Tuesday, June 20, 2017

I took Meghan and Madison to the shop with me yesterday.  I decided I needed to put them to work so they labeled some bags for me.   

While I was there I got two Etsy orders.  I was out of the Old Red Barn candle so I made a batch.  I love making the grungy candles and most of them have a story behind them.  This is a picture of our barn as it began to burn.  Twenty minutes later it was gone.

Oh my aching back. Spent most of the day in the dungeon trying to get it into some kind of shape. 

I have learned to make a list of things to accomplish because if I look at the whole picture, I get overwhelmed.  First I finished getting all of the fragrance oils organized. That is kind of a big deal because it's too easy not to put them back and then they pile up on the table. I end up ordering oil I don't need because I can't find the bottle (until the order arrives).

Next I started finding a place for things.  That is also key.  When everything has a place, I am much more efficient.  I sorted jar candle lids, candle odds and ends, tart odds and ends.  The average person wouldn't see a difference, but I know I have made progress.

I also needed to do inventory for the shop up town.  I made 2 batches of lavender room spray and collected things I was running short of.  I work there tomorrow.

I packaged up the Apple Jack soap that finished curing last week.  I have started wrapping the soap in tissue paper rather than cello bags.  That serves 2 purposes.  It allows the soap to breathe and it allows the customer to smell it.  Samples are one less thing I have to deal with at craft shows and at the shop.

There is always some overpour with each batch.  I love the goat soap mold.  I do bag these because of their irregular shape.

I got all of my paper work and bill paying finished before heading down to the dungeon.  I still have laundry to fold, Christmas stockings to make, orders to process for shippng, and a bit of quilting to do as my reward..

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Today was a Ben day.  Ben loves to go to the library where his friend "Mr. Mike" is the director of children's services.  Ben has changed so much since we first started going there.  When we first started going he would not leave my lap and didn't really join in much with the singing.  Over the year he has come out of his shell, has made a few friends, and hardly knows I'm there.  Today's topic was magnets.  

                         

After story hour we headed to Walmart to pick up some smooth-sided pint-sized canning jars.  Over the last few months I have really gotten into making grungy candle jars.  I've tried the embossed kind but prefer the look of the smooth side.  I have started leaving the area under the picure "un-grunged" so that as the candle burns it seems to come to life.

Last night I made a batch of lavender soap.  I like to pre-measure my batches and limit the icky job of measuring out the oils to once a month.  I used my last batch last night so next week I have that fun chore again.   I have a bad habit of cutting the soap a bit too soon.  I find it hard to wait and see how the swirls in the soap turned out.  Since I now go down to watch Ben on Tuesdays, I didn't have time this morning to cut it and take a peek.  I unmolded it, but it sat like this until I came home and had time to cut it.

I am now sold on waiting . . . maybe.  It was soooooo much easier to handle since it had more time to harden.  I will most likely make a couple more batches since I have a hard time keeping this on the shelf.  

Cure date for this batch is Feb. 1. 

On the way home from Ionia today, I stopped by the church one last time.  I had a few things to clear out of the church and my office.  I was hoping no one would be there because I just wanted to get in and out with the least amount of emotion. Fr. Nate was there and we talked a few minutes about the loss of a two year old in the parish.  He had been battling cancer and looked so good the last time I saw him.  I can't think of any harder thing to go through in life.  This child's grandfather is a local funeral director, who in fact buried our little Joseph. 

 Then I turned in my keys.  That made everything official and I barely got to the car before losing it.  Afterwards I stopped at Walmart and saw a man who had been in our RCIA program but never completed it.  I had heard that he'd had his leg amputated but hadn't seen him.  I stopped and spoke with him for a few minutes.  He has a positive spirit and I enjoyed talking to him.  I also ran into a parishioner - one I will greatly miss and we spoke for a while.  This is what I love about smaller towns.  Everywhere you go you know you will run into a familiar face. 

