Our Handmade Lavender, Lemon Verbena, and Oat Goat's Milk SoapThe first visitor on the farm from my family was Gram. My Gram has always been the "cool Grandma"... Her seemingly uncanny understanding of what was "in" with the kids (she taught High School English) was bolstered in my awkwardly bespectacled eyes by the fact that she had been a model (which my 10 year old self would have died to be). The voracious reader who always had the right books for me at the ready, was also a curious and creative person (with a great eye) from whom I inherited my interest in (ok, obsession with) minerals and exquisite details from exotic cultures.
Whenever I would visit her growing up, Gram always had a pile of good books (usually tucked into a basket with some chocolate) waiting for me and fun projects in store for us. We made Ukrainian Easter eggs, we baked, we made jewelry... Oh, she also introduced me to pine nuts! Visits to Gram's were always a treat and now as an adult (well, almost), I hoped to return the favor. I had been looking forward to her visit for weeks and trying to think of some fun things we could do together while she was here.
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I had cheesemaking, soapmaking, and a visit to The Hermitage, President Andrew Jackson's Plantation, in the cards for her 3 day visit. Obviously, I had once again failed to add the "unexpected element" of farm life into my time calculations for the weekend. When Gram arrived, our first goat shelter had just been trampled and pooped on by The Herd, and a whole day would be needed to plan and build a new one.
