NewBEE from Saskatchewan says "Hello"

[Kelly Frizzell]

Hello, I have always loved learning, DIY, and doing crafts and now that I am retired from teaching (June 2105) I have more time to do and try many things. We have one son but are empty nesters; I live with my husband, who is also a retired (June 2018) teacher, our two Harlequin Great Danes, four Isa Brown chickens and seven koi.
This spring I bought a church that had been neglected and was full of pigeons because of broken windows. I have replaced the windows myself, had the roof shingled (used a professional for that), helped install some of the electrical, and cleaned up all of the pigeon poo; I plan to work on stained glass over the winter for some of the windows (it had no stained glass - a very small church, but still has some character and I could not stand to see it so neglected). I run a quilting retreat each spring and fall (next one is November 9-12) that my husband and I cater. I am more of a sewer than a quilter, but I belong to a quilting group because there are no sewing groups and I started the retreat because I wanted to have a place to go and sew for four days. I have a part-time photography business (since 2003) and I just joined a bee club and got bees (June 2018) so I now sell honey and will eventually sell candles, lotions and soaps made with honey and beeswax. I have done M&P soap years ago but CP or HP have been on my bucket list, so now I am trying soap making and will make my own KOH to try liquid soap (I have the ashes saved but will wait until spring now for rain water .)
So I keep myself VERY busy. I look forward to reading many of the posts and all of the advice from this forum. Thank-you so much for adding me.
Kelly

 

[Dean]

Hello, I have always loved learning, DYI, and doing crafts and now that I am retired from teaching (June 2105) I have more time to do and try many things. We have one son but are empty nesters; I live with my husband, who is also a retired (June 2018) teacher, our two Harlequin Great Danes, four Isa Brown chickens and seven koi.
This spring I bought a church that had been neglected and was full of pigeons because of broken windows. I have replaced the windows myself, had the roof shingled (used a professional for that), helped install some of the electrical, and cleaned up all of the pigeon poo; I plan to work on stained glass over the winter for some of the windows (it had no stained glass - a very small church, but still has some character and I could not stand to see it so neglected). I run a quilting retreat each spring and fall (next one is November 9-12) that my husband and I cater. I am more of a sewer than a quilter, but I belong to a quilting group because there are no sewing groups and I started the retreat because I wanted to have a place to go and sew for four days. I have a part-time photography business (since 2003) and I just joined a bee club and got bees (June 2018) so I now sell honey and will eventually sell candles, lotions and soaps made with honey and beeswax. I have done M&P soap years ago but CP or HP have been on my bucket list, so now I am trying soap making and will make my own KOH to try liquid soap (I have the ashes saved but will wait until spring now for rain water .)
So I keep myself VERY busy. I look forward to reading many of the posts and all of the advice from this forum. Thank-you so much for adding me.
Kelly

Welcome Wonder Woman.

Great Danes are very cool...especially wo clipped ears.

 

[Nan D.]

Holy Cow!!
Welcome!!

 

[Kelly Frizzell]

Welcome Wonder Woman.

View attachment 32971
Great Danes are very cool...especially wo clipped ears.

Hi Dean, Haha, did I mention that my house is a disaster? Wonder Woman I am not...”Jack of all trades, master of none”, is more accurate.
And my two current Danes are not cropped. I have had Danes since 1987 and I used to crop. I still like the look, but I cannot bring myself to do that anymore and our vets, here, will not crop, so that helps my decision.

 

[Megan]

Hi Dean, Haha, did I mention that my house is a disaster? Wonder Woman I am not...”Jack of all trades, master of none”, is more accurate.
And my two current Danes are not cropped. I have had Danes since 1987 and I used to crop. I still like the look, but I cannot bring myself to do that anymore and our vets, here, will not crop, so that helps my decision.

Too cute! I think they look good as they were designed to be. Also welcome!

 

[Relle]

Welcome Kelly, if your this busy in retirement, how busy were you when working .

 

[Kelly Frizzell]

Holy Cow!!
Welcome!!View attachment 32970

Thank-you.

Welcome Kelly, if your this busy in retirement, how busy were you when working .

