A New Soap Named Gypsy Rose and the Woman Behind the Name

We've been having fun with our new Facebook page, and offered a little contest by asking our followers to help us name a new soap we created.  The soap has an interesting scent with spice, rose, geranium, and patchouli notes. Lots of ideas came in, and our three finalists were Grateful Rose, Bohemian Rose, and Gypsy Rose.

Before we name any of our products, we always do a little due-diligence to find out if the name is already in use, has a connotation we might not be aware of, and that sort of thing.  So, before we chose our winner, I took to the internet.

At first, we were leaning towards Bohemian Rose.  We thought it was a good description of the scent, plus it was the top choice of our Facebook followers.  But then I looked up Gypsy Rose, and found Gypsy Rose Lee.

Gypsy Rose Lee was an actress and author, but she earned legendary status as a burlesque striptease artist.  Her wit, intellectual recitation, and casual striptease style helped her become one of the biggest stars of Minsky's Burlesque.  I asked a friend who is in her 70s if she remembered her, and she said  Gypsy Rose Lee was a household name.  Children weren't informed of her special talents, of course, but everyone knew she was a star.

Here's a very clean You Tube video of Gypsy Rose's routine  including the recitation.  Life Magazine also has an interesting collection of photographs online.

Gypsy Rose raised a child, and had three marriages, each ending in divorce. When asked why she stayed with Burlesque, she said that she was the best paid performer since Cleopatra.  She said the lifestyle allowed her plenty of time to raise her son the way she wanted.



During the Great Depression, Gypsy Rose spoke at various union meetings in support of New York laborers, and her talks were among those that attracted the largest audiences.

Gypsy Rose authored a number of books and later wrote her memoir, which was the inspiration for Gypsy: A Musical Fable.  That musical is considered by many critics to be the greatest American musical, and Rose's character has been described as one of the few truly complex characters in American musicals.

One of the famous songs from the musical is "Everything's Coming Up Roses", a name I chose years ago for our facial line.  I knew it was from a musical, but truthfully didn't know much about the story.  I love the connection! You may recognize another famous song from it, "Let Me Entertain You."

We think Gypsy Rose might have liked our new soap.  It's free spirited but complex, just like her.

I don't know yet if our contest winner had Gypsy Rose Lee in mind, but either way congratulations to Lisa from Virginia Beach, VA!  She is the winner and a $25 Gift Certificate is on its way! Many thanks to everyone who shared their ideas.

Please look for the new Gypsy Rose soap on our webstore within a few days!   (And if you haven't found us on Facebook yet, we invite you to check out our page.  We'd love to see you!)

We're finally on Facebook! Plus a New Hemp Hand Repair

We know we're late to the party, but we are finally on Facebook! Please visit us and consider liking our page. We'd love to show you what we're up to!

I also want to share that our Hemp Hand Repair Cream is now available in two fragrances.
Introducing Rosy Patchouli Hemp Hand Repair.

Just like our original Vetiver and Vanilla formula, Rosy Patchouli contains lots of anti-inflammatory organic hemp seed oil and creamy mango butter to offer soothing relief to dry, chapped, and cracked hands and skin. The new scent is green and earthy with a fresh rose geranium note.  Perfect for summer! See our special introductory offer here.

Enjoy these glorious summer days! Everything is always better outside. :)

Meet the Artist Open Studio + Naked Soap Sale

If you are in the northern Vermont area, please consider joining us at our Studio in St. Albans for Meet the Artist Open Studio Weekend, Friday, June 24 - Sunday, June 26th.

During Open Studio...

...take a peek into our production area, ask questions, and learn how our products are made.

...test your nose and see how many essential oils you can identify.  The best nose of the weekend wins a $30 gift certificate!

...shop all of our products for 20% off, all weekend!

We're also hosting our Fourth Annual Naked Soap Sale that weekend, starting Saturday at 10:00 am.  If you are wondering, our Naked Soap Sale offers soaps in their birthday suits at very low prices.  These soaps are often cosmetic seconds, seasonal over-runs, or fragrance test batch soaps.  All are perfectly good soaps made with our gentle formulas. Supplies are limited.

