Pros and Cons

One of the benefits of having a soap and beauty products business is the product testing,or having little bits and pieces of things left over that are crying out for you to use them. Today, I had some bath salts left from a bespoke order, so I had a lovely long soak in a geranium scented bath.  It's a hard life.

The obvious downside, is not having enough hours in the day not only for product development, but for thinking about new products and researching ingredients. Because the days are not terribly structured (I work part time, and have the petsitting business so there is a great deal of juggling) you have to grab time where you can find it which is often quite difficult and frustrating.

With Christmas fast approaching, and having given it no thought at all, and with little cash to spend I am panicking a little. Somehow I have to buy all my presents, cards etc with about tuppence ha'penny. This is going to be interesting.

First Swirls

I have been keen to try "proper" swirls in my soap for a while, but courage has been lacking until yesterday when I finally rolled up my sleeves, donned my gloves, took a deep breath and got going.

I decided on Lavender and Patchouli, a perennial favourite with customers coloured with some pretty lavender colour. By the time I poured, the coloured section was a bit thicker than the uncoloured portion so it sunk in parts and made some "clunky" swirls, but overall I am reasonably happy with the result. I think that I need to practice a bit, and it won't be long before I have another go.

This will be ready in about 4 weeks.

Prang

Last July, I had a slight prang in the car, I won't go into details except to say that it was my fault. Neither car was particularly badly damaged, although the repair bills were quite steep (garages do seem to charge a lot for repairing even minor damages). I have now had a call from the insurance company to say that they are having to pay the whiplash claim, plus the costs of physiotherapy, and time off work on top of the cost of the damage to the other car.

If I believed in any way that the two people in the other car had suffered any kind of injury I would not be steaming mad, but I don't. I did not feel the impact, I heard it, and as the sufferer of a bad back, if the impact had been serious I would have felt it. The other driver and her passenger have been to one of those unscrupulous no win no fee charlatans who flash pound signs and promise the earth. My insurance company has no choice but to pay up because whiplash is pretty much impossible to disprove, but I am almost certain the other parties are lying through their teeth and this is what I find frustrating.

It is about time that the government cracked down on such sharp practice, and time that insurance companies started saying enough is enough. This puts up everyone's insurance premiums, and lines the pockets of the miserable little so-and-so's who make a living from this kind of thing. It is also immoral, and in my view legalised theft not to mention fraud. Am I bitter? You bet I am.

The Run Up

Someone mentioned recently that there are only 50+ days to Christmas. Yes, thanks for that.

As usual I am not prepared, partly I think, because I hate the festive nonsense, smiling cheerfully as someone elbows you out of the way in the stampede to buy presents is not my cup of tea. This year I have the usual bah humbug attitude to the festive season, so if someone could wake me when it is all over I would be grateful.

I have two fairs before the end of November which I need to get my act together for and hope that they are better than the one I did last weekend. One of these days, I will do a roaring trade at a fair and someone will have to pick me off the floor. I have some lovely baskets to take which will make the perfect gift. They are limited edition, so when they are gone they are gone.

Of course, at this time of year, I have to make an effort to decorate the stand in a jolly Christmassey way (oh joy), but I don't suppose that lighting candles would be a good idea. It would probably give the safety elf apoplexy, not to mention setting the place on fire. I can't have lights because I don't have a power point, so I may just resort to the same as last year, swathing the stall in organza and decorating with a few bits and bobs. And no, I am not wearing a Santa hat or reindeer antlers no matter how much you pay me!