Yesterday was a lot of fun. Although the weather was very chilly and damp, we headed out into the woods again. This time of year, it doesn't pay to skip a chance. Normally we concentrate on the side of the trail near the creek, because there always seemed to be the greatest diversity there. But yesterday when glancing up the hill on the other side, we were stunned to see an avalanche of yellow violets. Thousands of them cascading down the hill.
We hiked on up to get a closer look and found that they were nestled in with hundreds of small Jack in the Pulpits, Wood Avens, False Soloman Seal, and luscious Chickweed. There was also a plant our grandfather used to call licorice plant, because it smells like licorice, but we need to do a little research on that one. Even more surprising was a plant that appears to be goldenseal.
While we were out wandering around, a batch of soaps we hadn't tried before was in the studio curing. Its a cold process soap with salt added to speed curing time to just hours before cutting. I posted some pictures on the yahoo list site, but still haven't figured out how to do so here. They are gorgeous, but you'll just have to take my word for it :-).
I hope that others are taking the opportunity to get out there! Well.... maybe not those of you who had snow.
