130TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION!

Yes!!!!  this is it, we have been waiting for this trip for an age......

It was my 50th Birthday in April and it was my Dads 80th in May so we decided, and have been planning for ages, to have a huge, joint party at our Quinta in Portugal - wow, that sounds so grand...........

You have to remember we bought the farm 9 years ago and it was a total ruin, now it should accommodate a few people and we have 6 acres of terraces for camping!

This is how it looked when we bought it

Yes, a huge amount of work (we have done it all ourselves) later and we now have a beautiful house that is not finished but habitable, off the grid, we make all our own electricity, hot water and we have a bore hole for our water too, it is our ultimate dream - one day we will live here - and hopefully it will be soon....

In the mean time...........  We are planning a huge party, most of our joint families will be there, friends from the UK, Singapore, USA and Portugal will be joining us, most camping on our land, sharing everything, but it will be fun!!

So, we will be back on the 14th July, no orders will be processed between now and then - sorry, but my usual holiday helper, my son Ryan, will be there with us all!  please carry on with the comments and orders, I can still access emails there ( I have a Portuguese dongle! ) but nothing will be packed or sent out until the 14th.

I wish you all well, we are gone but (please) not forgotten..... I will be back before you know it and I have a really fab, new soap to launch, not telling what yet though.  Oh I forgot, I will be taking my fiddle and hopefully playing this for my Dad........

Lonesome River Blues


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Devon Cream Tea offer SOLD OUT and now over.....

Thanks so much to all of you who helped clear the decks for my Christmas soaps.  I really love creating new ideas however, I hold up my hands and admit to revamping some old stuff.  Firstly, my very special Mince Pies....  Ive still not got a photo of these yet as they are in the making, but almost ready for sale and photos.  Can you believe soaps that look and smell exactly like the real thing?  Well they are on the way.  These were my biggest Christmas sellers last year, they are so cute and smell fab too.

But really, I have to admit to re-designing my absolute favourite soap ever.....  Christmas Spice Cake, here is the first picture....

Spice luxury

Its soooo lovely.  I always loved this soap, last year it was my best selling bar soap.  I have redesigned it, and I am very, very happy with the result.   it has the most wonderful spicy smell, clove, cinnamon, sweet orange and sandalwood, it is packed full of the best oils and scents ever.  No Palm oil - of course, but Coconut oil, masses of olive oil, Shea butter and cocoa butter making it the best Christmas treat ever.  Just you wait until you see the whole bar, its big, creamy and bronzed on top, studded with real Portuguese dried oranges and star anise as well as curls of chocolate cardamom soap and glace cherry balls.

New 'Snowberry' soap as well as Chritmas Wishes cupcakes, both large and small,

COMING SOON...............  Keep watching, on sale in about a week

Dirty Dog saves the day!

This is why I invented Dirty Dog Soap!! 

Perdita (Perdy) my German Shepherd, who is normally quite clean showing me today just why she needs Dirty Dog soap and that she is about ready for a bath.  Picture number 3 shows my Springer in the background (Blue) who is about to get up totally black as always!  I love Woodbury Common, I always say Woodbury Common and Dogs go together like fish and chips but boy do they come back dirty!!

This is how she normally looks

A very special (clean) and beautiful GSD - well that is after using by lovely Citronella and Tea Tree oil Dirty Dog soap full of lovely good ingredients including olive oil which is why, I swear, she has such a lovely glossy coat. Go on give it a go, you know your pups deserve a real pamper!!

Pretty Posh Fair, Exmouth

Well the stall looked fine, not as good as normal as I was so rushed I just did not have time to get my normal overhead supports so I could cover it with spring greenery and flowers, but I managed to get time to stop off on the way in with gloves and secateurs and cut some new beech, oak and Hawthorn.  I then put this into two jugs on either side and it looked nice, not quite the same but people liked it.

A funny old day really.  Lots of people, a steady flow all morning, lots of interest and questions but just not buying much.  Why?  Could it be the recession, could it be the election looming?  I know people are still very worried about finances, and why not, and it was not just me, lots of other stall holders were slow too.  Oh well, cupcakes flew off the stall and sold lots of the new palm oil free range....
On the other hand I made lots of good contacts.  Two more shops wanting to stock Naturally Made Soaps, two more fairs to attend and a chance to buy into a very cheap supply of pomace olive oil - basically enough for potentially a years supply for £1.95 a litre.  So pretty pleased really.  Anyway, Debbie (the organiser) did a fantastic job of getting a really great selection of products today, it always amazes me how many talented makers there are in Devon, some really lovely stuff.  I will be booking my stall for the October Fair anyway, thanks for organising it Debbie and thanks to all my loyal customers who came and bought as always.

A few of my fellow stall holders who really caught my eye:
KATYCAKES - http://www.katycakes.biz
Wow!  fantastically beautiful cupcakes that you can eat!!  much more filling than mine

ATHENIAN OLIVE - http://athenianolive.co.uk
Lovely Greek olive oil products including soap (which I bought and cant wait to try!)

THE CAKE LADY - http://www.the-cake-lady.org
HMMM yummy, yummy, yummy her chocolate cake I sampled was so sticky and lovely.  What is it with me and cake at the moment?  I'm already at least 2 stone overweight, am I on a roll? I hope not.  Anyway, her cakes are really good and look fantastic.

LEAFSTREET - http://www.leafstreet.co.uk
One of the shops in Exeter wanting to supply my soaps, thanks guys!

By the way, the other shop is opening soon in Exmouth, details to follow.

Finally a link to Pretty Posh to find out more about future events and how you can get involved - http://www.prettyposhlocal.co.uk/