A Moments Peace

Well, it seems I'm not the only one

who has had a bit of a rough go of things lately.

My dad ended up back in the hospital for a few more days.

It was far less severe, but still.....

He is now home again.

We stopped by yesterday, and he is looking better - yay!

He is also getting grumpy about meds and all the fuss

which for him is a very good sign.

The month of August, he spent 24 days in the hospital.

Mom was only permitted to see him once during all that time.

The rest of us were not permitted at all - 

nor were we allowed to call for a period of time.

To me that is inhumane.

I am sooo grateful he is home and improving - again.

The blackbirds are flocking at sunrise ~ the introduction to autumn :-)

Our garden is going bonkers.

I know many of us are preserving the harvest right now.

I had several humungo heads of cauliflower that

are now all blanched and frozen in meal sized portions.

Yum!  I love cauliflower.

The tomatoes are insane.

I have canned almost enough for our own use.

Mom hasn't had much time to do much canning

so I canned a dozen jars of diced for her 

and will give her some for juicing and making into sauce.

I will probably do another batch of diced for them as they ripen.

The rest will be shared 😊

That of course is part of the joy of a garden,

the sharing of the bounty.

This is just one round of several.

Work has been insanely busy, long days and short nights.

We've all been to the point of nearly complete exhaustion.

Hubby was 'rummy' he was so stressed.

Between family and work and trying to maintain our own living/home,

we were spent.

I actually asked him if he tied our trusty K9 companion one evening.

He answered No.

I went out and tied him, then came in and told Hubby I tied him.

He said Oh thank you.

Not 2 minutes later he went outside.

I asked what he was doing.

He said he went out to tie up the pooch, but I'd already done it. Oy!

So we took what we could get and went camping.

We left Friday late afternoon and came back Sunday morning.

There is no service at one of our favorite spots not terribly far from here.

I told Mom where we would be and how to get a hold of us if need be.

Unluckily, the propane regulator went out on the trailer

so it took over an hour to make a pot of coffee!

That's almost an SOS situation!

But luckily, we had the little propane stove since there is a fire ban

during the dry months so we were able to get our fix.

Hubby caught 3 trout over 12" and several smaller ones

(all released.)

That's more than he's caught all up in the past year.

He also took a nap Saturday!

I took my stitching along and actually got to sit and stitch.

Needless to say, it had been a while.

We are back at it now, but that little break did wonders for us.

We had lots we could have done,

but sometimes sanity is worth more than plum pickin', weedin', cleanin', 

or a million other things calling our names.

I heard a saying many years ago~

When your basket is empty, you have nothing more to give.

So many are dealing with life issues

be it societal changes, health, relationships, or preserving the harvest.

If you are among them, take a moment, 

even just a walk out behind the garage and look up to the heavens.  

Inhale as deeply as you possibly can and hold it for just a minute.

Let it fill you up and give you strength for the day.

Prayers for you all.

We have today~

 

An Explanation and A Little Excitement

I had this post nearly ready when life happened.

Thank you all for your patience, prayers, and kindness 

while our family dealt with my dad being sent to another city 

where he underwent two major surgeries in 5 days.

He was in the hospital for 17 days (? I think)

and was allowed only 1 visit from my mom 1 day before his second surgery.

He had never spent the night in a hospital in his life.

He has been healthy all his life.

This was so difficult for all of us who should have been there with him.

He was scared and knew nobody or nothing around him

and wasn't even allowed to have his shaving kit.

I just got to go get him and bring him home today.  

One of the first things Mom did was take the clippers to him

so he can shave later.

We are so relieved to have him home.

Again thank you.

And now the real post.

As many of you are aware, 

we moved about a year and a half ago.

It doesn't seem like it's been that long.

I s'pose that means I'm getting old.

Source

About the time of our move, I put my Etsy shoppe on vacation mode.

A few months after moving, we had a huge yard sale.

We down-sized by about 40%.

I know I've shared that before,

but in doing so, I parted with a lot of vintage items.

I've spent a good part of my 29 years on this earth

(wink wink, gasp, cough - heehee)

attracting vintage items into my life.

Parting with some items has been difficult for me.

That probably sounds silly to some of you.

Anyways, we hope to one day downsize a little more.

Not quite as drastically as another 40%,

but continue to part with the excess.

Hubby and I each have our own areas of collectorism.

Yep, had to make up another word just for y'all.

