Another weekend craft show!

And this time, assuming there are no major natural disasters or unexpected plagues, we will be there!!!


What? Riverbend Market Cooperative Arts and Crafts Expo


Where? Riverbend Market Cooperative, 417 Main Street, 
               Red Wing, Minnesota.


When? This weekend, Friday, December 2nd and Saturday  
              December 3rd, from 10 am to 6 pm

Hope to see you there! 

...

Well, this past month Windy Hills, once again, was put on the back burner.  Our life policy has always been God first, Family second, and Business third (as much as we value our customers!) As much as we wanted to be at the Holiday Boutique on November 12th, the place of all of us was with “grandma,” who needed our prayers, love, and care in her last days on this earth.  We were blessed to be able to share our home with her for twelve years, and we were blessed that she was able to die at home, on November 14th, 2011, surrounded by her family and friends.  She will be missed by many.   

Holiday Boutique 2011

Hello!  

Well, due to some family obligations, we have not been able to put as much time into Windy Hills as we would like.  But we are still here!  And we do have drying racks, all ready for the dry winter months.  

We use drying racks all year, to some extent, but fall and winter really are the seasons for them.  Not only is it too cold to hang clothes outside, as we love to do all summer, but drying our clothes on drying racks returns so much wonderful moisture to the air.  The bedrooms in our home that don’t have their own drying rack will get a “visit” from one every few days, making sleeping and playing so much more comfortable.  The fact that it saves money and is better for our clothes is an added bonus! 

We do have another show scheduled this weekend, at our home parish of St. Joseph’s in Miesville, MN.  I hope you’ll come and see us, and maybe get some Christmas shopping out of the way!  You know, drying racks make an excellent gift for someone, especially for quilters.  Our four foot Windy Hills Maple Drying Rack makes a wonderful display for the beautiful quilt designs, and it can also be used in the sewing room to dry fabric and to organize pattern pieces.  

See you Saturday!

Holiday Boutique 2011

Saturday, November 12th ~ 8am-5pm St. Joseph’s Church Gathering Hall Miesville, MN

Keeping up with the Laundry

Wow!  What a summer it has been.  You know, it seems like there isn't even TIME to do laundry, let alone blog about it!  Between the garden, the business, planning the next school year, taking care of my mom, and various activities the kids have been involved in, it's a wonder anything gets done!

There are a few things I do to stay on top of the laundry around here.  First, When I can, I sort all the laundry the night before, giving me a head start the next day.  I always have all the laundry in one place, so I'm not scrambling from room to room.

I always have at least one load ready to wash before I go to bed at night. By having a load ready to go in, I can wash it first thing in the morning, before having my three cups of coffee to make me coherent enough to sort out a load. I don't put the clothes in the washing machine because if I wash them, they will be musty by morning, with the warm summer temperatures.  If I don't wash them, there is the risk that one of the girls will come with THIER load in the morning (before coffee!) and toss the still-dirty clothes in a basket.

Another way I keep up is to hang a load or two on our Windy Hills Maple Drying Rack in the rec room or living room the night before, so by morning it's ready to fold and put away.  In the winter, we rotate the racks among the bedrooms so the moisture goes into the air - a natural humidifier that makes sleeping much easier.

One other trick.  If you have children who are close in age and size, like our four boys, I suggest marking who's clothes are who's.  We just put lines on the tags with a Sharpie - 1 line for the oldest, 2 for the second, etc.  As each child grows into the clothes, we just add another line.  This way, anyone can fold and sort out the clothes, without wasting time trying to think who is wearing what size now.

What are your methods of keeping up with the laundry?

Little Log House Days

Sorry this wasn't posted earlier - we were having some technical difficulties!

We just finished our 1st show at Little Log House days, and had a great time.  Thank you so much for stopping by, everyone!

A question that kept coming up was "doesn't air-drying clothes on a clothes rack make your clothes stiff and wrinkled?" The wrinkles generally come from the washing machine's spin cycle, so to solve that problem is to spin the clothes on a medium or low speed.  You can also dry the clothes for about 5 minutes in your electric/gas clothes dryer (if you have one,) remove them promptly, shake, and hang them on the rack.  Folding and putting clothes away as soon as they are dry will also make them softer.

I do still have problems with towels and jeans - they always come out a little stiff until they are worn/used once.  I thought about putting them in the dryer they are dry for a few minutes to see if that makes a difference.......I'll let you know!

Until next time,
Beth, The Laundry Duchess
www.windyhillsredwing.com

And the winner is......

Connie Carpenter!  Congratulations, Connie, on winning our Grand Opening Drawing!  And thank you to everyone who entered!

