The Autumn Crunch

Yesterday ended better than it started and fortunately, the beginning really didn't set the tone. Some eggshells were broken and some mild groveling ensued while I did what I do best under these circumstances; observe.

This time of year without fail I begin to think up soap ideas for the holidays. At least 365 times a year I say to myself, self, why do you even bother making soap? And I reply, because it's like a holiday that has to be observed, so you'd better get crackin'! August is a busy month for me. There are loads of birthdays this month, school starts and it's early this year, coursework is being written for the Natural Perfume Academy (STILL working on those darned advanced workshops . . . ), and all of the fall and winter gift prep aka soaps, incense, perfume, and so on and so forth until December whatsit when it ends. I already have an idea for a soap that I will be making this weekend, when this week's shenanigans are over, and in a few moments I will be going into the shop to mix the scent up so it has time to bond before it goes into soap. And then there will be some mild fiddling with the current incense blend, some tweaking, and adjustments so the scent is right. Almost always these days, I feel like my business/shop/craft/calling is being squeezed into smaller and smaller time frames as the domestic work and family drama crowd in. It's exhausting, but I trudge on.

That person I've been tutoring in their new soap business starts up this weekend. They've already got two big orders and no soap made yet. These youngsters and their marketing strategies. Either they can talk some massive bs or they're trustworthy as heck! I will be monitoring their work when they begin to ensure they don't mess up. I was telling this person how lucky they were to find someone who has already been doing this for decades to bypass the learning curve and just get down to business, and to have in-person training as well. They seemed unimpressed. Despite that, I do hope they are successful. 

I've been writing on this blog so often lately that I'm starting to get those spam comments again from companies who want to sell me something or want free advertising. I moderate the comments because of that bs, so none of them get through, but the comments they leave are hysterical (to me, anyway). Two recent comments went something like this, "Great blog. Love the content. It could be better." And I think, gee, what a way to build me up and then slap me down, Mr./Ms. Anonymous bot for Company XYZ. My book reviews are like this too -- well, they were before the big pandemic revision/edit. 'There's a lot of great info here, but there's a lot of no info here, but it's good, but it needs editing, but it has a lot of stuff I've never seen, but it's horrible and I can find this online for free.' Some of this contradictory stuff comes from the same person's review. The constructive stuff I take to heart, the rest is whatever.