First off - thanks to those who offered kind thoughts and wishes about Donna's health (see post below). The verdict: an inner ear virus. YUCKY, no fun - and nothing that can be done about it other than lots of rest. So I, Maggie, will probably be womaning the shop for a bit. :)

Secondly - Dang, you guys like those lotion bars, huh?? Our winner of last weeks Friday Freebie - a lotion bar of her choice - is Rebecca! (the 3rd commenter).

Before I announce the next Friday Freebie - blog regulars, check out the Jan 29th entry for a different and extra-special blog giveaway! And if you click on the blue world logo, you'll be taken to a page where hundreds (and HUNDREDS) of other bloggers around the world are offering givewaways too! I would not suggest trying this until you have at least an hour to spare. (personal experience speaking, here.)


Well, Valentine's Day is coming up - and so I think we'll offer an 8 oz. bottle of our Bath, Body and Masage oil for this week's Friday Freebie!

We really aren't into the commercialism of Valentine's Day. BUT, it is a delightful reminder for us all to spend quality time with the one(s) we love! Not just the smoochy-romantic type of love - but also the love we feel for our friends and family, and pets! One wonderful way to show someone how much you care for them is with a delightful massage. Loving touch can be soothing, sensual, relaxing, stimulating, or just plain comforting - whatever you choose.

You don't have to be a massage therapist to give a massage - simply do a bit of reading, and then ask your partner to give you feedback on how you are doing. Here are a few great links to free information about massage:

How To Give a Foot Massage
How to Massage Dog Ears (Our doggies looooove this!)
How to Massage the Elderly or the Ill
How To Give a Back Massage
Infant Massage
How to Massage Your Cat
How to Massage a Horse

Patchouli or Jasmine are delightful for a sensual massage. Lavender is wonderful for a relaxing massage. Rosemary Mint is wonderful for aching muscles, or to help stimulate joints or muscles. We even have a special massage oil just for babies! The winner of our massage oil will get to choose his or her favorite scent. :)

Of course you can also use this moisturizing oil in a bath, or just smooth it on your skin as a moisturizer.

If you'd like to win an 8 oz. bottle of our Bath, Body and Massage Oil - you must leave a comment on today'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.

Just in case anyone reading this blog is planning to stop by the store today - Donna is REAL sick. :( Some sort of Evil Death Flu. I'm taking her to the doctor this afternoon, so, we will be closed from about noon until whenever we get back. Sorry everyone!

This is our first time participating in this fantastic blogging giveaway event, One World One Heart - and we're just thrilled! This is a fun event designed to help encourage friendship and communication with folks from all over the world - oh, and you could win cool free stuff too!

For this event, we are giving away THREE of these wonderful little "Hair Affair Kits" - as we call them. It's a little set that includes 3 sample-sized bars of our bestselling shampoo bars, and a 2 oz. bottle of our Herbal Hair Vinegar.

Our shampoo bars are one of our best-selling items - we routinely ship them to customers all over the world, so we thought this was an appropriate giveaway item! If you'd like to read more about our shampoo bars, please read our FAQ about them. In short, they are handmade, natural bars that you use to wash your hair. Our customers tell us they make their hair shiny, bouncy, and fragrant. We have been using them ourselves for years and years, and LOVE them!



To register to win one of these sets, you must:
1) Leave a comment on THIS BLOG POST
2) The comment MUST INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS - so we can contact you if you are a winner!

That is all! We will choose the winner on Feb. 11th, and announce it here on this blog on the 12th.

If you like natural bodycare products, please visit our website at prairielandherbs.com. We have been in business for over 10 years, making fine handmade herbal bodycare products.

If you enjoy crafting, creating or cooking, please check out our selection of free herbal recipes!

And last but certainly not least - please consider subscribing to this blog - we have a "Freebie Friday" giveaway EVERY WEEK - we choose a new and wonderful even for you to win. All you have to do is leave a comment - and then check back next Friday to see if you have won! (Once again, our Freebie Friday blog giveaway is open to our international friends).

Thanks for looking, and good luck!

This recipe is not in any way herbal, but it is super-delicious, and I thought some of you might enjoy it. Warning: this is really, really, really addicitive.

