Family and a 'home' visit

Reunion Siblings, 2015

Reunion weekend brought me to the homestead.  Saturday morning began overcast, drizzling and gloomy, but cleared up perfectly with light cloud cover by reunion time.  The size of the party was smaller than in the past, but still relaxing and fun to catch up with family members (immediate and extended).  There really is something about getting older and becoming more appreciative of family.

In fact, how much do I love my family?  (specially, my sister?)  Knowing I'd be seeing my sis, Cassie and I spent Friday morning picking strawberries from the patch in order to make up a couple batches of strawberry jam.  For my sis.  She loves it!  

just a quick taste from the bowl scrapings :D

An ongoing observation with the girls is how TALL they are all getting;  Dad is 6'6" after all.  ;)  Aunt Jenny is getting dwarfed, certainly.  

I don't always make a stop at Hancock Fabrics when visiting 'home,' but on a whim, I drove into the parking lot at 7:20 last night, and left by 7:40.  How's THAT for a quick stop???  These fabrics simply leapt off the shelves.  I can't wait to brainstorm a top.  Bonnie's Pineapple Blossom may be on my list (again!).  Love that pattern.  Or Jared Takes a Wife.  ?

AND -- the best part of this purchase.... it essentially was FREE.  After coupons, sales and gift cards, this $100.00 purchase dwindled to $0.00!  As Andee said on FB -- "Score!!!"

Soap Trial #1 - Vanilla Yogurt and Dark Chocolate Mocha [Rebatch soap]

Jeni, oh Jeni.  During another FB messenger conversation, she and I both gave each other some credit for enabling the other.  She to me for assisting her purchase to Brambleberry.com in the way of 'thank you' gift certificates, and she to me for offering me up her older 2# mold that had been collecting dust, awaiting a timely death in a burn pile. !!!!!

What a wonderful lady!!!  Additionally, when she dropped off the mold, she also snuck a small bag of fragrance oils that had been, in her words, "on her shelf for awhile."

Turkish Mocha!!!!  Dark Rich Chocolate!!!  And others.....

So, while she was here, I had her take a look at my cut pieces.  ugh!  SOOO not pretty.  Nor very pleasant smelling >:(  But those Type-A worries aside, I asked her about the tackiness they each had.  She nodded... 'yup, yup.  These will be good bars."

Well...aside from the strange cuttings.  And smell.

That bundt-style mold ended up not being such a great idea;  I didn't care for wedge-style cuts.  Therefore, some trimming was done.... Quite honestly, it kinda looked like a crinkle-cut mess!

The lighter bars from the plastic container were better, but... again, my Type-A personality was having a hard time with all the differences.  There was really only one bar I liked;  the one cut from the center of the mold.

Therefore, after she left, I got to thinking.  I remember reading up on a method known as re-batching;  essentially when soap gets melted back down for one reason or another; to add missing ingredients, or....in my case, to add fragrance oils!  {and try out the new mold!}

I kept ONE of the previous bars (first attempt);  the lovely lil' cut from the center of the plastic mold.  All of the rest--- INTO the rebatch!  Using the mircowave rebatching method, I added 14g of Turkish Mocha and 26g of Rich Dark Chocolate.  Rebatched soap doesn't reach its previous pudding-liquid state;  rather it takes on a mashed-potatoes feel and look. 

Twenty-four hours later, the new loaf is unmolded and cut!  

Not only did Jeni share her older mold with me, she also included her old cutting form to boot!

The cuts alternated between the crinkle-cutter and straight cutter.  Eight gorgeously smelling bars cut, along with two lil' sample-size pieces.

One concern about rebatched soap that kept coming up on most of the websites I researched is that there may be clumps of the original batch that don't melt completely, leading the final batch to be splotchy.  For my bars, it works!

Now, to rename this first batch:  Vanilla Yogurt & Dark Chocolate Mocha soap :D

My soaping ingredient stash grew after a brief shopping trip this morning.  The awesomely cool fact:  if/when the obsession over soap-making decreases or deceases completely, MOST of these ingredients will be repurposed into the kitchen :D
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Three week update:
The color has richened deeeeply into a dark, DARK brown.

The smell remains ABSOLUTELY amazing, but due to the high HIGH amount of Dark Rich Chocolate fragrance added in comparison to the Turkish Mocha, it resembles chocolate more-so, with an underlying mocha.  Did you know that on rebatched soap, you don't need to add as much fragrance as in the initial CP soap?  So, yes folks... these bars pack a whopper of smells!!!!!

Two little slivers of edging had been cut off the ends, and being almost three weeks into curing, I jumped into testing the soap out yesterday!

NOTE:  Go EAAAAASY on the coffee grounds, folks!  This most definitely is going to be a soap I keep in the kitchen, which is typically where we wash up after being outside in the garden.  The coffee grounds are an EXCELLENT exfoliating and scrubbing additive!

Lip Balm - It's so easy!

