January is typically slow for us. No big shows to attend. No goats to milk. No goat babies to bottle feed. But that doesn't mean I haven't been busy. Food/soaping oils, like coconut oil and palm oil, have been skyrocketing in price! Trying to keep my soap prices down I've been busy tweaking and testing my current recipes seeing what changes I can make to keep costs down with the cost of my supplies rising. I've also been working with different additives like beeswax and stearic acid( aka vegetable wax) seeing how I can lengthen the life of a bar soap all while keep it smelling great, lathering well, and super gentle on the skin.
Some basic soaping ingredients from left to right: Lard, Stearic Acid (Vegetable wax) Palm oil, BeeswaxEarly January found our weather gray, wet and gloomy, basically a typical Pacific Northwest winter.
Looking across our goat pasture. Notice there are no goats in the field because they are hunkered down in the barn. 
Our backyard in early January. Green, gray, and brown are the predominant winter colors around here. At least we have green grass in January! And notice the beautiful green wheat field in the background!
Our buck pen with its occasional duck pond that occurs during really wet weather. There's Arwen, our lone duck, enjoying this wet spell. She's around 11- years-old!With all the gloomy weather I took time to experiment with creating some colorful soaps.
As you can see in my color choices I'm longing for spring and summer colors!I've also been busy testing many wonderful new fragrances for both our soaps and candle melts! I can't wait to introduce some of these new fragrances over the upcoming months!