REALLY addictive. (just so you can't say that I didn't warn you).

Apple Toffee Dip
by Robin Warren

1 cup marshmallow cream
8 oz. softened cream cheese
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 oz. package English toffee bits.

Mix all ingredients together with electric mixer, and serve with sliced apples or pears.

Did I mention it was addictive?

Just a quick note for local folks - check out the great free (or very low cost) programs offered by our local County Conservation office. I'm continually astounded by the wonderful programs they have! Want to learn about owls, how to do fly-tying, cross-country ski, compost with worms, or build bluebird houses? Dallas County Conservation has it all!

And the folks at Polk County Conservation are offering snow-shoeing, ice fishing, day trips, night hikes, and much more!

Check out your local County Conservation office to see what fantastic opportunities are available in your area!

Do you want to retain the right to purchase handmade children's toys and clothing from small businesses?

If so, please read this information, and sign the petition against a badly-worded, short-sighted law that would put thousands of artisans, toymakers, and small-business owners out of work.

Handmade Toy Alliance

Because you asked - snow photos!

We got 4-5 inches of very light and fluffy snow last night. So this morning I grabbed my old decrepit (but still working) digital camera and snapped a few pics. Above, you can see some beautiful rosehips just piled with light fluffy snow.

Here is a sage plant.
This is an anise hyssop seedhead.

And purple coneflower seedheads. I love how all the plants look like they're wearing little snowhats!

And a picture of the fencepost, wearing it's little snowhat. So cute. :) The nice thing about this light fluffy snow is that it's easy to shovel. The bad thing? When we get wind (which we always do -Iowa is, I believe, the 5th windiest state), it can easily create dangerous driving conditions due to blowing snow, which reduces visibility, creates slick spots on the roads, and can make massive snowdrifts.

Ah, such is life in the heartland.....

A few words about Prairieland Herbs, and the economy.

For the last....hmmm.....5-6 months or so, people in the shop have casually sidled up to us and said, with a hesitant look - "So, um....with the economy and stuff.....how are you doing?"

We have always given the same (truthful) answer. We are extremely lucky to have such fantastic and faithful customers, and are doing FINE, no, really!

Things look a bit grim in the big economic world - there's no doubting that. But you know what? We aren't exactly part of that, and never have been. We don't fit in most boxes. We are 2 women, working a small bit of land, making great bath and body products, teaching classes, and doing our best to enjoy life. Are we farmers? educators? shopkeepers? gardeners? crafters? "herbologists" (as our favorite mail carrier calls us)? artisans? international business mavens? Probably a little bit of of all of the above - except perhaps the last one. :)

I mean - our shop is in the middle of cornfields, on a gravel road. (!!!) We probably have broken every rule about "What not to do in business". And here we are - better than surviving. Thriving!

There IS some economic sense to this. First of all - the infamous Lipstick Effect. (no, I'm not kidding). This is a time-honored economic indicator, which basically goes as follows: When times get tough, people (women especially) treat themselves to something small and utterly luxurious. For many women, that means a divine new tube of lipstick in the (hopefully) perfect shade. Or something very similar...a divine handmade soap, for example?

Secondly - even Forbes has notice that people are still treating themselves to things like personal care products - despite the economic downturn. PLUS, they are turning more to natural remedies - instead of going to doctors. Yes, we agree 100% that that's happening - and would like to add the following observations:

1) When folks have less money, they care more about where it goes. Buying local, and/or from REAL ACTUAL PEOPLE, is a far more interesting and statisfying way to spend hard-earned dollars.

2) People are understanding that buying quality is better than buying quantity. It's more enjoyable and in the long run, more frugal.

So, this is what we are seeing, and experiencing ourselves. So we're interested to know - what do YOU think? Have you tightened your belt, or changed your spending habits?

We ARE going to have to raise our prices within the next month. We haven't raised prices for FOUR YEARS - just think about that, folks. Four years is a LONG time. The price of EVERYTHING has gone up in the last 4 years! And during those 4 years our business expanded at a rate that allowed us to buy raw materials in larger quantities, which helped offset rising prices. Unfortunately, we are no longer able to absorb price increases. But it is not due to economic woes, simply the natural process of economic inflation. We're not thrilled with it - but, that's how the world turns. So, you heard it here first (and we promise not to raise any prices without giving you plenty of notice to stock up at the"old" price).