When I got home I opened a letter from one of my cantors.  When I think of those ladies I do start to cry.  They stuck with me through thick and thin over the years.  We've laughed together and cried together and we have made plans to get together regularly.

As always, when I need to lift my spirits, I head to my happy place - my craft room.  I finished the snowman quilt I started last week.  I only have to finish sewing on the binding.  I love to hand sew the binding - especially if I am making the quilt for someone else.  It gives me a chance to think about them and pray for them.  Often, I give my quilts to people who are battling cancer.  I am keeping the snowman quilt, though, because there are some things I really wish I had done differently.   It's a cute quilt, but I am still on a learning curve with my quilting machine.  The lighting isn't very good here, but you can see the quilting fairly well.

Last night I made the patch for the quilt I am giving to Clay.  The quilt itself has been done for a while, but I need to put the identifying patch on the back.  Clay picked out the fabric himself.

He loves to hunt and fish with his dad so this choice was no surprise.

Tomorrow I am going to lunch with a friend who was also on the staff with me most of the time I was at St. Mary.  And another friend will be joining us. 

Tonight is the night that La Befana used to come and visit when I was a kid.   January 6th was when we celebrated the Epiphany - or La Festa Dell'Epifania (hence the name La Befana).  There are many versions of the legend, but this was the one I heard as a child.

The legend of la Befana

Like children everywhere, Italian kids look forward to the arrival of the red-suited 

Babbo Natale on Christmas Eve. However, this relatively modern tradition pales in comparison to the anticipation generated by the arrival of an old witch in early January.  On Epiphany Eve, the old, tattered and soot-covered Befana flies around the world on a broomstick and comes down chimneys to deliver candy and presents to children who have been good during the year. For those who have fallen a bit short of model behavior, la Befana will leave lumps of coal. (Realizing that no one can be perfect for a whole year, these days la Befana often leaves a sweet “lump of coal” made from black sugar.)

            La Befana has been an Italian tradition since the XIII century and comes from Christian legend rather than popular culture. The story is that la Befana was approached by the Three Wise Men who asked her to lead them to the stable where the baby Jesus lay in a manger. La Befana was too busy cleaning her house at the time, so she declined the offer to go with them. Very soon she realized that she had made a huge mistake, so she gathered up a bag full of gifts and set off alone in search of the baby Jesus. Though she followed the same star as the Magi, she was unable to find the stable. Undaunted, la Befana continues to travel the world over to this day searching every house for the Christ child. On January 6, the first day of Epiphany, Italian children hold their breaths as they search their stockings for a sign that they have been good that year.

The arrival of la Befana is celebrated with traditional Italian foods such as panettone (a Christmas cake) and marks the end of the long and festive holiday season in Italy.

On January 6 we would go to Grandma and Grandpa Caputo's house and celebrate Christmas.  Our Christmas tree never, ever came down before January 7th.  While the rest of the world had moved on, we got to celebrate Christmas just a little longer.  To this day, my tree never comes down until after Epiphany.  And my friends John and Bea always give us a panettone di Natale for Christmas!

"La Befana vien di notte

Con le scarpe tutte rotte

Col vestito da Romana

Viva viva La Befana"

Sunday, June 16, 2013

First of all - Happy Father's Day to all of the fathers, father figures, Godfathers, etc out there.  I hope your day is wonderful!

After last week's batch of Lavender and Lemongrass, I was itching to do a re-make on a lot of our soaps. (Maybe itching isn't the best word to use).  I actually made 4 batches of soap last week.  I normally make soap on Mondays, but because warm humid weather is approaching, and because we do not have central air, I decided to make soap while the sun didn't shine - so to speak.

 I noticed that I was almost out of Lemongrass - so I made a batch of that:

Then I discovered I was almost out of Country Roads  - so I made a batch of that.  

Actually, I made a batch of this a couple of weeks ago and the colors bled and morphed.  Good soap, but not terribly pretty.  I was thrilled with the way this batch turned out.

