Sunday, November 20, 2011

Waking Up

Waking up to the first snowfall of the season is always exhilarating. When we crawled from our snug little beds on Saturday, 9 inches of snow covered the world outside.

Almost a foot of snow this early can often cause considerable damage. Many of the autumn leaves are still gripping the branches acting as a landing pad for the falling snow. Consequently we lost a few branches.

The chickens were as surprised as we were when waking up this morning.

Always anxious to leave the coop for a daily recess, I wondered what the girls would do when first stepping in the cold white stuff. They seem hesitant...

and then turn their tail feathers scurrying back into the coop. What a bunch of chickens!

Hopefully the bees survived this first storm and are all tucked in for cold weather. Drone bees serve no purpose in the winter and only consume precious food. So they have been voted off the island and kicked out of the hive. The remaining bees will huddle tightly around the leftover honey comb vibrating their tiny wings together. The bees will keep the hive at a balmy temperature of 94 degrees all winter.

As the sun begins to fill the morning sky, the air is still and silent; snow dampening the noises of daylight...

all too soon the silence will be filled with noise from snow-blowers and giggling kiddos.

Just don't hit the Nikon...boys!

Another check of the chickens...

"What's going on here?"

As the days grow shorter, the chickens will soon stop laying eggs for the winter.So far though, they haven't slacked off a bit. Preparing for Thanksgiving, I'm stock piling eggs in the fridge.

Thank you Mother Clucker for this gorgeous fresh egg!

Because we procrastinated putting the trampoline away, the boys need to clear the snow off the tramp and pack it up.

But not before Chet plays a new game...jump up and down on the trampoline...

letting snow and ice fly everywhere.

I do believe the teenager is enjoying himself.

Back to work!

Even the dogs LOVE the first snowfall.

Izzy's feet turn into snowballs after a morning of playing in the white stuff. She'll have to go in a tub to melt off all that snow.

Winter has made an early arrival to our valley. The next time we see the lawn will most likely be in April!

Welcome winter...we can't wait to play in you!

PS...Do you think The Red One sent the snow for my birthday?

Friday, November 11, 2011

Not Going Home

Go big or Go Home...a mantra The Red One not only claimed on a regular basis, but something she lived completely every day of her fifteen short but remarkable years among us. From her passion for skiing to her love for girlfriends...Jocie always went big.

I suppose that when Dean first concocted the idea of jiggysticks and then later put his vision into place, he had no concept how far he would go with this product. Building a website, working with a graphic artist, and filling a few orders now and then has been completely enthralling.

Over the past year we have perfected the formula, tweaking it ever so slightly until it's sublimely perfect. I claim the distinction of being a lip balm aficionado...it's in my genes, remember? I would not be satisfied until jiggystick had the smoothest and most supreme attribute of any hand-crafted lip balm on the market.

We've had a blast soliciting visitors who dropped by to help with production; even Kelly, who is an actual chemist by occupation.

The labels have gone through several redesigns and reiterations as well.

Designing new flavors has undoubtedly been the most fun.

Knowing that we had a work in progress, we looked forward to each new innovation as a progression to perfection. One of the most satisfying aspects to emerge with the jiggystick vision has been to memorialize children that have passed away much too soon. To date, we have been honored to be involved with Maddie Mango and Huckleberry Hike.

Which brings jiggystick to the point of making the ultimate decision...go big or go home?

Officially...jiggystick will be going BIG!

The jiggystick site has been completely redesigned thanks to amazing and talented professionals. Pop on over and take a peak. I think you will love it too!

Here is an excerpt from the section called "Our Purpose"...the vision behind the jiggystick product.

In memory of...

A beautiful spring day in March 2008 tragically changed our family forever. Our adorable 15 year old daughter Jocie heartbreakingly passed away in a skiing accident in Northern Utah. Only those that have experienced the dark mourning that comes with losing a child can understand the helpless, senseless, haunting feeling that follows you like a dark shadow. As her father, I had this desire...an unquenchable thirst to somehow memorialize our beloved daughter. During this initial phase of mourning, for an unknown reason I became attracted to and started keeping bees. Observing a thriving, living, active colony of bees was both therapeutic and healing. I honestly believe the bees saved me.

In addition to delicious honey, my first harvest also produced a considerable amount of pure golden beeswax which intrigued me. Jocie who was well known by her nickname” Jiggy”, constantly carried a tube of lip balm with her. And just like that…jiggystick was created!

When you are over visiting the newly designed site...make sure you check out the recipe section too. I'll continue to add new ones, as I LOVE cooking with honey at my house!

We are streamlining our production by purchasing several "pipette-man" calibrated to correctly and completely fill each lip balm tube. We now own a label-application machine and we even have our own official jiggystick stamp. T-shirts are in the works and will be printed soon.

This week we have been busy working in the lab to contrive a dreamy and delicious winter scent...to be revealed soon! I can hardly wait to add it to Christmas stockings and packages.

And for those of you who wonder why?

There are several reasons really...

-because our treasured daughter "Jiggy" lived her life with absolutely no regrets; loving every element of every detail of every day. Jiggystick lip balm immortalizes her legacy.

-because every day that I pass a red-haired child and my heart shatters all over again, I have something to focus my anguish on.

-because tragedy can befall anyone...and if it does, you too can persevere by defining your own jiggystick dream.

-because sometimes the life you live isn't the life you planned on.

-because the world could use a little bit of fun in the form of a lip balm.

-and finally because we envision becoming the Kleenex of tissues...the Xerox of copiers...and the jiggystick of lip balms. Go big or go home remember?

When reaching for a lip balm we want to hear..."Do you have any jiggystick!"