I will admit that it started out with a sense of being overwhelmed, but taking each day as it came, they unfolded full of fun and learning.
The week started with the typical Monday of packing orders for The Essential Herbal and Lancaster County Soapworks. Tuesday Maryanne and I taught separate soap classes and we each had a pretty good time doing it. Wednesday we caught up on orders again, and set about obtaining some items that we needed for another soap extravaganza.
On Thursday, we went to Emergence Farm. Last fall we met Haas, who has this wooded wonderland, and I asked if he'd like us to try to identify the things he has growing on his property - which is mostly a north-facing steep slope. Sarah Campbell came along, and we were met there by a few other people who were very interested in learning what was growing there. It was one of the most enjoyable weed walks I've been on in a long time! Everyone involved had something to share as far as knowledge, and the sense of kinship was palpable. It was such a great morning - perfect weather -
AND.... we found lady's slipper and morel mushrooms. Those are 2 things I've been searching for a very long time. Just to see them in the wild. Naturally, there were many, many other amazing woodland plants, and we could scarcely take a step without tripping over black cohosh, bloodroot, sweet violets, and mayflower. The perfect morning. Only wintergreen could have improved it :-P.That afternoon we finished gathering soap ingredients, and proceeded to make 8 batches of soap to refill the skimpy shelves.
Friday morning we rose early to cut the soap. The cutter wires snapped, so it took most of the morning to get that fixed and proceed to stack the freshly cut soaps before heading off for Union Mills Homestead Herb Fest off Rt 97 below Littlestown. The festival continues today and tomorrow if you're in the area....
We'd made arrangements earlier to take a class with Emily Shuey to learn how to make concrete stepping stones that included things like stained glass, broken pottery, seashells, crystals, and beads.
We were a few minutes late for the class, but managed to catch up with everyone quickly.This morning we had agreed to help our friend Kathy Musser at Cloverleaf Herb Farm. Before I left, I mentioned it on Facebook. What a GREAT surprise to get to see some friends because of that AND meet a Facebook friend that I'd never met in person before! That was really something special.
At some point I suppose the time will come to face the weed patch out back. Tomorrow looks to be wide open. But so far, this spring has been a whole lot of fun.
