A dream discovered....

So I was vacationing in Vermont in the Fall one year, maybe it was in 2005/6...a few years ago. I went into this soap shop in Woodstock and was just overcome with the wonderful smells and varieties of handmade soaps, body butter, lotions, etc. This to me was the good life. Wake up. Have a nice cup of coffee. Read a little news. Open up my shop, make some soap, and sell it. Close up in the evening and start all over again. A bit simplified but still a nice vision. I love the creativity involved, I love the process and the craft of making something usable from scratch, I love the simplicity of it and yet it's a craft that has endless possibilities. There was a time when I wanted very badly to attend culinary school, become a pastry chef, and open up my own bakery - specializing in special occasion cakes. That still may happen one day but it's hard to start a bakery out of your own kitchen when you have two dogs, four guinea pigs, two birds and 2 hamsters. I'm down to two dogs, two parakeets, one guinea pig, and one "adopted" rabbit (long story - "friend" was supposed to come pick it up - haven't heard from her since.) So given the health code violations I figured I should stay away from any sort of food production in my house. But I digress....soapmaking is lovely in so many ways and I look forward to the journey. Stay tuned...