But, our pledge to you is this: We will continue to provide you excellent customers service, and a fantastic, quality, handmade, homemade-with-genuine-love product, from real actual people. I hope that is worth a small price increase to all of you. :)

YAY!! Congratulations go out to Annie from Oregon, who says she has never tried our shampoo bars, but quit using Lush ones after she realized they weren't really natural. (That can be a very slippery word in the hands of some businesses, can't it?) Annie, drop us an email at shop at prairielandherbs dot com, and let us know what shampoo bars you want, and where you'd like them sent! We hope you love them as much as we do!!!

We've had quiet week here on the farm...which is not an entirely bad thing. :) The weather was even decent - as in, NOT below zero, wheee!! However, temps are plummeting today, and the winds are howling. We're headed to a -1 low tonight. *sigh*

And YES I know the blog has been rather devoid of snow or farm photos lately, and I really am sorry about that! We try to give you a "slice of life" here on the farm. Well our current slice of life is EVERYTHING TECHNOGICAL IS BREAKING!! (Mercury retro....*sigh*). Our digital camera is on the fritz. We hope it will be fixed soon, and we'll get back to posting farm photos. thank you for your patience!In other news - Maggie is twittering!!! I do twitter about Prairieland Herbs stuff (new blog entries, contests, news, farm info), BUT, I also yak a bit about random life-stuff. Usually food, music, movies, food, knitting, food. So if that appeals to you - please follow me! (in case I linked that incorrectly, you can also just search for girlwithasword on twitter.)


Okay - down to biz. This week's FRIDAY FREEBIE is a handmade lotion bar - your choice of scent! I simply love these. They are made from fair trade coconut oil, rice bran oil, and locally produced beeswax - so they're moisturizing and oh-so-delightful. They're perfect for travel, or keeping in a gym bag. Just swipe on, and you're done! They're perfect for all over moisturizing, but I particularly love them for my legs.

If you'd like to win a lotion bar - you must leave a comment on today'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.

Good luck!!!

A friend forwarded this to us, and I thought it was pretty cute. HOWEVER, I will say this - we Iowans are not as tough as our neighbors to the north - Minnesotans, Canadians, Alaskans etc. :)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

_COLD IS A RELATIVE THING. . . . . . .
65 above zero:
Floridians turn on the heat.
People in Iowa plant gardens.

60 above zero:
Californians shiver uncontrollably.
People in Iowa sunbathe.

50 above zero:
Italian & English cars won't start.
People in Iowa drive with the windows
down.

40 above zero:
Georgians don coats, thermal underwear, gloves,
wool hats.
People in Iowa throw on a flannel shirt.

35 above zero:
New York landlords finally turn up the heat.
People in Iowa have the last cookout
before it gets cold.

20 above Zero:
People in Miami all die.
Iowans close the windows.

Zero:
Californians fly away to Mexico .
People in Iowa get out their winter coats.

10 below zero:
Hollywood disintegrates.
The Girl Scouts in Iowa are selling
cookies door to door.

20 below zero:
Washington DC runs out of hot air.
People in Iowa let the dogs sleep indoors.

30 below zero:
Santa Claus abandons the North Pole.
Iowans get upset because they can't start the Snow-mobile.

40 below zero:
ALL atomic motion stops.
People in Iowa start saying...'Cold enough fer ya?'

50 below zero:
Hell freezes over.
Iowa public schools will open 2 hours late.

What a great idea! World Smudge Day! Smudging is a great way to clear away old energies, and bring in the new.

On this historic day, we'll be participating - smudging our shop and homes. 2009 is a new year, filled with optimism and hope. :)

One of the coolest things about doing what we do is getting to know other folks who do similar things (i.e. play with herbs for a living). And play with and enjoy the things they make! So today I wanted to share 2 recent faves with you all.First off is The Essential Herbal's SUPER FUN beadmaking book and kit. HERBAL BEADS? Yes, indeed. It is so much fun to make your own beads out of fragrant herbal materials. They are earthy, beautiful, and fragrant. I suggest you get several different varieties of the powder mixt to try, because once you start playing with these, it's hard to stop. It's a fun project to do with a couple of friends or with some crafty kiddos. Tina's books are all well-written and totally top-notch, and this one is no exception.