It seems a little easier for me to part with things little by little.

Source

Also, I finally have my sewing all in one room

which makes knowing what I have and have to do a bit more manageable.

Oh the UFOs I have discovered!

(un-finished objects) 

Up the mountain, I had shelves in the house

and totes on big shelves out in the shop, 

so I was constantly looking for things.

I am working to decrease my stash and have made some progress.

It's slow, but moving in the right direction.

Source

(It's all up to God.)

And the last piece to all of this is: I have a goal.

And like so many lofty goals, it requires an investment.

I have recently begun a "Happy" fund.

It's really a savings.

I am saving to try to reach my goal - yay!

With that, I have decided to reopen my Etsy shoppe.

I am trying to figure out the best place for picture taking

at the new place and am not quite satisfied with the quality

(or lack there of) of photos I've taken.

As I get at least acceptable photos and appropriate packaging for mailing,

I am listing items both vintage and made by me.

I can't believe how the availability of normal mailing supplies

has been altered in recent months - nutty!

I've already made a couple sales - Wahoo!

And I have several listings in draft waiting for pictures

which haven't happened in the past 2 weeks.

Hopefully, things are calming down now

and I will be adding a couple quilts, bonnets, and vintage items

in the next few days.

If you would like to doddle on over and take a peek,

I am ever grateful.

If you have any questions about any of the items,

please feel free to contact me.

I don't mind questions at all and will do my best 

to answer them quickly and accurately.

So that's my "Little Excitement."

It's a fun outlet for me.

In the upcoming weeks, I am hoping to share

"A Big Excitement."

Well, at least for li'l ol' me.

And lastly, the photos above are of an old ghost town not far

from where I grew up.

She's ALIVE!

 Howdy All.

Just wanted to pop in and let you know

I've been dealing with a family emergency.

We'll return to our regular broadcast after these messages ~

or just as soon as things level out a bit.

Answers to Some of Your Questions :-)

Home and the keeping of home are dear subjects to me.

(Internet pix - no source :-( but such a darling cottage.)
Angela asked in this post if I could expand a bit on 
what I do for soap and shampoo.
First, I will share what I do,
 then I will share the recipe and process I use.
For shampoo, I use my bar of soap and lather near the scalp.
Then I rinse it well.
About once per week, I use a couple tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
in a little teacup and fill it with water and use it as a rinse.
The comb will slide right through your hair.
I have a lot of very thick, curly, at times fluffy dark brown hair.
For the first week of using this process, I questioned my own sanity.
My hair was "weird."
There's not a better word.
It was soft and clean, but wasn't really curly and wasn't straight - 
kinda straggly looking.
What it was, I figured out after a few weeks, was that the natural oils
were no longer being stripped from the hair.
After that first week or so, my hair became increasingly healthy
both in the feeling of it and in appearance.
If I do need a bit of product, I use aloe vera gel.
Be sure it's the gel and not the liquid gel.
One of the main things I like about it is it's fragrance free.
Many (dare I say most) folks are nose blind anymore

especially to fabric softener for some reason.
The scents used in many hygiene products make me sneeze.

For laundry, I use 1 part each:
borax, washing soda, and my soap grated.

When I make soap for laundry, I use rosemary and lemongrass

to scent it.  Nice fresh scent for laundry.
This isn't "detergent" so won't brighten your colors.
If an article of clothing is really dirty (we have lots of those)
it's best to soak it for a while in the soapy water before continuing the wash.

One more tid-bit before I get to recipes.
I have a theory based on nothing more than my own thoughts.
I use vegetable oil soaps in the summer
and lard or tallow in the winter.
If you've made soaps or read about them,
you probably already know this,
but it's something that was off offhandedly mentioned that stuck with me. 
Vegetable oils let your skin breathe
and animal fats seal the skin.
So my theory is to use veg. oils for soaps in summertime
when you might perspire and want your skin to breathe.
In wintertime, use lard/tallow based soaps to help seal your skin
and keep it from drying out.
It makes sense to me from a traditional aspect as well -
animals were generally butchered in autumn - heading into winter.
In spring plant life is emerging everywhere.
So that's what I do :-)

Most of the supplies I keep on hand for soap and lotion making
are also edible - fancy that.
I really like this feature since many of the things I am washing
are either put on my skin or washing something that might end up
in the kitchen, like dish towels.

I like multipurpose items so the more uses an item has,

the more I like it.

