The first harbinger of spring

I can never seem to keep up a blog to any reasonable degree. I'm starting this blog from scratch, a clean slate for a new year.

Currently, I'm sitting on my couch and listening to the rain as I wait for the oils and lye of tonight's batch to cool. The colours are sitting on the counter, mixed with oil, and ready to become a column swirl. Belladonna is one of my favourite scents, both sweet and herbaceous. Considering I am generally most drawn to florals, it is slightly odd that this fruity scent would be in my top three. But it is. It's a blend of sweet, juicy blackberries and dry, aromatic sage. It's been a year since I soaped this scent and I've missed it.

The planned soap will be purple, pink, green, and black. It should be eye catching. This is hardly my first batch of the year but in a sense it is my first batch of the spring. Early March is traditionally when spring starts here in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. The fact that it's raining does not make the weather any less spring light. When you live in a rain forest, rain is just par for the course. We probably won't see that much sun until June or July. The harbinger of spring, for me, is the robin. I spotted my first one of the year a few days ago. At the sight of the nimble little bird, winter became spring. Tonight has been my first proper chance to soap. Soap making may be my passion but my day job demands a good deal of attention.

I've set May as my goal month to launch my online store. I'm largely finished building the website and now I need to both make, and then photograph the stock. Much of it is made, but there is always going to be more. It's not like I don't enjoy having a reason to soap.

Product photography and packaging are both pains and pleasures to me. I'll need to devote the next dry day to photography. But of course, I'd rather be soaping.