Soap

Well come Sunday I will be able to take a bath with my homemade bar soap my sister and I made. But I am thinking about waiting a little longer so it will cure more and be a better soap. They said on the soap forum the longer you wait, it will be a harder bar soap and it will last longer in the water since homemade soap doesn't last as long as bought soap does. I am excited to be able to take a bath in it though so don't know IF I will be able to wait or not. ;)
I hope everyone is doing great. I've been sick but am getting better. Went to the Dr.and got meds. Just hope I can get my immune system built back up before these pine trees start blooming! UGHHHH

Soap and Dogs

Yeah what a combination huh?

Wanted to post a pic of our soap. As it cures it’s getting harder. The second batch we did was harder than the first batch, right off the bat. But the first batch is finally starting to get harder now. I was beginning to wonder! The round ones I had to put in the freezer in their muffin pan so they would come out of the pan. I don’t know if you can tell or not but they are a little whiter than the square ones beside them to the left of the pic. They are the same batch as the round ones are.

 

 

Then the next pic is of our dog Buddy. He had surgery today and we had just went to get him. I was letting him play around in the yard and potty. He had a growth come up on his anal area. We thought it was a hemorrhoid but it wasn’t.

Here he is scratching out. I started laughing and he really went at it. So he must not be in any pain. He is in there sleeping now. They gave us some antibotics and some pain meds for him. They said he was a really good dog. I’d have to agree. :) He’s just  hard headed! lol

SoapMaking

Well my sis and I finally got together and made our soap! We had a blast! We were laughing so hard. My digital scales like to have drove us insane! It took us a little while to get everything weighed and each item as we were trying to weigh it, the things would cut off! UGHHHHH Don’t know if you have ever tried to make soap or use digital scales. Let’s say we need 8 0z. olive oil for the soap, we’d get it to 9 0z. then take some out. Then we’d get too much out. Then we’d put some back in, then we’d need to put some more in. lol Anyway the scales would turn off and we’d have to restart the thing and we’d have to get another bowl of the same kind and make it go to 000 so it wouldn’t also be adding the weight of the bowl. Oh dear, patience patience patience and I don’t have those anymore! Have NO CLUE where they went! lol But we’d get to laughing and we’d laugh and we’d laugh.

So anyway we made one batch and then we made another batch. Our first batch was RoseMary Mint with ground up oatmeal in it. Then the second batch we wanted plain because we want to play around with it.

Anyway here is some of our results. They are still in the molds right now. We’ve got to leave them there until they are firm enough to take out and cut. We’ll have square soap and round soap.

We greased the muffin pan which is plastic and if I can’t get the soap out, I’ll just stick it in the freezer for a few minutes and they say it will shrink so it will come out then. I just went in there and cut the ones in the wooden molds and the last one we made is sitting up faster than the first one we made.

Rosemary mint with oatmeal.

 

This next one is the plain one.

Edited to add the cut soap…. I had to put the muffin pan in the freezer for hours and hours. THEN when I got it out, it STILL would not come out! SO I let it sit in some hot water for a few minutes and beat it against the floor, ON some freezer paper and out it came, one by one!

We Have Snow Again

Yes we do, arg! Did I say how I don’t like it to snow around here? I sure hope AND PRAY we keep our power! They’re saying on the news several folks north of us have no power already. :(

It is coming down out there and they’re saying it’s suppose to do this until this evening. The bridges and over passes are frozen with black ice they said on the news.

See the water puddled up beside the drive over toward the pine trees? It’s right in that V area. I guess the ground is frozen is WHY it’s sticking!

Front of the house and the pond. You can see the roof of his brothers house off in the distance toward the left of the pic close to the 4x4 post there.

I just went and got some sausage out and some yellow grits hubby and I bought the other day when we went to this neat little grocery out in the booneys. I think I am going to make some biscuits and scramble some eggs to. Sounds yummy doesn’t it?

YES we STILL have power right now!!! :) VERY THANKFUL for that!

Thank you's

Thank you Punky and Susan!
I'm here Punky just been busy learning about how to make soap. Also right now trying to prepare for all of this snow they're saying we're suppose to get. I SURE HOPE they're wrong, because we lose our power at the drop of a hat almost! :( Hubby cranked the generator yesterday to make sure it would crank in case we need it.
Susan the d. cover for the bedspreads are really neat because you can wash that and not the spread. They wouldn't be hard to make either. You could take flat sheets and make on and just to a flap on the top edge and put buttons and button holes to close it with. You'd have to have 2 flats ones and then maybe a twin size one to make the flap with. You'd have to get one a little larger than your bedspread is so it would fit down into it easily.

Making Soap

Well I thought I might need to check in because I haven’t posted in a little while. ;) I’ve been pretty busy when I do get time to get on the computer. You ask, what have I been busy doing on here? I am trying to learn how to make bar soap. I’ve made my own washing powders and I dearly love those! So I thought I would make some soap. My skin is horrible so I thought this might help it to get away from the harsh chemicals they add to our soaps. PLUS they take out the glycerin and sell that to. We need the glycerin left in there to help our skin from what I understand.

So I have been gathering my ingredients and my tools for a few weeks now to get going. And I had planned to make it one day this week and now they’re saying we might have 5 plus inches of snow this evening and tomorrow. Don’t like the stuff and wish it wouldn’t come in this direction!!! I am and always have been thankful that I live down south and not in the north where they have to deal with this mess all the time. :( I really and truly feel for them being shut in.

Ok back to the soap talk…..

I thought a pic would be cool since I have my ingredients now. Hubby and I have always wanted to go in this restaurant supply place in our area. We were passing by there yesterday when I said one day I want to come look in that place. Then hubby says I always wanted to go in it to. So I said, ok lets stop then, so I did. And we found this neat stainless steel bowl or pot whatever you want to call it. I think they put vegetables in it. Anyway I said to hubby, that would be really  neat to make the soap in and that way I wont have to be using my cooking pot. It was like 23.00 so we thought it was worth that and bought it. The large wooden spoon, lol, that was like 1.79 and I had to have it to. That one should be here when I have great great great grandkids. lol

In the pic below I have my ingredients together. I will use vegetable shortening, coconut oil, and olive oil for my fats. Then I am going to add ground up oats when it traces as they call it. I will probably add an essential oil at this time as well but I haven’t decided which one yet.

We looked at some digital scales there at the restaurant supply place as well but decided we could probably get that at Wal-mart for a little less and I had to go there anyway and get groceries. So anyway I did find one for $19.98 and bought it so I would be certain I was putting the right amount.

As you can see from the orange stickers on my items I found some deals at the local discount grocery. When I find them I get them because they’re such good deals.

Anyway like I was saying, my plans were to make some soap this week but I’ve been busy all morning trying to prepare for this cold weather just in case the power goes off. If all goes well my plans might not be messed up, we’ll see.

My niece let me borrow her DVD on soap making, so I could watch it. I learned a lot from the DVD!!! I was reading last night where you could superfat and you add some of your most precious oil at the last and that way some of that oil wont get sapananated sp? with the other oils. What that word means I think, if I am remembering right, the fats and the lye come together and make soap. And if you wait and add the olive oil in my case, at the last it will be better for you skin this way from what I am understanding. I am new at this and have read sooooooooooooo much I could be getting it confused!

You know I will post pix when I get my soap out of their molds. :)

Keep us in your prayers that we don’t lose our power and we also have water as well. :)

Rose