News From The Nest

And, The Beat Goes On

Life continues here in Southwest Ohio. The weather has been so pleasant ---- that is, until this week. The forecast for the entire week is 90 or above. What a shock after almost fall-like temps for the month of August. 

Andy continues working on painting the house. It was so hot over the weekend, his paint was drying on the brush. It's really looking good! Amazing what a difference the color makes. I can hardly wait until he gets around to the front of the house with the paint. Neighbors and passers-by will be shocked at the change.  

Look how we painted the garage windows! When he had them out, I thought maybe we'll leave out the inserts and just make them plain windows. That thought didn't last too long because this sunrise/sunset is so much more fun!

We've had one naysayer. The fellow who came to inspect/repair our cistern said he liked the old color better. Oh well! I absolutely LOVE the colors so poo on him!!!  

Yesterday, I made five molds of soap but only three fragrances. I unmolded them this morning and then cut them all into bars this afternoon. They are from left to right - 1) Scented Geranium, 2) Oak, Orange, & Oats, and 3) Peach, Magnolia, Raspberry.

The round soap is made in Pringles cans. I love the shape! They're just the perfect size and fit the palm of the hand so nicely. 

I wanted to share this picture. We had an especially foggy morning last week and when I looked out the window, this is what I saw. A morning weaving. So pretty and so delicate!

To end this post, here's an adorable picture!!! My grandson feeding his new baby sister! Rachael says he's so good with her. I can hardly wait to see them and meet her in person in November. Three more months!

Show Time

This past Friday and Saturday, I was set up at The Wilmington Art & Pottery Festival. It was a smallish show with a good variety of vendors. I usually do The Mid-Ohio Fiber Fair in Newark this weekend but with Andy's job change and having only one day vacation the first year of employment, he wasn't able to drive the truck and pull the trailer. The Wilmington show was about 15 minutes from home and was an excellent alternative with little travel expense, no hotel fees, and no meal fees for two people. Plus, the show was a great opportunity to meet more local people and potential
future customers.  

The Roberts Center is such a nice venue for an indoor show. Very roomy. I was able to get three tables and my floor displays in my space. I ordered table display units to hold my new shrink-wrapped soaps and they arrived the day I had to set up the booth. Great timing! And, they really worked well. 

*** I don't know if any of my customers from the show will read this - I want to thank everyone who stopped by my booth. I hope you are enjoying your purchases and will see the difference that quality handcrafted soap and body products can make for your skin. I feel that my products are good for the soul, too. The fragrances I use can be uplifting, reviving, calming, energizing, soothing - whatever you need. Choose a different scent to match your mood of the moment. Or, one to put you in the mood you want! When you run out, there's always more to be had at Bird Bath Essentials and I'm just an email or a phone call away!! Thank you so much for supporting my passion and my small business!! ***

I really enjoyed meeting and talking with Susan, a local enamelist. Her pins and pictures were so detailed, so creative. When Mom and Daddy come for their visit, I am planning on taking them to visit her. Mom will enjoy seeing her gardens and her enamel work. 

The was a broom maker doing demonstrations. He grows some of his broom straw but orders the bulk of it as he said he just can't grow all he needs. He brought this broom straw specimen for display. It was SO TALL! If you've never used a handmade broom, you really should buy one at your next opportunity. They are far superior to store-bought ones. I bought one of his kid-sized brooms for Landen because he loves to sweep. I also purchased one of his cobweb catchers. I already have two handmade brooms - an indoor and an outdoor (yes, there is a difference) - that I bought years ago at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Show. 

Ray and Betty Storer, of Grandpa's Pottery had a huge area filled with their beautiful pottery. Ray did demonstrations and worked with children throughout the show. It was wonderful seeing the older generation sharing knowledge and skill with the younger folks. These children will remember their experience and perhaps it will stick with them that they actually MAKE SOMETHING with their own two hands. I think that's a very important thing for young people to realize.

Other interesting booths - a pine needle basket maker, several woodturners and other woodworkers, a great pottery critter maker, wooden pen craftsman, a beekeeper with regular, lavender infused, and vanilla honey, a woman who had homemade Buckeye Candy for sale, several jewelry makers, a booth with outdoor metal yard art, pottery booths and demonstrations, etc. So many talented people!!!

During the slow moments of the show, I got a chance to work on Raleigh's baby blanket. I'm knitting the Tweed Baby Blanket and am almost finished - just a few more of the Feather and Fan lace pattern rows to go. For this pattern, the middle (darker gray) is knit first. Then, you pick up the edge stitches and knit the Feather and Fan lace pattern. This is all done using circular needles in the round. I love this but at the same time, it's a little frustrating (anticipation!!) having to wait to see the blanket all stretched out. Soon..... very soon!

Our day began with having to turn off all the water. Since we sit on rock and can't drill a well, we have a cistern that holds our water. Our water is hauled in to fill the cistern.  We were having to order about every 5-7 weeks. Then, we had two rather disturbing and suspicious periods - a two week and a three week - where we had to reorder water. The cistern guy came this AM and we had to drain all the water - a lot! - for him to get down in the tank and clean and inspect it. As we suspected, he found some cracks and had to do some repair work. The water hauler is going to deliver three loads of water tonight - that's 6,000 gallons. Too bad, we can't go swimming in it!

