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

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.

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...

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!

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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

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...

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...

What makes a bar of soap special? The way it smells; the way it looks; the feel of it in your palms as it lathers and turns; how it...

My Instagram and Facebook feeds are full of soap: how to make it, how to use it, what goes into it. And they are also full of Soap. The...