Good News -

It's a new year and I'm on my way to introducing a new product: Aloe Vera soap.

I have had a number of interested customers write to me over the last year asking if I sold this type of soap, was going to sell it, had heard of anyone else who had produced it, etc.

Well, I can finally say that I am on my way - I have received 3 small aloe vera plants that I have soaking in water until they start growing roots, after which I will be planting them permanently.

:)

Looking forward to keeping everyone informed of my progress -

A new thrill in my life -

Okay, it has been a long time since I have written a blog post.  What can I say? Fall has come and with it the usual colds that go around, meaning I've been home with the kids or I've been working double shift because some of my co-workers have been at home with their kids.  Thank goodness I work at a fabulous workplace and we take care of each other as much as we can.

On top of that, my soap sales have really taken off, including two inquiries about making 150+ soaps as wedding favors for weddings over the New Year.  All of this has been good, but also means I've been balancing my life on a knife's edge.  I've been taking lots of extra vitamins and cod liver oil, been watching even less TV than I normally do, and forcing myself to stop what I'm doing (no matter what it is I'm doing) and going to bed at reasonable times.  It's paid off so far.  I myself have only had one really good cold, but I managed to keep working thanks to my great co-workers.  I have it in the back of my head: when I get fever, I can call in sick with a good conscience. 

But this is not at all what I wanted to talk about.  What I wanted to talk about was the new thrill in my life. Anita Blake 

I was lucky enough to come across a written interview with the author Laurell K. Hamilton. 

Official photo from Twitter - lkhamiton

What caught my attention was this: she writes about a strong woman, Anita Blake, who's profession it is to legally do away with vampires, zombies and the like.  She has practical knowledge of a wide variety of weapons, and she knows there is a time and a place for each weapon, depending upon where she'll be, what she's wearing, etc.

If this was not interesting enough, what really caught my eye was the fact that Hamilton has received criticism due to the fact that as the series of novels progresses, Anita becomes involved in a number of sexual liaisons that are unbecoming of a woman. Needless to say that this type of criticism seems to come primarily from the USA.  Apparently if a male character is involved with 2 or more women, this is quite acceptable.  But should this be the reverse then it is not appropriate for the general reading audience. 

Mind you, I have not progressed that far in the series. 

(Photo nicked from Amazon.co.uk)

The first novel was a very good read, though not a fabulous read.  It took me a while to wrap my head around the fact that in Anita's world vampires and zombies live alongside humans and there are various laws governing both.  Though towards the end of the book it I did naturally accept this reality.

What I did really like about this book was that I was able to get a good insight into Anita.  And let me tell you, she rocks.  She's cocky, yet has high morals. She doesn't take crap from others, especially male police officers, though she doesn't put them down either.  They have a mutual understanding of each other.  Her job is an official executioner sanctioned by the state and she sleeps with stuffed penguins.  Basically she's the kind of person I wish I could hang out with once in a while. 

(Also nicked from Amazon.co.uk)

I just finished reading the second book last night, and I really thought it leaped forward from the first book in great bounds.  She encounters a number of really gruesome characters, and takes them on in a way that leaves you thinking: Yeah, that could really happen.  She shows both her tough side to us as readers, as well as to her close friends as to how far she is really willing to go when faced with decision making between right and wrong, both to stick it to the bad guys, and to outwit them to save those who are clearly worth saving.

I'm 37 now, and this if the first time in 3 years that I've read something that has really drawn me in and has been a lot of fun to read.  Ask my husband - the last couple of years I've read book after book and have thought again and again: Well that was a complete waste of brain cells.  This is true even to the point where I stopped purchasing books because I could not trust that it would be money well spent.

I've heard comments from some who have read her books that they have hopped off half way through the series because Anita begins to change too much.  I'm really interested to see how I respond to this when I get to this point.  I know for myself that I've had intimate conversations with close friends where we admit to each other that we are clearly NOT the same person we were 15 years ago.  We have totally different values, what we think are more open minds and a completely different way of looking at life.  What will I think? We'll just have to stay tuned to find out.

But for now, I think Anita was one of the best things to happen to me right now. James Bond and Indiana Jones have nothing on her.

Prepare for Christmas Early This Year

If you're like me, Christmas gift shopping is a double edge sword. The desire is still there: we want to show our friends and family that we care and think about them. We want to symbolically tell them that they are still special to us.

The down side is that it can be so inconvenient to Christmas shop. We need to pay for parking (if we can find a parking spot!), we often have little ones in tow that do not want to be with us in the first place, we've worked long days and are tired, the weather is really bad and we're worried about getting to and from our favorite shopping places, or packing and sending parcels in the mail can take longer than originally planned for. The list can go on and on.

This is why I am offering an Early Bird Christmas Offer. If you order soaps from me as Christmas gift between now and the end of November, I will package your soaps in holiday colored wrap, include a small Christmas/holiday note, have your package ready addressed with stamps and will send it off on November 25th, which is generally the last shipping day which will guarantee that all packages will reach their destination before Christmas. (I can also send it earlier if you give me instructions to do this).