Meet the Artist is a new event sponsored by the Vermont Hand Crafters celebrating Vermont's community of artists and their creative process. Other artists participating in the area include mixed media artist Meta Strick in Fairfield and potters Cheryl & Steve Grundon in Fletcher.  Make a day of it and visit all three studios! For a complete list of participating artists and a studio map, please visit Vermont Hand Crafters.

Hope to see you!  Please email or call for more information.

Friday, June 24th   10 am - 5 pm
Saturday, June 25th   10 am - 4 pm
Sunday, June 26th  11 am - 3 pm

Chasworth Farm Soap Studio
82 North Main Street
Downtown St. Albans
info@chasworthfarm.com
802.309.3778

Spring Shearing

 

Spring is a busy time on our farm, as we work to transition the animals from their cozy winter quarters to pastures filled with tender new grasses. Long days are spent moving fences and mucking. 

Shearing day is always a big event, and as it nears we keep our fingers crossed for gentle weather as our goats loose their thick winter fleeces. 

Mosby, our flat coat retriever, thought it was great fun to drag some of the shorn fleeces out of the barn and into the grass. (You can see we had some felting issues with our fleeces this year.   Normally the locks fall into individual curls.)

At one point Mosby had the fleece fully wrapped around himself and it looked like he was in a sleeping bag.  He's such a goof!

Millie, one of our original mommas, was just shorn in this photo. At 11 years old, she's a bit worn out from all the activity and was ready for a little nap.  She's a vocal goat and cracks me up with all of the sounds she makes as she yawns!  

Now on to the gardens. Weeds, weeds, everywhere.... but I do think these are just beautiful against our old barn. :) 

Happy Spring!

Marcia

A Little News and a Very Big Celebration Sale!

It has been a wild couple of months, and we are in full production mode in our new studio. Lots of good things are happening! More to come, but here are a couple highlights:

We've added a "sudsy specialist" to our production team. Yay!  I'll make introductions soon!

We're just starting a new partnership with COTS, a non-profit in the Burlington area who does amazing things to prevent homelessness.  We've been donating soap to homeless shelters and domestic abuse shelters since our beginning, but we are really excited about this new adventure.

I promised in an earlier post that I'd share photos of the new space (I will, but I haven't finished taking them yet!) and that we would have a little celebration sale after we moved into the new studio.  I figured we'd run an open house both at the new studio and online, with a nice little sale. Vermont Handcrafters is debuting a new statewide Meet the Artist event that will be happening in late June, so instead we decided to host both events at the same time. (More info on that will come soon!) However, since that won't be happening right away, I thought it would be fun to have a BIG private sale NOW for our blog and newsletter subscribers, and online buyers.  You guys rock and helped us need this larger studio! Thank you.

32% Off our hand and body creams, foot cream, hemp hand repair cream, body butters, shampoos and conditioners, and Vermont Sunflower Oil Soaps.  

We've never had such a big sale!!

Sale runs now through Friday, April 29th at 8:00 PM.  No exceptions.

This is a coupon sale, which means no coupon code, no discount.  The coupon code is 82Main.  There is a box on the bottom left side of the shopping cart page.  Just enter the code there, and click on the "apply coupon" box, and you'll be all set.  


And the rest of the details:
*The discount on the Sunflower Oil soaps will not apply to any already discounted collection (Build Your Own Collection or Vermont Sunflower Oil Soap Collection). Also, we are out of stock on Golden Summer, and will not be taking any rain checks on it.

*Here is a complete list of the products that qualify for the discount:
All scents of our hand and body creams (Almond, Golden Summer, Lavender, Lilac, Natural Cocoa, and Rose), Peppermint Rosemary Foot Cream, Hemp Hand Repair Cream, all scents of Body Butter (Lavender, Lilac, Golden Summer, Natural Cocoa, and Take a Chance), all scents of Shampoo and Conditioner (Lavender, Lemongrass Rosemary, Eucalyptus + Spearmint, Golden Summer, and Unscented), and all VT Sunflower Oil Soaps except for Golden Summer (because it is out of stock-sorry).

