Shepherd's Cottage blog

The ingredients that go into Shepherds Cottage Soaps, the benefits of using quality, natural ingredients from trusted sources.

I’ve been thinking a lot about censorship lately, and the power of words. Since I wrote about my summer reading list, I’ve read a lot more!

Lean into the chaos and challenge and delight that is working from home.

Top tips for running a business from home! Running a small business from home is hard, but it is also manageable.

Olive oil bars are for everyone. Even those with the most sensitive skin. It is a staple soap making ingredient, found in most homemade soap

So we’re back from our holiday, just in time. It seems that summer has finally arrived in Scotland and as I write this the sun is beaming...

The Shepherd's Cottage Summer Reading List. None have anything to do with self-improvement, making soap, running a business or contemporary!

Last week was a busy one: with four days at the Royal Highland Show and all the time spent preparing, packing and travelling, I am so...

Early, early golden mornings and late violet-sky nights – summer in Scotland. The weather hasn’t been exactly blissful so far, but the...

Dunollie is just outside of Oban, and the ruined castle stands proud on a cliff overlooking Oban Bay.

Rosehips are the fruit of a rosebush. When roses die and are left on the bush, they leave behind bright reddish-orange, spherical fruit....

One of the key ingredients in my body whips is Sweet Almond Oil. Almonds are actually not a nut but the seed of the almond fruit, which...

Suddenly the business is very busy. And so too is every other part of my life – although maybe it’s always like that, and it just seems...

It’s busy, busy here in the Shepherds Cottage kitchen, as I’m making up a large wholesale order of gorgeous body whips for an independent...

It was National Gardening Week last week, and I wish I could have caught it sooner because when I saw the lovely flower crowns people had...

My girls turned six on Saturday, and we had a lovely party with a house full of people: big ones and little ones!

Ideas for change: to make every day Earth Day.

I’ve learnt a lot since my first craft fair, and here are five things I always take with me.

Lambing is in full swing, it’s finally started warming up, and Easter is nearly here! Any future with chocolate in it must be a good one!

April is finally here! Spring! A few days of sunshine and warmth, and then snow, below freezing temperatures and hailstorms. In like a lion,

It was a great weekend for family and community – getting back to ‘normal’ after Covid, or during Covid (the idea that we are past the...

I did my first craft fair of the year this weekend, and it was a wild ride of pulling everything together after the crazy run of fairs...

I’ve made it. The top of the career ladder: a corner office with great views, desk just how I like it. Coffee on tap. I can choose my...

It’s that time of year again – a few brilliant days of sunshine and you think you can leave the house without a jacket . . . only to run...

Winter shows its face after Christmas. This year especially, January and February have brought gales, storms and ice to harden the earth...

Next week, on the first of March, I’ll be starting a round of #MarchMeetTheMaker, a social media challenge run on Instagram every year...

Different ingredients result in a different final product, so how you incorporate them into a soap recipe is important.

The benefits of using essential oils are well documented, and you can take advantage of these benefits by choosing natural products like the

I’m going to take a wee break from my series about soap making to write about something else: book club. I don’t belong to a book club,...

“How do you make your soap?” is a question I’m often asked, and like anyone who loves what they do I can talk about it for hours. And I...

We’re just over two weeks into the new year – how’s 2022 starting out for you? One of my #gardeninggoals this year was to take some good...

Happy New Year everyone from my family to yours! It’s great to be back. This morning I was up again for my morning meditation and yoga...

So here it is! The last blog post of the year. It’s been a good one, overall. Even with all the challenges and heart ache, as I sit here,...

The last working weekend of the year. I came home from a morning running errands to a dining room table full of parcels. Okay, maybe not...

Both girls will be back at school tomorrow, and we will be able to start making plans for the next couple of weeks. We’ve been in...

Lismore is undoubtably a beautiful place to visit, with breath-taking scenery that will uplift your soul in any weather. It is rich in...

I’ve said before that I am not a good candidate for a pandemic: if this were a dystopian movie, I would be the hysterical woman at the...

After all the making, wrapping and packing up, on Thursday I drove to Aberdeen for Crathes Castle Christmas fair. It was time to get my...

It’s all go here at Shepherds Cottage. Getting ready for my first Christmas fair is vastly different to getting ready for any other fair...

I’ve made my Christmas cake, have you? I never wait for Stir Up Sunday – the traditional day for Christmas pudding or cake making,...

We ran out of water during the summer – I’ve blogged about it before, laughing at the irony of our borehole running dry in a place where...

The girls and I spent the single sunny day we had during the school holidays having an adventure on Kerrera. It’s true that you seldom...

I’ve loved reading all the autumnal posts on Facebook and Instagram, indulging in the beautifully photographed leaves in streams, soaps...

Last week I did an online course about Google, SEO’s and blogging with Maddy Shine Maddy Shine SEO Queen & Visibility Coach. Besides her...

It’s been really wet and windy on the island, which on the one hand is lovely as it’s filling up our water reserves, but on the other,...

It’s been a week since I came back from Glasgow, having spent a week selling soaps in the John Lewis in Buchanan Galleries. It’s taken a...

All I did last week was hustle. And now, I’m hoping to see all that hard work pay off. The blog is going to have to wait a while – I’m...

I start most days with lists: a list of things to do that day, a list of things happening during the week, a list of affirmations!

Last week was a week for new beginnings, for sure. The girls had their first week of primary school, their teacher had her first week in...

What’s new? In the Shepherd’s Cottage house, I’ve just put my girls on the school bus, and they’re away to “ask her (their teacher) who...