My Lavender stock was dangerously low (it's always dangerously low) - so I made a batch of that.  

I was so excited by how this turned out that I had to try an idea I've had in mind for a while.

So - I made one more batch.  I'm calling this one Americana.  It  got a lot of attention on our Facebook page.  Now I have a ton of ideas swirling in my head for some special edition Christmas soaps.

I have also been experimenting with different flavors of fudge.  We have added Snicker! Snicker! to our line.    Made with peanuts and caramel bits, that one disappeared pretty quickly.  



Next was a fudge inspired by Heath Bars.  This one has almonds and toffee bits.  We had a contest on our Facebook page and the winning name was Almond Toffee Delight. 



 I want to do a pink peppermint fudge for Fall and Christmas which will have some of those soft peppermints ground up in it. Then there will be a Peppermint Patty fudge which will have Junior Mints in it.  Now I am getting bombarded with other ideas from several people.  I have this summer to finalize all of this and then in September we start getting orders for Christmas Stockings. (Which we have been working on since January)  

October starts our Fall craft shows and we have added two more to the four we usually do.  And to add to the fun, we are having a change in leadership at our parish (where I work when I'm not playing with grandkids or making soap, fudge, candles, and rugs.).  Not only will we have a new priest, but for the first time in my time at the church, we will have a man as our business manager.  Lots of changes ahead.  

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Out of yesterday's chore list, I managed to do everything except package soap.  I finished a rug I have been working on.  I love the colors in this one.

Today's chore list included: Cutting up and processing sheets. Harold and I went to a graduation party on Saturday and stopped at a couple of garage sales on the way down. I found lots of sheets. Anna also found me some on Sunday. I washed them all yesterday. I like to get them ready for cutting before I store them.  I love the colors in the stack on the left so I am keeping those together for a pink and turquoise rug.

********************************
Evening update:
Oh, my aching back.  It has been a looooooong day.
I managed to get everything done that was on my chore list.
I made a batch of Lavender today.  For once I will wait to cut it because I won't be home tomorrow.  I'm excited to see how this one will turn out.  I did the bottom layer in pale lavender with purple jojoba beads sprinkled in.  The top layer is white with lavender and purple swirls.

I packaged up and weighed the rest of the Hunter's Green scent masking soap.



I also packaged the Lavender and Old Lace.  I did a little more straightening in the dungeon.

I am finishing the last of the 10 stockings that I need to take down to Nina's tomorrow.  When that is done, it's PJ time in the big chair with my library book.

Friday, June 7, 2013 - Lavender and Lemongrass soap.

It seems to be either feast or famine with my blog posts.  I actually like to blog, but there are so many things I like to do and so little time.  Yesterday I tried something different for one of my old soap recipes.  I love to blend fragrances and during the summer, Lavender and Lemongrass are my absolute favorite blends.  In the past, this soap has had a rather lackluster appearance.  Lemongrass fragrance oil results in a kind of dull translucent soap.  I decided to add Titanium Dioxide to the main batch before separating into colors.  I love how this turned out!  I did a video of this batch.  I have a new camera and while the video is much better, it takes hours to upload.

I also finished a praire rug today.

Tuesday, March 23, 2011

 
Word of the day:
Tuesday of the Second week of Lent
Saint(s) of the day : Bl. Cardinal august von Galen, Bishop (1933-1946)
image Other saints of the day
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 23:1-12.

Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples,
saying, "The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses.
Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice.
They tie up heavy burdens (hard to carry) and lay them on people's shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them.
All their works are performed to be seen. They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.
They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues,
greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation 'Rabbi.'
As for you, do not be called 'Rabbi.' You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers.
Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven.
Do not be called 'Master'; you have but one master, the Messiah.
The greatest among you must be your servant.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Monday, December 29, 2009 - Today I make soap!

Happy Birthday Clayton!! I chose the following picture because Clayton loves "creatures." He is 4 years old today, but he will tell you that his birthday was yesterday because that is when he had his cake. Oh, to be 4 years old and always right. LOL! (but his birthday is actually today.)



