COME SEE US ON DECEMBER 10TH!

December 9, 2022

Tomorrow December 10th my daughter and I will be back at the Winter Walk in Northfield. This will be our last day before the end of the year. 

I'm still debating on whether I should open an Etsy account or a new website. I'll decide by Sunday so check back if you want to purchase any soaps for Christmas.



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I'M FINALLY GOING TO LEARN HOW TO SPIN ON A WHEEL!

December 4, 2022

I am so excited to finally have my own spinning wheel. My friend Susan gifted me this Ashford Traditional spinning wheel a couple days ago. It just needs a few minor repairs and then I can begin spinning. I've been spinning wool for several years on a top whorl drop spindle but it has always been my goal to learn the wheel. Wheels are quite spendy and they look kind of complicated so I've never purchased one. Now I have my own and can't wait to make the repairs and get spinning. 

Today I'll be ordering the pieces I need to get it up and running and I'll make sure to share my progress.



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ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL SOAP SELLING DAY

December 3, 2022

Today was another great day at the winter market in Northfield, MN. Several people asked if I sold soap online. Sadly, I had to tell them that as of mid October I no longer had a website, but great news is I've decided to open an Etsy shop. I'll be selling on Etsy after December 10th so if anyone wants to pick up some soap for Christmas I'll be there. I'll share the link to my new shop on here December 11th.


Maya and I had another beautiful day at the market. We met some really nice people and got to spend some time getting to know a couple from Georgia, the owner of Cannon Belles Coffee & Ice Cream, and the owners of Cannon River Fiber Farm. We also found out there is space for us in the 24th annual Winter Walk Event so we'll be back in Northfield to sell soap again on December 8th during the festivities.
We'll be bringing several new fragrances with us so make sure to drop by and take a sniff!
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WINTER MARKET TIME AGAIN

November 29, 2022

Maya and I sold our soaps at the winter market in Northfield on November 19 and now we are headed back for round 2 this Saturday. I’ll have 10 different batches for sale so if you’re in Minnesota and close to the area, come by and see us at 115 5th Street West. 

We’ll also be returning on December 10th and I’ll be introducing five new batches of soap on that day. Two of them are pictured below. Strawberries in champagne and orange peel. Both smell incredible! 




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HAD FUN SELLING SOAP TODAY

November 19, 2022

 My daughter and I sold at the Northfield, MN Winter Market today and it was lots of fun. I didn't expect to see so many people considering it was 17 degrees outside, but they came out to shop and it was great to see everyone. 

Maya and I arrived extra early since we weren't sure how long the drive would take us so we were both quite tired by 2 pm. Here's Maya right after we set up our table. She's not quite awake yet...and she was the one who had the coffee. 😂 

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MUSHROOM FORAGING

September 15, 2022

Today my daughter and I took a class on identifying edible vs toxic mushrooms in the wild. Since I was little I always wanted to know which mushrooms I could and couldn't eat but no matter how many times friends with mushroom knowledge would point out an edible mushroom I just didn't trust it. 

Growing up my mother was a wealth of knowledge when it came to edible and medicinal plants but not when it came to mushrooms. She had this long list of stories she'd share with us about people she knew or had read about who had died eating the wrong one and died so we were told to admire fungi from afar. As an adult that warning was ingrained in my head but I know it's silly, sort of, so I decided to take a class.

Will I be eating wild mushrooms now? Um... not likely.  If I do I'll stick to a select 2-3, but I definitely won't be branching out to all that's available. It was fun to explore in the woods with our guide and talk about mushrooms though. Even if I never eat one my daughter and I learned a lot. 

























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WONDERFUL SURPRISES IN THE GARDEN

June 12, 2022

A few years ago we decided to remove the majority of our grass in the front yard to make room for pollinator gardens. We removed about 1/2 of the lawn and planted numerous Minnesota natives to feed butterflies and bees. In our backyard we added several native trees to help feed the birds. Immediately we started seeing the benefits of both. The birds come to the trees to nibble on the fruits and the pollinators visit the flowers for pollen and nectar, but this year we were surprised to find this...

While I was up in Northern MN at our cabin a few years back I found a plant growing wild down the road and thought it was interesting. I looked it up to find it's name and whether it was native to the area or not. It's called pearly everlasting and it is a native to MN so I decided to plant it in my front yard. I ordered 3 plants from a local native wildflower nursery and put them in. Two years later (today) I noticed they had spread quite a bit. Three small plants that took up a total of a foot space had now spread to about 4 ft around. I thought that was exciting since I want all of my plants to spread. I went out a couple days ago to water and discovered what looked like dying pearly everlasting. I thought maybe it had some type of fungus or mite since it was covered in a white powdery substance with black flecks and it looked like it had little cobwebs all over the top. I started pulling back the webs and was surprised to find caterpillars inside. By the time I was done counting I found over 2 dozen caterpillars. I rushed to my resources to find out what they were and it turns out we created a home for the American Lady and Painted Lady butterfly larvae. 

The pearly everlasting is a host plant. The caterpillars live as individuals in nests made of leaves and silk. Here are some photos of what I found.






This is EXACTLY what we wanted to achieve when we removed our lawn. In our front yard we have three sections with native wildflowers that feed the local pollinators. It's very exciting to see the fruits of our labor. 

We also found that the butterfly milkweed we planted is covered in Monarch caterpillars. I didn't expect this. I assumed Monarchs would only lay their eggs on the common milkweed. Here are a few photos of what we found on the butterfly milkweed. 





Now I know that the Monarch will lay her eggs on all 9 species of milkweed but the common milkweed usually has the highest number of eggs. 

We have a lot of common milkweed growing so off to the garden store I go to get more butterfly milkweed. 








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