And the fewer items I have to remember to keep track of, the better.

Olive oil (grade B or pumice)
Coconut oil (love halibut fried in it:-)
Lard or tallow (makes the best biscuits)
Essential oils (use medicinally also)
Bee's wax (I also dip my own candles)
   AloeVera gel
Vinegar (so many uses!)
Baking soda (again so many uses)
Washing soda
Borax


Also, there was a question about garbage bags.

This is our garbage can.

It's meant to be a bathroom can.

I did do a post about garbage here.

For some reason that sounds funny to me -

a post dedicated to garbage, riveting topic - heehee.

For garbage bags, we use whatever packaging that comes into our house.

Bread bags, frozen veggie bags, potato bags etc.

Everything seems to come packaged in plastic bags

so I try to get another use out of them.

We make about 1 of these little cans per week.

It has increased a little since our area no longer accepts plastic for recycling.

Disclaimer (sorry to have to say this.)
Before I share how I make soap,

I just want to tell you that I have been criticized at times

for my soap making supplies and techniques.

I will share what I use and do and have done for years.

You do what you are comfortable with.

I am not responsible for your decisions.

Okay, now onward.

This is the soap recipe I use.

It is "hot process" so I can use it within a day or two

and don't have to wait weeks and weeks for it to be ready to use.

I've taught several people to make this, and

to my knowledge all those I've taught are still making their own soap today.

Some tips:

*Do not use metal bowls or spoons when making soap.

* I do not wear gloves or goggles but am very careful.  You might choose to wear both - up to you.

*Measure accurately - good results depend on it.

My $2 thrift shop crock pot has low or high only - use low.

Soap:

12.8 olive oil

3.2 coconut oil

2.2 lye

6 oz water

Optional: 5 drops grapefruit seed extract & 1/4 - 1/2 tsp essential oil

Put water in a heat-proof container.  I use a salsa jar because the shape 

makes it easy to hang onto.  I have used this same jar for years so I have the water line drawn on the jar to save me time.

I take it outside and set it on the BBQ.

Add lye to water and stir with a stick (I use a paint stick.)

*Important - be sure to add lye to water and not the other way around.*

This creates a chemical reaction that creates heat so don't try to pick it up.

Go back inside and measure coconut oil and get it melting on low in crock pot.

Then measure olive oil.

Once coconut oil is melted, add olive oil.

Go get lye mixture.  By this time, it should be cool enough to hold the jar.

Add to oil mixture - this will make your clear oils look cloudy.

With blending wand, blend to "trace" which is when you can see the lines

left as you move the wand - see photo.

It's about the consistency of pudding.

Cover and set the timer for one hour.

I do up the dishes while it's cooking.

When the timer goes off, stir in grapefruit seed ext. and essential oils if desired.

Pour into mold of choice.

My favorite mold is a 1 qt. milk carton, but I didn't have one when I made mine.

Cover with a towel and let it sit over night.

In winter, I place it on a doubled towel and  cover with another doubled towel.

You don't want it to cool off too quickly.

After about 24 hours, you can un-mold your soap.

If you have a milk carton, simply peel it away.

If you have a plastic mold like what I've shown, 

place the soap in the freezer for a little bit,

then it should pop out easier.

Slice it into bars unless you've used a mold that has individual cavities.

I let these sit for a day or two before using so they have a chance to harden a bit, but they are safe to use at this point.

I had a request for some lotion bars so they are shown to the left.

Also, you might have noticed that my olive oil is in jars

rather than the jug it comes in.

I like to infuse my oil with certain things.

Hubby likes pine or cedar and I like lavender or rosemary.

This can alter the color of the soap slightly

which is seen above.

If I had one bit of advice to offer as far as making soap,

it would be: Don't be afraid.  It's like following any other recipe.

Just go ahead and do it :-)

This has been sort of a catch-up post,

but that seems to be necessary sometimes.

PS~ edited to add

I think our triple digit weather has melted my brain.

If you've not ever tried "real soap" and would like to try some

prior to making your own,

Stephanie makes some lovely soaps.

Here is a link to her etsy shop.

There are tons of recipes out there,

but if you would like more recipes,

you might enjoy Heidi's blog.

I've used her soaps and a few of her recipes and they are wonderful.

I don't receive any compensation from either of them,

but they are two sources I trust.

PPS~

It appears the new blogger is having fun with my font.

I keep "fixing it," and it keeps un-fixing it!