R & R

No, that doesn't mean rest--around here we're talking restock and replenish. Things have been hectic, but now that we're indoors for the rest of the show season we can take a day here and there to catch our breath and figure out what needs to be done.

We had some wonderful times these past few months:

The Waterford Fair was busy and best of all, DRY!

We took our favorite ferry ride over the James River to Surry

Dick got a chance to do some teaching at Mount Vernon

Liquid soap finally made its debut!

Our next show is at Fairfax High School in Fairfax, VA on November 21 and 22. Please stop by and say hello! We'll have plenty of our holiday varieties available.

Summer's End

That might be wishful thinking...we've certainly been in the middle of the dog days of summer around here. But here at the Parsonage we're getting ready for our first craft show of the Fall season, and that always feels like the end of summer to me.

Dick and I will be at the Lucketts Fair this weekend. Please stop by and say hello if you're in the area.


We've also added a couple of new shows to the schedule this year. We're going to be back at Broad Run High School on November 7, and back to Lake Braddock High School on October 20. I'll be adding them to our online show calendar soon.

This Week's Show: June 12, 2008

Just a reminder that we will be at Mountain Heritage outside of Harper's Ferry this weekend. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 10 to 6 (5 on Sunday). Stop by and say hello! Highlights of the show will include Dick's trail stories (he's taking a break from walking due to injuries). And please keep your fingers crossed for nice weather...this show seems to attract thunderstorms.

New Beginnings

This is a very special time for us here at the Parsonage.

Seventeen years ago, Dick and I met making decorations for our daughters' preschool graduation. The girls became best friends, so did we, and our families have been close ever since.

This weekend we celebrated another type of graduation:

Molly Darr received a degree in
Wildlife Science from Virginia Tech

Beth Pieper earned a BFA from
the Maryland Institute College of Art

Dick started his own adventure, hiking the Appalachian Trail with his son from Pennsylvania to Maine. Don't worry, we expect him back in time for the Lucketts Fair.

Here's to safe journeys for all!

Rainy Days and Mondays

We've had what seems to be an unending run of rainy days lately. It's been great for the flowers in the garden, as you can see by this shot of my wisteria, taken during a break between storms. It's also been good for our productivity. It's much easier to spend your days inside wrapping soap when there's no incentive to be outdoors. There's something cozy about the sound of rain on the metal barn roof.

We've needed to do a lot of wrapping lately, since this weekend has us doubled up on shows. Dick is going to be in Westminster, MD for the Flower and Jazz Festival on Saturday. This is a fun one--good music, lots of plants, and of course soap. I'm going to be in Crozet, VA at the Crozet Arts and Crafts Spring Festival. This is a new one for us, and I'm really looking forward to it. Please stop by and say hello if you're in the area!

It's Spring! Let the Shows Begin

Honestly, I should probably call this blog This Month at the Parsonage, or even This Year given how often I post. Sorry about that--we have been making soap like crazy, around 1200 bars a week. Dick's taking off for a few months this summer and I'm trying to get a bit ahead of the game. Don't want to have to make a batch without the Master Soapmaker, now do I?

The weather has finally turned here in Virginia and I think spring is here to stay. The bluebells are blooming along the Potomac, the peepers have been frozen out their third time, and the lilacs are starting to bud. Oliver loves to camp out under the lilac bushes and watch the road. You just never know when a bicycle might go by!

This weekend we will be at our first show of the year, the Leesburg VA Flower and Garden Show. It runs Saturday and Sunday (April 18 and 19). If you're in the area, please stop by and say hello. There should be plenty of gorgeous plants to look at, as well as crafts, landscape displays, and much more. Keep your fingers crossed for sun!

Getting Closer

Dick's still hard at work, trying to create the perfect batch of liquid soap. It's always fun watching him wrap his mind around a new challenge, and challenge is a good word to describe the process so far.

Liquid soapmaking differs from the way we make our bar soap in several ways. Not only are the ingredients different, but the soap is created using a hot process method--in other words, it's cooked. The oils and potassium hydroxide are stirred together in a crock pot for about five hours (the only thing Dick trusts me with so far!) until it looks like vaseline:





At that point, this soap "paste" is dissolved in water and voila! you have liquid soap. Sounds pretty simple, no? Well, for our first batch we followed a recipe we found online (after Dick had studied just about everything you could possibly learn about liquid soap). Everything looked pretty good, and we got a beautiful, clear soap with only one problem:



Not really the consistency we were going for (although there just might be a huge, untapped market for jello soap out there). It does work very well on dishes, though.

