The Mother's Day Blog

I asked my Mother, Dolores Giencke, to write our first Mother's Day blog.  When I asked her to write, Mom said, "What will I write about?"  My response, "Whatever you want."  Her blog is presented here as it was written; we have not edited it. My Mom is 80 years old and amazing.  She worked for 25 years as a Special Education aide with intellectually challenged children in the Waukesha, WI school district.  Then another 20 years as an infant care-taker at the Tender Learning Center in Ladysmith, WI; where she retired at the age of 80.  Now Mom, fit as a fiddle and sharp as a pin, is part of our Brown Barn team.  We all love her dearly....

The Mother's Day Blog by Dolores Giencke:

Myself and Chris, 1967.  I made these dresses for us.

Hi, I am Dolores, Chris’s mom.  As you read this please keep in mind that I am eighty years old and have never written a blog before, so bear with me. First, I wish a Happy Mother’s Day to each and every one of you. I am a mother of three boys and one girl. Yes, Chris has three older brothers who at times have tormented her. The one thing I instilled in my children was that in their lives they could do anything they wanted to. I like to think that was a spark of self-confidence that made them all successful. But this blog is about the Brown Barn. The Brown Barn amazes me and I love it! I have many stories I can tell and today I wish to write about how in my eyes the Brown Barn was born. 

When Chris was thirteen years old she came to me and said she wanted to paint a mural on her bedroom wall. At that time we lived on the family farm that had several houses and four generations living there. In fact Chris’ dad grew up in this house and it was a hundred years old.

The old farmhouse in the background, my husband Bob (obviously much younger) in front making snowmen as a boy.

When Chris asked me to paint I thought, oh well, we can always paint over it again, so I said yes. Chris’s grandmother, who also lived on this farm, was not happy about this painting and told her “The next time you want to do something you ask your father.” But Chris and I went and bought all the paints; red, blue, lots of green, yellow, purple, orange and Chris took her brush and happily went to work. Free hand, she painted a life size Holly Hobby in a greenhouse on this huge wall. It was filled with green plants and colorful flowers. When she finished she said “It is good.” And we kept it.

As the years passed and Chris grew up and was married her husband found a little farm with a greenhouse and a Brown Barn, and they bought it. Chris was very delighted as now she had her very own greenhouse.

The greenhouse, in its first year.

She worked her little heart out growing beautiful flowers and plants and had her own little business. It was just like her Holly Hobby greenhouse. At that time Chris lived in Abbotsford, WI and I lived in Holcombe, WI so I didn’t get to see her every day.

One day when she was at my house, in fact it was just a year ago, we were sitting at my kitchen table having coffee and she said to me, “I want to open a shop with handmade soaps in Holcombe.” My mouth dropped open from sheer surprise. I knew she had been (what I thought was fooling around) with soaps, because she would give me soaps or lotions that she made and she would say “Try this and tell me what you think.”

One time she gave me a coffee scrub. It smelled so good and I couldn’t wait to try it. That night I took a bath with it and when I finished my tub was filled with coffee grounds. What a mess, it’s a good thing her dad didn’t see that.  When I told her how awful it was she said “Oh good, then I won’t try it in my tub. Ha Ha Ha.” Around that same time Alyssa (Chris’s daughter and now the owner of Honest Balance Organics) gave me a healing bar that she made and said, “Grandma this is for your arthritis in your hands.” For six months I rubbed that healing bar into my fingers every night. I couldn’t believe it but my joints were much better. I guess those healing oils soak into your skin and deeply heal.  That was almost two years ago and my fingers are seventy-five percent better today. I know the healing bar did it.

So yes, I didn’t know how hard they were experimenting, working, searching and schooling to make these luxurious, healthy, full of these good oil products for us to have. And that’s where Brown Barn had its beginning. It will be one year this June 2012 that Chris opened that shop in Holcombe and she looked at it and said “It is good.” and she kept it. Be sure and stop at the Brown Barn Bath Company and see how good it is.

Chris and I today.

P.S. This is for Chris from me for Mother’s Day Chris! While I am here I want to say that I have loved you every day and when the end of my time on Earth has come, the privilege was mine to be your mom.

The Brown Barn Family wishes each of you a

Happy and Love Filled Mother's Day!