Wishing everyone a fabulous relaxing Sunday!!! I'm off to get groceries!

A Challenge

Well, if you say Soap Challenge, I'm there! I say, "OK! Bring it ON!" 

Joanna, leader of one of my Facebook soap groups, is famous for this. She routinely throws down the gauntlet - or should I say stick blender - and posts challenges. Usually, the challenges are photography based but not this time.

Joanna posted a picture of a crab and challenged us to interpret the crab's colors.

Game ON!

I chose to use micas for my colors and picked the ones that I felt would be the truest representation. Then,
I thought about my recipe. Whenever I think of any beach themed soap, I lean towards adding cocoa butter. So, I added cocoa butter and silk to this batch. Next, since crabs always have a bit of sand adhered to them, I added strawberry seeds. Finally, what fragrance to use? I had several other choices in mind but each one of them had some percentage of vanilla which might change the colors I'd chosen. Finally, I settled with a fragrance oil called Stormy Nights. It's a great unisex fragrance. 

I think I'll name this soap Desert Storm. I really do love these colors!!

Bluebird Box update - Everyone seems to be doing well. It's funny to check the box and see them all sitting so high up in the nest. Momma didn't wait for me to clean the old Tree Swallow nest out and built hers right on top of it. There are five babies scrunched in there.

Lookie what arrived yesterday! New pots and pans! I had my 10 year anniversary with my company in June. They sent a catalog and told me to pick a gift. Well, the Sony iPod doohickey that I chose first was out of stock. So, I chose these pots and pans. When I asked my chef son if they were good ones, he replied that anything was better than what I have! I have Revere Ware pots and pans that I got in 1980. Now, I can take the Revere Ware pots down to the soap studio to boil / simmer my beer in. Win-win!

There's just one problem with the new pots and pans set. I searched all in that box but didn't see a chef or cook anywhere!

Sliding into the weekend here! I'll be busy making loads of stuff for the Wilmington Art & Pottery Festival next weekend. Stay tuned for pictures such as this laundry powder, lip butter, sugar polish, lotion, roller ball and mister fragrances, etc. Hope some of you reading this will stop by!!!! Please leave me a post if you'd like more information.

I'll Take Pearls With That

It was back in the soap pot earlier this week. Cashmere & Silk was a special request for shower favors. This is one of my favorite soaps to make and use. It contains my usual good-for-your- skin list of oils plus shea butter. I also add goat's milk and silk fiber to this recipe. The fragrance oil, Cashmere & Silk, is such a nice powdery scent. I just love it! In fact, I made this up as a cologne/perfume and as a body spray for me! Can't get enough of this fragrance!

The picture to the left is the "wet" soap just after pouring it into the log mold and decorating the top with candy pearls. I give each little pearl a tap with the tip of a skewer to make sure they're well attached to the soap.

The next picture is of the cut bars. I've cut the bars in half to make this smaller size. They measure approximately 2 1/4" tall, 1 5/8" wide, and are 1 1/8" thick. A nice size. These will darken a bit making the white swirls more pronounced. 

I think these will look great in organza bags ready for the shower guests.

The sunset last night was interesting. I didn't expect much as it was an overcast night. But, then I saw this! Not as spectacular as some. Not as bold as some. Often, the more subtle the better. I think this fits in the "less is more" category.

Tomorrow is Friday! Boy, they roll around fast. Hope you all are planning a wonderful weekend. Mine will be busy making lotion, lip butter, body butter, etc. for the Wilmington Art & Pottery Show next weekend. 

Thanks for reading!

Intro Time

Our family has a new addition! An early arrival - just so anxious to join us.

Rachael, Taylor, and Landen - they were just here for a visit with us mid-July. Shortly after returning to Virginia, they decided to head to Myrtle Beach, SC for a last hurrah as the new baby's due date was August 13th. One quick last trip to see Rachael's grandmother, aunt, mother, etc. before the family of three became four. 

Lil' Miss had other ideas, however. Rachael's water broke and baby girl was born the next day! They had no baby things, no car seat, no nothing! Didn't matter - baby was born! 

I'm sure it was a little unsettling but Rachael has one of those personalities that just takes things in stride so well. And, when you think about it, it really worked out great. Her mother was there with her and her grandmother was able to see the baby. If the birth had been in Richmond, they would have had to wait to see the baby - especially, her grandmother. Since they hadn't bought the carseat yet, the one they purchased wasn't a duplicate. Some friends ran out and bought some clothes. Lil' Miss was all set!

As soon as Rachael and baby were discharged from the hospital, they visited briefly with her family and then headed back to Virginia. Wonder if Landen was perplexed by the extra passenger on the return trip? His little seat-mate. 

Her name is Raleigh and she's adorable! Three pounds smaller than her brother at birth, she's actually wearing Newborn clothes. 

