Ocracoke Bound

We are off for our long awaited and yearned for trip to Ocracoke Island, North Carolina. The outer most barrier island, Ocracoke is only accessible by boat or air. The National Park service manages most of the island with on small village at the far end. Only about 600 people call Ocracoke home. There are no big box stores, fast food, or even a movie theater! All shops & hotels are owned by the locals and most people walk or bike around the village. The beach, fishing, crabbing, and just relaxing are the order of the day. When you leave the ferry, you are truly "below the stress line" I'm off !!

Spring Has Sprung

After a long, seeming endless winter, Spring has sprung here in the Valley. The robins are back, peeper frogs sing us to sleep, and the snowdrops, squill, and daffodils give us a preview of colors to come!
April 18th is the Pine Bush Little League Parade. All the kids are out in their bright new uniforms to parade down Main Street & to the Town Park to the music of our own Walker Valley Marching Band & HS Marching Band. Small town fun at its best!
But something else will be happening downtown that day. Pine Bush has a long history of UFO sightings & is known as The UFO Capitol of the Northeast. Aliens have been spotted popping up in shop windows all over town!! What is this strange phenonmenon?? Its UFO Hide & Seek!! A FUN & FREE Event for the whole family. Spot "Alfie the Alien" in his flying saucer in each shop with aliens in the window and collect a star token. Collect 18 tokens ( 10 for children 5 and under) and redeem at Stewarts for a free ice cream cone. Enter to win a free shop local gift basket! No registration required and everyone can play! Here are a few of the extraterrestrials we've spotted.

No Down Time Here!

Been a busy month here at The Old Red Barn. Once we decided to move the shop down to the lower level ( the upstairs was always intended to be studio space) we started going hells-poppin'! The old cement floor was framed out and rigid insulation laid. We now have a beautiful wide pine plank floor waiting for the warmer weather to be sealed. A brick platform was laid in anticipation of a pellet stove, additional outlets & lighting were wired in. This gives us more usable space and I get my studio back. It also eliminates the trip up the stairs which was difficult for some of our customers.


We've also teamed up with a wonderful, talented group of local Hudson Valley artisans who are interested in being part of our shop. More on this as we develop our shop & handcrafted gallery.
"At 1846 House Soaps...we're not just soap!"

In our area, the community works long & hard to provide an All Night Graduation Party for our seniors. The local chamber of commerce as well as many civic organizations raise funds to provide this safe and memorable night for our young people. Gift certificates, merchandise , and fundraisers abound. Everyone contributes & everyone gets involved. This is what makes living in a small town so rewarding!


1846 House Soaps has also gotten involved in Relay for Life. Here in Pine Bush, we "Paint the Town Purple" during the festivities. We are doing Awareness Ribbon goat milk & shea butter soaps (with a purple ribbon, of course) for two of the relay teams as a fundraiser. These 4 ounce bars of Lilac scented soap will also be available in my etsy shop (1846housesoaps.etsy.com) with 50% of the purchase price donated to Relay for Life. Here's a chance for your to purchase a great soap and donate to a cause that affects us all. These will be available for a limited time,
so get 'em while they're here! Together...we can make a difference!

Until next time, have a wonderful & creative day!

Boy, have I got Eggs!

The cute little puff ball chicks from last July have morphed into mature chicken ladies and commenced laying just before Christmas. Red Comets lay beautiful, large brown eggs and are personable as well. These gals have been raised on non medicated organic feed & produce and are the healthiest & happiest chickens around! But lets do the math. 26 hens x 5 eggs per week is a staggering number of eggs. If this were Farmers Market Season, I'd be selling eggs as fast as the girls could produce them! While the shop is open, this is the slow time of year. Had a brilliant idea this am for marketing these eggs to the folks who purchase organic at the supermarket. Wish me luck on this one. If you are local, the shop is open Wednesday thru Sunday, 11am-6pm and in addition to our Goat Milk Soaps & Lotions, Soaps by Happy Herbs Soap, beautiful & Funky scarves by Out of Hand, ....we have eggs for sale!

Welcome to 1846 House Soaps

Welcome to the Soap Barn : so glad you could stop by. 1846 House Soaps is many things.. A cozy shop in a restored barn, situated in New York's Beautiful Hudson Valley.
A virtual shop at 1846housesoaps.etsy.com or My Space. A Google search result or the vendor you purchased soap from at a Farmers Market, Street Fair, or Craft Show.

To my local customers , thanks for a wonderful and successful year. I love meeting and visiting with all of you and appreciate your dedication to shopping locally and supporting local artisans. Without you, 1846 House Soaps would not have passed the idea stage. For those of you who found me on the Internet, I hope to create the same feeling for you. A different kind of shopping is waiting for you in the barn...