I work with an NRCS agent, and hes a great guy, you have to remeber the agents we see in the office are not politicians, they are , excuse the phrase flunkies, . My agent Dan went to work with the NRCS back in the 90s, he wanted to work in wildlife and conservation, and he did for the first few years, and the office staff supported a agent in charge of ag. Budget cuts and the ag agent was given early retirement and no replacement was hired, they told Dan he would have to fill both the conservation job and the ag job, but Dan freely admits he knows little about ag, but that does not matter. Dan does his best, hes helping me put in better rotational grazing infrastructure, piped water, gravel pads, and good fencing, hes got 75 percent of my cost shared by the govt, plus a incentive payment for keeping the cows out of the woods. But as hes worked with me , he keeps telling me to tell him what I need cause he isnt a farmer. Its the politicians who are at fault, they cut budgets everywhere except in thier own pockets, my dad retired from the army, and growing up Id see politicats come in limos, thousand dollar suits, and five hundred dollar haircuts, theyd smile and shake my dads hand and say how much they appreciated him. But meanwhile while dad was serving, my mom had to apply for foodstamps to feed us. These politicians are already wealthy when they get into office, then taxpayers pay them hundreds of thousands of dollars a year plus transportation, clothing and other perks. They say we need to control spending, unless it means it affescts them. Originaly in the foundings of this country congress was not paid, it was made up from the wealthier citizens and they paid thier own transportation and was not paid for thier time. Now the wages for congress is an astronomical figure, all together I mean. Im not talking any brand of politics here, whichever way one leans Im sure everyone agrees that the politicians are greedy and self serving. And any bill they right they are going to stick a carrot out there wehter or not it makes sense just to try to appease the masses. One thing I learned growing up and watching dad in the service, is to try to legaly get whatever the govt offers, as an American citizen we dont seem entitled to much, so get what you can. josh

If you just want the aroma, and don't necessarily need it in candle form, check the link below. It is to a website that lists fragrances for soaps and candles, grouped by TYPE of fragrance. The link is to the B scents, but see the note that Balsam (and Balsam Fir) can also be found under these scent categories: Cranberry Balsam  Cranberry Balsam (type)  Fir Balsam  Mistletoe & Balsam  Northwoods Balsam Pine  Windsong Balsam Pine. Hope you find the fragrance that you remember. That scent is special to me, too. Do you remember the "balsam pillows"? I used to keep one under my pillow when I was a kid. Delightful to sniff! Here is a link that might be useful: Fragrance Finder Ba-Bi

I have been making and selling candles for ten years now. When I started, I was using parafin but within a year I switched to soy. That was about the time they had introduced soy. I use a crock pot. My husband drilled a hole near the bottom, on the side, and put a spicot on it. I melt the wax in the crock pot. I have it set on the dial where it wil heat the wax to 150 degrees. I then pour the amount of melted wax that I want (let's say 14oz) into a glass measuring cup. I then add the scent. Usually about 1oz. It also depends on how strong the scent is, so take a wiff while your stirring. That will be about how strong it will be when the candle is burning. Then I add the coloring. I've tried different ways to color and I liked the liquid color the best but now I don't use any coloring. My label for my jars are the color the candle would be. As soon as I have added the sent and color, I pour it right into the jars.(I use 8oz mason jars) I don't heat my jars first but I do have my wicks already 'glued' into the jars before I pour in the wax. I put a dab of hot glue on the wick tab and attach it to the bottom of the jar. That way it stays centered and in place while the wax is cooling. The 14oz that I mentioned above plus the scent will fill two 8oz jars just right. Once the wax cools, I cut off the wick and put on the lid. I have not had any problems with the scent of my candles. I have repeat buyers. My question to you is what kind of wick do you use. I use a hemp core wick that is already tabbed and dipped in wax to stiffen it. It sounds as if you might be using a zinc core wick. The zinc core wicks will cause alot of the same problems you're having. I tried to use up the zinc core wicks that I had left over from when I made parafin candles and they do not work in soy wax. I was trying to save myself some money but that didn't work. I buy my supplies from Bitter Creek Candle Supply. A link to their site below. I would recommend them to anyone. They have alot of helpful ideas and they do have live help on their site. I don't know what time of day but they usually have someone on there everyday. You can also call them on the phone and there is always someone available. They love talking about candles. I hope this has helped you. Keep trying, you'll get the hang of it. Cindy Here is a link that might be useful: Bitter Creek Candle Supply

Yet another crazy project but this will be definitely be our last major project and definitely unique and mouth watering. Ours is in it's final design stage; 100% designed and architected from scratch by me with ton's of input from my good wife and critique from my daughter. Absolutely unique and nothing like this out there however will be built to provide significant resale value after we are gone and proceeds split between my two kids. With close to 7500sf 124x62 footprint (per floor), we cut the design down from two storey (same footprint) with walkout basement to a single storey with walkout basement. Highlights will be floor to ceiling glass to the rear in the 20' ceiling 1179sf family room and 10' ceiling 755sf kitchen/casual dining providing breathtaking views of the harbor and snow clad mountains to the north and east. A 22' ceiling circular split level entry foyer flanked by curved stairs leading to the 12' ceiling basement, two full size bowling lanes in the basement, 6'-4" corridors on 1st floor, a 38x24 suspended 3 car garage on 1st floor above basement, another 1 car garage with car lift just below in the basement, a 124x16 deck on the rear with glass railings (to preserve amazing views to the rear). 20KVA ground based solar system, 4 zone heating/cooling with multi-zone radiant floor heating (yet to decide if geothermal or electric, waiting for survey) . A sub-basement wine cellar with an elevator leading to basement and 1st floor (in kitchen, in planning). The list is endless. Everything computer and remote controlled (I'm a computer guy). Perhaps not the way most would build it but I like to do things my way, code permitting. Build time 18-24 months and significant work will be done my me. Here is a link that might be useful: Link to my thread. This post was edited by Pinebaron on Fri, Jan 30, 15 at 8:41