We had a great weekend that capped one of the most hectic and stressful weeks in a long time; hence the lack of blogging for so long (sorry). First things first – we closed on the old Bee Ranch! Woohoo! Now there’s funding for the new Honey House and so we continue the process of platting the land and preparing to build. As much as we loved our last home, we sure are glad that’s all done and over. Hope the new owners enjoy it as much as we did! That was Friday morning. Then in the afternoon we did our usual preparations for market except this time, we prepped for two. In addition to the Pearl that we enjoy so much, we did our first Sunday morning at the Quarry Farmers & Ranchers Market – had a GREAT time! We had as much fun as we do at the Pearl. As a matter of fact, several vendors from Pearl are also at the Quarry. And there’s always a parade of pooches. π Our favorites are currently at the Pearl, especially the Great Danes. Check out Harley in the shot below. If we saddled her, I’m thinking Lan and I could each ride her around. lol big, sweet Harley. We’re learning lots about dogs and their owners.
Okay, so about the grits – mmmmm! I love grits and it’s hard to find great grits. That being said, I can get the Shrimp & Grits Crepe on Saturday (Thanks, CrepeLandia!) and then a Kiss My Grits on Sunday (Nice to meet you Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!). I am one happy girl.
And that brings me to the A-Team. Stan is joining us on an-ongoing basis at the Quarry so I can have a bit of a break. He and Mark make a great team and Stan’s learning many aspects of our little bee biz and we sure appreciate his help! Plus he’s so much fun so y’all be sure to swing by either market and meet and get to know Stan. Welcome to the family Stan (and family!). π
And by break, I mean some time to tend to the home and things like groceries and so on. And though I still need things like breakfast juices and milk from the local HEB, we are really enjoying meeting and bartering with fellow vendors. The vegetables are amazing and now I have added handmade pastas, pestos and bread to the mix. What a wonderful life. What a pleasure to know who grew and made your food. It’s exactly what we want to do with our products and we’re happy people are so supportive and appreciative of our products and work with the bees. You can view more pictures on my Flickr page if you’d like.
In addition to all that, we have been trying to stuff as much “stuff” into the little brown candle shop at the new house and into the garage. Until we get the new HH built, things will be a bit crazy and spread out but at least it’s all at one house so that’s a much better situation – saves time since we don’t have to drive back and forth as we have been since September. We’re also developing new packaging, waiting on more candle molds (since Mark can’t keep up with demand between orders, walk-in customers and markets), filling orders, orders, orders, and planning for picking up more hives from East Texas…the usual stuff. π Busy, busy. There’s definitely an increase in orders and we are very thankful! Speaking of which, before I leave you, I want to share with you, a look at our new labels we just got Saturday. We love them! Easy to peel and stick and they add a very nice finished touch to our packaging. Okay, off I go to gift wrap beeswax hearts and Saddle Bag gift boxes. If you need host/hostess, coworker or teacher gift for the holidays, we hope you’ll give us a call. Heck, if you just want a gift for yourself, give us a call. :-p See you later.
Here’s the Saddle Bag gift box – $18 a box. I’m happy to say all the ones I made for the trial run at Quarry Market were bought up by some happy customers who needed ready-to-go gifts. Happy they chose us to gift.
Hi Mrs.Gretchen,
I don’t know if you remember me or not but I am Mary (Workman) from NC!!! I LOVE THE SADDLE BAG GIFT BOXES AND NEW LABELS!They are soooooo pretty!We still have the honey and candles(which i put on display)! I just got home from going ice skating at the outdoor rink downtown with my winter soccer team! Before that after school i had had to go to a roller skating Birthday Party for my friend! So it has been a day full of skating for me!So when i got home i decided to check my e-mail( which I hadn’t checked in 3 days) and when i saw you had a new post i was soooo excited.Congrats on your move!I hope you can settle down and relax like i am right now! Anyway, I’ve got to go now!
From,
Mary
Well hello there to my favorite young lady in NC – it is wonderful to hear from you, Mary! I have to tell you that I was feeling very tired after a full day of work and then a full evening of making dinner, cleaning up and then preparing for the Pearl Farmers Market tomorrow. BUT then my phone told me I got a new message and your post just perked me right up, sweetie. Thank you for taking the time to write us. We really appreciate your keeping up with the bees and us, too! I’m glad you like the gift box – it was a hit last weekend so I made quite a few more and I hope we sell them all so I don’t have to carry them back home. π And I love that new label the Beekeeper designed – he did very well, right?
I’m glad you had a full day of skating; that sounds very fun and also tiring. Are you ready for Christmas?!?! π I still have to decorate my tree. I sure wish you were here to help me and Smokey do that. lol You have a great weekend and I hope to hear from you again soon. Please tell your family hello for me. And when you see Thuy again, give her a big hug from me.
Love,
Thien