Saponification Sunday

I am home. Wasn't gone long. Didn't go far but home feels good. And speaking about things that feel BAD !

Hotel soap is bad. Of course staying at the Ramada for 50 clams, one is lucky to get any soap but still...I remember the old days when I would be either attending nursing conferences or in my heyday, speaking at nursing conferences (cancer pain control) I was very thrilled to be put up in a hotel.

Rose Soap in Mold

I come from family that slept in the back seat of the wood sided station wagon on road trips, there was no fancy dancy motel, let alone a HOTEL. Nope, the folks took turns driving and we kids took turns fighting over who got to sleep on the back seat VS the floor of the back seat. So, I was well into my 30's before I learned about the word concierge.

And when I got to those fine hotels I am just a tad embarrassed to tell you, I stuffed all the hotel soap and shampoo and conditioner in my paper bag, I mean Samsonite, that I could fit. No, I never took towels...that would be stealing.

Rose Soap sitting in Rescued Miter Box

Yesterday was the first time I DID NOT want to take home any soaps. I did not even want to use them and was kicking myself all over the place singing "we will we will rock you", never mind, I was just upset for not remembering to bring along some of my own soap.

My skin has been paying for it all day. Dry and tight, not the extra firming wasn't a little welcome, but when my eyes starting bulging out and running into my bangs, I knew the soap had tightened my skin over the limit. So as soon as I got home I threw some of my homemade soap into the travel kits I keep stocked at all times. Because you never know when Aer Lingus is going to call and say "You just won a free trip to Galway leaving tonight ! Grab your Bags," that's why.

Rose Soap Tower

This weeks soap was a special order from my sister Peg who asked for "something in a rose please." So I colored with a tiny bit of pink french clay and scented with geranium rose EO. I left it in the frig for 3 days and then cut it on day 8. Not because that was the plan mind you, I just got distracted with farm frolics. It cut great. Smells like a spring garden and I believe the seester will approve. My first shabby chic soap.

Random Rooster painted during
my rooster period

I also mailed soap to several followers this week who had helped me name my beer soap from last week. It is a blast to go into the Chatsworth post and mail off packages to France, Spain, California, Canada and the best one of all METAMORA ! I feel so wordly. Imagine how I would feel if I actually visited those places?

I'd feel broke.

Rose Soap On Bottom Of Miter Box.

Now, all my antique blog friends out there, listen up.  What is your opinion on my new soap cutter? I found this wooden miter box at a resale shop in El Paso, Illinois. The original price was $2 but they were having a clearance sale that day so I paid only TEN CENTS ! Tell me your opinion.

Rose Soap that needs a more creative
name than Rose Soap but no, not via
a contest as you people
are sucking me dry of soap.

 How old? Any value? Shall I keep cutting soap or give it to my son to list it on his EBAY store.? You know your opinions mean the world to me, unless of course you disagree with me.

Miter Box Side. Rose Soap MIA. And how
exactly does a rabbet cut wood anyway?

Saponification Sunday

Making soap, its a good thing, a relaxing thing, a goofy thing...at least for me. I might be able to quit and move on to something more meaningful like planting myself on Wall Street and protesting everything but you people keep buying the soap so I keep making it. Photographing it is another thing. These pics are so blurry I' be better off if I'd sketched the soap for you. Might be time for a new camera.

I decided a few months ago I would not be opening an ETSY store or even adding soap to our list of products on our farm's web site, and I am real happy about that decision. No pressure to produce large amounts, instead I can just soap as my supply in our tiny farm store ebbs and flows and as I get a few orders here and there from this blog. The whole process remains for me...a blissful hobby that pays for itself, most of the time.

This last week I continued to play with all natural additives, going back to a combination of Spirolina and Wheat Grass Powder  powder and a little bit of Orange Peel Powder. I really love doing geometric inbeds or is it embeds? Indents? Inbreeds? Anyway I like taking old pieces of  soap and sticking them in new soap. In fact, this bar involved hot process soap balls added to cold process soap and then cut again into squares and rectangles and placed in another batch of cold process soap.

"Frustrated sculptor", a blog follower once called me, really its more  manic-depressive farm wife with a stick wand.

I also have finally settled on one recipe for most of my bars. Here it is for your newbies who want to copy it. (For you experienced, elderly, ancient  and nearly desiccated soapers:if you see a way I could improve this recipe: hit me baby, I love input when it comes to soap)

Babasuu Oil             25%
Palm Oil or Lard     25%
Rice Bran Oil          25%
Castor Oil                  5%      
Sunflower Oil          10%
Canola Oil                25%

And regarding the lard, I Use the lard from our critically endangered Red Wattle Hogs. (Only 2000 in the world) We respect these animals and want their numbers to grow so we like to use as much of their gifts as possible to promote the breed.  Yes, it may seem odd, but to save them we do believe you must eat them. My lard soaps are super hard and last forever. I love them.

