Birthdays ~ When I'm 64

Most people who know me also know that All birthdays are important to me.  And whether you know me very well or not I'm sure you can tell that I'm not afraid of self promotion.  Believe it or not at one time I was actually quite shy! The reason birthdays have become even more important to me in the last few years is that I appreciate the chance to cram that much more into the life I am living. To live like there may not be a tomorrow for me.  So I want to thank those of you who remembered me on my special day.  Thank you to my boys, to my granddaughter who called me all by herself, to all three of my sisters, to my cousins & to my dear friends from here to Timbuktu.  Thanks for making my day even more special!

Learning the Trade

"Do What You Do, Say What You Say"   Be Proud of Who You Are

This is who I am! 

This is who I am!

 

 

 This is who I am! 

 

I'm making soap!

Although I haven't been hitting my blog station much this summer I have not been idle!  My soap adventure at the beach has blossomed into something that I have really been working on.

When we first dabbled in 'soap at the beach' it opened a door that I hadn't even considered before.  Making soap wasn't as easy as cooking is for me.  When I cook I see what ingredients I have on hand or see the name of a dish and then I just create.  Not so with soap!  You need  to follow certain guidelines ~ Especially when you are using essential oils.  Blending fragrances takes practice, learning which notes blend well with one another & figuring out how not to add too much or too little to your base.  I feel that I will be an amateur for a long time, but I am gaining confidence with each new soap that I develop.

I am confident enough of my ability so far to launch a line of soaps that I will be marketing locally and in the near future online.  Here is a Sniff of what I've been up to!

My latest Misadventure!

5/12/13
Let me tell a little about yesterday's almost misadventure! As many of you know there are parts of my property that have literally become a jungle ~ around my pond being one of those places. Last month I burned around most of the pond & it helped, but I still had limbs and briars to attack so that was yesterday's PROJECT! I started small I was only going to clear down to the apple tree (mid section, south side), that went so well that I decided to just take a look at the OTHER part of the south side.  Big Mistake!!!

Once I was on the other side I couldn't back up because of the wagon attached to the back of the lawnmower!  The only way to move forward was to cut and chop my way out!  Three hours later my task was complete, but not without scratches & sore muscles!  Lesson learned next time I decide to inspect something scout it on foot first before I barrel through with a machine! *~*

 

Rescuing the Paddle Boat

I was on a mission the other morning ~ with something that's been weighing on me for awhile.  Last Fall time got away from me and so did my paddle boat!  She had filled completely with water and not being secured properly she had drifted to the other end of the pond & almost sunk.

I wanted to secure the paddle boat on the west side of the pond so that I could bale her out from a less weedy location,  especially after seeing that little rat snake yesterday while I was bush hogging.  So before the coffee was finished brewing I slipped into some shorts & waddled on down to the pond to scoot my paddle boat to safety!  The water was deeper than it usually is because we've had so much rain all Winter and Spring.  Of course I slipped on the edge of the bank and plopped right into the water!  Even on the edge the water was up to my thighs.  The water was cool as I had hoped it would be.  Cool water not as likely to run into snakes!

It took several minutes to walk the paddle boat to the other end of the pond.  My shoes got tangled up in an old fishing line and with the boat being full of water inside and out it took some maneuvering to complete the trek!  I pulled her up on the shore as best I could then made sure that she was tied off.  Good thing too because rain has set in again and if I had waited I would have missed the envelope to 'Get er done!'

She is secure but not baled out!  I will save that task for another afternoon sometime soon when I have some little buddies around to help with the job!

Soap at the Beach!

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasurable experience of being invited to join a friend and her daughter at the beach for a few days.  My friend never goes anywhere or does anything unless there is some activity afoot.  The beach trip was to be no different!

"Soap" she said and soap there was.  Neither of us had really made soap before (well maybe a little weekend project, but nothing like this), we both did a little research, bought a couple of books, some soap, essential oils, exfoliants, color etc!

 LET THE PROJECT BEGIN!  What I found out about my friend Rhonda Brantley the next few days was that she makes soap like some people cook.  Without a script! ;-) That's what made it so much fun.  We played with it like we were some wizards concocting secret formulas for the well being of humanity!  And who knows maybe we were! There were some great successes & some not so wonderful concoctions, but throughout the entire experience we had fun!  Soap anyone?

Bonsai

My Bonsai experience has just begun.  I began work on the first plant last week, it is a plant that I purchased last year for just this purpose and neglected to do anything with it until now. May I present my small leaved holly!

I've trimmed the roots and the trunk now it's time to let it become comfortable with these changes before I do any additional work! 

Next item on the agenda is this beautiful Juniper.  The pot in front of it is the one I'll use for this project! 

Wish me luck! I'll keep you posted!