Second - this amazing new perfume, Eden, from Aroma Artisan. I got this before Christmas, and cannot believe I haven't blogged about it yet. IT IS SO WONDERFUL! Making natural perfumes is such an incredible art - I do not have the skills for it myself (oh how I wish I did...), but I have incredible respect for those who do.

So, I don't really have words to describe this perfume, so I won't embarass myself by trying. Instead I will let the perfume artisan's words (and the ingredients list) speak for itself:

"Eden perfume oil focuses around 4 primary essential oils: Jasmine sambac absolute, rich sandalwood, fresh ginger and smoky guaiacwood.

This perfume has a lavish array of wonderful essential oils: jasmine sambac absolute, sandalwood, paraguay guaiacwood, indonesian fresh ginger, spanish myrrh, madagascar vanilla absolute, spanish saffron, folded italian lemon, french cocoa absolute, albanian orris root co2 select, french cepes absolute, in a base of fractionated coconut oi, jojoba oil and (vitamin e)."

In short, this is an amazing array of delightfully blended natural essential oils, absolutes, and resins. She even has very reasonably priced samples available for sale on her etsy store, so run, don't walk, to Aroma Artisan's Etsy store and try some. You won't be disappointed, I promise!

In the mad computer kerfuffle, I FORGOT ABOUT FREEBIE FRIDAY! I'm so sorry, everyone!!

Last week's winner was Gloria Y! Gloria, drop us an email at shop at prairielandherbs dot com, and let us know your mailing address, and what type of body butter you'd like!


This week's Friday Freebie post is going to be a bit long, so bear with me. I'm going to shamefully promote our Shampoo Bars.

Last week, I was in the Mall of America. Now, folks, Donna and I are not shoppers. We'd rather tear our own hair out, and/or roll naked in the snow, rather than spend an afternoon in a mall or shopping center. Despite that, I ended up spending rather a lot of time in the Mall of America, and happened to visit a few, well....I won't say competing stores, because, that's not really accurate. Let's just say I visited a few other stores that sell bodycare products. And MAN, was it an eye-opening experience!

It's pretty common for folks to email us and say "I used to use Lush/L'OCCITANE/Burt's Bees/Etc. but now I am in love with your stuff because it's truly handmade/a family owned-company/rocks my world/smells great/costs half the price and is twice as good/etc.". And that always makes us smile to read that, because we happen to agree. :) However, because I don't shop too much, I hadn't REALLY realized how incredibly true that statement is. I was appalled to see how much the other stores were charging, for what is clearly (to me) a less-quality item.

Forget the $45 (!!!!) body scrubs they were hawking.

Forget the CLEARLY not-even-remotely handmade super-stinky synthetic melt and pour soaps.

I zeroed in on the shampoo bars. Because, frankly folks, there are LOADS of bad, bad, BAD shampoo bars in the world. I know this. Which makes us all the more proud of our fantastic ones!!!



Here's a picture of 1) one of our shampoo bars (left), and 2 shampoo bars from other stores - Lush and Basin.

Our shampoo bars are a minimum of 4 oz, and cost $5.50 ($5.00 each if you buy 3 or more).


Their shampoo bars each weighed in at UNDER 2 oz each (1.9 oz), and cost $7.00 for the creamy colored one , and $8.35 for the green one. Making them nearly THREE TIMES THE COST of ours.


I will refrain from further review (because I tried to write more and just couldn't be kind about it) other than saying - just as you can see from the photos, these are clearly not handmade,but smashed together from extruded soap bits. Which I think is weird. There's so much fantatsic handmade soap in the world - why settle for synthetic, overpriced stuff?? Go handmade. It rocks.


Now that you've survived through my shampoo bar rant, let's announce this week's Friday Freebie!

