half in agreement) that on 16th March 2009 I will really really become self employed. For better or worse, success or fai------. Not even going to write the word since it aint going to happen.

You make your own fate, make your own future and you are who ever you want to be!

And now I will be me. Possibly for the first time since I went to Uni to get away from long term unemployment and no future. Well I have no future in my dead end job. Friends will say "ah but you always do this" and yes I do. I quit jobs whenever it takes my fancy. I temp, I get "freedom" whatever that really means. In the end tho I still go back to slogging it out for an employer. Alright a different employer but after awhile the new wonderful job goes sour - or maybe I just come to my senses and see what my life really is like and then I start the whole routine again. I hate work, hate my job, apply for loads of new jobs in all different fields etc etc etc. Well this time its going to be different cos I AM IN CONTROL! maybe I will F--l. But I intend to give it my best shot and yey! I will be self employed. My own boss. All my life I dreamed I would do this. Dreamed it could be done but NEVER have I HAD THE COURAGE NEEDED to make it really happen. Strangely I had the courage in 1994 to go and do GCSE maths and a pre-access course and just go for it and apply for Applied Chemistry at uni! Me who left school with nothing and was considered a "thick kid". And when I did it it was a game. I never believed I could do it. My friends encouraged me and it changed my life. Then having achieved this life changing monumental thing I gave up and took rubbish dead end jobs - drifting from one to another for the last 10 years - and believe me when you have been a homeless unemployed for 10 years since you left school and considered yourself the lowest of the low (and thats not even considering what the general folk on the street thought of the likes of me and my street life compatriots!) then this was BIG! Now its time it seems to do it again but this time I wont have a grants system or student loan to help. Its just going to be me, my products and my (hopefully) buying public. I cant wait. Infact has to be said it is 10 years since I finished my degree ( June 1999) so it must be a 10 year thingy or approximate where big decisions just seem to occur and I go for it and take risks. Well maybe. The only risk last time was my fear of failure and everyone I new taking the piss. It mattered tho and it felt important to me to pass and pass well. I will have to try and be aware in 10 years time what I am doing. Maybe I will get to retire then. Who knows. I doubt that tho cos I dont expect to make a million but if I can just survive, pay the mortgage, pay the bills and eat that will be just fine. Anyway this really is going to be it. Giving Notice in to employer of 16th February and believe its 4 weeks. They might even pay me to go earlier - well you have to hope. Dont expect that will really happen. I actually have my Grievance meeting next tuesday so we will see. No idea how that will go but the Union has confirmed if I leave or move jobs they will continue to fight for me whatever so here goes. They owe me £800, they owe me a contract and they will hopefully have to pay up! Either way I have absolutely zero to lose since the T&G will sort it. They will end up paying one way or another even if not to me so thats fine.

Oh - soap. I made 480 mini bars on saturday/sunday ( once they cure of course) so should be fine for the BVF now and have to let Charlie know so he can include it in the advertising. So if you fancy visiting Brackencraft on 21st March at BVF and spending on anything you will get a free mini bar of soap. I shall try to make more this weekend but am waiting on a supplier now. Got Rugby market this saturday so thats good. Now it will begin....................

Today at last is friday.

Well first half of week was horrible. Possibly just being back at work but really I think its down to bosses being paranoid. I am no longer allowed to be alone in the office at lunchtime apparently. No idea what they think I am going to do. Sabotage something??? Stupid people. I am going to take em thru greivance proceedures and possibly an employment tribunal. Why would I ruin my chances and sabotage something. I dont need to, I will get my wages and maybe even compensation for having had to go without them for weeks or by then even years so why would I do something illegal. I dont need to. I just need to wait and let the law take its course. Ofcourse I may lose but from my point of view it wont cost me anything and I might just win so I have nothing to lose. And it WILL cost them so even if I get nothing they will still have to pay so I win either way! I certainly wouldnt do anything to damage anything to do with their company. They really must think I am dumb. I know I am blonde but truly its dye in my hair and my brain does really work! Well Bosses now at Arab Lab so I am being watched by their side kicks now taking turns as to who misses their lunch while I eat mine. Never experienced anywhere like this place. Have applied for 2 jobs and am now going to do Rugby Market in 2 weeks and a Farmers market next week and have Brighton Vegan Fair looming at end of March. Its being advertised as the second largest Vegan event on the planet!! Honestly what was I thinking to go for something so big? I suppose nothing ventured etc but really I have hardly any time to make soap for markets let alone for a huge event like this promises to be. I probably should have gone for it next year but no, not me. Straight in at the deep end. Course it might just be the making of the company. I have a suspician we will just look fooliosh tho. Up there with all these long established huge companies. What was I thinking of!. I suppose it may be a good thing tho. The Yaoh team seem very nice and who knows this time next year I may be saying how it made the company viable. Right now its very scary cos I dont know how I will find time to make enough stock. They have said I need some sort of promotion too. I could buy badges but dont have the cash ( got some quotes yesterday!) so I see lots of late nights coming up while I get some soap stocks made to give away nuggets of soap to anyone who buys something! Considering it takes 5-8 weeks to cure the soap I have lots of work coming up in next 3 weeks to get all this ready on time so forgive me if this blog goes dormant for a while. I will be spending every spare minute making soap - or washing the equipment after making one batch so I can make the next. Boy do I need a dishwasher! Might have to invest in a second set of soap making kit too just to help me on my way! Other than that I should possibly check out wholesale quantities of vegan lollies - anyone got any offers out there???????

