The Chickens That Almost Were

We seem to be stuck in a weather pattern around here - rainy one day, windy and cold the next. This has been going on for a couple of weeks and, according to the long term weather forecast, will continue for the foreseeable future. Bernie pretty much decided to ignore the rain and worked on clearing out a spot for his new work shop. We found a small company that will construct a barn shed for him for less than he could build it himself. They're also going to build a small garden shed for me. Yay!

Bernie and Eddie took down a couple of locust trees last week that were starting to die. One of them had a hollow spot in the middle and was full of carpenter ants. When he cut and stacked that wood, word quickly spread throughout the feathered friends network, and we had flocks of birds hanging around the woodpile and eating ants for a few days. We saw several baby woodpeckers enjoying the hassle free meal too. Too cute.

I was two seconds away from ordering 25 one day old chicks this week. I had filled out the on-line order form, entered a credit card number, and had my finger poised above the "Order Now" button, when I decided I really better check with Bernie first. Naturally, he had to go and apply a little logic to the situation (such as mentioning the small fact that we don't have the fence up yet, let alone the chicken coop). In my defense, the chicks have to stay inside in a brood box for at least three weeks, and I figured that was plenty of time to get everything ready for them before they head outside. Bernie didn't quite see it that way, and in the end I decided not to hit the "Order Now" button on the website. I swear, he can be such a buzz kill sometimes.

I was in a soaping mood and made several new soaps this week. Here's a picture of three of them:



Left - Lemongrass and Rosemary essential oil blend
Middle - Shea Butter, Olive Oil, Coconut Oil and Safflower Oil unscented soap for Bernie
Right - Asian Garden, which is a Shea Butter, Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, and Safflower Oil soap with a heavenly, exotic floral scent

Oh, and for those of you who have asked, the Honeycomb soap is up for sale on the website now.

I also made a new soap for girls I named Fairy Dust Soap. It's a glycerin soap with hot pink body glitter in it and is lightly scented with Dreamcicle fragrance. I made this one especially for my niece to give as Easter gifts to a few of the kids' friends. She really seemed to like it. I'll post a couple of pictures below, but they don't show off the sparkle very well. If you want larger, more sparkly pictures, you can see them on my Etsy shop page:



I also took a picture of a couple of them packaged up:



And yes, I did indeed write another poem to include with this soap. Just when you were certain my creative genius could not get any more awesome, I bring you this jewel:

Fairy Dust Soap

Wash with me and sparkle,
With all your hopes and dreams.
I am made of magic,
Sprinkled with Fairy Wings.

As you bathe and lather,
Dream of dancing on the stars.
You can rise above the heavens,
You will certainly go far.

This Fairy Dust will clean you,
And bring you lots of smiles.
So bathe with me each evening,
We’ll share the magic for a while.

Yes, yes, I know. I should really stick to just making soap. But I am forever hopeful that a young child will appreciate my poetic talent or, at the very least, be so excited about sparkly soap that she doesn't laugh at my lack of it.

This week promises to be much the same as last, with regard to weather. Bernie is determined to continue working on the fence, even if it does rain a bit. I think he realizes he can only put me off for so long from getting my chickens. I made up a little chicken song and have been singing it to him all day. Poor Bernie. He probably wants me to get chickens soon in the hopes that I'll aggravate them instead of him. I'm pretty sure I have enough aggravation in me to go around though.

Bee Free,
Penny

The Soapinator

I mentioned to my wonderful husband that I would like him to make me a soap mold that would hold about twice as many as my current mold holds. On one particularly cold and windy day, he went outside to work for a while, and came in a short while later with this:



I'm sure you can tell, but I tilted it on it's side so you can get an idea of what the inside looks like. Bernie dubbed it "The Soapinator". I couldn't wait to put it to the test.

I whipped up a batch scented with a Lavender L'Occitane type fragrance last night. The Soapinator easily held the 8.75 pound batch of soap I poured into it! Here's a picture of it, filled with soap and topped with the lid he made for it:



I could hardly wait to unmold the soap today and cut the bars. The Soapinator did great - and I ended up with 27 bars! It would have been 28, but I cut a little off each end to use as tester bars. My soap didn't turn out as I had envisioned. It was supposed to be white soap with lavender swirls, topped with white soap shavings and a thin layer of the lavender on top to just barely coat the shavings. Well, the white turned rather beige, the lavender turned rather plum, and the lavender over the shavings is too thick. I still think it turned out OK - just not quite what I had in mind. I'm going to name it Lavender Breeze. Here's a picture of the whole batch:



As a bonus - you can also see the yellow walls of the kitchen in most of these pictures! To be fair, the colors are a little off. I used my camera with no flash. The soap is more purple than the picture shows - and the walls are a brighter yellow, if that's at all possible.

Bernie stood by to watch as I sliced each bars. He made some interesting observations about the swirls. For example, he commented that these two look a bit like ape faces:



He also found faces in all of these:




Unfortunately none look like the Virgin Mary or Elvis. We won't be getting rich off EBay with this batch. Darnit.