We're offering TWO SHAMPOO BARS OF YOUR CHOICE as this week's Freebie. We well more shampoo bars than just about anything in the store, and regularly ship them all over the world. They are FANSTASTIC. If you'd like to try them, now is your chance to do so for free!!

These are amazing for traveling, camping, and can be used as an all-over head to toe bar, if you so desire. They can safely be used on color treated and permed hair. Most folks who use them report: Shinier, healthier hair with more body, AND, most people have no need for extra conditioner after they shampoo. (yes, you read that correctly). We have and unscented version for people with sensitive skin, and a coconut-oil free version for folks who are allergic to coconut oil. We've got all bases covered!

If you'd like to win these shampoo bars - you must leave a comment on today'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.

FINALLY!!

A rousing "WHOOP" of joy was heard all across the land, as our computer was FINALLY restored!! It's newer, faster, and better!!! Now, we promise - our only priority for the next two days is getting ALL those orders processed, packed, and ready to ship on Tuesday. We are SO sorry for the delay, and than you once again for your patience!!!

Sample Sunday - Sun. Jan 18th, 12-5


Our monthly "Sample Sunday" is just around the corner! We're stocking the shelves and clearing the walkways. What's new and exciting here at Prairiealnd Herbs? Our sample basket is chock-full of moisturizing milk baths - perfect for dry wintertime skin. We have loads of moisturizing body scrubs, body butters and body oils - isn't EVERYONE having dry itchy skin with this weather? This time of year the hardworking farmers in our area send in their wives to pick up our fantastic Healing Salve, to heal their cracked, dry hands and feet. PLUS, we'll have a nice selection of these gorgeous Valentines Candy Bouquets (only $12!)
As well as cute, warm handmade fleece hats, neckwarmers and scarves!
Here's what' s happening at Picket Fence Creamery:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

January Greetings from Picket Fence Creamery!

Here's wishing all of you a Happy New Year and hoping you are working toward your 2009 goals! So, what's happening around the farm? Let's see.. "mooving" snow and cows having calves, and mooving snow and thawing out cattle waterers, and mooving snow and mooving snow and mooving snow!!! And, it's all STILL GOOD! After all, January is almost half over, and the days are getting longer. With that in mind, we'll take this opportunity to invite you to break out of your cabin fever mode, and stock up on great foods for the big games at our...

"January Thaw"

SAMPLE SUNDAY

Jan. 18 Noon to 5 p.m.

Admission is FREE!

Yes, it's supposed to be in the lower 30s this weekend, so let's celebrate! Bring the kids to see our barn full of bottle calves, take a peek at the cows (inside, safe and snug), and eat your way through our store with dozens of local food samples!

(This event is being held in conjunction with our neighbors to the north, Prairieland Herbs, where you'll find the finest bath and body products in the world!)

By the way, Dallas County has done an excellent job of keeping our roads cleared. I had a customer this morning say our roads were better than the ones in Des Moines! By the way, our snow removal team here at the farm (Jeff and his skid loader) have been doing an excellent job, too!

Local Food Samples: Chocolate cherry ice cream, fresh cheese curds, Waukee's Taste of the Town Salsa, elk sticks, buffalo summer sausage, tortellini, Neva's famous cheese ball, fresh peanut butter, pumpkin butter, creamed honey, creamed cinnamon honey, "Elvis" muffins, and gouda, brie, Swiss, and sharp cheddar cheeses.

Guest Vendor: Tim will be here from Prairie Moon Winery, Ames. Try five varieties of their fine wines!

Kids! Check out the 17 bottle calves in the nice, snug barn! Enjoy a bag of freshly popped and Picket Fence buttered popcorn for 50 cents.

"Game Day" Super Deals!

*Buy a jar of local salsa, get a bag of fresh tortilla chips for only $1!

*Our own 90% lean ground beef, $3.49/lb. with 10 lb. purchase (Reg. $3.99/lb.)

*Apple crisp and quart of ice cream - $10

*Homemade cinnamon twist rolls made with our cream - $4.49 for a large plate of 4

*Hulless popcorn - only $1.99/bag

*Cheese, glorious cheese! Sunday only - get a bag of our fresh cheese curds for 3 bucks!

