More about personal goings on around the farm.

As many of you know Bob E and I committed ourselves to each other as life partners almost 11 years ago now. Over that time there has been many trials and tribulations as is normal in life.

Bob has asked me to once again say our vows to each other and reaffirm our committment and this time with many of our new friends we have had the honour of getting to know. I have agreed. He has gone and purchased a beautiful engagement ring and wedding ring for our spring wedding. I will try and get a pic of it posted soon for those who are not near us. After almost 11 years we are going to stand before God and our community and re-state our vows to each other.

Well the Christmas season in starting

We missed the last 2 weeks of the Red Deer market due to the very cold and snowy weather we have been having. It is a wind chill of -17C here today and not pleasant at all.

The fibre processing equipment is up and running for the picker and carder. The pin drafter is still awaiting a new relay switch and then it will be able to go full out as well.

I am processing grey alpaca at present.

I am going to attend 4 Christmas this year. We will be at
Crossfield Christmas sale November 1, Linden Christmas market November 7, Strathmore sale November 28, and then the final sale for 2009 will be at the Red Deer Craft Sale Dec 5.

Equipment is here!!!!!

Well it has been a tiring drive but the picker, carder, and pin drafter are home.

We left early Friday morning and drove to the island to pick up the equipment. Everything was going smoothly until we stopped at the scales to get our permit to transport through B.C. They have a reputation for being hard to deal with, and I can see that they have earned it. DH went in to buy the permit and they started trying to find faults. 1/2 hour later permit in hand we left.
Everything was going well and then we hit the scale outside Kamloops. They red lighted us and when showed the permit they were quite rude about the fact they didn't care if we had the permit that was required or not. They put DH through the hoops for another 1/2 to 3/4 of an hour. They threatened to shut us down but for what we have never figured out. They were quite rude about the log books, even though in our line of work here we are not required to keep them. They wrote him up for not having something quite right in the log book.

On to the next scale. Thank got they were closed and we made it to the ferry docks. We were there the night before our reservations but we spoke with them and we got on the 10:45 pm sailing for the island. We arrived at about 1 am Saturday morning and had a few hours sleep in a turn out before heading over to the town where the equipment was being kept.

Loading went amazingly well. We had all the equipment loaded into the truck in about an hour or so. We were able to have a nice visit for a few hours with the people I purchased it from.

We decided that with all the hassles coming over we would head back on the Saturday afternoon and not take the day to relax as we had planned. We were able to get get on the 3:15 ferry back to the mainland. After driving for approx 5 hours or so we pulled over and slept at one of the truck turnouts until Sunday morning. The drive back was painless as the scale that gave DH the hassle was closed when we went through. The scale at Golden just waved us through and we were basically home free. Once back in Alberta we were able to relax and enjoy the last few hours of the trip.

Today we are going to unload it all into the new garage built for this equipment. Right now I am waiting for the guy to show up with the bobcat to help us lift down the pindrafter.

I will keep you posted how it all goes. ...........................

Excitment is building!!

I am getting all excited about getting this equipment home. My processing equipment is coming next weekend. We are heading out next weekend to the island to pick it all up and bring it back.
I have all the fleece here from shearing just waiting for arrival.


Hopefully the building will be ready in the next week or so for me to start processing. LOL
Things are coming together quickly now that we finally got everything going.

Building update

It has been awhile since I have been here. If I run any harder I think I will collapse.

Anyway, The building is taking shape. We have a floor, walls and almost a roof. Next week we will get electric and gas put in and then the carpenter can insulatre and finish. YIppee!!!

We leave for the island next Friday morning to pick up the equipment. Hopefully all will go well and we won't have any frustrations in BC with the truck.

Will try and post a few pics soon.

Website!!

Well I can say that we finally have the website up and running. YIPPEE!!
I do not have all the items listed on there yet for sure, but it is a start.
I need to get busy with the camera and get some pics taken of more of the soaps and candles.
I will post pictures of the roving and fleece as they become available

www.goodwinsales.com Please take a moment to have a look and by all means please leave comments that will help me improve the site. Thanks

Progress is being made, I Think

Well I do believe that we are making a bit of progress. I now have the permits in place to get the shop started. Now I am waiting for the cement contractors to come and level the ground and pour the pad. It will be quite a bit smaller than origninally plannned but I guess that just kind of goes with the times we are living in right now.

