Bartering vs. Paying it Forward

Just curious as to how many of you have been asked

if you barter for goods or services.

It's not a common question for me,

but I have been asked.

I'm never really quite sure how to respond.

Recently, we've had a couple occurrences that got me to thinking.

I was/am so completely thankful,

I wasn't entirely sure what to think.

In one incident, Mr. LB and I did something for a neighbor 

expecting nothing in return and were "repaid" kindly.

The other is actually the story I would like to share with you.

Mr. LB has a friend who raises bees - lots of bees.

We asked if we could purchase some beeswax from him when it was harvested.
(See about dipping beeswax candles on this link.)

We (Mr. LB) told him about how much $ worth we would like.

It was some time before he said he had some for us.

This is what he had for us when

Mr. LB stopped by after work.

When asked how much we owed him,

his response was, "Awe, don't worry about it.  

I'll be needing some metal work."

He indeed needed some metal work a few weeks later.

Mr. LB was only too glad to deliver.

Maybe some folks would call that bartering,

but I kinda think of it as paying it forward.

We could have easily said that we would prefer to pay him,

but there is a friendship and sense of community when

trading for the unknown.

Maybe it's about trust.

We don't go into things with the mentality of 

I'll offer 18 eggs for a 2"X4", or

I'll work 3 hours for the use of XYZ item.

It seems so much easier to just offer help when needed -

of either goods or labor.

Isn't there an old saying - something to the effect of

it's better to be owed than to owe?

I don't think that means only money.

The other great part of it is the not keeping track.

If you happen to help someone out and don't expect anything in return,

it's very freeing not to have to remember.

The friend above is one who might have gone a year or two before needing

anything done.  Then when it was done would ask how much he owed.

We could then have responded, "Awe, don't worry about it.  

We'll need some beeswax sometime."

See how easy forgetting is:)

This block of beeswax should last me some time.
I am still in complete awe.

Thank you Jeff.

And thank you Love (Mr. LB:).

                                                           

Dipping Beeswax Candles

It's autumn. . .

Isn't it just delightful?

The days are getting a little shorter at each end.

One routine around here that I absolutely treasure

is that we set the coffee up in the evening with the timer so it is ready

when we awake each morning.

Mr. LB goes downstairs and gets our coffee

while I brush my teeth, use the facilities, and light a candle.

With the exception of a month or so in midsummer when it's already light,

I light a candle every morning.

The candle light is so much easier to wake to.

We sit in bed and drink our coffee by candlelight every morning.

Perhaps that's a little personal,

but I love that line Meg Ryan had in "You've Got Mail,"

"If it's not personal, what's the point?"

(Do you have a morning routine?)

Anyways, I go through quite a few taper candles this way.

I often find them at thrift stores since many folks use them for decor only.

I figure that's better than buying new,

but they are still made of paraffin which is a petroleum product.

I've wanted to dip my own candles for some time

using beeswax of course.

I took this morning to do just that.

*~**~*~**~*

The first thing I do is get the beeswax melting since that takes a little while.
You will need a tall slender 'vessel' (or olive oil tin:?) and a larger one for water
so that the heat is indirect.  (medium heat)

Then I got my wicks prepared and paper spread.

Here's my meager yet functional set up:

I cut #3 wick to about 27 inches long then tied a nut to each end.

The little hangers I just made from wire then tapped nails into a scrap of wood

and hung it from the cabinet pulls.  It worked pretty well.

I used a stuffing stick (for stuffing craft projects) to make sure the wax is all melted since it's not a transparent wax.

I then dipped each set twice.

This makes a good start so I then trim the nuts off 

leaving as much wick as possible.

I actually laid them on the counter to cut them but showed you this way

so I could hold the scissors and take the picture at the same time:)

All trimmed.

You'll notice the little black marks on the wicks.

I measured from the nut up to 8 inches and marked it

so I knew how deep to dip them.

That was a tip I had heard so tried it.

I won't do that next time.  It's unsightly, and

it's easy enough just to gage by the level of wax in the olive oil tin.

After trimming the nuts off~

These I put in a clean tin can (veggie can) on another burner (on low heat.)

When the wax had melted off, I carefully poured it back into the large

dipping tin - no wasting good wax.

The bits of wick, I'll pull off and throw in compost and reuse the nuts.

After a total of 10 dips~

At this point I used an old crummy knife to trim the ends blunt.
If you've never used beeswax, be forewarned:
it is extremely difficult to get off of anything!
Please do not use your good paring knife.

I dipped them 8 more times (so now 18 dips) and trimmed the ends again.
This leaves two final dips to round off the bottoms and
make them look nice.
For 8 inches tall, I dipped them 20 times. 
If I were making 10-12 inch candles, I would go about 25-30 dips.
Just so they 'look' proportional to me but fit in the candle holder.

These turned out just as I desired and will be a great size 
for the little candle holder I use each morning.

I do have to admit one thing.  I didn't have extra wax today.
If you are making these, you should have some extra so that
as you dip the candles and the level of the wax declines, 
you can add more to keep the level up so the whole candle gets dipped.
In order to get the last 5 dips, 
I used the law of displacement:
(a great example/lesson for students)
I filled a narrow bottle with hot water and put it in the tin of wax
to one side in order to bring the level back up,
but then I had to be careful not to bump the candles over on the bottle.
I'll have to get more wax before I make more candles.

Until next time,
Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches