More Rain Please

Two big batches of soap in the molds - my precious Lavender (I love it so much I won't blend it with anything else) and Fruity-Tooty.  I have some fragrance oils left in the fabulous stash I was given by my soap-buddy, Laticia Mullin.  I blended some Bramble Berry Coconut with various fruity oils and came up with this tropical scent.  I'm an essential oil snob, but those oils are light on the scent (which many people prefer) and heavy on the wonderful medicinal and insecticidal properties.  The fragrance oils have a stronger, longer-lasting scent.  They can knock you over.  I decided it might be good to have a fragrance scent for those customers who like their bathroom to smell good.  Took all afternoon but it's great to be well-stocked with soap.  The Hamilton Farmer's Market begins for me the weekend after Maryland.  I'll have a good presentation that should last all summer.  Still have a few batches to make - old favorites that I know folks will look for.  Hand creme will start next weekend after I've received my unrefined shea butter from Ghana via Ohio.  I'm always nervous about having enough product, but I try to turn the anxiety into energy to get things done.  I cut up a lot of fabric for soap wrapping last night.  I used to quilt, in the old days when I didn't farm, and love to play with the cotton prints.  I'll try to get a tote finished this morning before I meet the Central New York Fiber Producers at the Bouckville festival site. We're walking the grounds then having lunch at the Quack Diner on route 20.  That show takes place a month after Maryland and promises to be great fun.  Hoping for more rain tomorrow.  Yesterday's wetness was not the deluge we hoped for.  It's very simple - no rain - no hay - no sheep next winter.  It's ridiculously hard to keep critters fed with the price of gasoline as it is.  Drought compounds the problem exponentially.  Let it rain...