Oh, folks!  Hold me back!!!!!

LOL

Next to being new at soap-making and finding it a bit time-consuming (post from earlier today), brewing up your own batch of lip balm is SOOOOOOO easy!   Readily having access to beeswax, and either coconut or olive oil, mixing up a batch takes minutes!  And what's more -- you can use it right away!

At first I was concerned that our beeswax hadn't been 'cleaned' or refined.  It's still in the ice-cream pail, basically taken directly from the frame as Paul was harvesting the honey last year.  Some of it still has (barely) traceable honey residue.  And then it hit me.......

DUH!  If some recipes suggest adding honey ANYWAY.... what's the difference if it's "clean" beeswax or not!?!?!?

So, for those of you who get intrigued to make up your own batch or two and have to purchase 'clean' beeswax, you may want to consider adding a dash of honey to your recipe.  Then again, why stop at honey?  Do a quick "lip balm flavor oil" search and have at 'er!  LOL.  Here's Brambleberry's flavor oil page.  Oh dear Lord, please gift to me the power of restraint!

It was decided for the second trial NOT to include any honey to the recipe since it separated from the oils in the first batch.  Also, coconut oil was exchanged for olive oil (more about that decision a bit later). 

Trial 2 - "Peppermint Love"

2 Tbs beeswax
2 Tbs olive oil
1/4 tsp Peppermint extract (YES!  Extract!!!)
I didn't have any mint essential oils, and I was IMPATIENT, wanting to try another batch with a mint flavor/smell.  So... sure!  Why not?  I knew we had some extract in the cupboard, so.... *shrug*.  I threw it in!

I didn't have any lip-balmy containers around the house (crazy to think, right??  With three girls??)  However, we had just been gifted BOXES of these small jelly jars;  really small!  I can't even tell you how much they hold or what size they are.  We always freeze our jams.  When we made jelly two summers ago, we used half-pint jars.  These..... I don't think they even hold a cup, so.... maybe half-cup containers???    Anyway.  As I sifted through one box, this lid jumped out at me "Love."

It was meant to be.  Because I LOVE this trial!  Really!  The batch created about 1/4 cup of balm.  The peppermint extract is subtle, and provides a little bit of initial tingly-ness.  I could see upping the next trial to 1/2 tsp.

A word of warning (?) after some research on whether extracts should/could be used in lip-balms.  It would seem that extract should separate from the oils since it isn't an oil-based flavor.  *shrug*.
Hmpf!  I didn't have a problem.  And as we've all (hopefully) learned and/or heard over the years --

try new things!  

Some things will succeed and some will fail.  I successfully used peppermint extract in my lip balm.  **patting self on back**

Now.  Some minor education on olive oil vs. coconut oil (and I am NO expert after a couple days of research).  If anyone has more data to share with me regarding the two, I would love to read more on which is more moisturizing and/or conditioning than the other.

On soapcalc.com, one of the calculators soapers have access to is a Lye Calculator.  On that page, many many fats/oils are listed, along with their soap qualities.

Check out the "CONDITION" lines... 

It would appear to me that Olive oil has more conditioning (and therefore moisturizing ?) properties than Coconut oil.  Therefore, for lip-balm, I will use olive oil until further notice.
For soaping.... both oils play nicely together, which is probably why many simple recipes call for both of them.  Easy to purchase, and where one is high or low in conditioning, the other makes up for it.  Likewise, hardness... and cleansing (an important aspect for soap, wouldn't you think?!?!!) ;)  Bubbly too -- there's something kinda saddening about soap that doesn't lather, so... bring on those bubbly numbers for soap.

Oh Jeni.   What have you done?!?!?!?!?
LOL

Soap, Birdies, and Lip Balm

Yup.  Yup.  Paul knew I'd get hooked and obsessed on a new hobby, SPECIALLY after being invited to Jeni's house for a few hours of soap-making the other night.

Yesterday, I read.  I researched.  I learned.  I shopped.

Ingredients for first batch:

(These are ONLY the ingredients and container sizes I purchased.  These are NOT the amounts for the recipe!)

*Lye*

With a small nudge in the right direction from Jeni, I found 100% lye at the local ACE hardware.  454 grams - $4.49

*Olive Oil*

Weight not given;  only liquid volume (101.4 fl oz / 3L) - $19.99
After the fact, I didn't focus on liquid measurement as I poured;  recipe is based on weight.  In order to get a cost analysis, I GUESS I'll just have to make another batch soon and pay attention to volume :D

*Coconut Oil*

Again, weight not given;  only liquid volume (14 fl oz / 414 mL) - $7.89

*Distilled Water*

Recipes recommend using distilled water, and since we have hard water that goes through a softener, this wasn't even a second thought!  Gallon purchased - $0.83.  Used a cup-ish or so.  MINOR COST!

