Wrappings

Wrapping my products has been a growing edge for me. Though I've always enjoyed wrapping presents, this has been a bit more challenging for me. This morning, I've been playing with a couple of my soap gift sets. I was really excited when I came up with the idea to wrap the Coffee set in burlap from locally roasted beans, but not sure about the rest of it. Paper, ribbon or gold stretchy rope? The Rose set has confounded me. Not sure if cheesecloth does anything for it, or if ribbon or fabric are enough. I took some pics, and would love some feedback, if you're so inclined-- preferences and ideas welcomed. Too, I'm pondering my first giveaway. I'd love it if you took a peek at my shop, and let me know if anything in particular would inspire you to join in. It'll be a simple giveaway; just a comment will get you entered.

Soap & The Power of Love

Today I've made a batch of Skin Soother soap. It's one I created at Joseph's request, to help with dry itchy skin. It's got all sorts of goodies in it- calendula extract & petals, ground oats, tea tree oil, and it's superfatted with cocoa butter to make it especially rich. I'd been putting calendula petals in the soap, but they don't show very well, so I decided to also sprinkle some on top today. I think I'm going to like it.

Ever since I read June's post yesterday, which included a Youtube link about a wonderful rescue story in Haiti, I've been thinking about television. Since moving here in '96, I've chosen to live without television. I can't say I really have missed it. There's always plenty to occupy my time without it. If something major happens, I know I can watch it streaming, from the computer, which Joseph and I did for the Presidential inauguration. It seems so much of what was on TV was less than uplifting. Maybe that's changed, but I don't expect so. But it's good to see a story of hope, of love, of faith against all odds. The fierce kind of love I expect a mother has for her children. And if they're lucky, the kind of love a spouse has for their beloved. Doing what they do, against all hope, because that's what love does. That story gave me hope. If this is what is being shown on cnn, it may be another sign we're moving in the right direction.

Crunch Time

The past couple of weeks, I've been hard at work making soaps. These will be ready just before Thanksgiving. The weekend following Thanksgiving is the busiest of the year at the local potteries. I'll be volunteering at the Celebration of Seagrove Potters, a great event held that weekend. I've also been working on eye pillows. I'm really wanting to spend some time outdoors weeding and cleaning up, but haven't been able to do more than take a few pictures on my rounds of chores. Recently, I've had some doors close and a few other possibilities open up. Life is always interesting!

Sweet Things & Soap

After doing the less than fun housekeeping chores this morning, I got to some fun things. First, I made a batch of Wake Up soap. Next I made cookies. Today was an off again, on again rainy day. Also, Joseph was working today, & the day didn't go as smoothly as he hoped, so I thought he could use a little comfort when he got in. While perusing bloom, a blog I wrote about recently, I found the cookie recipe. They're Grandma Mollie's Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies. Yum! I took a picture, but it wasn't pretty, so I hope the soap will do.

Harvest Time

We've had light frosts a couple of nights this week, so it was time to get the last of the tender plants harvested. Before the first frost Sunday night, Joseph pulled all the basil plants. I made many batches of pesto to carry us through the winter. Yesterday, I dug sweet potatoes. We had a wonderful harvest. I do not say this lightly. The past several years, sweet potato harvest has been a bit discouraging. Joseph & I would fork up the ground, only to find that the voles had been blissfully & safely eating all the innards out of almost all of them. I'm a reasonably good sharer, but I wanted more than a meals worth of sweet potatoes. So this year, Joseph outsmarted them. He dug a 2 ft trench, lined it with chicken wire, then built a wooden border for the raised bed, enabling him to add another foot of soil on top of the ground. It worked! It's always fun to see what sizes and shapes of sweet potatoes show up. We had 2 "hosses" that were over 3 lbs a piece. I gave Joseph a standing ovation. Our plan is to rotate the "Irish" potatoes with the sweet potatoes, as he made another potato bed this summer. I harvested eggplant yesterday & made Eggplant Parmigiana, along with an apple pie from our apples. I love eating a meal from food we've grown here. Today, I've made a batch of Kitchen Thyme soap, & have been working on cleaning up some beeswax I got from some potter friends. It's a beautiful day here, with temps in the mid-70's, blue skies and lots of birdsong. I hope it's just as nice where you are.

Homestead Blooms

In doing my outdoor chores this morning, I noticed how many things were still blooming, which inspired me to grab the camera. I made my first batch of candles today, some beeswax votives. Hopefully, they'll easily come out of their molds tomorrow. I also made a batch of For the Love of Rose soap, which has the house smelling lovely. All the greens in the garden are looking happy. I'm hoping today's rain will inspire the carrots & herbs I planted to germinate.