Change and flexibility have become constants in 2020 and 2021. We have learned to adapt and find joy in the everyday. While we usually share soap-related content with you each month, this month, we want to reflect on 2021 and share our plans for the holidays and beyond.

This past year has had a little bit of everything for us. We experienced loss with the passing of our two oldest cats, Boo (17) and Anya (15), and some setbacks like when Jen slipped on ice and ended up in bed for a month with a back injury. Still, we also have had some incredible personal and professional growth.

We adopted a new kitten, Wyatt, in May. This will be his first Christmas, so we hope everything will go well with the tree (so far…eh, it could be worse?). Here is a photo of Elliot and Wyatt. They have become fast friends since Wyatt arrived. We adopted both of them from the Upper Valley Humane Society in Enfield, NH (Elliot was adopted in 2013.)

This year, from the business side of things, we transitioned from vending at markets and other events to focusing entirely on our online and wholesale orders. While we miss seeing our customers in person and catching up with them, it gives us the necessary time to make soap and fulfill orders, allowing us to grow and serve more customers all over the country.

Thanksgiving was busy for us this year with our exciting Small Business Saturday sale and family visits. We want to take it a bit easier with a staycation for Christmas. We plan to catch up on a couple of our favorite Christmas movies like Christmas Vacation, Trading Places, and Scrooged and we’re also hoping to check out a few local breweries in New Hampshire. At home, we are currently loving our Lavender and Spearmint Tallow Soap. It has given us the bright, calming boost we needed this holiday season.

We will also be trying something new in the kitchen this Christmas. We’ll be making homemade pear and gorgonzola ravioli. We’ve made homemade pasta several times before, and it’s a lot of fun and delicious! You can check out the recipe here: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/255519/homemade-pear-and-gorgonzola-ravioli/

We are incredibly grateful and thankful for our customers and their support because we could not be doing this without all of you. We have some exciting things in store for the coming year, some of which are new soap varieties in the works. Stay tuned for our 2022 updates, and if you haven’t already, follow us on social for the latest news.

We hope you all have a happy and healthy holiday season with the ones you love!

This year has been quite the experience to say the least. We hope you have all managed to stay safe and healthy throughout. We are grateful to have managed to stay safe ourselves. 2020 brought a number of changes to our personal and professional lives. On a personal level, we have had to change how we interact with friends, family, and hobbies. As avid Dungeons & Dragons players, we used to meet our friends three out of four weekends a month to play. For safety measures, we have had to shift this to a fully online game once a month, which as you most likely know isn’t the same. Not to mention our switch to at-home workouts or rather the lack thereof LOL. We have worked to maintain some degree of normalcy, but who really can these days (and that is 100% okay!) Professionally, we had to adjust to having all of our major events canceled, having to completely alter how we set up and did business at the New Boston Farmers Market, and transition to having to rely completely on online sales and wholesale. While we have experienced abundant changes, we know that many small businesses have had a terrible time this year and that many have not made it. That is why we wanted to share our story with you all and say how extremely thankful we are for our customers who have allowed us to continue selling our all-natural tallow soap.

With that being said, our holiday plans will be very simple this year. We will be hanging out at home with our cats, playing our favorite games, and Darlene will be making duck for dinner. We are getting our duck from Greentwist Acres, a local farm located in New Boston, New Hampshire. Our honey is also locally sourced from DJ’s Pure Natural Honey located in Manchester, NH. We want to continue to support local businesses while we stay home and enjoy the holidays. Of course, we will be washing up with our Rosemary Mint Tallow Soap, so we can be clean and fresh for dinner. If you want to check out Darlene’s duck recipe you can find it here. Feel free to share your holiday plans with us in the comments or send us your favorite holiday recipes (we are still looking for side dish recipes.) We know the holidays aren’t the same this year, but they can still be good if you can find a way to connect with your family, virtually or otherwise, or just do something that makes you happy. If you’re still looking for holiday soaps for your home or last minute holiday gifts, check out our store and order now! If you need a last minute gift we have virtual gift cards that you share with family in person or online! Get into the holiday season with the smell of some of our all-natural tallow soaps.

P.S. Santa said our Pine Tar 20% Soap reminds him of the soap back in his workshop. 😉