Mini hand lotion production line

Image via Wikipedia

The last 2 days have been spent filling bottles with the honey hand wash and hand lotion. We quickly learnt that a funnel was needed, when on the first pour the hand lotion overflowed, and that it can get quite slippy if you spill any hand wash. But I did find that they both smell really fresh and zingy, and the smell lingers afterwards.
There will be a delay before they can go on sale, as we are having label issues - namely the super polyester waterproof labels that are supposedly suitable for Ink jet printers, actually melt in the machine, and jam up the printer. Therefore we are having to go further afield than our local printer, and are struggling to find someone who can print onto them.
The company we bought the labels from were very unhelpful, and basically didn't want to know about it - so we may have ended up with two boxes of polyester labels that we can't use.
Some good news is that the whole PCI DSS mystery seems to be getting resolved. It is a new compliance scheme that all retail websites must pass by September, but the information is written by computer geeks. Fortunately, once again Philippe and his team at Blue Earth Solutions were able to help, so fingers crossed we pass the IP scan tomorrow.

Natural Collection Handpicked Flowers

I've just received the new label designs for our new hand picked flowers and they look amazing - the hardest thing is trying to choose which colour.....
British naturally grown cut flowers seems to be a really hot topic at the moment, and when you stop to think about it, it does make sense. As with food we've got used to having lilies and delphiniums in March, or dahlias in May, when really, as with seasonal eating, if we go back to how nature intended it, you start to have something to look forward to each month - a bit like Asparagus season!
The other benefit is that homegrown flowers, tend to be the more traditional varieties, and have a stronger scent. If more people grow their own flowers it will also benefit the poor bee population.
I also have a personal reason for being quite proud of this new range, and that's because of where they are grown, on the hillside slopes overlooking the River Wye, just a few miles from where I was born.
I will be going back home to do the pictures in a few weeks time - keep an eye out as I will post a few pics of our photoshoot on this blog!