Almost Spring

It's starting to warm up on the homestead a bit and I'm beginning to believe Spring really is right around the corner. We've got some trees budding out, and a red maple in the front yard is even blooming right now. There are several trees in full bloom in town, but we're a couple of weeks behind them out here.

This week Bernie worked inside painting when it rained, and outside cutting more firewood and spreading the mulch he made. It's sad we still need firewood, but even when it warms up to near 70 degrees during the day, it's not unusual for the temperature to dip into the 30s at night. We're slowly warming up though, and soon we'll be missing the fire in the fireplace. I can't wait!

Charlotte gave me a Mimosa she had in a pot for a couple of years. I've kept it inside, but she left it outside year round, so I finally decided it was hardy enough to plant outside now. Bernie actually did the planting, but I told him where I wanted it and then stood by and gave lots of advise about digging the hole. I'm sure he really appreciated that.

Bernie plans to start building raised beds in the next week or so for the vegetable garden. We have some old tires, so I decided to go ahead and put my garlic in one of them. I bought some garlic plants from someone a few months ago and kept them in a pot inside by a window. They did pretty well inside, but are apparently quite hardy, so I decided to go ahead and put them outside in one of the old tires. I also used a tire to plant some lettuce seeds. And last fall I put some potatoes in a tire and covered them with a very thick layer of pine straw, as My Dear John suggested. I dug out the pine straw over the weekend and couldn't restrain myself from digging around a bit to see if anything survived the winter in there. Sure enough, I found potatoes and several with tubers already!

We went into town today to pick up a few things. We can't hardly go to town without stopping at Bernie's all time favorite store on the face of the entire planet - Tractor Supply Company (TSC). He got 50 more fence posts, and I got a chick feeder and waterer. I know I can't get chicks right now, but I told Bernie that TSC will be getting their baby chicks in the middle of April and that means that all the chick supplies will quickly sell out around that time. By getting the feeder and waterer now, I won't be searching for them when we finally do get our chicks. Amazingly, he said "That's probably a smart idea." I interpreted that as "Yes, you'll be getting your chicks soon." Yay! Not much longer and I'll have baby chicks to bore the snot out of you with!

We're getting our barn shed and garden shed built here this week. I'll be sure to post some pictures. My garden shed will end up being what we add the chicken coop on to. Hopefully, we'll start the coop project very shortly after we get the buildings erected.

I've been soaping a fair amount lately and working on a formula that is a little more moisturizing since my demented sister claims her skin is just too delicate for my already moisturizing bars. I made Bernie test one and he seemed to like it, although he asked me just to make him his regular soap. I do think there is a market for both types. Some people like a bubbly, cleansing soap and some people like a creamy, luxurious soap. I'm pleased with both recipes and can't wait until the newest cures so I can test it out on other unsuspecting family members. Hey sis - expect a package of soap from me soon.

Bee Free,
Penny

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

Spring Forward - and Make Me Some Spaghetti

Tonight, or rather early tomorrow morning, we spring forward. Which simply means we set our clocks ahead one hour. I really wish we could just decide on what time we want it to be and quit with all this Daylight Savings crap. I like it when we spring forward, and I wish we could just stay sprung. In Pennyland, springing forward means that I get to go to bed early and not feel like some old person. Because I can stay up until 10PM, because in my mind, it's REALLY only 9PM. Plus Elvis doesn't really get the whole time change thing, so he won't start screaming for me to get up until it's what he THINKS is 5AM - but it will acutally be 6AM since we have sprung forward and I'll already be awake. I can't wait to trick him. I may just YOWL at the top of my lungs when I wake up just to give him a taste of his own medicine. But that would wake up Priscilla. And Priscilla is quite considerate in the early morning. She never makes a peep until I wake up. And then she's hell on wheels the rest of the day, while Elvis goes back into hibernation for the rest of the day.

Tonight I made Bernie a big pot of spaghetti and noodles. It's one of his favorite meals. I can tell when he gets a hankering for it, because he drops subtle hints like "Remember when you used to love me and make me spaghetti". He's been really working hard to get this place painted, and being that he is a wonderful husband and I'm such a darn good wife, I made his stinkin' spaghetti and noodles. He seemed greatly appreciative.

