Fall, I Hear You Calling

The weather has turned. A week ago, it was blistering hot and the sky was a hazy mess from all the fires here in California. I'm situated between three fires, which, depending upon the way the wind blows, can make for some strangely dark days. Today, though, the skies are minimally sooty, the wind is up, and the temperatures down -- way, way down. It feels more like May or late October than the end of August. Things are expected to heat up again for something like 48 hours, and then it's back down to the weird spring and mid-autumn weather. I like it! I also read this morning that the Bear Tooth Mountain pass in Montana is closed due to snow! I've been up there. It's a brutal landscape with winds that can scour the freckles off your face. Oh, but it is so beautiful. It's like standing on the top of the world. And now it's snowing so much the road is closed, which, from what I'm reading, almost never happens this time of the year. I like this too! I am so ready for autumn, I can feel the chill tingling in my bones. It does worry me a bit because the arrival of autumn means I'm either stocked in the store, or I'm not. The past few years have been 'not' years; that's changing this year. This year, we're going to be stocked, and restocked, and lots of new stuff will arrive. Well, not arrive, actually, but be created. Born, right here in the studio. I cherish those 'it's alive!' moments when I step back from a piece of olfactory art after having put on the finishing touch.

Soaps of Seasons Past

I'm going to be making more soap -- I took a couple of days off to work on other projects, but I'm ready for soap making again. I've got a lovely organically grown pumpkin that I'm going to puree and add to the pumpkin spice soap this year. I won't be using much as the rest of the pumpkin will go in my belly! It's getting cooked up tonight in a stir fry along with some bok choy, Napa cabbage, onions, peas, garlic, Laotian basil, rice paddy herb, celery, carrots, broccoli, and the kitchen sink. Oh, and some soy sauce. And Sriracha. And a heap of rice noodles drizzled with sesame oil. I'm getting hungry.