I enter the ADGA Bath Products Competition every year.  I love to make my products better each year.  I have had very good luck most years and have placed in something every year I have entered. 
This year they had a new category as follows:     Creative Aesthetics Body Care Products Competition Classes: This competition  puts emphasis on the creativity of the products, color or colors, how the scent  matches the products look and packaging. Packaging may include everything but  the producer's identifying label. The quality of the bath care product will also  be judged as in the above catagories.
The soap in the picture was my entry in the Creative Fragrance Oil soap category and it not only won the class but won Best In Show for the Creative Category. I have never thought of myself as creative but I had a vision in my head as to what I wanted my entry to look like and I came close.

This is the soap without the packaging.  For some reason I cannot get an infocus picture of this soap.  My camera cannot decide what it is supposed to focus on I guess.
The fragrance I used was Christmas Memories.  Smells like a Christmas Tree to me, hence the use of greens in the soap. I am very proud of my soap and I know this is a win I will never be able to repeat.

Since I have dried off all of my does, I have a little extra time in the evenings when I do chores. I so enjoy being able to sit down and watch the goats eat, play, look cute and prance around looking pretty.  I dream of kids that will start arriving in January but for some reason the huge amount of work that comes with kidding doesn't seem so bad at this time of the year. 
I imagine that Cowgirl will freshen with an udder as nice as her dam. That would make her very competitive as her chest is much wider than her dam as that is Surprise's weakness. Please, please inherit Surprise's udder.
I watch the twin Pastry girls, Creampuff and Cupcake and try to decide which one will be the best.  I like them both and they both look just like their dam who is a permanent champion.  Please, please let them inherit their dam's udder too. I have been told many times that when there are twins, that only one will be worth anything.  Hoping that is just an Old Wive's Tale since they both have such potential in my humble opinion.
Down TIme is relaxing with the girls and I am so glad I have a little time to spend with them in the evenings.

We sure appreciated the rain yesterday, although I needed a little longer to get my product packed up and safely in the Excursion before the downpour at the Bastrop Pine Street Market Saturday.  I had already packed up all of the wax melt warmers and had them safely in the dry car so the rest was dumped into plastic totes.  BUT the table coverings were soaked as well as the cardboard risers I use.  Hope they dry out without too much damage.  Luckily I have an extra box of the risers in case they can't be salvaged. I was also soaked to the skin.  The only thing on me that was dry was my feet.  Guess those extra support lace up clodhoppers are waterproof.
I appreciated all of my customers that came out to stock up on goat milk soaps and lotion.  I had not been to Pine Street since May so many of the folks were running low on soap.  For October it was a slow day.  But I did manage to do well enough to buy feed for the goats for the next two weeks and that is the reason I do all of the work to make and sell goat milk soap and the other goat milk products.  I work for the goats it seems.  Plus it will be the only way I can justify having as many goats as I have after I retire.  They can be self supporting although I will still have to do all of the work for the lazy girls.  All they do it lay around and make milk.

and I'm not ready.  I have two craft shows in October and I only have enough product packaged for the first one and I will sell out of the small inventory of lotion I have on hand.  I am taking off Thursday and Friday to make lotion.  Not complaining that I have sold so much soap and lotion but then I have to make more. 
Thank goodness I made facial lotion a couple of weeks ago since I had an online order and was totally out.  Have liquid soap made but not bottled.  Soap is made and curing but that lotion is just not materializing.  Have I mentioned I don't really like to make lotion?  I was going to discontinue it but I actually sell more lotion than soap so I can't really do that. 
So I will just have to get busy and get my Holiday lotion making started. Thank goodness I froze milk all summer for soap and lotion making since I have dried off the girls.  They need a vacation.  Now why can't I have a vacation???

The 2012 doelings were in rare form this morning with the cooler weather.  I have tracked my yearlings and since they all should be bred, we played musical pens this afternoon.   All of the yearlings went back into the junior pens and the 2012 doelings were moved to the appropriate buck pen except Cadoodle, the LaMancha that I think is too small and Cadette C3, the Alpine doeling that I am contemplating AI'ing.

Some of my juniors acted like they had never seen me before.  I had on a coat and a cap so I guess I was in disguise.  I had to get DH to help me corner a couple of them so I could move them.  Bottle raised babies that have been to shows before and are usually all over me.  Is it a full moon too??

And since I ended up being one pen short, poor Cadet C3, Alpine buckling had to go to the livestock trailer for a few days.  He is not a happy camper since he can't see out. He too shall survive and we will all be ooh'ing and ahh'ing over the new babies in about 5 months so all is good.

Basil was in heat September 12th so I put her in with a Saanen buck.  Back in heat yesterday, exactly 21 days later.  The problem is now she won't be fresh for the Houston Livestock Show and I needed her to be a milker to see if we can make that Saanen show official.  She just didn't want to go to Houston I guess. None of the other does have re-cycled so I am guessing they are all bred. She is probably too fat and it is all my fault.

It did not rain in Giddings today but when I got home it had just finished a downpour. All of the puddles were full and the driveway still had water standing. We must be living right since every little bit helps in the rain department. I am not a fan of mud but that just sort of comes with the territory when it rains.  Looking forward to some fall weather this week.

Years ago I was very good at AI'ing.  I have had one successful attempt in the past three years.  The little darling in this photo is the result so I guess it was certainly worth the effort. I do have to agree that she is gorgeous.  I was not expecting such a fabulous doeling but I am very very happy to claim her as my own. And yes, she won Grand Champion Junior Alpine at the State Fair. I have already AI'ed her dam again and she appears to be  bred so maybe I just have better luck with Alpines than LaManchas and Saanens.