*Buffalo summer sausage, elk sticks, elk ring bologna, Pella bologna, Pasquali's Pizza, Pella beef jerky, buffalo jerky, snacks, chips, Neva's cheese ball, and Iowa wines!

New! Sasparilla, black cherry, grape, root beer, and orange cream sodas from the Kutztown Soda Works, Kutztown, PA. Only 99 centers for a 24-oz. bottle!

Just arrived: Corn salsa, black strap molasses, corn grits, muesli, fresh biscuit mixes, corn chowder soup mix, fresh pancake mixes, real maple syrup, Two Sisters mahogney pound cake mix, pumpkin chocolate chip bread mix, beer bread mixes, dips, cheese cake mix, and soup mixes, and fresh candies including Boston baked beans and French burnt peanuts!

Coffee: We have a good selection of Cafe Diem coffees (Ames) including caramel crunch, snickerdoodle, and Jamaican-Me-Crazy (rum). We also have Two Sisters cappuccino mixes: chocolate raspberry, chocolate mint, chocolate cherry, French vanilla, and cinnamon vanilla.

Fresh pancake mixes: Buttermilk, blueberry, and apple cinnamon pancakes make a great breakfast any time! Coupled with some creamery butter, real maple syrup and Dreesman's maple link sausages, you're set!

Yes, temperatures in the 30s are just around the corner! It's time for ice cream! Choose from these 25 flavors in our cooler: vanilla, cherry vanilla, vanilla chocolate chip, vanilla cookies and cream, caramel, caramel apple, apple cinnamon, maple cream, rum raisin, luscious lemon, key lime pie, orange pineapple, egg nog, mint chip, pumpkin, strawberry, strawberry banana, very berry, chocolate, chocolate chocolate chip, chocolate cookies and cream, chocolate raspberry, chocolate cherry, chocolate malt, and mocha. Whew!

Puppies! A friend is bring his "farm-raised" Jack Russell/rat terrier puppies on Sunday. They are adorable and will be $15 each, or 2 for $25! Kids, you'll have to check them out!

That's all from the farm for now. Feel free to forward this email to anyone in your address book who would enjoy and nice afternoon in the country! If you can't make it Sunday, stop by Saturday instead...we'll have the sample table ready!

Your friends,

Jeff, Jill, Jenna and James Burkhart

Picket Fence Creamery

14583 S Ave.

Woodward, IA 50276

515-438-2697

EGADS it's cold.

How cold? Check out a pic of our neighbor's* thermometer this morning!

So the projected HIGH today is -5. It's approximately -15 right now. as soon as I finish this blog post I'm going to pile on several layers of clothing and attempt to start my van. BECAUSE *drum roll* Donna just called and said her driveway has just been cleared. So we can get to work! and hopefully get the computer set up with a minimum of swearing.

I'll let you know when we're up and running. Meanwhile, bundle up everyone.

*Miss Effie actually lives several hours away, but in the "country" sense, a neighbor is anyone you are neighborly with - or neighbor with. (Yes, it can be a verb. trust me.) Also for the purposes of the international internet community, she is our neighbor in that she lives in the same state as us. Heck, I consider our customers in Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, etc. to be neighbors too. So, howdy neighbors!

Mercury is retrograde. *sigh*

So, here is the most important thing you need to know: Our computer crashed and we're snowed out of or shop. SO, rest assured - we will get back to normal tomorrow (We think) but if you have emailed us in the last few days, we are NOT ignoring you, we just are having some temporary technical difficulties, and we thank you for your patience!

Now, the long-winded version of that announcement.


Tuesdays are always busy days for us, because we are closed Sundays and Mondays, so we have lots of orders to process and pack, phone calls to return, emails to answer, etc. So it was quite a shock to our system to show up on Tuesday (yesterday) to find that our computer had mysteriously stopped working.

Now, it probably shouldn't have been a surprise. Our Gateway is 4-5 years old, and is a WELL-USED machine. See, our business runs pretty much entirely with that machine. We use it to pull orders, answer emails, process credit cards, and print labels. Without it, we grind to a halt pretty much immediately.

