I Have The Most Generous Readers

First there was the reader on the East coast who sent me $100 to give to the homeless on Christmas day. Then another reader, Anne from Minnesota, sent me a collection of her fabulous homemade soaps and potpourri. Rose Gold and Calendula are among the many fragrances and I think Calendula is made out of old calendars although it might have been made out of colanders. I'm not good with details.

I'm posting this info because I liked what she sent me and I get no kickbacks or more free stuff out of it. So I'm talking from the heart here. I know, many of you didn't think I had a heart. PSYCH!

The designs are discs, stars or hearts (I photographed the heart upside down because it wouldn't sit on its side without falling over) and the ingredients used are olive, coconut, cocoa butter and all natural dyes. I keep the big jar of potpourri in my bedroom, with the lid off, and it emits the most perfectly understated floral aroma. It can also be tossed into a vacuum bag and used to freshen the carpet but since I'm not the Queen Of Cleaning because I'm far too busy doing...uh, you know, nothing, I took the sit-the-jar-on-a-bureau and stare-at-it option.

The best part of Anne's company, Really Homemade Soap, is that unlike the store-bought variety, her merchandise lasts forever and won't gunk up a soap dish.
Gunk free and used every day in a stolen ashtray from Les Deux Magots in Paris, where they apparently don't know how to spell my name correctly.

If you're looking for gifts that are homey and woodsy and other words that end in 'sy', click here.