Mad May Catch-up

So it's May already and the year is spinning by. Thankfully for us Queenslanders the first weekend in May is a long weekend with the Labor Day holiday today being a much appreciated addition to the weekend.

To keep things reasonably concise, here is a brief rundown on what we've been up to this long weekend: both boys played soccer this weekend and both of their teams won their match (makes a nice change, trust me!)

Lucas' mate Elliot came for Saturday night - they have been tight friends since Grade One and are peas in a pod - luckily they include Simon in everything too! Lucas then went to Elliot's for Sunday night - so a nice quiet one here with Simon! It's going to be a shock when they are in different Year 8 classes next year!

We've been out visiting today too which has been nice - always great to get out and about and have a coffee with friends while the kids climb trees.

Poor Masa had a sleep-over of his own at the vet after jinxing his neck somehow. He is home now and still very quiet and completely nlike himself. Hopefully the anti-inflammatory medicine will work wonders and he'll be up and about soon!

Yesterday I cooked up a couple of soap batches. The first one, is coloured with cocoa powder and fragranced with Mocha Essence. I also sprinkled some instant coffee granules on top - must say that it smells divine and looks creamy enough to eat (which I won't despite the temptation!!) The first picture is it gelling away in its mould and then looking mighty delicious all sliced up!

The second batch is a raspberry soap and my first real attempt at a swirl. Welllllllllll ... I have a little practice required to perfect swirling! Luckily it smells absolutely divine even if it does not quite look as intended. I have a fair idea about what to do differently next time, but I guess what I love so much about soapmaking is not ever really knowing how it will turn out. The big creamy globs were actually meant to be delicately and intricately swished through the bar, but I guess practice will eventually make perfect ..... I do hope anyway!

Work has been just flat out and so I must say that soapmaking was a nice distraction on the weekend and a great smelling way to relax. The full time aspect is still something I am coming to grips with (wish I knew how *normal* people do it!!!) and those acronyms are still beyond me. I am convincing myself that it is geat experience, will look fabbo on my resume and that there are only 8 weeks till holidays.

There is still so much I want to do here on my blog and so many places of interest that I want to link to. I think I need to spend a half day trying to get my head around Draft Blogger and organise this to become more of what I wanted it to be like. Next weekend might just be the time to do it! Back then!

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So much rain!

It's still raining here and has been for days now.



It's been a long time since we have had downfalls so persistently heavy like this and the yard is just sodden. The outdoor patio has sprung a leaky roof, everything in the house is damp and starting to mould ... BUT ... I just love the sound of this rain on the roof!! There is a certain flower farmer who can't stand the rain, so as much as I'm loving it, we've probably had enough already!



Q. What to do in the rain?

A. Scrabble, coffee, read, nana-nap, make soap, knit, blog, daydream .........

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Only 2 more sleeps ...

There are only 2 more sleeps until the boys come back and I can barely wait. Although I enjoy the peace and quiet that comes with 'me' time, I miss my two rascals like crazy and hate the extended time away from them. My days have been fairly full though which helps to pass the time and has allowed me to catch up on things around the place.

I went with Jenni to IKEA on Saturday and was stunned by how busy the place was. She was there to pick up a new futon and I just soaked up the gorgeousness of the displays. I love IKEA and their style is always fresh and modern and yet homely too. Lots of lovely little things to look at and sigh over.

Yesterday, Joy came for a Rocky to Brisbane stay-over and she has not long left. It's been fabulous. I love her to bits and always enjoy our catch ups. Wish they were more frequent but love the way she can turn up and we can carry on a conversation that may not have been finished last time!

Of course I've made some more soap too. One lot in the crockpot and here I am looking like a mad scientist in the soap making goggles! It's a sensational look I'm sure.

Brewing away behind me in the crock pot is some soap being made with only olive oil - especially for my gorgeous little godson Max who has a reaction to all types of commercially produced soap.

The boys and I are heading down there Wednesday and so I decided to make this batch in the crock pot so he could use it immediately.

The good news is that it has a very nice, soft and gentle lather and hopefully, with fingers tightly crossed, it will be fine for his delicate skin. The not so good news is that it is as ugly as sin. Too ugly to even photograph LOL! Hideous in fact. I've packaged it all up so I don't have to look at it LOL and have written him a note promising that his next batch will be prettier!

The other batch that I made - using the Cold Process Method - is Rooibos Tea soap. On Saturday night I brewed up some Rooibos tea and cooled it overnight. I used that instead of plain water in the lye mix as Rooibis tea is choc full of anti-oxidants and goodness. I also sprinkled some tea throughout the soap as a bit of an exfolliator and I think it looks rather nice. The photograph doesn't really show how creamy it looks and I'm now waiting, waiting, waiting the four weeks until it cures! Ahhhh that patience thing again!