I did not do quite as much extra stuff, the chickens, the bees, the church and I am also on the Board of our Senior's Club and take care of rentals of our facility, all started after retirement. Photography, Danes and different crafts I was busy with while I was teaching, some I did before I started teaching. I have done many other things too, just have not mentioned them all (hahaha, I probably have forgotten some until I really think about it - swimming instructor, bartender, private pilot's licence (only logged enough hours to get my licence and then took a couple more flights and that was it as I could not afford to keep going then, that was 30 years ago and I haven't been up flying since). I still want to learn to do welding and flip a house (the church came with a house, so....

 

[lsg]

Welcome to the forum. Sounds like you are a very busy person. We have some very knowledgeable members and a lot of good information here. Glad to have you with us.

 

[Kelly Frizzell]

Welcome to the forum. Sounds like you are a very busy person. We have some very knowledgeable members and a lot of good information here. Glad to have you with us.

Thank-you, I am already enjoying the information I have found/received here.

 

[earlene]

Welcome, Kelly. I hope your retreat goes well. I used to quilt and keep meaning to get back to quilting, since I still have at least one unfinished quilt awaiting me, but my hands, my eyes, my motivation is holding me back. Soap making is so rewarding and pretty much my only hobby at the moment, but I too have done many other things in my lifetime and probably will again when I decide to stop gallivanting around the countryside. It sounds like you are quite the adventurous spirit and a fun person to know.

 

[SaltedFig]

Hey Kelly, welcome aboard!

Cropping and docking are banned here, so we don't get many anymore, but when I was younger it was common and the danes always looked spectacular with their ears done (but the vets always disliked it - it was mostly for showing and looks).

Looks like you've got one with heterochromia! Isn't the retina reflection at night just as distinctive?!

I know this is a soaping forum, but I would love to see pics of your church as you work on it!

 

[Kelly Frizzell]

Hey Kelly, welcome aboard!

Cropping and docking are banned here, so we don't get many anymore, but when I was younger it was common and the danes always looked spectacular with their ears done (but the vets always disliked it - it was mostly for showing and looks).

Looks like you've got one with heterochromia! Isn't the retina reflection at night just as distinctive?!

I know this is a soaping forum, but I would love to see pics of your church as you work on it! [/QUOT

Thank-you, SaltedFig. Yes, when i used to show my Danes it was the norm to have them cropped, but it was not something my vet approved of either.
Hahaha, I have to admit that I had to look up “heterochromia” although if I had taken the time and broken it down, hetero (different) and chroma (colour) I would have realized you meant Bella’s eyes. Yes Harlequins often have one or both blue eyes and I love that look. She is our ”princess”. I have actually never noticed the difference in the reflective properties as she is never around vehicles nor out much at night (spoiled indoor/yard dog), now I am curious and will have to shine a flashlight at her to check that out.
Ozzie, our male dog has many issues: overbite, hip issues, eye drooping (slight cherry eye), he is a mess, but THE most devoted (to me) dog I have owned in a long time, love them both to pieces.
The church is clean inside but walls need patching and painting still. I will not likely be out there again until spring as there is no heat in it. But I would be glad to post an update then if you remind me , the pic I added was me replacing one of the windows. The town the church is in is 2 hours from me and so not close enough to pop over. It is a day trip that I have to plan. The town holds a music festival every summer and I had the church cleaned up enough to have it open for the festival this past summer, I had over 100 people stop by, even took a pic of myself with the drummer of Kentucky Headhunters who stopped in to see the church. Turns out his family restores a lot of old buildings too.
So I plan to be out there working again in spring to get more done in time for end of July when the Gateway Festival takes place again.
After advice given here, I have realized that I am not ready to sell soap right now (which was my plan), but I do hope to spend the winter making soap and have enough soap experience (and soap) by July, that I will be able to sell soap along with my honey and other stuff, out of the church during the festival.
You mentioned that as far as cropping, “you don’t get many anymore “, are you a vet, or show dogs?”

Welcome, Kelly. I hope your retreat goes well. I used to quilt and keep meaning to get back to quilting, since I still have at least one unfinished quilt awaiting me, but my hands, my eyes, my motivation is holding me back. Soap making is so rewarding and pretty much my only hobby at the moment, but I too have done many other things in my lifetime and probably will again when I decide to stop gallivanting around the countryside. It sounds like you are quite the adventurous spirit and a fun person to know.