Batches two and three are still in the testing stages, but we modified the same oil blend we use for our bar soaps and are much happier with the results. Keep your fingers crossed.

Back to Business

Both Dick and I took a few days off this past week but we've been making up for lost time in the shop. Now that we're caught up with everything, we've been able to add a few new varieties to the lineup. We had a huge essential oil delivery arrive before we left, so there were plenty of scents to play with. Still working on the name thing, as usual.

First off we have a cocoa butter soap scented with a Lemongrass blend. There have been a lot of requests for lemongrass, and this one is very rich.

Another essential oil blend is a Lavender Spice. Lots of lavender and clove, plus a few rose notes from palmarosa and rosewood.

Still more lemongrass! This one is blended with coconut for a light, summery scent. I love anything that lets me pretend I'm on the beach.

Dick came up with a mix of vanilla, orange, cinnamon, and some cedar for depth (he's nothing if not deep). Kind of like a spicy creamsicle, but better.

Finally, I decided we needed a new blend for Heaven. This one is still light but more floral than our old soap. There have to be flowers in heaven, don't you agree?

All these soaps will make their debut at the Leesburg Flower and Garden show. And we're still soaping away, so any fragrance suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Crozet, here we come!

Just got word that we've been accepted into a new (for us) craft show: The Crozet Arts and Crafts Festival in Crozet, VA. Dates this year are May 9 & 10 and October 10 & 11. We've heard nothing but great things about this show and are really looking forward to being part of it!

More bad news for our Maryland customers...this year we were not invited back to the Mistletoe Mart in Westminster. But I'm still trying to find us some new Maryland craft shows. Wish us luck!

January Soap Making

We had an ice storm in Lovettsville today, which made it the perfect day to stay inside the shop and be productive. Making soap in January is always a relaxed process. Holiday gifts have long since been mailed out, craft shows are over until spring, and business in general is less frantic. There’s time for trying new things and catching up with the “to do” list.

Today I experimented with a couple of new scent blends. We’ve had customers asking for a peppermint soap for a long time now, and I’ve never been able to hit on a good blend. There are plenty of artificial Candy Cane fragrances out there, but we always try to use essentials if possible. Peppermint is tricky in cold process soap—it has a real tendency to fade and is easily overwhelmed in blends. For this batch I mixed the peppermint with tea tree oil and sweetened it up with a touch of vanilla. Dick added some finely ground black tea leaves at trace. The tea not only looks pretty but will also make the soap slightly astringent.

We always seem to have odd ounces of fragrance hanging around, so for our second new soap I mixed several of these odds and ends together. I put in several florals, some linden/cucumber for depth, and a shot of rain to lighten it all up. I have absolutely no idea what we’re going to name it. It might be time to bring out the paint chips again (some of those color names are absolutely inspired!).

Today we also brought back a couple of varieties from years past: Black Tea & Rose and Citrus Linen. Everything we made today will be ready in about six weeks and in plenty of time for the Leesburg Flower and Garden Show. Hope to see you there!

Shaker Forest Festival

I just got a letter from the Shaker Forest Management Team saying that they will no longer be holding the festival. It's a shame, because it was always a fun weekend for us. It was the only show we had left in that part of Maryland, so if any of you know of craft shows we should be at in the Maryland/DC suburbs, please share.

Happy New Year!

Hard to believe it's January already. Time for us to be catching up on all those chores that get put off during our busy season...inventory, cleaning the shop, filling out craft show applications and above all replenishing the soap supply. Hopefully there will be time to experiment with new scent blends. Some of our most popular soaps were suggested by customers, so we'd love to hear any ideas you might have.

As far as resolutions go, Dick has his heart set on mastering liquid soap and I promise to clean up the website. My goal is to add more descriptions and pictures of the soaps while still keeping everything as simple as possible. We'll keep you updated on our progress.

Here's hoping for an early spring!