In this issue:

Soap Of The Month
Bonus Points
Alabu Farm
Featured Feedback

It has been quite an exciting month here at Alabu. The signs of Spring are all around us. It seems we are becoming quite the hang out for unusual birds. This month we had a pileated woodpecker stop by for a snack. Our main staff member Louise (also known as weeze) spotted him when she stepped outside to take a cell call (we don’t get good cell reception here). If you’ve never seen one, think the cartoon character woody wood pecker, they are large (up to 20 inches), spectacular, prehistoric-looking birds with a large red crest atop their head. They are a woods bird that feed on insects in dead trees. Next we had what we think was a female red winged black bird (my mother in law always said they were a sure sign of spring) fly down our chimney. It was trapped in there so Hal opened the chimney clean-out, caught it in a bag and let it go outside.

I also had an attack of jealousy when talking to our Pastor who told me he had put in some maple taps this year, we had done it for years but had stopped in recent years. I wished I could do that again and then I thought, I can do that! I only put in one tap and figure I should be able to get a about a quart of Maple syrup which is more than enough for us.

I have to share a funny story with you that happened this morning. I decided first thing today that I was going to make tomato sauce for dinner and lots extra to put in the freezer for those all too frequent days when I haven’t made anything for dinner. Anyway, the onions that I was chopping were getting to my eyes, so I went and got my full-face respirator that I use for soap making. It was working perfectly; chopping onions and no tears. Then Chia (the dog) scratched on the door to go out. So I stopped chopping and went to the door a few feet away and opened the door for her. She didn’t go out; she just sat there looking at me in a state of shock with eyes just about popping out of her head. I said “its ok Chia come on you can go out” She just stared at me looking like I was a space alien (how I wished I had a camera). Finally after more coaxing she flew past me out the door. Once safely in the garage she put on the brakes, turned and looked horrified at the thing that had let her out before she ran out into the yard. I chuckled as went back to my chopping, but made sure to take off the respirator to let the poor dog back in. Once Chia was back in the house I put my mask back on to finish up the onions and she looked at me as if to say ”Oh, that was you” It was all pretty comical and I was glad to see she was not traumatized for life. Ok the tomato sauce is simmering away and I have to get back to work. :o) We hope you enjoy the newsletter this month.

Soap of the Month

We have had many requests to have a soap of the month sale, giving folks an opportunity to try a featured soap at a reduced price. This month we are featuring Jasmine. Jasmine is one of the first flowers that come to mind when one thinks of sweet fragrance. The intoxicating aroma has captured the imagination for centuries. In East India, it is used by women in their hair. It is known there as “moonlight of the grove." Known as the "king of fragrance," because it’s complex scent is found in most great perfumes. It is also said to be very calming and the fragrance of love. It takes over 1000 pounds of Jasmine flowers to make 8 ounces of jasmine absolute which makes it too expensive to use in soap; so we use a high quality replica fragrance oil with some real jasmine absolute in it to make our Jasmine soap.

Bonus Points - What are they and how do you use them?

We have a Bonus Point program for our customers that place orders over the internet. Customers collect 1 bonus point for each dollar in product ordered. So a purchase of $50.00 worth of Alabu products will earn you 50 points. The redemption value of 20 points is $1.00. That is, for every 20 points you have, you can redeem them for $1.00 off of your order. A 100 point redemption would equal $5.00 off of your order. The bonus points are roughly equal to a 5% discount on each order once you have redeemed them.

How do you redeem your points? I am glad you asked. To redeem your points, first login to your Alabu account. After you are logged in, click on "Bonus Points" in the "Your Cart" section of the page. This will take you to the Bonus Points page. Read through the directions to gain a complete understanding of how the program works but in short, you click on the "Convert to a Gift Certificate" and convert your Bonus Points into a Gift Certificate that either you can use when checking out yourself or you can send it on as a gift to a family member or friend.

Alabu Farm
Some pictures from from around the farm.

Click on a picture to see a larger version.

Featured Feedback
We love hearing from our customers. We get a lot of notes each month and many we put up in our Testimonial section. We do not alter the notes that we get (other than the occasional spelling error or misplaced word). We thought it might be helpful to highlight one each month that we found particularly interesting.

Dear Alabu:
Thank you for the best winter I've ever had with my skin. The goat milk soap leaves my skin so soft, I only use a little lotion stick where needed. I gave my dad 4 big bars of your soap for his birthday - and he said oh good, my favorite soap! (I had given him some small sample sized soaps to try) I owe him a tea tree lotion stick, though, because my daughter found it first and started using it before I could give it to him!! My only wish would be for a liquid hand soap to keep by the kitchen sink!
Susan - Uniontown, OH

A reminder, we do offer free shipping on orders over $60.

Thank you for your continued interest and support. We are always trying to serve you better, please don’t hesitate to let us now how we’re doing and how we can better serve you. We take your trust seriously and intend to create the best natural products for your skin for you and your family. And as always if your ever in the neighborhood stop in and say hello to the goats.

Sincerely,

Maryclaire, Dean, & Hal

In the News

In the February 24 Daily Gazette Business section a very nice article was run on Alabu. We would like to thank you our customers for the great feedback we recieved and thank you for your continued business.

Read article

New Soap: Lavender Mint

Our Lavender Mint was made to fill a request. This person loved Lavender mint so much she would buy Lavender and Peppermint and bind them together with dental floss. We tried the combination and knew at once we had a winner. Relaxing Lavender and cool refreshing Peppermint. Lavender is said to relieve stress, headaches and help reduce the spread of colds and viruses. Mint is uplifting and said to relieve a headache, reduce mental fatigue, and increase alertness. This soap leaves you feeling soft, clean and refreshed.

Alabu Blog

Our son Hal has started a new blog on his experiences in the family soap making adventure. You can check it out here .

Featured Products
Lavender Mint Soap
Soap Of The Month
Foot Care Spa

Gift Items
Gift Baskets
Gift Packs
Baby Gifts
All Gift Items
Shaving Soap
Mug & Brush
Deluxe Mug & Brush
Moisturizer
Lotion Sticks
All Products

See Alabu news-letters from previous months.