I wonder what, if anything, you see in these? It's sort of like an ink blot test. Only whatever you see will be interpretted as meaning you are insane. But wait.... that's exactly how the ink blot test works. So I guess it really is an ink blot test and you really are insane.

Bernie has close to 3/4 of the fence posts in now. He's also taken down several trees that were dead and threatening to fall in the path of the fence. Once he takes down a tree, he also saws it up for firewood and stacks it, and then shreds the small left over brances. All of this takes a fair amount of time. I'm sure he will be happier than I am when that fence is finally finished!

On another note, we just finished our 6th month living on the homestead. Can you believe it's been that long? I can't. Bernie is getting as bad as I am about leaving this place. In the last two weeks he has only left this place twice. And he wasn't happy about either of them. I'm fairly certain the neighbors will begin to think of us as those crazy people that live in the middle of the woods that no one ever sees. But I'm not so sure that's such a bad thing.

Bee Free,
Penny

Mud and Honey Comb

The weather has kept us from getting a lot accomplished outside on the homestead, but it sure has allowed us to make some headway in getting the inside of the house painted. By "we", I mean Bernie. But I'm sure you knew that already. Today Bernie worked on our little sitting room. He removed the strips between the drywall last week, and he's been working on getting those areas taped and mudded. Today he sanded it all down and attempted to mud over it again, but the mud was at the end of the bucket and getting rather gritty with old dried mud that kept falling in from the sides of the bucket. That makes mudding darn near impossible. He was not in a good mood when I checked on him around noon. I walked into the room to find it, and him, completely covered in drywall dust from all the sanding. He was totally white from being covered in dry wall dust, holding a mud knife full of gritty mud, cursing under his breath, and looking somewhere between a rabid dog and a crazed serial killer. I knew better than to say anything. I gave him a big hug and as I patted his back a huge plume of drywall dust erupted from his shirt. I wanted to laugh. But I knew better. I just said "Maybe you can quit for the day and wait until you buy more mud." He mumbled something as I left the room, but I didn't ask him to repeat it.

Sunday Tex, Charlotte, and Bobo came out to visit for the day. It was one of the warmest days we have had in a while. So the men decided to go outside and grunt and do manly things, while Charlotte, Bobo, and I decided to whip up a batch of soap. I've been wanting to try my hand at a batch of honeycomb soap I've seen pictures of, and since Charlotte and Bobo seemed game, I decided it was time. Charlotte and I lined my soap mold with bubble wrap, whipped up the soap, and poured it into the mold. I cut it this morning and I'm pretty pleased. It's made with honey, and scented with Oatmeal, Milk, and Honey:



Elvis had me up at 4:30 this morning. Although he's rarely awake, he can not stand to have me sleeping when his eyes are actually opened. He yowled and yowled until I finally gave up and joined him. I logged into work at 5:00AM, and Elvis curled up on the desk next to my mouse and fell asleep. I wanted to scream "YOWL" and wake him up, but I didn't have the heart.

By the way, Bernie is in a much better mood tonight after his mudding experience. He sanded a bit more, and everything looks really nice. He'll get some new mud tomorrow and get this finished up. It's very rare for him to be in a bad mood lately. And when it does happen, it doesn't last very long. After 20+ years of marriage, I've learned to keep my mouth mostly shut when it does though. I am, after all, a pretty darn good wife.

Bee Free,
Penny

Adding a Little Color to the Homestead

This past week has been a mess with regard to weather. Snow and ice - and then it warms up just enough during the day to all start melting and leave us with a muddy mess. Bernie has spent a great deal of time inside this week. And as a result, he's finished painting almost half the inside of the house. Yay!

You may not know this about the love of my life, but he is color blind. Thank the heavens. Because the dining room is a very dark green, and the kitchen is a very bright yellow. Bernie thinks they are black and bright, respectively. I assured him they look beautiful. And being the wonderful husband that he is, he simply said "As long as you like them." Although, when we were putting the kitchen back together after he painted, he picked up the French's Yellow Mustard bottle, held it up to the kitchen wall, and asked "Is that wall the same color as this?" I was amazed that he could notice the similarity, but I just chuckled and said "You are so funny". Don't tell him.

We learned we are getting money back on our income taxes for last year. That's a big deal to me, as we usually end up paying. It's not a big deal to Bernie because he feels they never should have taken it in the first place. I'm just thrilled not to have to write the IRS a check right now. We both feel that paying taxes to the Federal Government is robbery. Look up the definition of robbery. It's something to the effect of taking something from you that you do not willingly give. As in requiring it by law. But that's a subject for a different blog. I'm here to tell you about living on our homestead, not to remind you you're being robbed by the Federal Government.

So we learned we are getting money back on our income taxes for last year. And I left the homestead for the first time this week and went into town to pick up the paperwork from our accountant so we can go ahead and file. We stopped by to see Tex and Charlotte. Tex greeted us by looking at Bernie and saying "How in the world did you get HER off the homestead?" Is it that obvious? Maybe I should get out more.

I made some Sea Salt Spa Bars this weekend. These are kind of tough to make as they require cutting before they have cured overnight. I usually cut them within three hours, while they are still hot and VERY soft. It's not very easy to cut them while they are soft. I took a couple of pictures, but keep in mind, they are still soft and I haven't cleaned them up yet.