*We reserve the right to limit quantities.

All the best,
Marcia

Lucille Has a New Home

Lucille, sans her wig and wrapped for travel.

We have some very exciting news to share:  We've moved!

Yesterday, in light snow and with the assistance of four fellas, Lucille and her cast iron, claw foot tub made the journey a block south to our new studio at 82 N. Main Street in downtown St. Albans.

The new space is about three times larger than our old studio and gives us some much needed elbow room plus space to grow. We'll need a few days to get things sorted out and in their proper place, and then we'll post some photos.

Once we are settled and back in production, we will share a couple celebratory specials for all of our wonderful customers, local or not, who have helped us reach this point. You are amazing! And I am so very grateful.  Thank you.

More to come soon!
Marcia

There's Still Time

Cocoa Lovers Basket

I bet, like me, your mailbox is full of emails from every store you've ever visited...and so I hesitate to add to your collection.  However,  I received several calls today asking if there is still time to order online and the answer is Yes!  If you have someone on your gift list that could benefit from some soapy love (or body cream or shampoo or...), we can help!  The Gift section of our webstore has some ideas to get you started.

If you are local, we'd love to see you in the Studio. Holiday hours continue through December 23rd.

Tuesday  10-5
Thursday 10-6
Friday 10-5
Saturday 10-5
Sunday 11-3
Closed Mondays and Wednesdays.

Wishing you sanity through this hectic week before Christmas!

THINK SNOW!

Craft Vermont - This Weekend!

If you are in the greater Burlington, Vermont area, please consider joining us at the Annual Craft Vermont show produced by Vermont Hand Crafters.  All artists are juried and all are Vermont residents.  It's a great show to kick off the holiday season--whether you are shopping for some very special people on your list, or just taking some time to relax and enjoy the beautiful art and fine crafts created by your neighbors.

Hours run Friday 10-8, Saturday 10-6, and Sunday 10-5.  Tickets may be purchased at the door.  Please visit Vermont Hand Crafters for more information.

Hope to see you there!  We'll be in the main ballroom, left side, second booth.

New Sunflower Boxes, Barcodes, and a Surprise Baby Chick

It's full blown summer here in Vermont. Bright orange day lilies grace the roadways and local corn has just arrived at market.  And I realized the front page of my website still talked about spring lilacs. Whew! Time has been speeding away while my head has been down in the weeds! Lots of news to share--

Our Vermont Sunflower Oil Soaps got a face lift!  The seasonally scented collection features local sunflower oil grown in the Champlain Islands, just a few miles from our farm.  Sunflower oil is naturally rich in vitamin E, and makes a nice, creamy soap.  We add organic goodies like fair trade cocoa butter to the sustainably grown sunflower oil, and then scent the bars with our unique fragrance blends made from pure, therapeutic grade essential oils.

When we started the sunflower line several years ago, we surveyed customers, friends, and most everyone we knew about what Vermont smelled like to them.  We got lots of great answers (hay, dirt, grass, warmth, fresh air, clean water, evergreens, wildflowers, manure....)  and used this information to help us create our fragrance blends.  The new scent names better reflect the seasonality of the line:  Muddy Boots + Green Shoots, Golden Summer, Falling Leaves + Flannel, and Snowbound. We also offer an Unscented version in this line for those who prefer no added fragrance.

We ditched our plain, earth toned boxes, and added some beautiful color with a view of the mountains across the lake from a sunflower field in the Islands. Our new boxes were painted for us by Vermont artist Gabe Tempesta, the same artist who has painted several of our Artisan soap wrappers, including the Honey Oatmeal, Our Farm, and Lilac wrappers.  What do you think?

