Soap Making - my next adventure ??

The day started with some relaxing tidying and piecing of bonus HSTs.  Pinterest was searched high and low for inspirational ideas for all of these guys, but, in the end, I simply pieced them in Flying Geese fashion to be used as border units for my Talkin' Turkey blocks.

Then, at 8:14AM, a lil' "ping" of an incoming mssg grabbed my attention...

"Hi. Any chance you are free today...late afternoon?  .. We could make a batch of soap."

Doin' the happy dance in my seat.  YOU BET'CHA Jeni!  I'm free!!!!!!

I received a bar of her Goat Milk soap as an end-of-year present from one of my students;  I LOVE it!  We are actually fighting nicely over who gets to use it around here.

On and off, I've spent time researching soap making, and just the other day (yesterday????), I mentioned on Jeni's FB page about researching soap making.  

Bless her heart for offering out an invitation!!  :D

Meet Jeni!  and her Goat Milk Soap 

Isn't this just the CUTEST lil' display!??!?  Her husband is just as crafty as the best of us; carpentry being one of his trades.  He crafted this adorable display for Jeni and her soaps for her various locations of sales she has established.

She has turned what used to be "the boys' area" into her own lil' crafty world, where she cures her soaps, makes some quilts and creates cards via her time in the Stampin' Up world.  She has two boys, BOTH of whom I taught during my first few years as a teacher.  One has returned to his roots, living in town and now teaching at our school -- the band director :D

She graciously gave up a few hours of her time this evening showing me some great sites that she's used during her years of her soap-making evolution... ALL of which I can't wait to play with over the next couple of days.

soapcalc.net -- helps to calculate fats, liquid, lye ... 

brambleberry.com -- essential oils and fragrances recommended here

thelyeguy.com (self explanatory)?? ;)

She was certain to educate me on the caustic concerns of lye, ensuring I had long sleeves available (and eye protection, as you saw in the earlier pic!)

She shared stories of early attempts of different recipes, urging me to play and try and play some more.   She (solely?) uses goat milk for her soaps now, altering the recipe with different fragrances and additives (ie: crushed/ground oatmeal flakes).

The process in and of itself it quite straight forward.  

Combine the liquid and lye.  

Add it to the oils/fats.  

Mix.  Add fragrance.  

Pour.

And the SMELLLS!!!!!!  Oh.  She used some lovely lavender fragrance, and.... ummm.... oh darn!  I knew I'd forget the other one.  Bamboo-something.... Hm.  Drat.  Regardless -- her house smelled divine!

She loaned two books to me for some soap-making reading.  Both are written by author Anne L. Watson: Smart Soapmaking and Milk Soapmaking.  They both have the lovely lingering smell of her house.  LOL.  

And here, her husband is worried that all that people would smell when entering their house is DOG.  

Oh.  What a funny man.

NOT that I need another hobby.  I don't think it'll go that far.  Just enough to play and create for the family.  Maybe the extended family.  Nothing more.

RSC and Talkin' Turkey scraps

In case you haven't noticed, it's summer vacation around this place!

What is this... my sixth post now in just a few days???  :D

My days have typically been starting around 5-6AM by CHOICE.  And, if you've been following, gardening a'plenty lately.

But today, I sewed!!  All. Day.

Angela's Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) color for June (light blue) was first on my agenda.  Andee and I are teaming up this year, each creating an alternate block that will play nicely with each other.  Take a look at her blue block.  We are both very excited about this quilt coming together at the end of the year.

Then, I tackled getting caught up on all the colors so far this year;  I only had purple left to do.  I perceived myself being further behind than that.... hm!   AND, I'm ahead of the ballgame, having done some red blocks back in January.  How's that for ambition?!

Once done with the alternating block, I tidied up the cutting mat, taming scraps as I went.  Rather than tucking some of the scraps off into their drawer hiding places, they were sewn up into some Scrappy Talkin' Turkey block centers. 

Once these eight are finished, I'll have 16 blocks up on the design wall.  As most projects in the past year or so, I have no plans other than...."let's make another block.  And another.  And another?"  When I get tired of making them, they (usually?) get pieced into a quilt center and set aside for a time when border inspiration hits me.  (THAT's not very often though) :(

Now.... perhaps some crochet.
Happy Saturday!

Jamestown Landing - completed [Quilting]

Jamestown Landing is officially checked off the UFO/WIP list! 

Jamestown Landing (84 x 96) - Bonnie K. Hunter design

Loopy Feathers

 

 

And what's a post without SOME kind of gardening aspect???
Yes, folks!  The strawberries are nearing readiness for picking.  Oh Lordy -- are we in for a large harvest this year.  Whose idea was it to expand to three rows last year?  Not to mention the 4th row that was added this year?  I have a feeling our neighbors are going to be thankful for the size of our patch ;)

Even more temptation for a mini-baler

The morning's agenda was simple:  finish up Jamestown Landing by sewing on the binding and making/attaching the label.