Next week we're supposed to get a break in the weather. I really hope that's true. Bernie plans to work some more on our fence. I really can't wait to have this place fenced in so we can put in the garden and get our chickens and goats. I'm pretty sure I'll be battling chickens and goats in the garden, but I don't care. What's a homestead without animals to make it entertaining? Remind me that I said that when I complain about it in the future.

We're planning to finish painting our sitting area tomorrow. Bernie finished up mudding and priming the walls yesterday. We bought the paint today. I picked out a nice shade of deep red. I showed Bernie the little paint wheel from Sherwin Williams and asked "What do you think about this color?" He responded "Is it black?" I just chuckled and said "You are so funny". Who said color blindness is 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

Incriminating Evidence

I think I mentioned that when we have nasty weather outside, Bernie is painting the inside of the house for me. Today is cold and windy, and apparently the thought of painting appealed to him more than working outside, or maybe he just wants to get it over with. What ever the reason, he decided to put a base coat on some of the walls today, and I am eternally grateful.

While he was painting, he took a quick break to come back to my office and chat with me for a few minutes. When he got back to his paint tray, I heard him chuckle and yell for me to come look at something. When I got there, this is what I saw:



The paint tray was on the floor, but there were no paw marks close to the paint tray at all. We were a little perplexed where the paint came from, until Bernie found this on the wall:



If you look very closely at the top left and bottom right, you will see the little cat paw prints.

As you know, we have two cats – Elvis and Priscilla. They are siblings. Elvis is 18 pounds of sheer laziness and affection. Priscilla is a whopping 7 pounds of nothing but trouble. That little monkey is always into something.

I went looking for cats. I first found Elvis – doing exactly what Elvis always does. He was sleeping. He woke up when I grabbed the camera and managed to expend enough energy to yawn:



Priscilla jumped up on the bed, looking very suspiciously guilty:



I flipped her over on her back, and sure enough …….



White paws! I KNEW it!

Fortunately, base paint comes up very easily with a little water. I wish I could train her to step in paint and walk across a few pieces of furniture. I think the cat paws would look cool. But I’ve learned you can’t train Priscilla. She has a mind of her own - and that little mind is always thinking of ways to get into trouble. If she weren’t so darn cute, I might even get annoyed with her.

She and Elvis should be happy we get so much entertainment and loving out of them or they’d be barn cats for sure. But then I’d worry they’d starve to death, because they apparently find catching and killing mice repulsive.

I’ll post pictures next week of the kitchen and living room walls we painted. Hopefully, they will be paw free.

Bee Free,
Penny

Don't Have a Cow, Man

We've had some weather the past week and between the ice and freezing temperature, Bernie hasn't gotten outside to do much with the fence or anything else. But he has started painting the inside of the house for me. Yay! We got a base coat over about half of it, but he surprised me today while I was in town getting my hair done, and started painting with the colors I bought. I am tickled pink.

Yesterday we went into town to clean the house we have for sale and get it ready for the open house today. The realtor called us this afternoon and said she had a great turnout and two couples that really seemed interested. We're not getting too excited - we've had "really interested" people look at the house before. Still, it's promising. So we'll see what happens.

When I got back from getting my hair done today, and saw Bernie was more than half finished with applying the beautiful shade of deep green I picked out for the dining room area, I grabbed a paint roller and started helping him finish it up. We were just about ready to call it a day, when I heard a knock at the front door. It really startled me. Our house is a couple miles down a one lane dirt road, and then about 1/4 mile down a driveway that looks like nothing most people would want to venture on, that winds and turns and goes up and down a few hills. It is in no way inviting from the main road and people don't typically just wander down it. We've never had an unexpected guest. Although several friends know how to find us, no one we know wants to drive all the way out here to visit with us without calling first to make sure we'll be home.

So when I heard a knock at the door, I froze. Bernie was in the kitchen starting to clean up the paint tools and we had the radio blasting, so he was oblivious. I peeked out a window and saw a stranger standing there. It actually scared me to death. I quickly walked into the kitchen and found Bernie and in spite of my desperate attempt to be calm, screamed "THERE'S SOMEONE AT THE FRONT DOOR!" He looked at me in total disbelief. "QUICK, GO FIND OUT WHAT HE WANTS!" I couldn't believe how loud I was and hoped Mr. Stranger didn't hear me.