But some of our customers do not eat meat and buy only our milk and would never touch a bar of soap made with lard. Others buy both milk and meat and either kind of soap, and then there is the really fun group who are totally appalled by the soap with lard in it but have no problems buying tons of our bacon.

Oh how I love people.

A bubbly sort of evening

I dream of soap. Its easier than dreaming about selling our farm, moving all our stuff, selling all our stuff, finding new places for stuff, finding new land, building a new house and on and on.

Tonight I not only dreamed but I created. Tried my first egg yolk soap being careful to temper the yolks with oil first to avoid curdles or cooking. Made my lye solution with a half frozen light  raw cream. Scented with Lime EO. It was so pretty pouring into my now famous diaper wipe mold

This is not it. This is my berrycream soap made 6 days ago pictured outside on our porch supports.I mixed 1/4 cup of pureed strawberries and  1/4 cup pureed raspberries in the soap just before molding and scented with orange EO. It smells fabulous and has a rosier color than this photo. I'm still playing around with soap photography. Plan to make one of those white boxes soon but in the meantime I like playing outside with farmy backgrounds.

While blogging, I am waiting for my lye water to cool enough to make a batch of pure lavender soap. Friend (and chef) Mustard and his friend Val were just here (hey !) and he admitted to buying some of my lavender soap.(Thank you)  He's not the first guy to do so so I thought I better stock up. I ordered some alkanet from Organic Creations but it is on back order. Could all your PROFESSIONAL soapers slow down on your alkanet use a little so we newbies can get a little.? Much appreciated. What other natural products can I use for blue and purple soap coloring. Anyone ?

I also perfected my wave last week

Very funny. I'm talking soap wave. See below your goof.

This was my coffee soap and the pink in the topping came from just a touch of paprika. The white Vinca's are some of the only annuals I planted this year and because I planted so few they are actually getting watered this year. Less really is more...except when it comes to soap

A new trick of mine is to take all my soap shavings, leftovers etc... and fill my office windowsills with them. Of course I put some paper towels under the soap, I'm not completely whacked. I'm just half whacked. When the cool breeze comes in at night my office smells heavenly.

And here we have my first attempt at coloring with red clay. I only used a 1/2 Tbs but I like the muted color. I scented it with patchouli EO , I think. All I know is when I sniff it It brings out the Jane in me. I want to swing upside down from our apple tree and yell Cow-A-Bungee !

Wouldn't Keith like that ?

Bare Naked Soaping Ladies

Yes. I will give you a moment to get that visual OUT of your head.....Better ? All righty then. I am speaking of the group Bare Naked Ladies, one of my favorite, to which I was soaping tonight. The CD makes me happy and soaping makes me happy so here I am right now, happy. A good place to be.

He is another visual of happy

Newly weaned piglets following Keith AKA The Milk Man.
Inside those buckets are the magic of cultured raw milk mixed with
organic grain.

These 7 week old 1/2 Red Wattle piglets were recently weaned from their mother. Since they spent a good amount of their day roaming our farm anyway we felt they were ready to be moved to a cute little piglet dorm we have in the main barn. They went willingly but they also left willingly. They hear Keith and his rattly wagon and they go through the electric fence to meet him. At about 2 months they will decide they hate the fence and will stay away from it and inside their area where they belong. Our adult pigs have great respect for the electric fence but the little ones not so much.

Makes me wonder if their pain tolerance is higher or they are just dumber than the older pigs or smarter figuring the pain of the fence is short lived and the running free and wild is worth it ? It doesn't much matter as customers who come to buy meat and milk enjoy being escorted up the drive by live pork chops.

Enough about bacon lets talk lard, as in soap. Going mostly natural is working well for me. Nothing like sipping on a Diet Coke and snacking on Lays potato chips while I am mixing up all organic oils and steel cut oats for my soaps. One complex babe, yes tis she.

I turned the corner a few weeks ago when I looked at some of my more brightly colored soaps and decided I really liked the earthy ones. This soap was colored with organic coffee and scented with Sandalwood EO. Swirls were just made with the uncolored part of the soap batch and a wee bit of powdered sugar. Non-organic.If I'm anything, I'm inconsistent.

Made this soap with ground oatmeal and some organic pumpkin pie spices along with my new love, Mango Butter.

Scented with an Amyris, Rosemary EO combo it is heady and earthy and makes me want to light it up like a big fat...stick of incense. Yeah, thats it. Incense. (Of course I am kidding. Everyone knows marijuana is illegal, immoral  and interacts with Maalox in a nasty way)