Purchase your Christmas gifts in September, October or early November. Simply write a message to me in the 'Message to Seller',give me instructions on what I should write on the little holiday card to the recipient of your gift, and where I should send it. Then cross those names off your list and breath a sigh of relief. Your work is done! That's it.

And all of this for no additional cost.

Then you can spend the time before the holidays concentrating on the important things: decorating the house as you wish, baking the Christmas treats you remember from your childhood, attending your children's Christmas concerts while being able to pay full attention to what your youngsters are doing.... not thinking about all the other things you need to get done.

Nothing could be easier. Everyone deserves to have a great holiday this year.

For any other questions, just contact me in my store: Ultimate Organic Soap

My Newest Latest Soaps

I made a bunch of different soaps just before going on summer vacation, and now the school is starting they're ready to go.

I think they look fabulous. All of these soaps are made from olive oil, sunflower oil, soya oil and coconut oil.


This one will be known as PURPLE JASMINE OATMEAL. The lovely flower leaves are picked and dried at my sea side cabin from the wild rose bushes we have there. Unlike commercially purchased flowers, these petals keep their color when dried. Also added is crushed oatmeal (great for the skin) and Jasmine Essential Oil.

This is my new MARIGOLD soap. It crushed oatmeal and dried organic marigold flowers on the top.  

EUCALYPTUS AND LEMON BALM SOAP. Both of which are good to get rid of mosquitos. :)

DARK JASMINE TULIP SOAP - This soap is made with the essential oil Melati, which belongs to the Jasmine family, but has a heavier smell to it. Perfect for winter days when we want to remember the summer.

These are my new, HUGE, bars of MOCHA SHOWER SOAP. Perfect for great scrubbing action.

This is my new SILVER CHRISTMAS SPICE SOAP - a soap with the spices of Allspice, Cinnamon, Ginger and Nutmeg. This combination of spices gives a lovely silver sheen to the soap as well. The smells with be great for the upcoming holiday season.

A new batch of TURMERIC soap. Turmeric is great for those suffering from extra dry skin or exceme.

Should you wish to purchase one of these soaps before I get a chance to put them in my store during the next couple of days, do send me a line at: ultimateorganicsoap@live.no

A New Way of Doing Giveaways -

I've had good success with my give aways up to this point. Up to now, I've given away 2 free soaps for the person who purchases every 50th soap.


But some of my customers have told me that they've often stayed up late into the night, and then gotten up early because of the time difference in order to try to catch the 50th soap, and thus slipping the need to purchase 7 or 8 soaps at once.



Most adults as it is don't get enough sleep, what with long hours at work, taking care of the kids as well as lots of other commitments. I certainly appreciate my customers loyalty. The fact that they would stay up into all hours of the night for something that I make is something I find absolutely amazing.


But at the same time I certainly don't want to become a thorn in someone's side. That was certainly not my plan.

So for the next 100 sales, I'm going to change the rules for the soap give away. Everyone who purchases a soap within the 'last 50 soaps' will have a chance to be drawn to win two free bars of soap. As it stands right now, this would mean that everyone who has purchased a soap from soap #251 to #300 will have their name entered into a draw. I will draw a name and contact that person to let them know they have won.

While I myself am a really competitive person (I'm going to take up Karate after the summer and am so looking forward to the challange!), I do realize that my former contest will not appeal to all customers. And even though I am competitive, I am a true and ardent believer in fairness (for heaven sakes! I'm a Canadian living in Norway! A person cannot get more diplomatic with a belief in social equality than that!).

So we will try this contest for a couple of months and in the meantime I will be eager to hear the opinions of my customers.

In the meantime, keep an eye on my store - herbal soaps and seaweed soaps are almost ready to sell!

My New Herb Soaps -

I've been working hard harvesting all sorts of herbs - or working with herbs that have been harvested for me. Here are the soaps that I have cut and set out to dry:



Above and below are pictures of my newly created Dandelion Soap. This was wonderful to make and I have just fallen in love with the golden color of the soap.

Above and below are samples of organic Laurel Leaf that has been picked and dried for me by GUFOBARDO who has supplied me with many organic herbs. Do contact her if you are interested in what herbs can be purchased from Sardina and what her prices are.

Above and below are pictures of the soap I've been making from STING NETTLES. I'm very much in love with these soaps and have made a few batches already.

And finally here are pictures of Organic Thyme soap. The thyme has also been gathered and dried for me by GAFOBARDO. It smells fantastic and I cannot wait for it to be finished drying and placing it up for sale.

If anyone is interested in purchasing some of these soaps early, just leave a message in the comment sections and I'll contact you.

In the meantime, here's to organic living!

Stinging Nettles and Seaweed Continued.....

We've had another weekend at the cabin, with both myself and my husband looking forward to lots of work.


I of course was looking forward to gathering dandelions for my soap. But alas, on Saturday morning I woke up to this:

Lots of rain. I don't know why I was so surprised. The weather forcast I said it was going to rain over all of Hordaland (the county/province of Norway where we live and have our cabin), but I had been optimistically assuming that the clouds would roll over us and drop their rain in Bergen as they often do.