I've wrapped some up (ok heaps!) for passing friends (Joy and Tanya) but still have a nice little collection sitting on the curing rack as can be seen below. I do love giving things which will be handy considering I am likely to make much more than I can personally use. It's hard not to keep thinking of ideas that I then just itch to want to try. Soap anyone???????????

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Happy Easter .... and some more soap!

The school term flew past unbelievably quickly and with a few dramas too, although the great measles plague of Beerwah does seem ancient news now! Today is Good Friday and I'm still shocked that it's already April! Happy Easter to all!

With the house to myself today (the boys are at their father's until Wednesday) Mum popped over and I gave soap making another go. She helped a lot and only hindered a little! We did one batch by Cold Process method and the second in the crock pot.

Still in its mould, this Coconut soap looks absolutely disgusting though it does smell ok. I love the idea of reusing materials and thought that this empty water bottle would make a great mould. I'm yet to see whether this is the case though.

I did spray it thoroughly with olive oil, but in hindsight I think it's going to be bloody hard to get the soap out of. I may have to saw off the base to get some leverage to push it through. Note to self - keep empty milk cartons for soap moulds and toss empty water bottles for recycling!

This soap was made using a traditonal Cold Pressed method (which actually creates and uses lots of heat so go figure that name!) and when I added the fragrance oil I thought it looked a bit slippery. It is setting to be quite firm and tomorrow when I get to unmould it and slice it ready for 4-6 weeks of curing, I'll have a better idea of whether or not it worked.

This one has no colouring and maybe the clay that was added to my first batch at Christine's was what helped it to look a bit milkier .... and smoother ..... hmmm  ....

Next up, Mum and I cooked up a batch in the crock pot. An email from Gabbie last night encouraged me to give this method a go as once the soap has set and cooled it can basically be used straight away as it is already cooked. Leaving it sit and cure only hardens the bar and is not actually a part of the process. Now, me not being known for patience thought this would be a mighty fine idea.

The method is initially similar but then the soap gets to stay and cook in the crock pot for an hour. An inital huge spewover which saw scalding hot frothing and cooking soap cover half the kitchen (yes my own little mini disaster for the day) had Lynnie (aka Mum) in a bit of a panic and flap but we cleaned up and soldiered on to complete the process. I glopped it into a couple of rectangular moulds - one being a silicone loaf pan. Second note to self - this is not a good idea for a mould either - far too deep and squishy bendy. Anyway it sat and cooled for a bit and I think that I unmoulded and cut it too quickly. There's that patience issue again - a virtue I run short of. In a nutshell this looks like a big heap of grey/pink crap ..... BUT ..... the strawberry champagne fragrance smells utterly divine AND it lathers like a dream - nice and smooth and bubbly. Just might have to shower with eyes closed as it does look quite ugly.

After all that, I'm certainly keen to master the crock pot method. I *think* I have an idea as to why it volcanoed and will tweak the process a litte. I've also decided that I would like to make it a natural colour with just fragrance. I really would rather have a browny/yellowy/creamy neutral colour soap rather than a sludgy grey colour. At least the experimenting was fun!

Thinking of everyone on the road this Easter - have a safe one!

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Simplifying and condensing

Many of my friends and acquaintances would know, that for many moons now I have been voraciously reading books, blogs, websites and articles about simplifying life. Uncomplicating things. Decluttering my physical, emotional and mental places - something long overdue. I've been learning a lot. My life is evolving, and so is the need I feel to share what I am learning and to document my journey and yep that's why the header picture here features the symbolic road. Just a reminder to me that I'm journeying on a road that is as long as the eye can see and that one step at a time, one foot in front of the other is the only way to go.
In this quest for simplicity and all things easier and streamlined it seemed then silly to maintain more than one blog. Words, Words, Words was established as a place to record the rants, raves and ramblings of day-to-day life and, seriously, I think that I can do that here! My Year of Non-Consumerism was intended as a place to document a full 12 months of non-consuming. Well now with that one, things have changed. No, I haven't given up and morphed into a rabid consumer of all things unnecessary. I am cautious of every spent cent. I have to be. I have just come to realise that what is more important - to me right now - is to be sensible and frugal with my resources. As an example, I have bought some clothes which were not second hand and from an op shop, although I still scour op shops given any opportunity. However each and every garment was on sale at a greatly reduced price and offered value for money. Feeling good about myself, in something reasonably fashionable, at a value for cash price has outweighed my plan to not purchase new and I can live with that and I am still committed to consuming less. Those two blogs will stay there for the time being, unposted on, and I guess I will then either import posts of importance to here or delete them entirely.
Enough of an introduction for now. I'm off to format this properly and will be back to post later. It feels nice already to have this as a new home!

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