I am looking forward to seeing the beginnings of the work so that I know that it is really happening. The fibre processing equipment is getting packed up and ready to be transported back here the first of August. I just can't wait to get busy and start running my fibre through myself. I will also be able to do some work for others so they may also have small quantity lots done how they would like it done. People will be able to contact me regarding getting their wool or alpaca etc done at goodwinsoaps@canada.com

We once again, did not shear the alpacas on Sunday. We had a rain storm go through overnight and all the girls were outside and were therefore soaking wet. Much as I really need to get these girls done, we needed that rain soooo badly that I just could not feel bad.

We will try again next Sunday to get the first lot done. Bob has agreed to try and help me do a couple of them in the evenings if we can. I know that they will not look as nice as when Tracy (our shearer) comes and does them, but it is getting on in the year once again and they have to be done. There is just no way she can do all of them in one day.

The Red Deer Public Market is busy once again this summer. We go there every Saturday morning and set up our tents and show our wares. LOL I have my handmade soaps and soy candles. We take our alpaca roving and yarns from the farm. We also have handwoven blankets and of course the alpaca socks and wool and wool blend socks. The alpaca teddy bears, bunnies, horses and kangaroos and the stuffies are always a big hit with the children and adults alike. They can be seen on our website www.goodwinsales.com. This website is still a work in progress but you can see the items there. I see they still don't have it accessible for purchases as of yet but you can purchase through the other site at www.showsmart.com/goodwinsoapandcandleworks There is a few of my things on there, but most still is not listed. You can always contact me if you have any questions and I would be more than happy contact you.

Another hurdle over with

Well It is an interesting journey trying to get a little building put up on our farm.
I went to apply for the permits from the county only to be told because I live on a secondary highway that I must first apply to the Minster of Transportation for a permit to be allowed to build a shop because it might affect their ability to widen the highway in years to come.
Sheesh I would hope not because if the shop was going to affect that, they would have to tear down my house first to get to it.
Then I get a call asking if I would be willing to not have a road access onto the highway. MMM that would make it difficult to get a vehicle from the house onto the road. The ditch in the front of my house is rather deep. I explained to the nice man that we did not use the front lane very often anyway, but that I had no intention of going out there and ripping out the culvert.

Today, low and behold, the permit showed up in the mail. Now I can go and apply for a development permit and a building permit. Sheesh what a bunch of red tape just to put up a little building to hold my fibre processing equipment.

First cria for 2009 is born today!!

We had a wonderful day at the market in Red Deer.
People are quite interested in the alpaca products we have for sale.
I can't help but smile when I see the eyes of a little child light up when they see the alpaca teddy bears and bunnies etc. We have a 3 foot high alpaca standing out at the front of our booth and the children run up and hug it and pet it. It is just so cute to watch.

My soap is getting low already. I am going to have to get busy and get some more batches made.

We have a new baby this afternoon. We came home from the market to find a little baby in the front field. We have our first alpaca baby for the year. It is a boy in a nice dark fawn colour.
I will have to see if I can post some pics in the very near future.

We did it, now what??

Well after a wonderful trip to Vancouver Island on May 8, we came home with a bill of sale for the picker, carder and pin drafter for processing our alpaca fibre.

When I went to the bank and asked them if they would lend us the money for the machinery and to put up a building I can not believe their comments. I was told that they probably would not consider the machinery for collateral as it is specialized equipment. I am not sure why that would make any difference. If anything that makes it more valuable in my opinion. There is not a ton of it out there and there is more demand for the use of this equipment than there are places to have your fibre processed. That makes no sense at all to me.

Anyway, I will go and pick up the equipment in a couple months when we can take one of our trucks out and transport it back ourselves. As for setting up the shop, well that may just take a little longer than I had hoped for. Right now I am still really ticked with the bank, and it may take a bit for me to calm down.

Anyway, on a lighter note, the weekend on the island was wonderful and I met some truly delightful people. The sun was shining, the grass was green and there were flowers everywhere. Back here the grass is just starting to finally green up.

I will keep everyone posted how goes the battle to get my building, and when I will be able to start picking and carding fibre.

Have a great day, and always be thankful for what we have in life.

Going to the Island!! Yippee!!!

Well after a very long winter I am going to get out to Vancouver Island for the weekend.
I am going to finally go and see the equipment there to see if it is what will work for me for processing my alpaca fibre. I can hardly wait.

Of course just getting away to the island will be good for me as well. I am sooooo looking forward to seeing flowers and hopefully sunshine. I am sure that will make me feel like the spring is finally going to be here.

