It's not yet winter. It might be frosty and cold and icy, but it's not yet winter. I keep telling myself this, like we can keep the cold at bay a little longer. 

We've been busily pottering about in the house: still stripping wallpaper (there is almost enough wallpaper in this house to go around the world three times, I'm sure of it), smoothing off bits of artex, plastering, priming, choosing colours. That bit is quite fun. There are swatches painted all over. 

I feel like I've stepped into a timewarp: last week it was May. Then there was a week of crying baby, waking up every hour at night, unpacking boxes, visitors visiting, pots of tea. And now, it's suddenly October. And Isla is turning two next week! Already!

I've also started something rather exciting: we're making soap. Properly making proper soap, totally natural with no artificial fragrances or colourants or other bits and bobs. With certification from chemists, very accurate measurements, fancy trade scales, proper packaging. 

We're setting up shop around the seaside Christmas Markets and I've been creating the website (here). I've connected it to Etsy which is rather exciting. There's a whole story to share with you, and I will. Soon. For now, I'm mixing ingredients and taking photos and printing packaging and making sure that everything is just so for our first event next week. These are exciting times. Busy times. Party hats and soap suds.