So kinda a soapy experience today. Decades ago, in the late 90s, a couple gave us homemade CP soap for Christmas and it was incredible and lovely. At the time, it was their tradition to spend a day making soap to give as gifts. It was the first time that I sat up and thought, hmm, this is awesome soap, I should try to make it myself someday!
'Someday' turned into 2017 when I decided to give homemade CP soap as Christmas gifts myself.
This couple now continues to make a simple holy trinity of oils soap, unscented and uncolored. They have not discovered this awesome sub-culture of soapers, they have not watched any YouTubes, Instagram, social media, or visited this forum. They have expressed surprise when I use the word 'soaping' as a verb. Innocent little lambs in the woods that they are, and we love them dearly.
Today these friends visited our "new" home and wanted the grand tour. They even wanted to see the basement! The basement where we hide all of our crap in a desperate effort to keep our house presentable for company-- and where I soap. I have 5 soaps curing and on display, and several batches in shoe boxes. They got excited to see all the soap. The wife says, with great affection, "thank you, Zing, for completely wrecking the idea that we would ever again give away our soap as gifts." LOL -- they were the ones to inspire me to soap in the first place! I actually really like their soap, especially their rosehip soap using rosehips from their garden. They are dear, dear friends and I will be forever grateful for introducing me to CP soap.
And that, folks, is my origin story.