Here's one I made with Rosemary Essential Oil and a touch of Peppermint Essential Oil. I am really in love with this scent. Very nice:



And here's one I made with Raspberry Lilac fragrance oil. I had just cut this one when I took the picture, so forgive the washing machine background:



We did have quite a bit of wind this week that not only blew over 2 trees into the driveway, but blew the tin roof about 1/3 the way off the cabin roof. I don't think I need to tell you how much fun it was to tack the roof back down during all those high winds. Although Bernie did that actual task, I held the ladder for him and crawled up on the shed roof next to the cabin to do that for him. The wind kept blowing the tin roof OVER TOP of him. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Not only am I afraid of heights, I am terrified of losing my husband and being stuck to care for this place all by myself. I told him I was going to kill him if he died. And I seriously meant it.

And through every thing we've done this week, this is a picture of what Elvis was doing:



In all fairness, Elvis really doesn't sleep ALL the time. Here's a picture I took of him wide awake:



He's just full of energy in that picture. You can tell because his eyes are open. Couldn't you just kiss his fur right off of him?

Bee Free,
Penny

Open for Business!

It's official. I've got my soap on a website for sale. I got several requests to have my soap available for sale by Valentine's Day, so I decided to go ahead and list them on Etsy. I'm still adding stuff, but you can look and start ordering now, if you please. http://pennylanebath.etsy.com

Here's a couple of tips you may appreciate:

- When you checkout, mention Back to Basic Living in the comments box and get a 10% discount
- I am forced to enter a flat rate for shipping each item. If you order more than 3 items, add a note in the comments box that you want me to calculate shipping for you and go ahead and place the order, but do not pay the bill when it arrives in your inbox. I'll see if I can get a better shipping rate for you. Wait until I calculate your shipping for the least expensive rate and personally email you with the final bill.
- I have to pay a minimal fee for each item I list (that means a fee for every bar of soap) so I only listed two of each. If the item displays zero available, or not as many as you would like, just email me and I will list more if I have them. basicliving@backtobasicliving.com
- I am only accepting PayPal right now until I get my business account set up at the bank. You do not have to have a PayPal account to send a payment. Follow the instructions when you get your bill and you can send payment without an account. If, however, you would like to pay by check, put a note in the comments box and go ahead and check out. I'll email you with some instructions.

OK, I think that's it. Thanks for the nudge I needed to get the soap up for sale!

Bee Free - and Bee Clean ;-)
Penny

People Make Me Sick

Between the trip to Richmond last week and the trip to the dentist, somewhere, somehow, someone managed to infect me with a Death Cold. I'm feeling better now, but the last week has been misery. And today poor Bernie is sick as a dawg with it. People have germs and they are not afraid to share them. Watch your back out there.

We had an ice storm a couple of days ago. Naturally, when there is weather trees on our homestead start falling down. We had to spent some time clearing the driveway of fallen trees. Even though it can sure cause some damage, ice is really pretty to look at. I put some pictures I took up on the website if you'd like to take a look. While I was playing around with the camera, I got this shot:



I wish I had been paying better attention instead of focused on catching that little drop of water. I would have made sure Bernie's blue tarped fire wood pile wasn't the background for the picture. But I kind of like it anyway.

I decided to do a little project with glycerin soap and make something kids will enjoy. I poured the soap into cello bags, embedded little plastic toy gold fish, and then topped them off with more soap. Look at how cute this little fish in a bag is:



I made several bags and used all different colored fish. I even wrote a little fish poem and attached it to the bag. Just when you thought you had witnessed the extent of my talents, I offer this for your amazement:

I'm just a little fishy,
Won't you set me free?
Make the bathtub swishy,
And lather up with me.

While we're in the water,
We'll have so much fun.
Splashing like an otter,
Our friendship has begun.

Wash and scrub all over,
Don't forget behind your ears.
You'll smell fresh as clover.
I will bring you lots of cheer.

So lather up like crazy,
While you play with me.
If you do this daily,
Soon I will be free.

Now what kid could resist a soap with a fish toy and an awesome little poem like that?

Tomorrow is Super Bowl Sunday. Bernie has his menu planned - I just hope he's feeling well enough to enjoy it.

People make me sick - and apparently I make Bernie sick.

Bee Free,
Penny

Soap Porn and Super Bowl Plans

I've really gotten into this larger soap mold I got for Christmas that makes the over sized bars. I took some pictures of the last two batches I made and thought you might like to see some more of my soap porn.

Here's the one that is scented with the Polo Sport Type for men fragrance that I named Tyler - it's getting a little more gray as it cures, but it's still looking rather beige. You can tell by the center though, it is getting a little grayer on the edges:



And here's one of my Raspberry Lilac - the picture doesn't show it very well, but the lilac portion is swirled with raspberry. The top portion is raspberry and it's topped with a sparkly lilac mica powder:



We had a nice relaxing weekend on the homestead. We just kind of tinkered around here and I don't even really remember that we did anything note worthy. It was just nice to be here.