So, we spent the morning trying to trouble-shoot, and fix the durn thing. (Those of you who know Donna and I are now laughing hysterically at the idea of us trying to fix a computer. We can use the things just fine but fix them - um, no. Lots of "um, errrrr"''s were muttered, heads were scratched, toes were scuffed, swear words invoked.

A note: The weather yesterday was dreadful. COLD, and we had had loads of snow and blowing the day before. We had to brave snowdrifts up to our butts (yes, literally) to tromp through to get from the house to the shop. (Necessary, because house has food and a bathroom and our shop does not).

We eventually decided to give it up, and just buy a new computer. So the search ensued. We figured out what we wanted to spend and poked around online, then decided Maggie should just drive to Des Moines and buy one.

Off I go in my van to Des Moines, to visit 3 different stores. Meanwhile, it starts snowing. ALOT. and then some more. Oh, and look - the wind is picking up! Great. By the time I visit 4 stores to figure out what we want, and actually make the purchase, we have a little mini-blizzard going on. I head home. Wine was consumed.

This morning, we woke up to big snowdrifts. For those of you who haven't visited our farm, lemme 'splain. The setup is thus: we have 2 acres (almost) of land. Donna's house is on the land, as well as our shop and various outbuildings. It is on a gravel road, surrounded by cornfields, pretty much in the middle of nowhere. The part of Iowa we live in is very, very flat, and when we get blowing snow, we can easily get drifts several feet high, making it impossible (impassible?) to get around. So even a few inches of snow, combined with high winds, can REALLY screw things up.

So, Donna is currently ensconced in her warm house, surrounded by large snowdrifts. The winds are still howling. The HIGH temperature for the day is 2 degrees. The low? So glad you asked. A balmy -14. The winds are holding steady at 15 to 20 mph with some gusts up to 29 mph, giving us a delightful windchill factor of -20 or so. Eventually, the winds will slow down. At some point after that, the county trucks will plow out her road. And at some point after THAT, our nice snow guy will come plow out or driveway so we can get to the shop.

Until then, the new computer waits patiently in my van, 30 miles away, and Donna waits, not at ALL patiently, for her new computer to show up. You folks have NO idea how much it is bothering her that she can't fill your orders and answer your emails!

So until then, stay warm y'all.....we'll be in touch with tomorrow...hopefully......

My sister Marjory has just started her etsy store, and is stocking it with the CUTEST stuff! Her fleece hats (above) are super-warm, soft, adorable, and SO affordable. I got one for Christmas, and it is no exaggeration to say that I get comments and compliments on it everywhere I go. Even the guy who changed the oil in my van last week loved it. (lol). She has loads more, and can do them in any sizes or fabrics. Watch her etsy store for future listings!

She is also doing these super-cute (and again, very affordable) Valentines Candy Bouquets! You can order them online, or, we will have a nice selection of them available in our shop starting next week.

It's Freebie Friday!

Last week's winner is JESSIE! Jessie, drop us an email letting us know what scrub you want, and where you'd like it shipped.This week's freebie - one tin of our amazing, super-moisturizing Body Butter (your choice of scent). I NEED this stuff in the winter - if I don't use it, I'm itchy and dry and cranky. This is amazing for massage too :).

If you'd like to win the item - you must leave a comment on today'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.


IN OTHER NEWS! The amazing Sara is also doing a blog give-away, of some of our baby products! She is a super-cool mama, and has an amazing blog, with loads of thoughful writing. Check it out!

We have a little ice storm happening here now. I left work early, in hopes of escaping it. It seems we've had LOTS of ice storms already this year, and we're really quite tired of it. *sigh*

Local animal lovers -we need help!


A local fellow has had 2 sort of accidental litters. There are 2 litters of puppies - one is purebred Jack Russel Terrier, the other is 1/2 Jack Russel, 1/2 rat terrier. They REALLY need homes. They are about 8-10 weeks. One Jack Russel puppy is deaf, so will have some special needs.They are free.

Folks, these are high-energy, very intelligent dogs, with a long lifespan. IF you are ready for that responsibility,and are wanting a puppy, please do call or email us. Phone - (515)438-4268, email, shop at prairielandherbs dot com. We will put you in contact with the fellow. He really does need help finding them homes. We are hopeful he has learned his lesson.