And YES -- for my first batch, I tried Anne L. Watson's Yogurt Parfait Soap (complete recipe can be found in her Milk Soapmaking book) 

The yogurt I already had on-hand:  Low-Fat Vanilla.  The recipe didn't even require a whole lil' single serving -- so... $0.40 for that.  Another MINOR COST!  And who knew you could make soap with yogurt?!?!

For my first soaping experience, I wanted to play it safe and follow a published recipe.  The yogurt and water were mixed up bright and early at 6AM and placed into ice-cube trays.  They were ready for me by the time I returned from dropping the girls off at summer school.

I behaved first, though!  All the dishes and kitchen counters were cleaned before starting, all the while thinking about some videos and websites visited yesterday.  One in particular:  DIY Natural Coffee Soap.  Ummm...hello!!!!  LOVE coffee, right?!?!

SO, even though the recipe was followed as written...

the final step was altered JUST a wee bit.   There are no pictures, as the hands were a bit too busy, nor was anyone else home at the time.

The 'batter' was divided, setting about 1/3 of the mixture aside.  Roughly, 1/4 cup coffee grounds was added to the 1/3 mixture.  10 g of Vanilla oil fragrance was also added;  it's all I had on-hand.  EXTREMELY light scented soap.  *shrug*.  It's all good;  just for us, after all.

The two mixtures were swirled together, although, I don't think it'll turn out to be a 'true soaper's swirl.'  Again....all good here!  ;)

Nothing fancy used as the molds...

Have you ever had Bridgford Monkey Bread?  YUMMMMM!  Well, this lil' mold right here is the container the bread comes in.  Great lil' repurposing, me thinks!!!

The other??  Just one of those salad/donut plastic containers that deli's give out to customers.  

And yes----Cassie was arriving home just as I was finishing the pour.  She saw this container, and said...."Oooooh!  What's this??"

"Whatever you do, DO NOT EAT IT!!!!!"

She went on to say 'ah, good thing you said something.  It certainly looks like a yummy pudding."

To be sure no one else may fall into the "it looks good enough to eat" trap, she labelled it with the warning before we moved the molds into the freezer.

It's been about 6 hours; the first 4 hours in the freezer, and now the soap has moved into the fridge to continue setting.

First batch of Vanilla Yogurt and Coffee soap -- check!

-----------------------------------------

Three week UPDATE:  

The next day after cutting the soap, and being concerned from an 'off' odor, like spoiled milk, I began researching a method for rebatching soap.  Plus, my soaping mentor dropped off one of her old, small 2lb molds she no longer uses!!!
Read up on the rebatch...
And come to find out... that odor was nothing to be concerned with.  One lil' bar was kept, while the rest went into the rebatch.  The odor is no longer present... and the bar received its test-run this AM.

Lathered and bubbled nicely;  no burning.  After placing it in the soap holder and picking it back up a minute or two later, there was almost a slime-like appearance to it, but after another 10 minutes of drying, it was back to a muted, solid bar of soap.

-----------------------------------------

back to three weeks ago....

As I was placing the molds into the freezer, a lil chirping noise caught my attention, but I ignored it.

Hours later, when I went to move the molds into the fridge, I heard the sound again, in the same location.  It didn't sound like a mouse.  It didn't sound like a cricket, either.

......

Pinpointing the sound, behind one of Paul's ladders.....

Baby birdy!!!!  Oh, I must have stood there for a few minutes, wondering what to do.  If I tried to grab it, would it fly away?  Is is big enough to fly away?  How on earth did it get in here?  The garage door had been closed.  I reached for it slowly; it didn't even flinch and came rather uneventfully into my hand.

NOW what to do with it?  **shrug** I'm no bird expert.  Is it too small to survive without the mom?  **shrug**

Simple solution:  Place it on the handrail and watch it.  LOL

Well, I'll be!!!!!!  I head over the tomato section of the handrail...... do you see?!?!?!!?  CLEARLY a sibling was in my tomato pot (left birdy --  the right birdy is the only I released).  Within minutes, both of them hopped out and flew off.  Good luck lil' birdy!

Ho hum.  Researching soap recipes for much of the afternoon :D.  Browsing Amazon.com.  Browsing Bumbleberry.com.  Playing with the Soap/Lye calculator at Soapcalc.net.

Then, I was inspired to see what could be made with our beeswax.

Mwha-ha-ha......

MOM!  What's this?  REALLLLY?  You MADE lip-balm???  You can MAKE lip-balm????

LOL.  Yup.  Played around with a little sample size of lip balm.  More playing required.

Simple recipe tried:

1 Tbsp beeswax
1 Tbsp Coconut oil

1/2 tsp honey

2 drops essential oil (I only have Lavender on-hand.)

Eh.  The lavender wasn't bad as lip balm, but a MINT oil would be so much nicer!!! Spearmint!!! Oh yes. 

Off to shop!  And play with some more batch trials.  The honey seems to be 'escaping' the oils/butters.  I may need to decrease it.

want some?

Oh.  Yeah.  The sample-size container used??  An old Altoids tin :D

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.