A Real success at Rowhedge Regatta

3rd July arrived and everything was packed and ready for the stall. Fabian had lent us a beautiful yellow trestle table and late the previous night, Clare had located the only spare gazebo in the village still intact after the windy Saturday of the Strawberry Fair. So on the morning of the Regatta all we had to do was take it all across to the quay, set it up and sell soap... And so we did!

I liked to see which soaps interested different people, (and why) and the most popular - on that hot and sticky day - was the refreshing and cleansing tea-tree oil soap we call Grubby Gardener. It also has sweet orange and cedar wood essential oils, as well as rose madder root, which colours it a deep red/maroon. Perhaps it was because I told everyone that the first thing I do when I get home on a hot day is use it to wash my feet. (well, not until we've made some more, I won't be, as we nearly ran out of it on Saturday- only a few bars left until the next batch is ready)

Christian's Volcanic Lava Swirl came a close second- sweet orange oil again, but this time mixed with geranium oil- a lovely combination. Lots of things noted from people's comments and suggestions for the next range- clove, cinnamon and orange for winter will be a definite, I think.

Lavender was popular and we also gave out samples of Dave's Soap (with nothing in it) to several people who need to use very pure soap on their skin.

We offered hand washing opportunities on a small table in the gazebo- a chance to wash off the ice-cream and candy floss and try different types of soap. There were several children with extremely clean hands that afternoon, having made extensive use of this facility. Friends' children were however very useful for running errands - Charlie kindly ran home to re-fill our water container and Tilly left us a cuddly lamb, for company.

The gazebo provided a shelter for some of the visiting grandmas, too. Our stall was right on the front of the quay, offering unrivalled views of the duck race, blindfold canoeing and visiting barges and smacks. The ladies we accumulated over the course of the afternoon therefore had a shady place to sit, in our very comfy fold-up chairs and they didn't miss a thing (we might do them a nice cup of tea next time). Maz's mum, down from the North, for her very first Regatta: 'Well, I liked your stall, but I've really enjoyed just sitting here these last couple of hours' she said, as she made her way off to check if she'd won the lucky programme draw.

Look out for some of Christian's photos of Regatta day and the River Colne, coming soon...

Rowhedge Regatta Sat 3rd July

We will be having a stall at the Rowhedge Regatta this year. Rowhedge is situated on the River Colne, in Essex.

We are both busy preparing for the event. I have been making new molds so we can bump up production.

Anne has applied for membership to GCSP (more in another blog) and don't forget making the soap! We made the last batch for Regatta last night (Orange and Geranium) which made the house smell pretty juicy.

When you don't think things through, it's too late when 8 lb of soap is reaching trace earlier than expected so a bit of improvisation was needed on the mixing front and a knife came in useful as a substitute for a spatula.

It's too early to pass judgment on this batch, so I am eagerly awaiting the de-mold tomorrow. Argghh, more stress, will I be able to get the soap out of the new mold.

We need to organise another table (the main one actually) a Gazebo since it might rain (not good for us soapers), and some display bowls. We have some things on order and had a semi trial a couple of evenings ago. I need to get everything ready by 12th June, since I will be in London for a few weeks and will not be around to help out.


Anne is part way through our labels and product information, so we can print our own labels with batch data.

I hope people enjoy our soap.

See you there.

Boxes for display and transport

My soap works today included: collecting wooden boxes for transporting and displaying our soap on the Regatta Stall (Rowhedge 3rd July, on the banks of the Colne); cutting out tiny soap stars and hearts from a little piece of Lavender batch 1001; admiring Batch 1008, made in the biggest wooden mould you could imagine; checking on the soap that is busy curing (and staying longer than I needed to, because it smells lovely)

Not many soap works today though as I was in Norfolk this afternoon. The Magpie on the A140 at Little Stonham has closed. I felt very sad about that as it was a nice place and a landmark because of the wooden bar over the road with magpies on it. There is a similar thing in Hertfordshire somewhere- Hare and Hounds, maybe near Buntingford or Sawbridgeworth, with the pub alongside the road and the bar crossing the road with the hare (or perhaps a fox) being chased across the bar way up in the air above you as you drive beneath. I wonder if that is still there?