We are running a special on the Vermont Sunflower Oil Soap Collection  right now to celebrate the relaunch. Five bars, one of each scent, for $23.00.  (Regularly $6 each. Save $7)

You might notice another packaging change on all of our products. We joined GS1 and have gotten ourselves barcoded.  Even our artisan soaps are sporting the familiar bar pattern! I feel like everything has gotten a tattoo. While admittedly this isn't terribly exciting, the barcodes make it easier for us to work with retailers who use scanning software to manage their inventory and checkouts, and that makes it easier for us to grow. (And I do think growth is exciting! :)

Speaking of growth, our hen house grew by one this year. One of our old hens decided to lay a few eggs in the very back of the hen house underneath a roosting post. She managed to hide the eggs from us for a week or two, and after we realized she was actually sitting on eggs and not just resting, we decided to let her try to bring the eggs to term.  We've downsized our flock considerably, and there was plenty of room to give her a private chamber. (Our hen house has three separate chambers.)

One by one she kicked out eggs until she had just one left. Eggs usually gestate for about 21 days. When 21 days had certainly come and gone--remember we don't know exactly when she got started--we figured it just wasn't going to be.  That is, until one morning I went into the hen house to do chores, and a very plump, definitely not newborn chick greeted me in the first chamber!  A very weary looking momma was running behind fussing.  Momma sure did a great job of keeping that chick hidden and protected under her wing, fed, and warm! Based on her feathering and size, we're guessing she was about 10 days old when we first saw her.

After a couple of weeks, Momma threw in the towel and decided motherhood wasn't for her.  Fortunately, another hen has taken over the mothering duties, and she and the chick are doing well.

We need a name for this very sweet little "surprise" chick.  We are fairly confident that she's a girl. She seems to be mostly Americauna with the classic whiskers but she has black and white feathers in a barred pattern.  We think maybe the barred rock rooster hooked up with her momma. Have any ideas for a good name? We'll send out a couple bars of our farm soap to a winning submission! Just email us your ideas, info@chasworthfarm.com. Thanks!

If you're local and haven't made it to the Burlington Farmer's Market yet, please consider stopping by. Produce is coming in quickly, with lots of beautiful and tasty varieties and colors.  Saturdays, 8:30-2:00, City Hall Park downtown.

All the best!

Spring Seasonal Soaps are Here!

Celebrate spring with our artisan seasonal soap collection, featuring three new soaps and one spring classic--all scented with pure, therapeutic grade essential oils!

Fun and flirty Pink Tangerine is a sassy blend of energizing essential oils, blended into our creamy soap.  The bright scent and all natural color of the bar screams SUNSHINE! 

Herbal Lavender Thyme is a soothing and purifying blend of sweet white thyme and French lavender.  This is a great scent to help clear your head of winter cobwebs. 

Dead Sea Mud + Kelp is made from a blend of antioxidant-rich kelp and imported Dead Sea Mud, known throughout the world to aid in skin detoxification.  We've added a generous amount of the Mud and the Kelp, and find it is a nice treat to rejuvenate dry, winter-weary skin as we transition to warmer weather and more exposed skin! 

Last, our Gardener's Soap shines this time of year as we sink our hands into dirt and prepare our gardens for summer. The soap offers gentle but thorough scrubbing from strawberry seeds.  We have found the seeds to be more effective and much less abrasive than other "scrubbing" ingredients like pumice or sand.  This is also a great soap for fishermen, mechanics, chefs, campers, and anyone else who gets their hands really dirty.  Scent is an herbal blend of essential oils that smells great and also helps cut odors. The bar is wrapped in a beautiful wrapper, hand painted by Debba Pearce. 

Welcome, Spring!
 

Frozen Pipes, Lost Driveways, and Warm Ocean Breezes

It's been a cold and snowy Vermont winter so far…and we’ve got at least two more months to go! We've had lots of days and even more nights with below zero temperatures. Add in the wind chill, and it's been down right chilly.

Living in a 200 year old house is a pretty nifty thing most of the time, but with temps this low, we reminisce about draft-free windows, protected pipes, and super insulated spaces. 

A couple of weeks ago our main water line from the well into the house froze. It could have been a disaster, but fortunately our drilling company was able to thaw it for us quickly.  Thank you, Chevaliers!

