What has the artisan soap makers been up to ?

It has possibly been our best year of soap sales, since starting our little soap business, which  is an amazing feat in the current economy. I am, of course, not surprised as we do make the best soap in South Africa (ha ha... we do have such a cheek!). We have even had clients who have gone overseas and brought back artisan soap for us to try, just to compare and to show us that we do indeed make a wonderful soap. We are of course, extremely grateful and blessed to be able to live this lifestyle through the support of all our wonderful clients. We will never become rich, as that would mean starting a factory and employing staff in a  town, which would totally defeat the object of why we moved out here.

Above, are two pics of a winter sunrise. The frost was so hard and thick that I could run and slide along with my gumboots. Star ( the dog ) seems to be totally oblivious to the cold.

Same orchard as the top pic but as it looks at the moment... beautiful and green! This is generally the best time of the year, as we have had our rains and then by the time January and February arrive, things start getting pretty dry again and everything starts to look brown but that's OK, knowing that it's all part of the process makes it acceptable and beautiful.

Star and T-Bone greeting the sun as it rises, they are brother and sister.

There is such a big hoo haa about alien Wattles but to tell you the honest truth, if we didn't have it, we would definitely miss it, as we use it for our indoor Dover stove, fencing and to stake our tomatoes, beans, etc. I do feel it has its uses on every smallholding, especially if you can manage a small grove of it, preventing it from spreading.

Above, I am peeling wattle latte that I am using to make a fence around our veggie patch, to keep out the bunnies, porcupines and little buck. When I have more time (whenever that might be), I want to try and make little bits of furniture out if the wood and baskets out of the bark.