Bernie opened the door and went outside. I continued the final touches of painting, but I kept an eye out the window, just in case Mr. Stranger turned out to be a mass murderer and I needed to attack him with my paint brush. As it turns out, Mr. Stranger had a cow escape from his property at the top of the ridge. Her name is Bella. And Bella was on our property. Just outside the cleared area in the woods. She was actually really pretty - brown with a few white spots. And Bella was really enjoying our woods. Mr. Stranger was worried she would get in our yard and eat the grass. Bernie told him not to worry about it and volunteered to help in any way he could. Mr. Stranger said he was going to walk back up to the top of the ridge (where our property borders) and hoped Bella would follow him. That's no small hike, and Bernie offered him a ride, but he declined and headed back up to the woods. And sure enough, Bella followed him. Hopefully, Mr. Stranger got Bella back in her safety pen and is enjoying a nice calm evening, and Bella is enjoying a nice bale of hay.

It's interesting living on our homestead. We've met several neighbors, and wave at everyone we pass on our little one lane road. It's peaceful here and the people are so nice. When we were in town, it was quite common to hear the door bell ring and think nothing of it. It was often a stranger, but we thought nothing of opening the door to see what they wanted. Out here, people respect your privacy, so you rarely see them on your property. And while they are friendly and kind, they don't just pop by unannounced. So when someone shows up, it's an event here.

We are fine with escaped live stock. We plan to have goats and chickens in the very near future and unfortunately, it's difficult to teach livestock about property lines. So who knows - we may end up visiting Mr. Stranger to let him know we have a goat on his property sometime. Neighbors are good people to be on good terms with. And visiting over escaped livestock ends up making a friend out of a stranger.

I hope Bella is warm and cozy tonight. She is welcome to come visit with us anytime. That may not make Mr. Stranger very happy - but it would be nice to see him again too. We'll drive him home next time. Hiking that ridge can be rather exhausting - although it didn't seem to bother Bella very much.

Bee Free,
Penny

I Think I Know How Dorothy Felt

Wow - we've got some wind going on here. Serious wind. And it's cold. The only thing I dislike more than cold, is wind and cold. And bee eating skunks. And it's a close toss up between those.

It's been an absolutely relaxing weekend. I had planned to spend time in my office trying to organize my business stuff for tax time - and by "organize" I mean actually beginning the book keeping that I have been ignoring the past few weeks. Instead, we actually got out. I am not kidding. I left the homestead both on Saturday and on Sunday. Not only did I go willingly, I actually enjoyed myself. I'm pretty sure this is a record.

Saturday we went into town to deliver some of my soaps, stop by the house we have there and clean up the yard a bit, and visit with Tex and Charlotte at their shop for a few minutes. On the way home, we got a call from a buddy that was with a couple more friends on bikes close by to meet them all for lunch. Our friend is a bit of a hotdog, and being on a bike with a side car is really too much temptation for him. He's sincerely not mature enough to ride a bike with a side car, as he tends to ride it with the side car in the air pretty much the entire time. We all met up, and then left to head to Arby's - our friend with the side car in the air the entire way. Long story short, in spite of the state police, local police, and Gang Task Force that followed our friends into the parking lot to harass them a bit, we had a nice lunch. It's not illegal to lean and pull a side car up in the air, but it sure doesn't make the Counties Finest very happy. We had a nice lunch and then Bernie and I headed home.

Today we hooked up with Charlotte and Tex and did a bit of shopping in the large metropolis of Winchester. Winchester has a Price Club. They also have Michael's and Gander Mountain. The boys headed off to Gander Mountain and Charlotte and I attacked Michael's. Although we found a few items worth purchasing at Michael's, Charlotte and I decided we needed to walk over to Linens-n-Things. We did pretty good there, but still not completely satisfied, we headed over to Target's. We scored there, even though we had no luck at Lowe's in the Home Organization section. By the time we were finishing up, the boys called. We all hooked up at Costco and while Charlotte and I ran through the store fulfilling our shopping lists, the boys wandered through the electronics section. We all ate a hotdog together and called it a day.