A couple of days ago we discovered that our so called frost-free hydrant in the barn was frozen. Guess the frost line has gone really deep this year. So, until we can get that working again, we're hauling water from the house in buckets for the animals. 

And yesterday, our tractor wouldn't start.  Seems the tractor's diesel fuel gelled in the fuel filter from the consistent, bitter wind chill. Fortunately, my husband knows all about gelled fuel in fuel filters, and he had the tractor running before long. 

After a couple hours of plowing today, we have found the driveway and our goats are happy to have a path around their exercise area. I'll work on freeing the gates and clearing the areas behind the barn tomorrow.

A couple of weeks ago I had the very good fortune of spending some time on a little island, part of the Yum Balam Nature Preserve, off the northern Yucatan coast of Mexico. While it always feels great to come home to Vermont, I have to admit that I've been spending a lot of time lately day-dreaming about warm ocean breezes, pink flamingos, and breakfasts of locally grown papaya, mango, and baby bananas. 

I'm not normally one to post vacation photos, but given our current weather situation, I thought I'd share a couple. Maybe they will warm you up just a little...and give you hope that summer is indeed coming!

Stay warm!

Ocean treasures....

Native iguanas.  Did you know they always travel in groups of 4?  Three females and one male.  

Warm water. White sand. Can you see the juvenile heron? The island is a breeding area for brown and white pelicans, herons, pink flamingos, and others.

This is Max, a scruffy but debonair little dog I got to know. I expected him to bark in Spanish.  

Flowers! FLOWERS! Gorgeous, wild bougainvillea. 

My hotel.  Coconut palms. Palapas roofs. GREEN foliage. 

This is El Castillo, a temple that dominates Chichen Itza, a Mayan ruin located on the Yucatan peninsula, and a World Heritage Site.  This has nothing to do with islands and warm ocean breezes, but if you ever have the opportunity to visit, take the time and go. The site is hard to describe, and photos just don't do it justice, but it is truly something to experience.  It will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. And if you're into the paranormal and extraterrestrial, just do a few google searches to learn all about the documented activity over the years, particularly at the time of equinox. National Geographic also has some good info. That will get your mind off of the cold for a while! :)  

New! No Fragrance Added Cream and Bath Treats

Our new, Natural Cocoa Butter Hand and Body Cream is here! We kept all the richness, but skipped the fragrance.  Since we use a good dose of natural, organic fair trade cocoa butter in the formula, the cream does carry a very slight, pleasant cocoa butter scent.  Feedback from our customers has been terrific! This is a great cream for those sensitive to fragrance, as well as for children, men, or those who just prefer a no fragrance added product.

Ever since our bathing beauty, Lucille, graced our Studio window in her tub, we've been receiving requests for relaxing bath products.  Here you go! Two varieties of soothing, muscle relaxing bath salt blends, and three varieties of fizzy, foamy, moisturizing, and fun bath butter balls. 

The bath salts are a blend of imported, naturally harvested sea salts, magnesium rich epsom salts, and essential oils.  The lavender blend is scented with lavender essential oil and lavender buds to soothe and calm, and the sea salt blend features the same  blend of fresh essential oils found in our Sea Salt bar soap. Both blends help detox the skin and stimulate circulation. Packaged in a hinged glass jar with a wooden scoop.

If you want to get your bubble on in the tub, we'd like to suggest one of our super creamy bath butter balls. Most of the surfactants used in commercial bubble baths are terribly drying and irritating to most skins, so we decided to forgo the big bubbles and concentrate instead on fizzy, foamy, creamy luxury. And I mean creamy! We use a ton of organic cocoa butter and shea butter in each ball. Plop one into a tub of warm water, and the ball will spin and fizz and create a thick sheet of conditioning foam.  All you need to do is slide in and relax! Available in Holiday Fizz, Lavender, and Summer Ocean scents. The balls make nice stocking stuffers and are fun for all ages. 

 

Small Business Saturday, Holiday Open House, and December Studio Hours

I hope you and yours had a quiet and relaxed Thanksgiving Day! At my home, a great grandma met her four month old great grandson for the first time, so it was indeed a day filled with gratitude.

