I Love Winter!

This is the view from our deck.

Sometimes, it is very hard to go to work when I see this scene
and listen to the soothing sounds of Beitner Creek.

This is me, without my beekeeping shield.

It fell off when I was snow blowing on Sunday.

You cannot see them, but I have ice crystals on my face.

It looks like I am wearing sparkle makeup. Not makeup, just God sparkles!

It was so cold out that Michael would only walk just outside the office door to take this picture.

He decided against a pretty snowy tree background and took the shot
and ran back into the warmth!

Yesterday, as I was preparing to shovel the drive,
I decided against an extra sweatshirt under my jacket.
I said, "I don't need this. It is warm out!"
All relative, considering it was 22 degrees.
I was comparing it to the below zero temps from last week!

Good thing I really LOVE winter! We seem to get a lot of that lately.

The Beekeeper Snowblower

On Saturday, I spent the day snow blowing the driveway.

The wind was so strong that I could not see,
so Michael gave me his grinding helmet
to shield my face and help me see where I was going.

When I walked in the house, Michael sent me right back out
so he could take a picture of me, covered in snow.

One of our friends said I looked like a bee keeper.
I told her I was glad that it was snow that I was keeping out of my face instead of bees!
I prefer windy, cold snow much more than bees.

I felt like the little boy in the soup commercial
who was so bundled up that he could not move!

I am heading out to do this again.

Good thing I LOVE winter!

Happy New Year!

I am so excited to announce that we were only ninety mixes away from selling 16,000 mixes in 2010! We were so close, but could not figure out a way to get a giant wholesale order or a whole lot of retail orders in just a few days (we discovered we were that close on Thursday afternoon).

This year, our goal is 20,000 mixes! I cannot wait to see when that will happen!

Thank you to all of you who ordered on line, bought mixes at the farmers markets or craft shows, or purchased them at retail stores around the country. We are so grateful for your continued support and for God's blessing on our "funny little business." That is what Michael calls Creekside Grains when we pray every night.

We are blessed and pray that your 2011 will be, too!

Christmas Services at Bay Pointe, plus lots of updates

Please join us to celebrate Christ's birth on Christmas Eve at Bay Pointe Community Church.
Services will be 1:00, 3:00, 5:00 and 7:00 PM.
Michael and I will be greeting at all four services, so we would love to see you there!

We can still ship in time for Christmas delivery!

Go ahead, order some mixes for gifts or for Christmas gatherings!

Our new Kahlua and Cream scone
can be a wonderful addition to your Christmas goodies.

We are finally, fully moved into our new facility.
We cannot see one end of the building,
because the boxes are so high,
but we will get everything sorted and in it's place
and it will be a happy facility!

If I do not blog before Christmas, have a blessed Christmas!

No Internet

In case you tried to contact us via email in the past four days and did not receive a reply from us, our internet was shut down. We discovered it on Friday morning.

Since we are moving, we have to disconnect one internet service and open another (since the first one is not available at our new location). We have new service at the new facility, but had not moved the computers yet. We decided not to disconnect the first service until we had all equipment moved. However, someone in sales decided that Friday was a great day to end our internet. When I called to find out what happened, the sales department was closed for the holiday.

All this comes down to...we have no internet connections and may not have them for a few more days, until we can make the switch. You will hear from us as soon as we can respond.

Sorry for the inconvenience! We hope to be full speed ahead very soon!

P.S. I am at a remote computer so I can write this, but have no access to our email accounts.

What's New at Creekside Grains

Last month, we started construction on a new commercial kitchen/warehouse. Hopefully...we will be moved in by the end of November. We are waiting for electric hook up, which will now be delayed by at least two weeks, thanks to the powerful wind storm keeping Cherryland Electric busy last week.

We have been in a temporary facility for the past six months, but that will soon change. Our current commercial kitchen is in one building and the warehouse is in another, about ten minutes apart from each other, and about fifteen minutes from home.

We are so excited! The new building is in our back yard, so we will get to walk to work, every day! No more driving to the warehouse, then to the kitchen, then back to the warehouse, then back to the kitchen again, then back to the warehouse, then home at night. Time saved from driving will help Michael invent new recipes, so I can taste test them.

We live on a beautiful piece of property, with Beinter Creek running through it, so it will be a nice change of pace to actually enjoy the creek during daylight hours, instead of only hearing it when we get home at night.

Michael has been taking progress pictures. I will post them soon!

Great Couple!

Michael and Carole Steinberg
have visited the Farmers Markets
for the past few years
and stock up on Creekside Grains when they visit.

Carole had her camera ready,
so Michael and I got to be the subjects at last Saturday's market in Suttons Bay.

It was a beautiful autumn day!
We had a great time visiting again.
I look forward to seeing Michael and Carole next summer!

Gift Store Shoppers

One of our Miss Heart of Michigan contestants, and currently Miss GVSU,
Morgan was a great shopper at Gull Meadow Farms in Richland, Michigan.

She always finds the Creekside Grains mixes!



Morgan should be the Creekside Grains spokesperson.

She seems to find the mixes wherever she goes!

We only have about ninety more gift stores to cover,
so Morgan had better take a road trip.

She will have to go as far west as Montana and and far east as Pennsylvania.

Thank you Morgan! Happy shopping!

New letter from a happy chief cupcake

Dear Creekside Grains,

We made your garlic and cheese beer bread this evening to go with our split-pea and ham soup. Turned out very nice and everyone loved it.

Best,

Bridget

Bridget Coffey, Chief Cupcake
www.meganscupcakes.com
Copyright © 2010 Megan's Cupcakes

I have never had a chief cupcake send us a letter before. I am the Director of Taste Testing and Bridget is the Chief Cupcake. I love our titles! Thanks Bridget!

Ten Thousand!

Creekside Grains sold over ten thousand mixes so far this year! Woo hoo! Looking forward to the rest of the year to see what we can do!

Thank you everyone, for believing in us!