I am exhausted from the experience. That's the largest number of people I've been around in one weekend in many months. Unless you count Richmond - and one of those mother humpers managed to make me sick. I better not get sick again. If I do, I'm banishing myself forever to the homestead. That'll show them.

We made it back to the homestead and wind. Lots and lots of wind. I'll be frankly amazed if I finish this without the electric going out. Although if it does, I won't have to cook supper..... on second thought.... BLOW, WIND BLOW. BLOW LIKE THE WIND!

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

Pass the Cheese Please and Share that Honey

Well, it's only been about a little over a month since we made cheddar cheese and although we are supposed to let it age about six months, we decided to cut it tonight and see how it is doing. It's pretty good! Very cheddary, but a bit soft still. Bernie thinks it would make a great spread, so I'm going to research that a bit.

It was such a nice, warm day today - in the 70's! Such a nice treat after weather that didn't get out of the 20's for a while. In keeping with my resolution to wander outside every day, I went with Bernie down to the cabin this afternoon to take care of some things. While we were there, we noticed a lot of activity around the hives our poor little bees used to occupy. Our hearts started pounding. Are those honey bees buzzing around those hives? We quickly gathered up our bee suits and went into the apiary to investigate. The hives were indeed full of honey bees - but they were simply robbing the left over honey. We noticed right away that there were a lot of fights happening on the porch of each, and that was the first clue that we had robbers. We opened each hive and while they were all full of bees, there was no brood and no queen. Just little hungry girls happy to find the bounty.

We left the hives out this winter hoping that they would get cleaned up, and I guess that's happening. The bees could be from a close by neighbor that raises them, or from one of our swarms that we never could locate. In any event, it was really nice seeing honey bees around those hives again and we are really looking forward to starting again in the spring. In the meantime, I'm happy to know the leftover honey is going to help out some other hungry little girls. They were so darn cute digging honey out of the combs I could have just kissed their little wings right off of them.

Tomorrow is my birthday. I do have to work tomorrow, but since I work from home, it won't be all that bad. And any day I don't have to leave the homestead is a good day. I'm not even going to the dump either - so don't even ask me, Bernie. Happy Birthday to me.

Bee Free,
Penny

Putting It All into Perspective for 2008

I woke up this morning very much aware that 2008 is upon us. As I drank my coffee and welcomed in the New Year, I could not help but reflect on the past year and all the changes that occurred in our lives in 2007. Naturally, the biggest and most welcome change was moving to our homestead.

I remember spending weekends here and yearning to live on our homestead full time. I also remember the day my dear husband announced he was ready to quit his job in the city and finally make our dream of living on our homestead a reality. I was terrified. Cutting our income in half and taking the plunge of realizing that dream was suddenly very scary to me. But we did it. And we've not regretted it or looked back.

When we spent weekends here, we would look out over the yard and envision fences, goat pens, chicken pens, outbuildings, and a huge vegetable garden. In my mind it seemed all we had to do was finally get here full time, and then *poof*, our little homestead would be transformed into land filled with all these things and I would be feeding goats and chickens, collecting eggs, milking goats, and gathering vegetables from our garden. We'd have buildings to park vehicles in and sheds that would house my gardening tools.

As I sit here on the first day of 2008 and look out the windows, I don't see any of those things. The *poof* didn't happen. It's been more like a *pfffffttt*. Bernie has about half the fence posts up and while we are planning where we'll locate buildings, pens, and gardens, they are all some distance in the future right now. It all takes time and labor and I somehow didn't really factor that into the equation. At least not as much of it as it really takes.

It's cold here and we are supposed to get some nasty winter weather. We've decided to start painting the inside of the house today - yet another project I envisioned being finished within the first week of moving out here. Naturally, I want to believe we can have the whole house painted by the end of the day. In reality, it will be weeks before this job is complete.

I'm really not dissappointed in the slow progress we are making. Every day brings us a little closer. I just want it all NOW! Certainly this has all been a lesson in patience. And patience has never really come naturally for me.

So in reality I guess I'd have to say that 2007 was the beginning of realizing our dream to homestead, and we have a lot of work ahead of us. I'm learning to be more realistic in setting goals and accomplishments. So stick around and I'll continue to step you through how we get there. As they say, Rome wasn't built in a day. I'm sure it took at least a week.....

Happy New Year!

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