June is Bustin' Out!

Wow, is it June already? Time really does fly. I love June, though. The warmer temps (although we have yet to experience them this month), the flowers blooming gloriously, the longer days, it's all exciting and invigorating after the long months inside. I so enjoy walking outside and seeing more things blooming than the day before.

At work, we were very busy with Mother's Day and all the wonderful children who get flowers for their mothers. We recovered from that and moved to the Junior Prom and the Senior Ball, with some concerts and early college graduations thrown in.

My hubby and I celebrated our wedding anniversary in May by taking a trip for two to Belhurst Castle in Geneva, NY. Everything was so nice and we were treated very well by the staff there. If only I hadn't gotten sick!

That same weekend, my garden club participated in a plant sale called Proud Market, where we sold plants we had all potted up. We did quite well, earning some money to pay our next year's speakers with. :-)

Sunday, I was fortunate enough to go to Linwood Gardens to see tree peonies. These gardens are located in Pavilion, NY, and were the gardens of a wealthy family. I don't know too much about the history, but someone must have loved tree peonies, because the collection is quite extensive. We were warned that the most of the peonies had already bloomed, so we didn't know if disappoinment was in store, but I am happy to report that there were enough blooms left to impress us, so I'm glad I went.

On the way back, we stopped at a garden center, Palmiter's, where I got 4 herbs--pineapple sage, lemon verbena, a Japanese herb that I can't recall the name of, and a beautiful variegated oregano. Yea! I had a lemon verbena for years, until it finally gave up. I couldn't find one last year, so I snatched it up yesterday. I've also had pineapple sage in the past, and really enjoyed it, so I was happy to find it again. I never remember to take cuttings in time in the fall!


I also found a hardy geranium, "Midnight Reiter." It's blue and beautiful, and I can't wait to plant it. I have quite a collection of geraniums now, and it's my goal to get them all photographed and properly labeled.

At my local garden store, I spotted a huge amount and variety of wonderful ceramic planters for container gardens. I gravitated toward green and white ones, but they just weren't right. Suddenly, the cobalt blue caught my eye, and there it was, the accent color I needed to spice up my front yard decor! Of course, the cost of buying all the pots I'd have liked, coupled with the weight of moving them around every year kept me from putting my money where my imagination was. Instead of purchasing the lovely ceramic pots, I took my 40% off coupon to Michael's and bought paint and am working on painting plastic pots. I used Krylon's Fusion paint for plastic. It works well, but wasn't quite the right blue, so I did a faux cobalt effect, and then added a bit of very dark blue for depth. I am spraying them with a finish spray and then they will finally be ready for planting with all of the flowers and herbs I've purchased. Whew! No wonder I'm tired.

I have photos of Belhurst to post, and some geraniums, but will have to post Linwood pictures later after my techies help me figure out what's wrong. I hope I have all the pictures.

The world is in bloom and I am thrilled! I am so thrilled, that I am offering a new item free.

If you order $25 worth of product (before shipping), I will add a full size foamer bottle of liquid soap in any scent you like, as long as it's one I have in stock. This includes essential oils. No charge.

Herbal Bath Teas: Oatmeal, Milk, & Honey, Purely Herbal Blend, Four Milk Blend, and Relaxation Blend - $2/ea.
Liquid shower gel: All natural. 2 oz. for $4; 4 oz. $6.00
Lotion: Hand and body lotion - 4 oz, $7
Limited Edition Soap: Lavender Patch, a lovely blend of lavender and patchouli. Very few bars left, $6.50 ea.

Foaming Soap: Comes in scents listed on site. Just $7/bottle for 6 fl. oz.

Beau Update and Spring Splendor

Spring Splendor is at its peak here in Rochester. The crabapples and Forsythia have already shed their flowers, but Magnolias, Flowering Quince, and my favorite, Redbud, are still wowing us with their beauty. As for bulb flowers, most of my Daffs have only leaves as reminders of their previous glory, but the tulips are beckoning a closer look.

As I walk around my yard, amazed and appalled at the proliferation of the dandelions (I know, they're good for us), I see old friends returning from previous years as well as perennials I planted last fall making their debut. All of these are exciting to me, but also very special are the lilacs.

Rochester, NY boasts the largest collection of Lilacs in the world, I am proud to announce. Whether it be tall or dwarf, red violet, lavender, pink, or white, you'll find it here. At least once during the festival you'll likely find us wandering around Highland Park, drinking in the heady scent. The park is home to many other wonderful types of vegetation, as well, and is well worth the effort to get there.