Next weekend is Super Bowl Sunday and Bernie is very excited about the personal Super Bowl party I throw him each year. He's getting his menu together and the schedule of when each of the little snacks gets served. I'll spend all day cooking for him, but I don't mind. He's a pretty good husband. And I think it's been well established that I'm a darn good wife.

Bee Free,
Penny

Soaping Fool on the Homestead

Here's the soap I made yesterday and cut today for my favorite nephew-in-law, Troy:





What do ya think? I made another batch a few minutes ago for my very favorite great-nephew. I used a Curves for Men type fragrance oil. It's supposed to be gray, with black soap cubes throughout it. I used a new colorant, and right now it is looking very suspiciously beige. I'm not sure it's going to turn out as I planned at all. I'll know tomorrow when I cut it. I'm naming this one Tyler. The little snot better like it.

I worked today and Bernie headed out to our house in town to empty out the refrigerator and freezer. We probably should have thought to do that a few months ago. I know that thing was slap full, but he came home with just a small cooler full of food. I said "That's all?" and he said "Don't even ask." Apparently he had several trash bags for the dump - and he wasn't happy about it. Darnit.

Not sure what we're doing on the homestead this weekend, but I do know it will involve us BEING on the homestead. Even Bernie has decided he's not going anywhere. We're staying put and working around here. Yay! I love it when I bring Bernie around to my way of thinking.

Bee Free,
Penny

Finless and Fancy Free

I had my fin removed yesterday. The only painful part was the 50,000 times he stuck me with a needle to deaden my mouth. There was no way pain was going to sneak through all the Novocaine he shot in there. My entire head was numb by the time he got started. I won't give you all the gory details, but you can imagine just how pleasant it is to see items entering your mouth that look and sound like the tools your husband uses while working on a car engine. Finally, Dr. Specialist announced "There it is! I see your fin. I wish I could take a picture for you to put on your blog." I had a moment of absolute horror as I wondered if he had actually read my blog, but then decided he was just a little techno-savvy and being chatty. Otherwise I am certain he would have commented on my wonderful drawing. He sewed in six stitches and I was on my merry way.

So the fin is gone and other than a few minutes of discomfort as the Novocaine wore off, I'm really feeling just fine. So fine, in fact, that I actually made another batch of soap today. My niece called to inform me that she loves my soap, but her husband doesn't care for all the girly smells. So I decided to make a batch especially for him. I used my mold that makes over sized bars again - and this time I colored it black and stirred in white confetti soap. Then I used the blender to whip up a bit of the soap that I had removed before adding the black color and spread a layer of white topping on the black soap. I know how it's supposed to look, but I have no idea how it will actually turn out. I scented it with a fragrance oil that smells like Polo Sport for Men. I'll cut it tomorrow and if it turns out half way decent, I'll post a picture here. Since "Polo Sport for Men" is taken, I'm calling this one Troy because, well, it was inspired by Troy. I am so darn creative.

Lobby Day at our Capitol went really well and we spoke to as many representatives as we could pin down. We're writing the ones we missed and Bernie will be back down there a few more times this session. They may not vote the way we want them to, but certainly they won't vote before knowing how we feel about it.

Between shuttling me to the dentist and trying to keep up with things around here, Bernie's been chipping ice off the driveway. We have a fairly steep hill just before you get to the house that was covered in ice and getting a bit scary to maneuver. For my daily outing, I took the Trail Blazer down to check mail and was quite pleased with the job he did on the driveway. I don't mind excitement, but that driveway was getting just a little more exciting than I like. It's fine now and he finished it just in time for it to start snowing again. Hopefully it's just a flurry. But I don't trust Old Man Winter. You may remember we ended up with eight inches of snow after predicted flurries last year.

We're still plugging along on the homestead. The ground is too frozen to put in fence posts right now. Bernie still has some trees to deal with that fell during various storms this winter. We'll just add that to the never ending list of things that keep us busy and happy around here.

Bee Free,
Penny

Everyone's a Critic

I know y'all think I'm kidding, but I really do receive a lot of email pointing out any mistakes I make in my blogs or simply commenting on what a dufus I can be. In all honesty, I know that it is done in jest or with a sincere effort to be helpful, and being the good natured person I am, I take it how it was intended.

After my last post, my dear sister wrote to inform me I had made three spelling/grammar errors in my blog. No "Hey - great blog. Oh by the way you misspelled something" just "I found three errors in your blog". Thanks, sis. I fixed them.

And then here's the love letter My Dear John sent me:

"If that dentist isn't any better at drawing I don't think he'b b my first choice for removing a fin .

Either that U ain't much better at drawing then he is"

I love you too, My Dear John. (Note to sister - the spelling errors are his, not mine)

And speaking of being a critic, here's your chance to critique the latest soap I made. It's quite a bit different than any I've made before and it didn't turn out exactly as I had envisioned, but I think it's OK. I'd just love to hear what you have to say about it. It's honey scented with a chocolate center and chocolate shavings on top. I call it "Bee My Honey" - being as it's for Valentine's day and all.