Most children get a T-shirt as a souvenir when they go to the beach. Landen got a baby sister!

Welcome, Raleigh! And, congratulations to Rachael, Taylor, and Landen for your new addition. I can hardly wait to meet her in person!

Like-Minded

This weekend started with a wonderful Saturday with friends. It's so nice to have like-minded friends who are close enough to have over, go see, go out for lunch with, etc. I have really enjoyed that since moving to Ohio. In Virginia, it usually took me an hour's drive one-way to gather with my knitting buds or rug hooking group. And, there were no soapmakers around that I knew of. 

Lynne and Margaret arrived at my house Saturday morning and off we went to Meg's. Meg is a felted purse knitter extraordinaire so I wanted to show them her shop and her beautiful old home. After that stop, we headed into Waynesville and did a little shopping. We worked our way down the street to the Cobblestone Cafe where Meg met us for lunch. 

After lunch, Lynne and Margaret came back to my house and we headed downstairs to the soap room. They are soapers, too, and we had the itch to make something! I had seen a video on making sugar scrub cubes online so we tried them. We used some of my rebatched soap that contained mango butter, olive oil, and sugar. They were fun to do but are still quite soft. We'll see if they harden up with time. In making the scrub, we also got to try out my salad shooter and then played with the shrink-wrap system. 

We had a blast and it was great fun hanging out with friends who enjoy "making stuff"!

The weekend weather was nice and Andy made some progress on painting the house. I whacked down the bushes along the back of the house and plants in the garden so he could have room to move around and set the ladder. I don't think you can really see it, but he put a coat of the Earthen Jug (orangish) underneath the eaves.  Adds a bit of a pop!

Sunday, I finally was able to get back in the soap pot! I
hadn't made soap since June 29th! I know - hard to believe! 

I made three batches - bottom to top in the picture on the right - Orange Peel Patchouli, Rise & Shine, and Sea Salt & Lotus Blossom. I added a pinch of silk fiber to all three of the soaps. Orange Peel Patchouli has calendula petals in it and is scented with an Orange Peel Fragrance Oil and Patchouli Essential Oil blend. Rise & Shine has calendula petals. Sea Salt & Lotus Blossom is one of my best sellers! It suits people who want a fresh clean scent but nothing floral or citrus. This soap contains cocoa butter and coarse sea salt. I made this a little differently this time. Instead of just sprinkling the salt on top of the soap, I mixed it in. With the salt just on top, a lot of it falls off when I cut the soap. Incorporating it worked better.  

Tonight, I cut all the logs and ended up with 30 bars, 8 samples, and 3 mini bars. Now, they're on the curing rack to dry. It felt so good to be making soap again!

I have a show coming up in two weeks and need to make my lotions, body butters, lip butters, fragrance roller tubes / misters, sugar polishes, etc. this coming weekend. This will be my first show of the year and I'll have lots of inventory. I'm looking forward to it!

I've made other things while I wasn't making soap. I made seven dryer balls from Martha's Jacob wool roving. They work great in the dryer!! I also made three batches of laundry detergent. I make the powdered kind (vs. the liquid) and love it! 

I'm still knitting on the lace edge of the Tweed Baby Blanket. Need to get this finished pronto! Have a pair of booties and a baby sweater waiting in the wings. (Along with a thousand other projects!) 

My orchids have really been showing off! This one opened up over the weekend. The blossoms are huge!

In prepping the garden for Andy and his ladder, I had to pull up a lot of the bird-planted sunflowers. They were pretty much done so I didn't mind. I left this one and it was all a buzz this morning.

Update on the local (very) bird population --- I've lost count on how many baby birds have hatched out of our three Bluebird boxes this year. I think the count is 19 Tree Swallows and 10 Bluebirds. The Tree Swallows come in the Spring and take over the boxes. This year, they nested in boxes 1 and 3 and left box 2 for the Bluebirds. Once the Bluebirds fledged, the Tree Swallows built in box 2, too. They also built second nests in boxes 1 and 3. The poor Bluebirds! Finally, they didn't wait for me to even clean out the old dirty Tree Swallow nests --- they built a nest in box 1 right on top! Momma Bluebird laid 5 eggs and they just hatched a couple days ago. I caught Momma Bluebird in the box this morning and left her a heap of mealworms in the feeder. She deserves them after putting up with the Tree Swallows all summer!

Well, back to the title of this post - Like-Minded. Lynne said something Saturday that resonated with me. She said that she just has a drive (I call it an itch) to make stuff. I feel the same way. In fact, I have felt that way since I was a young girl. Although, I've always found like-minded people to share time with, they were often a rarity or quite a distance away. It wasn't easy. A lot of folks just don't understand this drive.

I'm very fortunate here in Ohio to be surrounded by people who have the same itches I do. I have lots of terrific knitting friends and now soapmaking friends, too! I'm lucky to have friends who also have "the itch" and enjoy "scratching it" on a regular basis!

Yep, I'm very lucky!

Thank you, Friends!