This is when I pity southerners, who can't grow the cold-loving lilacs. I admit that it's nice to have something on the warmer south!

In celebration of lilac month, I'd like to announce a sale.

It's Lilac Festival time in Rochester! The lilacs are in full bloom and are not only lovely, but are perfuming the air with their gorgeous scent. For the month of May, a free bar of Rochester Lilac soap will be included in any order of just $15 or more. If you don't have lilacs where you live, here is your chance to "stop and smell the lilacs."

Additional products in lilac scent include bath salts, bath milk, body spray, lotion, and liquid soap/shower gel.

Herbal Bath Teas: Oatmeal, Milk, & Honey, Purely Herbal Blend, Four Milk Blend, and Relaxation Blend - $2/ea.
Liquid shower gel: All natural. 2 oz. for $4; 4 oz. $6.00
Lotion: Hand and body lotion - 4 oz, $7
Limited Edition Soap: Lavender Patch, a lovely blend of lavender and patchouli. Very few bars left, $6.50 ea.

Foaming Soap: Comes in scents listed on site. Just $7/bottle for 6 fl. oz.

Now, for Beau news: the kid is growing, still very cute, playful, and not housebroken. It seems that he'll be one of those little guys who is so ugly that he's cute, LOL. Check out the photos. His final name is Beau, btw, but I call him, "Beaudacious," because that describes his personality. ;-)

New Family Member!

The Byrne family has welcomed a new family member! His name is Bodacious, and he is a three-month old Peekapoo (Pekingese/Poodle). Since his name is bigger than he is, he shall be nicknamed, "Bo," or derivations thereof.

He is a handful, already, very playful, and of course, not housebroken. It's a good thing babies of every species are incredibly adorable, or things would be much different in this world! Still, he has stolen our hearts, and we are having so much fun watching his antics and cuddling him. Mickey, Tobey, and Hobbes are not quite as thrilled, I must admit. I'm sure they'll all get used to each other, though.

To celebrate this happy event I am offering a sale. Get 20% off of any order, $20 minimum, not including shipping. This sale lasts for one week. After that, I'll be too tired. :-)

Some items not on the site, but for sale include:
Herbal Bath Teas: Oatmeal, Milk, & Honey, Purely Herbal Blend, Four Milk Blend, and Relaxation Blend - $2/ea. Ready to use, just drop it in the water when you run it.

Liquid shower gel: All natural. 2 oz. for $4; 4 oz. $6.00 New!

Lotion: Hand and body lotion - 4 oz, $7 Moisturizing, beautifying lotion for all seasons.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I hope you all enjoyed your mini-holiday, St. Patrick's Day. It was a pleasant one for me. The weather was warm and sunny, where it's often cold and snowy. It felt just like spring. I know that I can't allow myself to be fooled; winter will return before spring comes in earnest, but it was nice pretending for a couple of days.

We had lots of latecomers at the store, hoping for shamrocks or green carnations, but unfortunately, I had to turn them away, because we sold all we had.

We took an out of state trip to visit our dd, sil, and grandchildren. Their church dedication was on Sunday, so we wanted to be there. We had a good trip, loved spending time with all, and are happy to be back home. :-)

Now, I'm busy finalizing some tax work, paying bills, and working on projects for our garden club. There's always plenty to do!

In honor of St. Paddy's Day, and everything green, here's my special for March:

Your purchase of $10 or over (before shipping) scores you a free bar of any green soap! I carry Sweetgrass, Daybreak (spearmint & eucalyptus), Fresh Cut Grass, Lemongrass, Fresh Herbal, and others. Just ask!

If you'd rather, you can get a glycerin soap with a 4-leaf clover or celtic knot in green, with your choice of scent--Irish Mist, Peppermint, Spearmint, Lemongrass/Lime, Green Apple, and Fresh Herbal, in addition to the above soaps.

Not on site, but available:

Herbal Bath Teas: Oatmeal, Milk, & Honey, Purely Herbal Blend, Four Milk Blend, and Relaxation Blend - $2/ea.
Liquid shower gel: All natural. 2 oz. for $4; 4 oz. $6.00
Lotion: Hand and body lotion - 4 oz, $7
Limited Edition Soap: Lavender Patch, a lovely blend of lavender and patchouli. Very few bars left, $6.50 ea.

I am working on the perfect shower scrub, and having fun doing it. :-) I'll post pics of kids and product soon!