Here's a close up of one with the heart in it:



These bars are larger than I usually make. They measure about 3 and 1/2 inches wide by 3 and 1/2 inches tall (not including the shavings). So what do y'all think? I was a little disappointed in the shavings. I cut them with a carrot peeler and I think they are a little too short and a little too thin.

We're heading to Richmond for Lobby Day weekend tomorrow. I'm sure I'll be fine when I get there, but I'm kind of dreading it right now. Going to Richmond means I have to leave our homestead for a few days. I don't like leaving our homestead. But I also don't like the legislature being in session and not being aware of where I stand on things that many of them tend to take lightly - my pesky little rights, for example. So we're heading to Richmond until Monday.

Until then, keep those emails coming! Let me know what you think of the soap. I'll answer when we return.

Bee Free,
Penny

PS - I do love to get your emails. There is also a comment feature to each blog entry if you are interested in sharing what you have to say with the blogosphere. (Note to sister - blogosphere does not show up in the dictionary)

Thank You Each for Your Sincere Concern

Prior to today, the most amount of email I've gotten in response to this blog concerned soap making and butter churning. But certainly the post yesterday on my fin has gotten the attention of many of you. I really appreciate all the concern and well wishes. I'll post a few of the comments I received below, so that you can see how much my blogger friends love me and are concerned for my well being:

1 - "I always knew you were special, but I had no idea you are half fish"
2 - "Sharks have fins toooooooo!"
3 - "Will you join the circus now?"

I could go on and on, but I think you get the picture. And speaking of pictures, I drew one to help explain my fin:



I swear to you, this is a very close duplicate of the picture the specialist actually drew for me. I am not lying. At any rate - that Homer Simpson looking thing is actually all the root openings at the top of my tooth. The fin is that thin line coming out of the top of one of those roots. Apparently it is almost microscopic, but for some reason Dr. Specialist is convinced he will see it when he slices my gum open and be able to remove it. I asked him if there is any chance he will cut a nerve and I will have facial paralysis the rest of my life. Do you know what he said to me? He said "There is always that risk, but it is very rare". VERY RARE??? That's exactly what he told me about having a freaking fin in the first place!!! Great.

So now you know all I know about my fin. And my fin and I are just fine for now. After next week, my fin will be nothing but a memory and I will be able to smile about it - that is if my face isn't paralyzed from the surgery.

It's been snowing here all day long. I would guess we have about 3 - 4 inches now. I took some pictures earlier - they appear kind of hazy because it was snowing like crazy when I took them. Oh - and they were taken out a window because, as you know, I don't do snow. I put them up on the website and will add more as the day progresses. Check them out!

OK, I've got to go start making some soap for Valentine's day. Just wanted to check in with y'all and express my appreciation for all the warm thoughts and wishes and concern for my fin. I can sure feel the love.

Bee Free,
Penny

And You Wonder Why I Never Leave the Homestead

I think we've well established that I'm pretty content to stay right here - safe and secure on our little homestead. I know that many of you have teased me about rarely leaving our little slice of heaven. I would go so far as to say a few of you have actually mocked me about that little fact. I can take it. But I offer you the following as a prime example of why I insist on being such a hermit.

I had a dentist appointment yesterday. Naturally, I can't have just a typical dental issue. I have to have a well-we-occasionally-see-this-but-it's-extremely-rare type of dental issue. Without all the painstakingly long details, suffice it to say I had a cracked tooth that required a root canal - that went bad after a year and a half because I was born with a freaking fin on my root. Yes, a FIN. And I drove 70 miles to see a specialist and learn about it. Until yesterday, I had never even heard of a fin. Apparently the specialist I went to had heard of a fin, but he assured me they are very rare. Most people have fins when they are born and they close up and heal during adolescence. Do I need to tell you how much comfort I did not take in knowing it is rare and that my mouth can't be normal? I couldn't care less if only one person or every other person on the planet has a fin that causes trouble. I have a fin and MY fin is causing me trouble. And as far as I'm concerned, that's really all that matters to me and all that should matter to my specialist. At any rate, he informed me of my fin and scheduled my surgery for next week. I should have stayed at home.

But I didn't stay at home. I drove 70 miles to see my dear specialist. When I left his office the sky was blue and the sun was beating down upon me. It was lovely. I felt God was shining his approval on me that we had discovered my fin and made plans to rectify what He kind of forgot to take care of when I was born. Life was wonderful. 12 miles later, I was in a total white out from a blizzard. Seriously, it was awful. So awful that about two miles later all traffic came to a dead stop on the interstate. I figured some one spun out on the slick road and we would get moving within minutes. After about 20 minutes, I shut the car off. After about an hour I turned it back on to warm up and listen to the news. It seems there was a twenty to twenty five car pile up just ahead of me. They had shut down the interstate. I shut the car off and cried for a few minutes. I called Bernie, who was totally sympathetic, and informed me he was busy starting a nice fire in the fire place. I hung up and cried for a few minutes more. I did take the time to recognize that there were at least 20 - 25 people having a worse day than I, and I said a quick prayer for each of them and their safety. And then I cried a little more.