Good progress was being made;  the label was underway on the embroidery machine while I was cutting and preparing the binding.

Around 10:30, as the final length of binding was being pressed, Cassie came down saying something about the mower's battery, this-that-r'the other.

The mower had been acting up after taking it out of winter storage this Spring, so it wouldn't have surprised me if it was down for the count.  

However, after getting the girls working on some hand raking, I simply filled up the tank and v'iola.  LOL.  Goofball Cass!  With all hands on deck, we started making quick (?) work of the yard...

raking some rows that I could pick up with the tractor, and Cassie continued 'sweeping' the yard.

At one point, these pics were shared on FB with a request out to a former student of mine to come and bale up my yard! 

It's times like these that a mini-baler is certainly tempting.  LOOK at these adorable lil' bales!  I could see these being perfect for small hobby farms of goats, sheep, horses, ...

But for now, much of the grass was either dumped into a pile for later use or started filling in as mulch between the potato plants.

Five hours logged.  Three rows done, 6 more to go.  But for now, it's hot.  And time to relax.

Jamestown Landing and the property

Summer 2015-16 quilting has finally been kicked off!  With a day of Hans Zimmer movie soundtracks, Jamestown Landing was quilted.  

I can't even remember anymore when I started this or when the top was completed.  Sad, sad, sad that I've become "one of those quilters" who has been around the block long enough to have a pile of UFOs percolating (and dying?) off in the corner.  LOL.

One at a time though.  One at a time.

Jamestown Landing ended up coming to the forefront since it will be a raffle quilt for a friend of the family.  The raffle kickoff will happen during a 4th of July celebration;  therefore, the binding will be completed today and (hopefully) we'll venture up to deliver the quilt to its destination this weekend.

Life around the yard is in full swing...

The ducklings are over a month old now;  only one has been officially named so far.   Meet Afro-Jack!!!! LOL

Only one pig of the six has been named this year;  Smudge.  Candace was out treating them to some Daisy treats;  what a beautiful moment!!!

A new, simple-n-portable, coop is being made for our ever-expanding flocks.  

After all, if you've got 'em, ya hatch 'em, right???  ;)

Our younger tomato plants couldn't wait much longer;  they were itching to be planted!

Although, when this visitor was seen, the planting endeavor was ALMOST halted for the day!

However, hero Paul came to escort this guy (or girl?) to a new location, and we were back to the planting!   

In the end, SEVENTY-THREE tomato plants are happily growing in the upper garden.  SEVENTY-THREE!  LOL.  Way to hold back this year, Amy :D

And TRUUUULY, I'm not one to do much 'gardening' unless vegetables are involved.  Pretty flower/shrub gardens aren't my thing----but.... THIS has become an eye-sore after spending ZERO time on it last year.  Plus... it's in the middle of the front yard!  What must the neighbors think?!?!?  (LOL!)

A few hours and sunburn later, with the assistance of my helpers Caitlyn and Candace, it is all clean and new again.   I had started some perennials (per Paul's request) back in February, so they were moved into this location. 

We have Achillea planted in the southern portion... 

Some Black-Eyed Susans and HolyHocks towards the west...

A plot of McKana Giants Columbine planted from seed on the northern edge.  *shrug* We'll see what they do...

and a section of Lupines towards the east.

Again, I'm not much of a perennial flowery/shrub gardener, so..... *shrug*.  At least the weeds have been tamed :D

On the topic of taming.....

Caitlyn has reached the age (crazy enough!) to learn how to mow with the riding law-mower.  We were in a win-win situation with her the other day.  She had fun learning AND our 'hay-field' was able to be mowed at the slower pace required due to the extra length!

Then sister Cassie took over with the yard-rake.  Right about now, having that mini-baler Paul and I talked about last year would be pretty nice.  I'm sure we'd be able to bale up quite a bit!!!!!  Cass seems to be enjoying her time on the mower, though, singing along with her iPod tunes.

Free ride

Of all the times we've had baby chicks, I've never once seen them ride on the back of mama.  

AND, we've never had GRAY chicks before!  We have four or five of these adorable lil' guys in the brooder.  I'm very curious to see how they develop from the gray fluffy stage they are at right now.

The garden is almost 100% planted;  onions and garlic remain.  The weather outlook this week is amazing;  lows never dropping below 50.  I'm hopeful for this gardening season :)

Candace's 3/4 grade SB team (2nd from right)

The summer schedule is underway;  Monday and Wednesday evenings filled with 3/4 grade and 5/6 grade softball;  Summer school starting next week;  Gardening filling most free time right now.  

This morning, however, after dropping Cass off for some weight-training, I'll spend a couple hours or so in my room writing some lessons for the 2015-16 AP-Statistics class.

