It's almost been a week since we did the Mountain Laurel Festival, and I guess we are suffering from post (first show) let-down or up as the case may be.
The show was great, we sold soap, lots of soap! People gave us positive feedback about which scents they liked, loved, were so-so or wanted us to have in the future. Local merchants asked us to sell our soap in their store, we were invited to other festivals and markets. It was a really good day.
Both of us were blown away that so many of our friends came to the Festival, not to see the parade, but specifically to support us, that was hands down the best part of the day. The encouragement and cheer we got from friends and family was wonderful, it is good to have such a network of supporters, we thank all of you for being there and hope you enjoy your soap!
Some of you may have heard the term "Blackberry Winter" - it's probably derived from 18th century folk lore. In case you've never heard the term, by definition it's the last gasp of cold weather which is supposed to happen when the wild blackberry bushes are blooming or during "blackberry winter" On the morning of the festival it was 37 degrees!! Full on Blackberry Winter, on the way to town we observed blooming blackberry bushes everywhere we looked, so much for folk lore!
Thankfully as we set up the weather was clear, but that didn't last. As the blustery (we were glad to have concrete blocks weighing the tent corners down) day progressed it went from cold and clear; to cold, overcast, windy and rainy. Many festival attendees stuck it out, but unfortunately by early afternoon the crowds (and vendors) had thinned considerably. As the rain started then stopped several times we were kept busy moving the soap away from the blowing rain and trying to keep it dry, soap bubbles flowing down the street we didn't need.
The festival went on into the night but vendors were told to pack up between 3 and 5, we left around 4. Both of us were exhausted, a combination of excitement, anticipation, then just plain work leading up to and during the festival. We unloaded the cars and just left everything for a couple of days.
Alison had family stuff to do and Kathy had old friends visiting, so we both switched off the soap buttons in our brains, for a few days anyway.
Below you will see a few pictures that were taken during the festival, note the jackets and long pants!
This picture was early, we still had sun, technically it was taken before the festival started, we were set up and ready to go!
This was later, by this time the sun was gone and rain was on the way. On the far left you can see Alison's daughter Emma (in green) and if you look really close you can see Alison right behind her.
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