Long story short (I know, I know - too late!) after just over two hours, traffic started to move. We were diverted to an exit ramp and then back on the entrance ramp. I could see an 18 wheeler perched precariously over the via duct and several cars scattered here and there. I am thankful that it appeared most were just banged up a bit. I really do pray everyone involved is OK.

I finally made it back to the homestead, where Bernie and a nice glowing fire awaited me. There really is a reason I don't like to leave here. Anytime I leave it seems people don't want to let me come back.

I made some nice Sea Salt Bars last weekend. Pure Coconut Oil, Shea Butter, and Sea Salt. Feast your eyes on these lovely puppies:



Now wouldn't you rather have me here on the Homestead cranking out bath stuff, that fighting traffic and discussing about fins with a dentist?

Bee Free,
Penny

Merry Christmas - You Have a Mouse in Your House

I trust each of you had a very Merry Christmas, Hanukkah, or what ever holiday you celebrate this time of year. We celebrate Christmas on the homestead and we spent it with my family about 600 miles away from here. It was a wonderful time with family and we shared a lot of laughs and good times.

We got back to the homestead Wednesday night and found a note from our pet sitter that basically said "The cats were fine. Merry Christmas. You have a mouse in your house." Well, great. You may recall that we've done battle with mice in the past, but I was certain that after we sealed every nook and cranny that a mouse could possibly use to gain access inside, in addition to having the cats in the house now, that little issue was taken care of.

I called the pet sitter to get some mouse details. She said she was visiting and heard a noise in the bathroom, so she and Elvis went to investigate. When she pulled back the shower curtain, she saw the mouse. After chasing it around the bathroom trying to capture it in a plastic dixie cup, it ran past her into my office. Elvis, being the complete slug that he is, sat and watched the whole thing, and even moved out of it's way as the mouse ran past him. Priscilla hid in the bedroom. Worthless cats.

One of the first things I did when I learned of the mouse was check our beautiful cheese that we put up to age. No mouse meddling there. Whew. We've seen no sign of the mouse since we've been home, but we're on high alert. Anyone know of a Mouser 101 school I can ship these worthless cats off to?

I've been busy as a bee making soap. I hope to have a pretty good inventory when I go live with my website to sell it. Last night I made a heavenly smelling Raspberry Lilac. By the end of this weekend, I should have about eight different types of soap curing - something for everyone!

As 2007 winds down, we look forward to what 2008 will bring us here on the homestead. I hope it doesn't involve snow, ice, or mice.

Bee Free,
Penny

The Run Down

I tried writing in this blog for the past two nights, and just couldn't seem to get my thoughts together or my heart into it. Well, there's nothing better than watching The Rock to get your old ticker humming again - and tonight we watched him in "The Run Down". Great movie. Lots of action, humor, character, and ...well... The Rock!!! Without tyring to get all movie critic on you, I'll just say this movie is basically about a man who does what he has to do to win back his freedom and persue his dreams, without compromising his character and integrity. But when it comes right down to it, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. It's a great movie for a lot of different reasons. Did I mention The Rock stars in it? Wow.

Other than the trip to the dump, I think it's been three weeks since I left the homestead. Well, I finally took the plunge today and headed into town to get my hair colored. I also brought two dozen of my Smelly Jelly room fresheners in to the shop to sell them. And sell them they did. Before I even left, half were gone! Woo hoo! I made up another couple dozen when I got home for Bernie to take them this week.

Bernie hurt his back some how. I suspect it was either from that huge oak he grounded, chopped, and split - or from dragging around and hanging those mega huge deer Eddie gave us. At any rate, his feeble attempt to hide it last weekend did not escape me and I nagged him into taking it a little easier this week. He took care of a lot of things around the house that didn't involve him acting like Hercules and using his back, and I'm proud to report his back seems to be much better now. He informs me he'll be ready to tackle all the work outside next week. Which is good. He's happier when he's out and about - and that translates into me being happier. So it's a win/win situation.

I've been a soap making fool the past week. I made a batch of unscented bar soap for Bernie that I cleverly named "Nekkid Bernie". Hey - cut me some slack. What I lack for in clever labels, I make up for in wonderful soap. I also made a batch of "Macaroon" soap, which is a blend of chocolate and coconut fragrance oils. Tomorrow I'm making "Mango Papaya" soap - using shea butter and mango butter. I have a few others planned for this week and that means within about a month they should all be cured and I can finally put up a webpage with bath products. This Christmas season has kept me busy keeping the shops in stock, but I'm excited to get the webpage going so those of you that have asked to order it online can finally do that.

By the way - you do know the difference between "naked" and "nekkid" don't you? Naked is when you don't have any clothes on. Nekkid is when you don't have any clothes on, and you're up to no good.....

We're cold, but safe and happy on the homestead. There's a winter storm brewing and indications are that we may get iced in tonight. I ain't complaining.

Bee Free,
Penny

The Skinny on Making Soap and Churning Butter

I've had several people contact me about how to make soap and about the butter churner I bought off of EBay. I've been answering each individually, but this morning there were two seperate emails with the same question, so I thought it might be a good idea to give some info here on those questions.