After that my Saturdays will be once again taken up taking my wares to the Red Deer Farmers Market every Saturday morning from May long weekend to Thanksgiving weekend. It is a fabulous market. Out doors and still in the real farmers market feel. The people are wonderful and there is just about any and everything a person could ask for at the market. Well worth a visit for anyone in the area.

Red Deer Antique Show this weekend!!

I will be taking my offerings to the Red Deer Antique Show at the Westerner Agricentre this weekend.
There is a big car parts swap meet/car show and they are holding this antique show in conjunction with it.
I will have my handmade soaps, soy candles, alpaca yarns, alpaca roving, etc there.
I will of course have the alpaca teddy bears, bunnies, kangaroos and stuffies there as well.
There will be a couple of duvets made right here in Alberta from the alpaca fibre from my animals as well. There is just nothing like sleeping under one of these lovely duvets.

I will bring to the market for the first time in Red Deer the Yerbe Matte teas that I found this past year and have just fallen in love with drinking. Great taste and good for you at the same time!!! wow what a combo.....

SNOW!!!!

The snow started falling again yesterday. GRRR
I think everyone is so sick and tired of snow and cold this year. After a couple days of +20C weather everything tanked yesterday and the snow decided to give us one more kick in the rear.
There is a small layer of snow on the ground again this morning and it is supposed to only have a high temp of -2C today. Sheesh I thought spring was here.

On a different note, I am finally starting to make headway with this cold I think. I can at least talk again now even though it is still with a strange sounding voice. After 2 weeks I have had just about enough...

I am getting ready for the first spring show of the year this Saturday. We will be doing the Mothers Day Farmers Market at Strathmore Alberta. Hopefully there will be a great turn out again as there was last year. I have a few new things to introduce this year. Along with all my handmade soaps and soy candles, alpaca teddy bears, bunnies, yarns, rovings etc I will have handwoven blankets from 100% alpaca. I will also be introducing tea made from the yerbe matt herb from South America. It is a wonderful tea full of vitamins and all kinds of goodies that help boost our immune systems. It comes in different combinations with wonderful flavours.
I think at present my favorite is the lemon ginger made with lemon myrtle.

Well I guess I had better get going here as I need to go and fire up a truck to warm up and go to the city to do my pick ups and deliveries.

Well after a whole winter of being relatively healthy, I have finally succumbed to a whopper of a cold. I hope this doesn't hang around too long. I just don't have time to be sick right now.

I guess from the weather report I just received, our good weather is going to leave us for a bit.
We had heard +10C all week with sunshine and now I hear we are looking at the temp dropping and snow tomorrow. Only in Alberta LOL. I will just have to keep hoping that it all changes again before tomorrow gets here.

Well the Easter weekend has come and gone again. We spent it at the local auction mart as usual and came home with a couple of new little girls.
I got a black and white female alpaca and her last years baby. They seem to be settling in to the front field okay this morning. They sure look tiny beside the ones that I have out there.
Hopefully they will all make friends quickly.

We had beautiful weather here for the weekend. It is around +15C and sunshine.

More yarn on the way!!! YIPPEE

Well I am off to the mill again today to pick up somemore of my yarn.
I got a call on Friday saying that the black alapca/wool 2 ply was ready for pickup and that there was some more 100% alpaca roving there as well.

After that I will just be waiting for the brown yarn and the rug yarns that are being spun,

The 2 boys Riley and Roger (the maremmas) are doing wonderfully at the barn. I am not sure how great they will be as guard dogs though. They are playing with the bassets and they get on really well with the peacocks and rabbits. They spent the day out around the barn yesterday and seem to be very happy and adjusting well to their new home.

New additions to my menagerie

Well I guess it was bound to happen. I went out and purchased a couple of maremma pups this weekend. We had discussed getting a dog to guard that alpacas but I had no idea it would happen this quickly. We were discussing whether to get a dog or a couple more llamas to have out in th fields with our girls.

We have a llama with the boys in the back fields but some of the girls up front didn't have anything in with them for protection. They are pretty good at looking after themselves but it never hurts to have a bit of extra protection.

I found that out the hard way last summer when I came home to find that 2 of my girls had been attacked by either a dog or coyote. I had to have them put down immediately because of the nature of the injuries I knew that they would not recover and would suffer unneccessarily if I tried to keep them alive. We were never 100% sure what had gotten them but it was quite clear it had been a biting attack.