On this day of BIG BOX business, I wanted to make sure you knew about Small Business Saturday. It was started several years ago as an alternative to Black Friday, as a way to encourage shoppers to support their local, independently owned retailers. Throughout the country, small businesses will be open on Saturday to welcome you to their store and share their expertise with you.  Many stores are running special deals. Most of the businesses in downtown Saint Albans are celebrating the day, and we will be open, too, 10-4.  Please buy local this holiday season and support your neighbors, wherever you may live!

We also wanted to announce our annual Holiday Open House will run December 3rd through December 9th.  Now that we have a retail space, our Open House will be held at the Studio as well as online in our webstore.  As a small token of appreciation for your support, we are offering 15% off your entire purchase during this time*.  If you are shopping online, just enter BUBBLE in the promotion box during checkout to receive the discount.  If you are coming to the Studio, just let us know you follow our blog, and we will apply the discount.

During the week of our Holiday Open House, we will be open every day at the Studio, as follows:

Wednesday the 3rd - Friday the 5th, 10-5
Saturday the 6th, 10-4
Sunday the 7th, 11-4
Monday 8th - Tuesday the 9th, 10-5

Then, throughout the rest of December until Christmas, our regular hours will be
Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, 10-5,
Sundays 11-4,
and by appointment other days and times.
We will be at the Burlington Winter Farmer's Market the first three Saturdays in December, 10-2 at Memorial Auditorium, Burlington.

 *And the fine print on the discount: Discount offer is valid Dec. 3rd through 11:59 Dec. 9th, online or at the Studio, only.  Discount applies to regularly priced items. Please email for more information.

Holiday Soaps, Meta Strick, and Craft Vermont

Last night we had our first little snowfall.  The ground is barely covered this morning. It's certainly not enough to get all excited about, but it does signal that we are ending stick season and moving into winter when we can expect (hope for!) less gray and lots more sparkle. Yay!

Our winter holiday seasonal bar soaps are here! We just placed them in our online store: Cranberry Balsam, O' Christmas Tree, Orange Winter Spice, Peppermint Frost, and Frankincense & Myrrh.
And speaking of the Frankincense & Myrrh soap, we are really excited to share the new wrapper painted for us by Vermont artist Meta Strick.

I've known Meta for many years, and am fascinated with her work, particularly her take on the human face. I am lucky enough to own a couple of her creations, and when we decided to change the focus of the Frankincense wrapper from a traditional silver and gold, three wise men theme to a more goddess oriented one, I knew Meta was the right person to create the design. I was delighted when she agreed!

Meta is a life-long artist whose primary focus is the human face, figure, and experience.  Meta spent a career working in human services, and I'm sure all of those experiences with so many different individuals has informed her work.  (Can you imagine the stories she could tell?!) Her art is a result of a combination of many materials and processes.  She paints, carves, draws, sees, drills, weaves, prints, glues and hammers her way toward mixed media paintings, dolls, and decorative items. Much of her work is created on wood. For our wrapper, Meta did her magic on paper, and then we added our logo and the fragrance name band.  

Here it is.  I hope you like it as much as we do!

It's almost time for Craft Vermont, the annual fine craft and art show of the Vermont Hand Crafters.  We are in high gear around here wrapping up lots of soaps, including our holiday line, and getting our bins loaded with all our other goodies.

Please join us if you are in the Vermont area! It's a fantastic show and all members are Vermont residents, juried in their respective mediums. I buy most of my holiday gifts at this show--beautiful, well crafted, unique items for everyone on my list made by my neighbors. Perfect!

Meta and I will both be there. I'm in booth #2 on the main level, and Meta, along with all her great art, will be upstairs. If you make it to the show, please stop by and say hello!

The show will be held at the Sheraton Conference Center in Burlington, November 21-23. Hours are Friday 10-8, Saturday 10-6, and Sunday 10-5.  Please visit the Vermont Hand Crafters site for more details.

For more info on Meta and to see some of her other work, click here.