First - the butter churner. When I started looking for a butter churner, I had three things in mind: 1) I wanted a hand crank churner 2) I wanted a glass churner and 3) I wanted a Dazey Churner. I really had no particular reasons for this, other than I wanted glass so I could see what is happening when I churn,I wanted a Dazey because that's really the only old, glass churner I've really ever heard about, and I wanted a hand crank because you know, being all into getting self sufficient and everything, I didn't want it to depend on electricity. I paid $50 for it. Here's a picture:



She's a beauty and cranks out some really awesome butter. I highly recommend her. Only she's not for sale. But I highly recommend one of her siblings.

As for soap making, I never bought a book on the subject. I never even thought about making soap until I started reading about other people having fun making soap. I can't stand when people have fun without me, so I decided I needed to get in on it. I started looking all over the internet and finding out about making soap. Two excellent resources are the Soap Making forum on HomesteadingToday and Mullers Lane Farm. And, of course, I have a page up on the Back to Basic Living website with step by step instructions and a basic soap recipe for beginners.

I found the most difficult part of soap making was finding the lye needed. After ordering from several places, I found Ace Hardware had the best deal - I order it by the case.

If you have other questions about butter churning or soap making, please don't hesitate to ask. I'm no expert, but I can either answer your question, or point you to someone who can.

Speaking of soap, here are a couple of pictures of my Sinfully Decadant Chocolate soap with swirls:



Ah - just gorgeous! This next picture is the same batch, but I ran out of the chocoate swirl. I think it came out really pretty, but I wanted more chocolate swirl:



OK - time to go cook up a couple of nice steaks for supper. Bernie bought Live Free or Die Hard and we're going to watch it tonight while we eat. It's not Movie Saturday or anything, but we like to be spontaneous and adventurous on occasion. This is about as spontaneous and adventurous as it gets around here. Woo hoo!

Live Free,
Penny

Thanksgiving Ramblings

Hope you each had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We sure did. Tex and Charlotte spent the day with us and we ate a huge meal. Afterwards the guys went out and shot their guns a while and Charlotte joined them to test out her new 9MM. I stayed in the house with my buddy Bobo, as he is terrified of loud noises. Bobo ate a fair amount too, and we spent a little time trying to figure out whose belly was bigger, his or mine. In the end, he won - but I assured him it looks good on him. He looked a little hurt, but I gave him another piece of turkey and he seemed to get over it pretty quick. I would LOVE to have a dog like Bobo. He's really smart, well mannered, and fun to be around - and most of all he seems to really like me.

I took a couple of days off work for Thanksgiving, so I have a gloriously long weekend. It's been wonderful. Bernie has been on a perpetual long weekend since he quit his job, but he works so hard around here I'm afraid he doesn't feel like he's on vacation. He does take a break from most of his outside work and spend time with me when I take vacation though. He's been working on getting all his guns cleaned while I putter around the house. Today I made a really nice batch of Sinfully Decadent Chocolate soap. Wow, it smells wonderful - almost as good as the home made chocolate cake I made for Thanksgiving. I may have to put a warning sign on it that it's not edible. I tried my hand at swirling it again, so we'll see how it turns out.

It's Friday night and we all know that means it's Pizza-Beer-and-a-Movie-Night here on the homestead. Yee Haw! Even the cats are excited - and they hate pizza, beer, and our taste in movies.

Bee Free,
Penny

Mmmmmmmmmm.... Butter........

We finally had some time to sit down and do some good ol' butter churning. We churned and churned, and then stopped and peaked. It looked the same. So we churned and churned some more, and then stopped and peaked. No visible changes. Hmmmm. We were starting to think we were churn challenged, when all of a sudden, the churner seized up. We had butter! Beautiful, yellow, deliciously delicious butter! Feast your eyes on this photo. Try not to drool all over your keyboard.



The next time we make it, I'll be sure to get pictures of the whole process and put them up on the website. Churning butter by hand is really not difficult. The whole process took us about 30 minutes. The butter that we ended up with was well worth it. The flavor is so much more vibrant than what we buy in the stores.

Many people have questioned why we are choosing to do things the old timey hard way on our homestead. I can not argue that it is more convenient and many times less expensive to buy most items at a store in town. But what I will tell you is that when you make it yourself you know what you are getting - whether it's food, soap, or anything else. And what you gain in convenience, you lose in quality in most cases. Not to mention the feeling of being self reliant.

Here's another one of my latest creations. It was born out of a flub up. I made a batch of cinnamon soap that I was not happy with. So I grated it up, and threw it in a nice batch of cinnabun fragranced CP soap I made. Look - it's a confetti soap!



And it smells wonderful!

Little by little, we are getting back to the basics of living. And it feels great. Life is so less complicated when you just focus on living day to day and enjoying each minute you have. We are probably busier now than we've ever been. And we are loving every second of it.

Life is tough. But living doesn't have to be.

Bee Free,
Penny

I'd Like to Think This Wasn't By Accident

Well, I cut my Coffee Soap today. Remember that I was convinced it was globbed instead of swirled? Well, guess what? It's swirled!!! Or maybe more like marbled - but none-the-less, it's not globbed. Look!