Not this time however.




On the other hand, the cherry tree is in bloom. This is not something that we usually get a chance to see. Usually Nature and Us do not work so well together and we miss it. So even though it was raining, it was a nice treat.

Another good look at our tree..... it could be a few years before I get another picture like this.

And down on the grass there are lots of wild flowers growing here as well.

But it's time to get to work.

I pull out a bag of nettles that I picked last weekend, dried and froze to get rid of their stinging and burning qualities. And I have with me a couple of sharp objects to help me complete my task.

After the nettles have been dried and frozen, they are so nice to work with. Soft to the touch and no nastiness involved whatsoever.

But before things get too messy, I remember that I cannot do any sort of decent work without good coffee and good music. Last Christmas I received a new Walkman cellphone from my husband. The instruction booklet said that the phone is capable of holding up to 8 000 songs..... but I'm no where near that number. I don't think I'll ever have enough money to download so many songs.

The music is a collection I've downloaded mostly from Itunes, and the coffee is actually imported from Denmark. Don't get me wrong, I love living in Norway.... but there is not a brand of good Norwegian coffee to be found here. After 10 years of really trying hard to like the most popular brands, I simply admitted defeat and have been importing ever since.

So I move myself to the only semi-solid structre we have outside: an old bench. Even our picnic table moves and wobbles so much that I would not trust working on it with sharp objects.

Some basic, course chopping the first time around......

And then switching over to fine chopping, Jamie Oliver style.... though I have to admit I've never seen him use a clever.

And after the nettles are chopped finely enough, they go into a nice, big ziplock bag where they will wait patiently for me to use them in soap.

For those who are wondering why I don't dry my herbs completely, it's because on the west coast of Norway we get so much rain, and it is so damp that except for 2-3 weeks in the summer (if we're lucky!) it's impossible to dry anything naturally. Smoke houses have been used for centuries for both fish and meat, but it seemed that smoking herbs was perhaps not the end goal for me.

After the nettles are packed away, it's time to work on the seaweed. This has been hanging here the last week or so, semi-drying. It wasn't perfectly dry, but I had planned to put it in the freezer along with my other gathered herbs.

I start off with a little bit and begin to chop.....

It's really hard work because as it dries, seaweed becomes more leather like. This little bit above took me almost 15 minutes to chop. And I'm starting to wonder if my time/profit cost ratio is worth it in the end.

I go back and cut some more seaweed down from it's drying rack. I'm using the sheep shearing scissors that my husband's grandfather used.... and it is questionable if he was the first to use them himself.

So I was struggling, on the second little helping of seaweed. Even with my sharpest tools it's a struggle. It was at this point my husband took a coffee break and came to see what I was doing.

Now I do have to admit that I did marry my husband because he was the smartest man I ever met, both with IQ intelligence as well as practicle intelligence. After watching me for a bit he asked me if it was possible to grind the seaweed in the meat grinder we have.

Now what a great idea that was! I had not thought of using my meat grinder as I have not used it myself for almost 4 years. I use it when I/we catch lots of fish. If the fish is fileted and then ground, it can later be used for making fishcakes, gratain or fish puddings (like meatloaf). And, as long as you have all white fish, you can mix it together. But we have not been on any big fishing trips in a long time. Any fish that is caught is usually eaten for dinner that very day.

So we got the meat grinder out, set it up on the edge of the balcony and put it to work. It worked like a charm!

It was grinding up the seaweed better than I could ever chop it and I'm glad that my hubby and I make a good team. BUT! It really started to downpour at this point and this particular balcony railing was not a good place to have the grinder. So both of us decided to call it a day for these activities, and spend some time with the kids.

DAY TWO --

The next day it was starting to clear up. There were rain clouds in the sky, but luckily they were going over us.

And always in the distance we could see some blue sky.

So I set up my meat grinder on the other balcony... the one that had the much nicer view looking out to sea.

And here I started my work.

It's still pretty tough work and today (two days later) I've still got some sore muscles in my right arm.... but it is definitely much easier and much more time efficient than using the chopping method.

And I like the idea that I'm using human power instead of electricity - the ultimate eco-friendly way of getting the job done.

And when it's all ground up.......

Into the antique bowl with the large crack on the side it goes.

When it became clear that my arm was getting sore a bit too quickly, I needed to figure out a way to turn the grinder around without having the risk of breaking dishes that would fall several meters down to the ground. A nail and a plastic lid saved the day. (Although both hubby and I agree that we need to stop in at IKEA on our next trip and find better and bigger tools for me. Perhaps even a bucket that can hang under the grinder..... we'll perfect the technique before summer ends!)

And slowly the cracked antique bowl fills......

And after a short hour it is completely full and I'm out of seaweed. This too has gone into plastic ziplock bags (which can be washed and reused!) and is in the freezer waiting for me to make soap out of it.

Stay tuned for the next harvesting adventure!