So now, here I sit with 2 maremma's to train. I am looking forward to the aspect of having them at the barn. They are such wonderful dogs to work with. Today we are off to the vet to get baby shots and check ups. They have spent their first night in the barn and seem quite happy there. They will get the opportunity to bond with the alpaca girls in the barn for the first couple weeks and then we will introduce them to the outside males and the front fields of females.

It is hard to picture them as guard dogs at this point. LOL They are just the cutest little balls of white fluff.

New fibre!!

Well I am just tickled with the black roving that I got back from the mill today. They did a wonderful job. I was able to bring home about 12.5 lbs of it and they are going to spin about 20 lbs into yarn on the antique mule spinner.

I am sure it will be just gorgeous when it is done as well. The luster of that alpaca fibre is amazing.

I also picked up about 16 alpaca batts when I was there. They weigh in just over the 1 lb a piece size.

The reason I went there in the first place was to pick up the King Size Duvet that I had made with some of my batts of alpaca. There is just nothing like an alpaca filled duvet for warmth.

We have a queen size one for sale and now have a king as well.

Now I have to be patient and wait for the black yarn and the rusty brown yarn to be made.
There is also some rug yarns to be spun soon as well I hope.

I am going to try and get some more of these things onto my webpage this weekend.
I will also try and get some of the wonderful new handmade soaps I have been busily making posted this weekend as well..

Well take care and God bless

March is getting to be quite a month for new things for me. LOL

Well guys I guess I am actually going to get a website up and running finally.

I have join showsmart.com for a website of my products.

My site is www.showsmart.com/goodwinsoapandcandleworks

It will take me awhile I am sure to get all my soap and candles listed. Along with that I will be listing my alpaca socks, wool socks, yarns and roving and fibre.

I will get the teddy bears, bunnies, horses etc all listed and I can see it is going to take me a fair bit of time to get all the pics uploaded.

I have a few absolutely beautiful blankets/throws made of alpaca that will be listed soon as well.
I just can not tell you how soft and wonderful they are to snuggle with.

I have quite a few pair of slippers to list on there as well.

New also will be the Yerba Mate teas. This is a product I found by chance and I have to say, I have really been extremely impressed with the teas and the people who are supplying them.
Yerbe Mate is a tree in South America. The Mate beverage made from this tree was discovered to benefit health, vitablity and longevity. It has been used for centuries to boost immunity, cleanse and detoxify the blood, tone the nervous system, restore youthful hair colour, retard aging, combat fatique, stimulate the mind, control the appetite, reduce stress, providing overall good health. This will be listed on my site soon as well.

Well okay, enough of the listing of what is happening on the site.

Here at the farm we are enjoying a beautiful sunny and warm day. Wow what a change for a couple days ago when the temperature was -30C.

We are looking forward to the spring this year. We will begin shearing alpaca on April 26. Hopefully by then the cold weather will have gone away for a few months.

The chickens seem to think it is spring already and we are getting more eggs than we know what to do with. MMM wonder if they know something we don't.....

Anyway, I should go back to work on the website.

Well God bless and may all your journeys be safe.

My first post

I guess my first post on here would be to let people know what types of soaps I have to offer.

I currently have in stock :

Anise EO
Lavender EO
Tangerine EO
Spearmint EO
Stress Blend EO (this is a blend of essential oils)
New Age Musk FO
Pink Grapefruit FO
Sandalwood FO
Rose FO
Peony FO
Cucumber Melon FO
Apple & Oak FO
Zen Garden FO

I also have a new batch of Neem Oil soap as present. Neem is an oil that is said to work well for people suffering from some skin problems. I have had very positive feedback from my customers who purchase this soap from me. It is a difficult soap to keep in stock as it sells out very quickly.

I am in the process of making my new batches of 100% soy candles for the upcoming spring and summer markets. If you wish to have a list of the available scents please feel free to email me.
Also if there is a specific scent you are looking for let me know and we will see what we can do to help you out in that respect as well.

I guess I should also let you know that in the fibre department we are now able to offer 100% alpaca roving for all you spinners out there. Currently in stock is white and a beautiful brown with a bit of a reddish tone. This is all fibre from my own alpaca here at the farm.

We also have 2 ply yarns in white, light camel and a very dark brown heather available for purchase. This is a 70% alpaca/30% merino wool blend that is an absolute dream to knit or crochet your favorite projects with.