Little Log House Bulletin

It's day two at the Little Log House Days.  We're staying MOSTLY cool in building #34.  Fans help.
Lucky for us, there are four of us to mind the booth- which gives us the chance to look around a bit, too.

I went over to Porky's this morning.  It's pretty cool!  There are TONS of old, beautiful, classic cars.  And lots of pretty colors!

Ok, the highlight of any get-together is the food, right?  I mean, what's the point if you can't eat?  :)  We've been able to sample a bit of the "fine dining" here at Little Log House Antique Power Show.  My favorite so far?  It's a toss up between the lemonade (with real lemons and sugar) and the maple root beer float.  Or maybe the kettle corn comes in first.  Or the turkey drumstick?  I can't decide!!!  What's your favorite "fair food?"  Do you like slushies?  Cheese Curds?  Dairy cart Milk Shakes?

Laundry Gift Basket

Ok, here's what we have in that gift basket!

Seventh Generation Laundry Detergent

Lingerie Bag

EnzAway Spot Remover

Hangers

$50 Windy Hills Gift Certificate

Come see us to enter the drawing!  And don't forget to "like" us on facebook, and follow the blog!

Grand Opening Update

Well, we spent the morning setting up the booth.  I won't say it's all ready to go for tomorrow, but it's close!
We are located in Building #34.  It's a big blue building with a white roof, not far from the air conditioned building.
We will be accepting credit cards!  And we'll have gift certificates available, too.  Don't forget to "like" us on facebook and follow the blog for a chance to win our gift basket!  In addition to some of our favorite laundry products, like Seventh Generation Wildflowers & Fresh Citrus Laundry Detergent, the gift basket will have a $50 Windy Hills Gift Certificate!

See you soon!
The Laundry Duchess
www.windyhillsredwing.com

Grand Opening Drawing

As mentioned before, we are putting together a drawing for a laundry gift basket, in honor of our grand opening show this weekend at the Little Log House Antique Power Show.  The drawing will take place Sunday at noon.
There are a few ways you can enter the drawing.  The first is to come see us at our booth! We'll be in the Cushman Dealership building, #34, Friday morning through Sunday afternoon.  You can see our drying racks, and we will have a few on hand for immediate purchase (come early!)  We also will have some beautiful handcrafted jewelry, some fun ribbon crowns, and crocheted dishclothes!
We thought it might be nice to give people an extra chance at winning.  The first way is to follow our Blog!  Everyone who is following the blog by SUNDAY AT NOON will get their name in the drawing.  It's easy to follow us!  Just hit the "follow" button way up at the top left of this page, right next to the blogger search box.  Simple as that!
Want another chance in the drawing?  Like us on facebook!  I've added a Windy Hills facebook badge in the right column.  All facebook followers will get an extra chance, too!
There is one more way to get an extra chance - buy a drying rack!  We will have a 10% discount on all orders between now and July 31st.
Hope we see you this weekend!  Good Luck!

~The Laundry Duchess
www.windyhillsredwing.com

I know where I'll be this weekend!

Where? The Cushman Dealership Building at Little Log House Antique Power Show, of course! Come out and see us! We'll have our Windy Hills Maple Clothes Drying Racks there, and the girls are selling fairy crowns, dish clothes, and jewelry. Plus, this being the grand opening and all, we're having a drawing for a laundry basket full of some of our favorite laundry products! There's lots of fun stuff to do and see at the show, too. For more details on the Power Show, visit our website at www.windyhillsredwing.com Hope to see you there!

Preparing for our first show...

Hi all!  Well, after MONTHS of trying to get this off the ground, we are finally getting ready for our first show!  It's amazing how long everything takes, between the dishes, and the garden, and school, and LAUNDRY.  But things are starting to come together.  Next weekend we will be at the Little Log House Antique Power Show, in Hastings, Minnesota.  We are excited!  In honor of this being our first show and all, we've decided to put together a laundry gift basket to give away.  Be sure you stop by to register for it!  We have a couple of our favorite laundry products in it right now, and some nice new clothes hangers.  Of course, it's packed in a laundry basket.  Any other suggestions as to what should be in it?

Our Website is finally up and running!

After months of struggling with various computer issues, we finally have a (nearly) complete website! Check it out at http://www.windyhillsredwing.com and let us know what you think!

Welcome to the Laundry Duchess!

I've always said I wear many hats in our house, as most mothers, but I wasn't quite so sure what to think when my daughter dubbed me the "Laundry Duchess."  What a glamorous title!  One thing is for sure: there is no way to get out of doing laundry, so we may as well do it with style!