Finally here is my pixie jumper!

Firstly, ignore the messy kitchen. We are tiling right now and replacing architraves and stuff and everything is in piles at the end of the kitchen where I stupidly got lovely other half to take these photos. Honestly my house is not usually this messy!

I got called Santas little helper when I wore this to market just before xmas. Personally I love it and its very warm. I have never before knitted a matching hat and jumper either so this really is a first.

I started this 8 years ago and gave up but managed to knit loads when was off work sick a few weeks ago - daytime TV is very rubbish. Anyway here finally is the finished garment. No pattern used for either jumper or hat so all my own design. The sleeves are a bit long but other than that its great.

back at work

Well new year came and went. I had high hopes but M being very dismal so I am not too sure what this year will bring. Mind you no one ever is. I suppose he is right too since the car industry ( where he works) has been doomed for decades really. I was sort of hopeful to get my company properly up and runnning but every step of the way is a problem to overcome. Still I read once that the original meaning of suffering was simply under going. Have to try and look at life like that. I should be feeling hopeful and looking forward to the new wonderful hopeful year. I was reading Tatty`s blog and its very cheerful. I went back to work yesterday since last thing before xmas I asked employer when we went back and they said 2nd. Got there with 2 others who overheard and we were all locked out. Turns out bosses told me but told most others it was 5th. Its interesting since I had just raised 2 formal grievances. I reckon they didnt really intend for us to go back on 2nd but just wanted me to have to wait outside in the cold for ages. Maybe thats me being silly but most of the company didnt go back only the 3 of us who were there last thing when I asked about it. It did backfire tho since bosses had to come in. Everywhere else onsite was shut even the cafe so they had to go out for lunch. I already had arranged to have lunch with M so no problem for me. They then locked me out which is unusual ( tho as I said site was empty so maybe not unreasonable) and took over and hour for lunch. The atmosphere is terrible. I have no regrets tho. We dont live in the dark ages and employers like these shouls learn they have to work inside UK law. I have never worked anywhere so unprofessional in my entire working life and never anywhere where they believe being the boss they control your every move. Cant wait to leave but now I have to see this griveance thru to the bitter end. Doesnt really matter if I win or lose so long as they get the fact they must treat people properly. Well my council training came in handy since I seem better able to work under adverse conditions than my bosses. One is even refusing to speak to me and when making coffee actually ignored me and missed me out. Got her back later by offering her a drink so she had to speak to me but its a crazy way to behave at work. No idea how long this will be going on for but will get to speak to the union rep on monday and hopefully I will get it all sorted so I can either leave or stay and they will finally have to work inside UK law. Atleast I should get a contract which will outline my rubbish job! I suspect life will be intolerable anyway after this and that I shall eventually either find a new job or just go fulltime self employed but I am obviously worried about doing this since it doesnt look like it will pay enough. Well new year and new life for me it seems. They think where I work they have complete power over their employees cos they provide lunch ( which I dont want really) and they take everyone to China to the parent company. Trouble is I dont really want to go. I know thats crazy etc and I would love to go with M but it wont be a holiday cos from when you wake to you sleep you are with the company and they dont even consider vegetarians so if I do end up having to go I will be expected to eat chicken feet etc. This is not just a fear either but reality so really I just prefer not to go there. It does also mean they dont have the power over me that they assume!