It's ridiculously cold here.

AND.

It's going to get colder in the next 24 hours. GAH!

The low for tonight is -5, with windchills as low as -30. We had lovely whiteout/blowing snow conditions driving home from the farmer's market today - always delightful.

The HIGH temp for tomorrow is -1, (can anything negative actually be called HIGH?), again, with delightful -30 windchill factor.

The low temp for tomorrow night is a wicked -14. I seriously cannot fathom it. I will be cuddled in my house, on the couch, with cats piled all around me. (The good thing about living with 8 cats - your lap never gets cold).

Right now, we're watching the wind - we have no specific plans to cancel tomorrow's Sample Sunday due to weather, BUT - if there's loads of blowing snow, our driveway or road could drift shut. I will post here on the blog if that is an issue.

Are you tired of listening to me whine about the cold? Okay. I'll post something slightly more interesting.Some of you may notice that we are slowly updating our website photos, from old crappy ones I took (hey, I did the best I could with zero photography skills and an ancient camera) to really nice spanky new ones, such as you see above.

They look pretty nice, huh? clean and professional.

Well, they were done by our resident "king of cheap DIY lighting and photo gear" guy. He can do amazing things with sheets of glass gotten for free off craig's list, yogurt lids, sticks-in-coffee-cans-full-of-cement, and bits of remnant fabric and pvc pipe.

For example, this photo above was taking in my living room - here is the "setup shot" (complete with coffee mug and dog food bowl).



This gorgeous photo was taken in a simple basement room. (see photo below).


There are loads more of these product and setup shots, complete with notes and info, on John's Flickr, if you're interested. I just think it's fascinating to see the setup behind the photos, and thought you might too. Enjoy!

First and foremost - I'd like to announce last week's Freebie Friday winner - MATT! Matt, we'll send you an email to get your address. Congratulations!!!!


And - this week's "Friday Freebie" - an 8 oz. bottle of our "Tranquil Sleep" Body & Linens Mist. Because we all need to take a deep breath and chill out, after the craziness of the holiday season! This is a perennial best-selling item in our store, and we have heard countless people tell us that it really does work!! Plus, it smells great. :)

Da Rulz:

If you'd like to win the item - you must leave a comment on that day's blog post.

Rules:
1) One entry per person.
2) You must have a registered ID to post - if your post shows up under "anonymous", we don't know who you are, and therefore you can't win.
3) You have until the next Thursday at midnight, CST, to enter your comment.
4) Winner will be announced the following Friday - you must check back to see if it's you!
5) International folks are welcome. We ship Prairieland Herbs items all over the world, so we'll ship our "Friday freebie" anywhere too!
6) Each eligible post will be assigned a number, and we'll use a free online random number generator to determine the winner.

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Weather news: We seem to have escaped the huge ice storm they were predicting for yesterday. We have snow, and some ice, and last night were treated to "thundersleet" (ah, the weather in Iowa - always interesting!!), but overall, things aren't too bad. The fellow who is supposed to plow out our driveway and parking lot at Prairieland Herbs seems to be MIA though. We have left 2 messages and have yet to hear from him. So if you come to our shop today, please be careful!!!

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Business news: We're getting ready for the farmer's market tomorrow - should be loads of fun!

Sunday we're having an impromptu Sample Sunday, in conjunction with our neighbors at Picket Fence Creamery - and it's going to be a doozy!!!

At Picket Fence, they're sampling wines from TEN LOCAL WINERIES (!!!) and oodles of cheese! Local gouda, limberger, chevre, brie, cheese curds, spreadable holiday cheeses, their famous cheeseball, and more!!

At Prairieland Herbs - we will be sampling divine handmade candies (peanut butter bars, english toffee, and cashew crunch) as well as a selection of locally made gourmet jams and jellies. Candy and jams both sell for $5 and under - it doesn't get much bette than that. Guest vendors will be on hand with unique handmade jewelry, and handmade pens. If you need a last minute gift (or three) and want to avoid the malls, rural Woodward is the place to be! We'll treat you right, and feed ya good. What more can you ask for??

We'll be open 12-5 on Sunday - see you there!!!

GOOD NEWS regarding the proposed FDA regulations that would have made it very, very difficult for us to stay in business!

Weather here has been insane. Sunday, we had an actual temperature drop of 50 degrees (yes, really) in about 12 hours - but, it *felt* like it dropped about 70 degrees, because of the wind chill factor. At 9 AM Sunday morning it was a balmy 50 degrees. By 1 pm it was 17 degrees, and by about 10 PM it was 1 degree with a windchill of around -20. Only in Iowa!

We are gearing up for the Des Moines Farmer's Market this Saturday. Hours: 9-2. It's a WONDERFUL market, I encourage everyone to stop by for fabulous local wine, food, jam, and gifts! If you'd like us to bring anything in particular for you, please do email or call! We bring a very random selection of items every time. The store WILL be open so feel free to come on out to the farm and Donna will be delighted to help you!!

HOLIDAY Shippping & Hours Info:

Last day to order for holiday shipping: Sunday, Dec. 21st. (earlier is better!)

Last day to order online gift cards: Tuesday, Dec. 23rd, 5pm CST.

We WILL BE CLOSED: Wed, Dec. 24th until Tuesday, Dec. 30th.

We WILL BE OPEN: Sunday, December 21st, 12-5

Also: New delicious recipe online! Lavender Honey Biscotti. Divine! Biscotti makes a lovely holiday gift, becasuse it keeps well and ships well. Don't forget our Triple Chocolate Double Orange biscotti recipe too!