walls & windows & a roof, oh my!

but no doors. oh well. they say all things in good time. did you notice the new green trim? we think it blends in better with the surroundings than the old blue stuff. what do you think? each step brings us closer to the realization that soon we will be labeling, packing and shipping in our new w i d e - o p e n - s p a c e s. the old portion of the shop will be devoted to soapmaking. wow. a whole new era is upon us. well almost. first, we need doors.

soap shop expansion

we've got concrete!!! (actually, we've had concrete for a couple of weeks now, but i'm just now getting around to telling you about it. i had to, because soon we'll have walls and everybody knows that concrete comes before walls.) i regret not etching our names into it . . . but i guess our neighbor's faint dog prints will have to do. laying a concrete foundation is a heck of a lot of work, and that's why i'm just tickled pink that someone else is doing it! we laid a foundation once, for our little log cabin home. if wavy gravy, rough and rustic appeals to you, then i guess you'd say it was a success. it's held our home up for 25 years so it couldn't be all that bad. . . .but the new soap shop add-on slab is perfect. level, smooth, strong, big. yep. we've got concrete!!!

got a blog

ok, so i've finally got a blog...now what? guess i'll just jump right in . . . . ya know i remember when i used to make soap in a travel trailer. that's right, a 36 foot travel trailer! and that only came about after a few years of making soap in my kitchen. terrible idea. i mean how can you possibly cook when your entire kitchen is covered up with soap and soapmaking supplies? well, maybe it wasn't such a terrible idea after all. but anyway, back to the soap trailer. i loved it. i could stand at that little stove and turn in any direction and reach what i needed without actually moving. pretty neat but it didn't burn many calories. we filmed our first tv show in that little trailer. texas country reporter. but that's a whole other story. back then i lovingly referred to my traveling soap factory on wheels as the "super secret soapin trailer", because hardly any of my soaping buddies actually knew where it was . . . but i'm pretty sure they all secretly wanted to visit it. most never did. i remember the day my SSST was hauled off by a couple who were moving out of their mother in law's house . . . it was a sad day for me indeed (although the couple was elated). some of my fondest soapmaking memories were made in that little trailer. soapmaking. . something i don't get to do much these days. now that we have a real soap factory where my son (best employee ever!) does most all the soap pot stirring. he remembers the soap trailer, but wonders how on earth i ever managed to crank out so much soap in so little space. well, some things never change, because i'm wondering the same thing about him today. as we begin to add on to our little soap shop in the woods, i have to say that business is booming. the "wild" life is good. work hard. reap the benefits.