And even though it's made with coffee, I added cocoa for the swirl, and now it smells just like a brownie!

I'd like to think I knew what I was doing, but the truth is, I think I was just lucky. But that's pretty much how my life goes. I just plunge ahead and bumble along and some how things work out. I guess that's because I'm just too hopeful to imagine it ending any other way. Bernie and I are both like that.

I guess there's truth in the old saying "Ignorance is bliss". We are ignorant, and we are blissful. There are worse things to be.

Bee Free,
Penny

Random Stuff We've Been Up To

This blog and our website have been such great experiences for us. I started the website because when we first considered homesteading, I found lots of site about people who were homesteading, but very few that explained how they got started with it. I figured we were bumbling our way through it, and maybe someone could learn from the mistakes we make as we go and the stuff we do right. I never dreamed we would make so many new friends, and hook up with so many old friends we had lost touch with. It's been great! Now if we could only get our families to look at it...... they'd rather call and ask "So what have you been up to? Anything new on your website?"

I think I told y'all that Senator Obenshain asked us to get a bunch of bikers together and ride in a parade for him the second weekend in October. Senator Obenshain has been a great friend to us, and we love riding, so we got a crew together and made him proud. Here's a group shot at the end of it. If you've ever been around bikers you know that trying to get them in one place in one time is as easy as nailing jello to a tree, so this picture is missing a few. But it's a nice picture anyway, so I'll post it here:


I also posted some additional pictures on the VFR website. Check them out!

We were having a lot of trouble with yellow jackets robbing honey in one of our hives. We ended up screening in the bottom entrance, so the girls would all use the top entrance and hopefully be able to ward off the predators a little better. Well, they were still struggling. So I put out some wasp traps that I hope will give the girls a little break. I talk about how to make the traps on The Bee Buzz if you are interested in reading it.


Tonight I made some coffee soap that is supposed to be great at getting rid of cooking smells (like onion, garlic, fish) off your hands. I have always wanted to make those pretty swirl soaps, but I never had much confidence that I could actually do it, so I didn't try. Well, tonight I decided to give it a shot. I made the swirl color out of cocoa powder. The coffee soap is a dark tan, so I thought the deep cocoa color would be pretty in it. And it probably would. But I learned what I suspected all along. I am swirl challenged. So instead of swirled soap, I have blobbed soap. But it really smells nice. I'm hoping when I take it out of the mold tomorrow and cut it, it won't look as bad as it does in the mold. But did I mention it smells really nice?

Bee Free,
Penny

I Should Come with a Warning Sign - and Read it!

I've never been accused of being graceful. In fact, I'm rather known for being clumsy. I try to be careful, but it just doesn't seem to help all the time.

Tonight I was in the kitchen, excited to cut the soap I made two days ago and haven't had time to take out of the molds yet. This is some Orange Cranberry soap that smells out of this world - and I made it extra moisturizing, which explains why it was so difficult to get out of the wooden mold I use. It will definitely harden up as it cures over the next few weeks, but right now it is still very soft - and it was sticking something fierce to the wooden mold. The mold comes completely apart - each side and piece of it is individually fitted together and held with bolts. Well, I removed all the bolts, but the sides were still all stuck to the mold. I pulled and tugged to no avail. Finally, I grasped one end with one hand and held it to the counter, and with the other hand I pulled like crazy on the top. And it came loose. With a bang. And as my hand snatched it upward, I managed a glancing blow to my right eyebrow with the edge of it.

I saw stars. I recollect that I calmly said "Oh my gosh." Bernie recollects that I screamed "Sh*t!!!!!! At any rate, Bernie came walking in the kitchen and saw me grasping my eyebrow in pain. "Are you ok?" He looked pretty concerned. I was so stunned I could not reply. I removed my hand and grabbed a paper towel. He said "Wow. You got it good. Man! It's already swollen. And now you're bleeding!" I still couldn't really speak, but I managed to mutter "hurts". And then my loving, caring husband said "Thank goodness you don't leave here much. People would think I hit you or something. You better plan to stay home a while."

I managed to stumble to the bathroom and look at the damage I inflicted upon myself. I did a pretty good job. I'm fairly certain I'm going to end up with a black eye. I popped two ibuprofen, opened a beer, and went back in and finished up cutting the soap. It smells GREAT! And I look like crap. Lucky for Bernie I'm a recluse, I guess.

It's gotten chilly here with all this rain and we started lighting the fire in the fireplace each day. The kittens are fascinated with it. We had a fire place in town, but since we got the kittens, we've owned the homestead and spent weekends here - so we never lit a fire in town and they've never seen one. I'm not sure what they think of it yet. They seem to like staring at it and that keeps them too busy to tear up the house for a few minutes, so I'm pleased with thier fascination.

It's Friday and it's pizza night at the homestead. There's no delivery out here, so I make a nice pizza on Friday nights. Then Bernie and I drink a couple beers, eat our pizza on TV trays, and watch a movie from our DVD collection that we've seen three thousand times before. We are party animals on the homestead for sure.

Bee Free,
Penny