In our house - when the kids were growing up - we always celebrated Christmas until January 6th - The feast of the Epiphany - the day the Wisemen brought gifts to the baby Jesus. Our tree stayed up until then. The kids are grown and gone, but I still keep the tree up. This is when I write out my Christmas cards and family newsletter - when I have time to enjoy it instead of rushing to get it done.

It has always perplexed me that in the secular world, which begins Christmas the day after Halloween, Christmas stops cold on the day after. All of the Christmas stuff goes on sale. Yesterday, I stopped at Walmart and the Christmas goods have been picked clean and replaced by Valentine items. Even the Christian radio station stops playing Christmas music the day after Christmas.
************************************************************
Today I get back on track with my daily updates on the fitness front. This is not a New Year's resolution so there is no excuse for me to put it off until then. My New Year's resolution is to finally declutter this house. Yesterday I had to go downstairs into my workroom and move everything off of the floor because water was coming in. I moved a lot of stuff that I am not using. That will be decluttered. Before Christmas I bought myself a gift from the Flylady shop.


These things are the coolest! They fold up into their own little pouch. These is even a video tutorial on the Flylady site. I have one problem though. I took the purple "give away" bag over to Clayton's party because his gifts were in it. It's still there. So today I will have to declutter without it.
I am off to do my Monday workout with is a strength training video.

Daily stats:
Type: Firm Video- Total Body Sculpt
Route: Living room
Time: 41
Average heart rate: 112
Max heart rate: 140
Down 2.2 from last Monday (whoo hoo!)

Wow, it's been a long long time. I had to modify like crazy. I didn't do some parts of the video, but as time goes on, I will get better. The stretching at the end felt great.

***************************************************
Today I'm making soap. I haven't made soap in a long, long time - weeks. I have missed it so much. I am making my Lavender Meadows. It is a blend of lavender, sweet orange, and clary sage fragrance oils. My last bar went out the door a couple of months ago. I have the oils melted and the lye water mixed. I can't do anything else until the temps cool - usually about 2 hours from the time I melt the oils and mix the lye water. While I am waiting, I have spent some time decluttering the living room. Actually, I haven't really decluttered, I've just cleaned up the mess from our family Christmas on Christmas night.
*************************************************
Here I am, in my hazmat gear getting ready to mix up the soap.



Here is the mixed soap poured into the mold and ready to transform itself. This will go into the oven for 2 hours. The swirl isn't quite as pronounced as I would like, but it smells wonderful!!!!




Below is a picture of the soap as it came out of the oven. It is in full gel stage. After it cools I will post of pic of how the look changes dramatically.


**************************************************************

Word of the Day:
The Fifth Day in the Octave of Christmas
Gospel
Lk 2:22-35

When the days were completed for their purification
according to the law of Moses,
the parents of Jesus took him up to Jerusalem
to present him to the Lord,
just as it is written in the law of the Lord,
Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord,
and to offer the sacrifice of
a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons,
in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon.
This man was righteous and devout,
awaiting the consolation of Israel,
and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit
that he should not see death
before he had seen the Christ of the Lord.
He came in the Spirit into the temple;
and when the parents brought in the child Jesus
to perform the custom of the law in regard to him,
he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying:

“Lord, now let your servant go in peace;
your word has been fulfilled:
my own eyes have seen the salvation
which you prepared in the sight of every people,
a light to reveal you to the nations
and the glory of your people Israel.”

The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him;
and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother,
“Behold, this child is destined
for the fall and rise of many in Israel,
and to be a sign that will be contradicted
(and you yourself a sword will pierce)
so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

Thoughts from the cornfield:
The other day I was talking about how I wondered if my faith was strong enough to declare it in the face of having a gun pointed at one of my loved ones. Mary experienced this. Imagine raising a child and then having to go through what Mary did.


God bless our troops!

******************************************************