To Burn or Not to Burn

We went to the Air Show this past weekend and had a great family time. We are one of those families that works and works and works (multiple businesses, farm, job, leaders of Scouts, VFW, Legion, and more), so a day away from everything is almost a shock. (I do, of course, bring work to do in the vehicle so the day isn't a total loss, hahaha). The weather was foggy, then overcast, then later the sun peaked out a little bit here and there. It was very warm and muggy, and we were outside the entire day.

Me being a mom, I pull out our Sunscreen Lotion and start applying it to my 8-yr-old son, myself, and then forced some on my DH. Well, the top of his head anyway. He's a real man and doesn't want any sissy sunscreen on him, right? So I made a big joke about how the reflection off the top of his head might be distracting to some of the pilots, might temporarily blind them, etc.

He wouldn't let me put any on his blindingly white legs though. First time wearing shorts, long Minnesota winters, you do the math!
We're talking W-H-I-T-E. Like chalk. You get the picture.

Oh, yes, our manly man today is walking around in pants at work, that fabric rubbing with every step against his now hot pink skin, which he coated with our Healing Lotion this morning, but we all know that doesn't help that friction element.

Men! The 8-yr-old is just fine, not burnt at all. I got a little bit of sunburn around my neck, which I forgot about, but at least I was wearing a hat, which helped.
But our manly man, not so good. He almost cried this morning when the dog jumped up on his lap and missed with his back leg, which scratched his burnt leg.

I'll say this once--if you are going outside, either cover yourself with fabric or put on some sunscreen! I don't care how much of a manly man you are, you AREN'T so manly when you're crying because you got burned in the sun!

The Mother of Invention

Good morning! It's a beautiful morning here, the sun is shining, the sky is blue, and I'm still on the right side of the sod, as a friend of mine recently said.

We had an issue this past weekend and I had to create a new product quickly to resolve it. I love doing that--solving problems. What a great feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction! The issue was that a customer of ours had a mama goat with mastitis and her udder was swollen to a huge, painful-looking state. She had the look of misery on her face and in her eyes, it was very sad. The vet provided medication, but to help with it, I created a spray-on lotion that contained essential oils for healing. Of course, I tested it on my arms first, we don't test on animals first, even if the product is ultimately for the animals.

Here's the funny part--I LOVE this spray-on lotion for me! Yes, it worked incredibly well on the goat, she's got the energy back in her eyes, the swelling is down, and she seems much better. But now I've got a great recipe for a spray-on lotion that works for aching, sore feet and muscles! It smells good, feels good for hours, and you literally don't have to touch it, so our friend Jessica can use it too--she can't stand to touch creamy-textured products.

Ahh, necessity--what a great mother you are!

Don't forget to check out our current selection of lotions, and stay tuned because I'll be adding our new spray-on lotion soon! Available in any of our current fragrances, of course.

Allergies?

I've had allergies all my life, but a new one has been cropping up lately and it is driving me absolutely crazy. It's tags--the tags they put on the inside back of the neck of shirts and tops. Those simple little pieces of fabric, so unassuming, supposedly just there for our information...how to wash, size of garment, and so much more information in a font size I would never use in any document. Yet those teeny, tiny, little tags feel like freeway billboards made out of the roughest burlap ever imagined, continuously scratching and irritating my skin.

I know I'm not alone. I've often wondered why companies choose to use the scratchiest fabric for those tags, but let's admit it, it's all about the cost. Using silk would be cost-prohibitive. And they can't put the tags somewhere else, because then they wouldn't have that "free", constant advertising for their company. I know that some of the newer garments have the information printed on the shirt instead of a fabric tag and I applaud those companies, but that's not all companies yet.

So in the meantime, I cut--or want to cut, but wear something underneath instead--all the tags off my shirts and tops. I hate doing that though, because we like to donate our clothing to good causes when we outgrow it.

It's ridiculous that something so small can irritate me so much. I scratch, then catch myself and stop. I apply our Healing Lotion, Herbal Salve, etc. to heal my skin, then put on the wrong shirt and it starts all over again. Right now while I'm typing this, I can feel the tag in my shirt digging down into my skin getting ready to drive me crazy. What do other people do?