Who won Goat-Milk Stuff? And what's this about stained glass?

Our giveaway winner announced, plus a sneak-peek at the next one.

Image courtesy Goat-Milk Stuff.

By Lisa Brunette

First things first: We have a winner in our much ballyhooed (at least by me) summer giveaway. Pat Olson of Duluth, MN, won 35 US dollars’ worth of goat-milk soap products. Pat’s too camera-shy to send a pic but wrote this in a recent comment thread on one of our posts:

I just received my Goat-Milk Stuff! Thanks, Lisa! The soap smells great, the unscented deodorant is a perfect consistency, and I am excited to try the laundry soap. Thanks again!

Pat also shared this with us when upgrading to paid:

Congratulations to Pat—and thanks for the compliment! Come here for the pectin-free jam, stay for the entertaining snark.

Also want to shout-out to PJ Jonas of Goat-Milk Stuff for participating in our summer giveaway.

We purchased both the samples (to test them first) and the awarded items ourselves in this summer’s giveaway. We didn’t receive anything from Goat-Milk Stuff in exchange for this feature—outside of PJ’s time and gift of participating, plus the coupon discounts for Brunette Gardens subscribers—and we’re not affiliated with the company in any way. (Read about our policies here.)

Summer giveaway: Goat-milk farm products

I sought out Goat-Milk Stuff’s products in my own quest to rid our bathroom of manufactured free glutamates and endocrine-disrupting chemicals, which negatively affect both me and Anthony. My issue is autoimmune, with a whole host of reactions from head to toe, and Anthony battles eczema and hay fever. Goat-Milk Stuff’s products are perfect for us to use, so I’ve completely switched over, now stocking up on the soap, shampoo bar, laundry detergent, shaving soap, and deodorant. They’re all excellent, and we’ll keep using them.

It’s our pleasure to highlight businesses like Goat-Milk Stuff, and we hope you enjoyed PJ’s story.

PJ Jonas: The 'Goat Milk Stuff' Story

Now’s your last chance to take advantage of the 20-percent off coupon: Just head to the Goat-Milk Stuff website and enter the code BG2023 at checkout to get the discount, now through September 30, 2023.

Get 20% off all Goat Milk Stuff products at www.goatmilkstuff.com using the code BG2023 at checkout, now through 9/30/23.

Falling in love with stained glass

Sample work from Just Peachy Glass.

For our fall giveaway, we’re featuring an up-and-coming stained-glass artist, Sara Hardin of Just Peachy Glass. Sara used to work for me as a full-time writer over at the game studio, and it killed me to lay her off this spring in our unfortunate downsizing. But she’s discovered this other creative pursuit in glassmaking, and it’s been a treat to help mentor her in her own small-business foray. I’ve asked her to recreate our Brunette Gardens logo in stained glass as well as originate a fresh design for fall, which we’ll award to one paid subscriber.

Besides enthusiasm for Sara’s new endeavor and a desire to support her work, my other reason for featuring her for our next giveaway is part of the larger mission here: To be of service to our community as we manage this slowpocalypse. What do I mean by slowpocalypse? Waning empire, living on the downward slope of fossil-fuel boom times, the crapification of manufactured goods that ensued post-NAFTA, the abandonment of tradition and the family, food insecurity, ecological deterioration and pollution, the rise of the authoritarian state post-9/11 and through the pandemic, the failures of our health-care system and other institutions in which we’ve lost confidence (education, scientific research, the press). OK, but what does any of that have to do with stained glass?

It’s an old art form, dating back to Ancient Rome, and the craft possesses an inherent beauty as well as function.

Likely it’s no accident that stained glass is having a moment right now. Recapturing and preserving older ways of making things will help us survive tough times in the future. Also, Sara apprenticed with another artisan and continues to progress on her own volition, which is an education model we’ll likely see much more of, as time goes on.

Stained glass and gardens go together like cucumbers and salt. Stay tuned for more announcements here soon!