Then?  Finish the garden planting.  MAYBE spend some time quilting.  Although, I'm keeping my options open today since our Baseball team is playing in the Sectional tournament at 11:00.  I'm thinking, if I hear they win, we'll make the hour trip down to the ball field to watch the 3:00 finals :D

Chicks, tomatoes and yarn

Remind me again why we placed the eggs in the incubator so they were scheduled to hatch during the last week of school??

Mama Rock has been doing a great lil' job of protecting and mothering her six hatchlings from a week ago.  When our incubator started hatching out a couple of days early, I got caught in a moment of unpreparedness.  Originally, our hatchlings were going to be housed in the brooder box, but when Mama Rock started worrying me about her (lack of) level of protection for her babies due to the concern of owls, fox and other predators, we moved HER into the brooder box.

In the past, we've set up a simple cardboard box with a heat lamp for new chicks until they were big enough to be housed elsewhere.

We have NO boxes big enough to house much more than a couple of chicks.  PLUS, the heat lamp is rigged up in the brooder box, and with Paul working, I wasn't about to try to unrig it.  Besides, extra time was nonexistent this past week between final school days and athletics.

SO..., Wednesday morning, after waking at 2AM worried about what I was going to do with the couple handfuls of chicks that had hatched Monday evening and Tuesday already... the decision was made!  I was going to see if Mama Rock would simply adopt new additions.

Like. A. Boss!  (LOL)

Fourteen were given to her Wednesday morning, bringing the total to 20 babies.  

Thursday morning, ummm....I THINK we added another 7.  (27 total)

Thursday evening, we handed her another 7 that were hatched out in Caitlyn's class incubator from our donated eggs. (34 total)

And then after that.... I lost track.

Sadly, somewhere along the way, a few perished for one reason or another....

But finally, last night (Friday), a final late hatchling was added to the, now stable, posse of two-legged lil' fluff balls.

Cassie and I did a quick count, and we THINK there are 33 chicks fighting for tuck-time under (or around) Mama.   I wish I had had some light last night to capture a picture of Mama tucked into the safety of the corner with chicks under and surrounding her.  It truly was an 'awwwwwwe' moment.

The 'insurance' tomatoes have grown considerably this past week after being transplanted into 3-4" paper pots last Sunday.  Today marks week #3 since having been planted as seeds.  They were fed with some fertilizer directly after transplanting, which in addition to being pampered in a warm, humid greenhouse under grow-lights, has helped their growth tremendously!  I am thinking one more week of pampering is needed before starting the hardening-off process.  I predict in about 10 days, these 52 plants (we lost one) will find themselves in the garden.  

School is over for the 2014-15 year.  Candace brought home an art project that I truly can't WAIT to try out!  It's a yarn bowl!  Clearly a third-grader creation, but FUNCTIONAL!  I love it!  I predict this will be used and used and used for many years in the future.

The anxiety of the school year hasn't quite 'left the building' yet.  In fact, I spent about 45 minutes this morning just perusing through all my students' final grades, curious to see how they finished the school year in other classes/subjects.  I have plans to spend time in school on Tuesday, doing final organization of the classroom, but to also look ahead to the first couple of weeks of AP-Statistics for the next school year.  

However, decompressing WILL commence today as 'all-hands-on-deck' take over in the garden!  The last of the seed planting is on the agenda, in addition to getting all-n-everything out and organized into the garden plots.  Peppers, cabbage, broccoli (grrr!  Yup, we ended up buying plants after Ruby chicken decided to indulge herself on mine grown from seed), peas and pea-fencing, rigging more tomato fencing, hose organization and layout.....  

Happy Saturday. 

"Insurance policy" tomatoes; chicks soon!

Well folks, the tomato transplants from last weekend were looking a bit sheepish all week long (SADLY!), although a few were hanging on and showing new growth on the tops.  However, it would appear that last night's frost finally did all of them in :(  

Forty-five plants, three months of pampering, bags of soil, and hours of transplanting seem to have gone down the drain!  

Lesson learned!  Next year:  April 1st!  That's it!  April 1st!   No earlier!

THANKFULLY, two weeks ago, I finally got around to planting some 'insurance policy' tomatoes in the event that my 'crazy-early-planting' tomatoes ended up dead in their transplanting tracks.  We have a little bit of a head start on fifty-three more plants.  

In all actuality, we aren't any further behind than what we normally are at this time of the year.  It's cold up here!  This simply mean that the tomato harvest will, once again, need to happen once we're back at school in September.  **Shrug**   Truly truly, 'better late than never.'

On the flip-side, a conversation with Paul today may lead to a transportable hoop house or small green house being built this summer.  ;)

Hm.  Looks like my lil' planting helper wanted to see if the tomato roots would grow into a pony tail???

Today marks day #18 for our incubator eggs, so they were removed from the automatic turner and placed into their final hatching position.

Take a closer look at the egg in he lower left corner...

One lil' guy seems to be in a hurry to be the first born.

In the next couple of days, I expect a couple of dozen lil' chickies :D