February is almost over

I am not a fan of February, Valentine's Day notwithstanding. In spite of its mere 28 or 29 days, it drags on and on. It's cold, people are sick, and it's dreary. Historically, Feb. has not treated my family well, it seems, or maybe it's just my own bleak outlook. I remember years back when two of my kids had chicken pox for the first two weeks, and the other two had them for the second two weeks. Four years ago this week, we had to put our dog, Riley, down because of chronic health problems. Friday, we had to put down one of our beloved kitties, Fred.

Fred looked like a Siamese cat, but his mother was a commoner, and so were the rest of the kittens in this litter. I wasn't looking for a cat, but when I heard he was Siamese, I changed my mind.

We were never sorry we got Fred because he was such a sweet, lovable, mellow guy, and very handsome. It was hard making the decision to put him down, but we didn't want him to suffer just so we could have him longer, so we opted not to go ahead with medical procedures and let him go. We are taking comfort in the fact that his suffering did not last long and we have many happy memories of him hanging out with the dogs, looking for lovin', and enjoying my gardens.

He will be missed.

In celebration of the fact that February is on its last leg, I'd like to offer a sale. Here it is:
End of February sale! It's February, it's cold, your skin is dry. You need something heavy-duty to bring back the moisture and make your skin supple again. Buy an 8 oz. jar of whipped body butter and get a free bar of soap!

Please email me or leave, "Feb.Butter" in the comments section to get your free bar.

Not on site, but available:
Herbal Bath Teas: Oatmeal, Milk, & Honey, Purely Herbal Blend, Four Milk Blend, and Relaxation Blend - $2/ea.
Liquid shower gel: All natural. 2 oz. for $4; 4 oz. $6.00
Lotion: Hand and body lotion - 4 oz, $7
Limited Edition Soap: Lavender Patch, a lovely blend of lavender and patchouli. Very few bars left, $6.50 ea.

Visit http://www.soapandgarden.com/ today!

Groundhog Day & Super Bowl

Super Bowl - I am a poor football fan, I must confess. In fact, I chose to root for the Cardinals because I liked their colors better than the Steelers'--pathetic, I know. We all went to our computer shop to watch because we have a huge t.v. screen there. So, I watched. It was a good, close game, to be sure, and I found myself disappointed that my team didn't win.

On to the other big happening of winter. . .

Was it any surprise that Punxatawney Phil forecast 6 more weeks of winter? It certainly wasn't for me, even though I am ready for spring! Still, we in northern climes have to think long and hard about what we like about winter. Here is what I came up with:

*Being inside, hopefully cuddled with a hubby, child, or pet and maybe even a roaring fire.
*Looking through seed and plant catalogs and dreaming about a lovely, lush garden without doing all the work.
*Working on new formulas or products, or perfecting formulas for what I already make. Since I love to produce and experiment, this truly is a delightful time.

I've been working on a body exfoliating scrub, and have made some I like and others I don't like as much. By spring, I hope to have my final product ready to unveil. My most recent one stays solid in the jar, but scoops out easily, feels great on my skin, and lathers just a tiny bit. I like that it doesn't leave my skin feeling greasy, just moisturized. This one includes sea salt, organic sugar, oils, milk powder, and oat powder, as the major ingredients. Sound good?

Groundhog day special: Get a free bottle of lotion with a $25.00 purchase! Of course, shipping doesn't count as part of the $30. Your choice of fragrance.

It's Cold!

We had one nice day last week where the temp. rose to a balmy 40 degrees. Rochestarians were reveling in it. I even saw some in shorts! Things are back to normal now, though, temps mostly in the teens.

How do we endure it? Our town's garden club taught a seminar tonight on starting seeds indoors, and I realized that many of us just wait it out, dreaming of spring. I'd go on about the sun caressing my skin with warmth and feeling the grass under my feet, but I don't want to torture myself. Instead, I'll congratulate those of us in the north on our patience and longsuffering.

We did have a good turnout, and the students seemed to enjoy absorbing the information and planting their seeds, so maybe winter isn't all bad. Besides, I can always take a nice, warm bath. . . . ah. . .

We'll continue our January special, purchase any 5 products, and get the 6th free. The 6th product will be equal to or less in price than the other 5. Go to www.soapandgarden.com to order, or email me at beth@soapandgarden.com with questions or local orders.

Leave a comment on my blog and be entered into a drawing for a free bar of soap! Eligible for US residents only, please.