Stick Season, Holiday News, and Sweet Sally

This little guy greeted me on my way out the door to Market early yesterday morning. I was surprised to see a sticky frog still hanging around.

In Vermont, leaves are falling after a beautiful show of color. Stick season is almost here--that dreary period when there's no leaves, and no snow, just lots and lots of brown and gray--and winter is already knocking with snow forecast for the mountains tonight. Today, though, I'm enjoying the last of the color and will make one more visit to Hackett's, my favorite local apple orchard in the Champlain Islands. Fresh apples and warm apple cider doughnuts. Yum. And, tonight, my new favorite autumn cocktail:  warmed apple cider, a shot of  Barenjager's Honey and Bourbon Whiskey, and a squeeze of fresh lemon.  Might be time to make a fire in the wood stove!

We are finally caught up on most of our farm chores. The hay is in, the goats and sheep have been shorn, and the chicken house is buttoned up for the cooler days ahead. At the Studio, we've been working for the past couple of months at an almost frenetic pace to finish the winter and holiday seasonal soaps so that they will have ample time to cure. Now it's time to take a breath and regroup for the holiday season ahead.

We have lots of news to share--

• We're growing, and are really excited to welcome our newest retailers:  Firefly Moon in Arlington, MA (just outside of Boston);  Hunger Mountain Cooperative in Montpelier, VT;  Truly Unique Gift Shop in Rutland, VT; and Gina Allen at J. Michaels in Chicago, IL.  If you are in their area, please stop in and say hello.  If you know of a store near you that might be a good fit for our products, please let us know!  Referrals from our customers are always helpful and appreciated.

• The Burlington Farmer's Market will be outdoors one more week at City Hall Park-- this coming Saturday, October 25th-- and then will move indoors to Memorial Auditorium.  The market generally runs every other week, with three markets in December. Please see our events page for dates and times.  There's lots of amazing produce still available from the farmers, along with seasonal fruits, cheeses, chocolates, spirits, jellies, and Cinnamon Pumpkin SOAP! Please join us!

• Our holiday products will be ready for sale in early November.  This year we will offer five seasonal bar soaps, including an updated Frankincense & Myrrh in a gorgeous, brand new wrapper painted by VT artist, Meta Stick.  (More on that later!) We'll also have our holiday seasonal liquid soaps, Candy Cane lip balms, our new foaming bath salts packaged in glass jars, and, if we are able to stay on schedule, some fun fizzy bath bombs.  

• We are working on finalizing the details of our annual Holiday Open House.  This year, along with our online specials, we will also host an Open House at our Studio in downtown St. Albans with extended hours for our local customers.  More details will be available soon.

• Look for us in the gift guide of the November issue of Vermont Life Magazine!

• And, last, Craft Vermont is just around the corner, November 21-23, at the Sheraton Conference Center in Burlington.  This annual fine craft and art show features an eclectic mix of juried artists and artisans from all over Vermont.  It's really a fantastic show with lots of terrific gift options for everyone on your list. Please see our events page for the details.

For those of you who have visited our farm or are interested in our animals, we also wanted to share some sad news.  We lost Sally, one of our Leiceter Longwool sheep, a few weeks ago to a stroke.  Sally was a big 'ol sweet sheep, well over 200 lbs. and almost waist high, and as I was struggling to find pictures of her to include in this post, I realized she was the brown blur at the bottom of most of my images that usually got cropped out.

Sally was quite affectionate, and loved a good snuggle or getting her back scratched. Whenever we went into the barn or pasture with the animals, Sally would put that head down, head over, and damn near knock us down as she'd swing her hips around to get in the best position for a scratch. She'd stand there as long as we'd scratch, moving her body around so that we hit the right spot, licking the air in pleasure. At night we could usually hear her coming before we saw her.  Clomp, clomp, clomp. So, back to the photos, I don't have many of Sally because she was usually by my side and not in the middle of the action. The barnyard seems a little subdued lately. Farewell, Sweet Sally.

Enjoy these last days of autumn color, and thanks for your continued support of our little farm!

This is a lousy photo, but Sally is in the front (right), heading towards the camera.