Blimmin' Calendar

Oh my goodness...I been busy today cleaning out the tropical fish tank and selling off all the fish and plants, thought it would be hard to get rid of them, so thought to do it sooner than later, shouldnt have worried, could have re homed them a dozen times... Arriving home from school Miss 12 seeing the empty tank asked, "so when is  our last day at school before we leave?".. I said hmm about 3 weeks. Second guessing myself I went to the calendar to check .... 

Next Friday... our prepack and uplift is just  17 days away... where has the time gone and what on earth have I been doing.. House plants next....

Beltane Blessings

While the North celebrate Samhain or Halloween those of us down here in the Southern half we welcome the union between the Goddess and the God, The Festival Of the Great Rite, it is popular time to be hand fasted as well. Beltaine is the time of new life. It is a time when baby animals are born. New plants grow shoots. Flowers bloom. Trees rebirth their leaves. It is a time when all things male and female unite to become one.
 As this is a fertility ritual, in days of old it was often said children conceived during this time where not illegitimate but children of the god -
So to my Northern sisters and brothers Samhain Blessings to you and yours, may your hearth fires burn brightly during the dark months, and to my sisters and brothers here in the South I wish you and yours abundance and health.

He finally got it!

Is this some serious procrastination or what.. haha .. 5.5 years ago D was up in the Gulf and I did what every Navy widow does from time to time.. I went to the mall to fill in a day off from work. There is a great shop at the mall and it sold all sorts of kitchen bits and bobs.. and there I found a pudding bowl and bought it.. here it is in all it's glory, maybe not as good as an old fashioned ceramic one but it would do the trick, since Derek is mad keen on Steak and Kidney Pudding I thought it would be something he would love when he got home.

Now I can see you sitting there, wondering where the procrastination fits into this.. well you see, Derek came back from the Gulf,  then went to Asia, came back and then went somewhere else.. you get the idea and in all that time he never got his steak and kidney puddin'.. not until now ...

He waited 5.5 years for this - my first ever attempt. Now it might not be to conventional because I couldn't get my head around stuffing a suet pastry lined bowl with raw meat and stock and expecting to get anything out other than a globby mess.. so I cooked the meat first in a good stout, thickened it ever so slightly then piled it into my mould, I then steamed it for 2 hours..

this is the result..  oh my goodness, the pastry was light and filling and the meat so tasty.. served with mashed swede and carrot and peas,  why on earth did it take me so long.....

Cars, Kids and BBQ's

It has been a steady old weekend for us here. I keep forgetting that 10 days ago I was in hospital with Pnemonia and when I get tired tend to push myself a wee bit, forgetting the reason for the fatigue .. I have been busy soaping again, made 4 batches this weekend, Carrot and Orange Face soap with real carrot pulp and carrot infused Olive Oil, Citrus Twist with grapefruit juice, lemon, limes and citrus essential oils, ground peel and poppy seend, then there was good old fashioned Lavender and the last and my fav Pink Champers.. smells like ginger beer bubbles or sweet champagne photos here   It smells so good and the soap curing room smells divine.. .I am looking forward to getting to the East Coast and getting my soaping business under way.

We only have 11 days with my son before he moves back to New Zealand with his girl friend. We are all trying to make the most of the time we have before he goes. I will miss them.. 9,000km is a long way away. They have been off fishing the last two nights, they had loads of fun but not much fish.. so we bbq'ed chops for dinner tonight and not the promised fish..haha.
Then all the kids big and little went out to clean my sons car that is being sold tomorrow..

We were all a bit worried it would still be here unsold when we leave.. *sigh* but Mum will be without her car , as he still needs to get to work till Saturday. Funny how that works eh :-)

A little bit of soap

As promised the piccies of the latest soap..  I am really pleased how they turned out.. There is a bit more info about them over on my shop blog..the link is at the bottom of this post.
This one is Comfrey/Nettle, it is looking a bit icy on top, it stuck to the mold so had to toss it in the freezer for an hour.

This one is Coconut and Lemon-grass.. It was an in pot swirl, I am happy with the result, I didn't cut the whole block as it is still a bit wet but it smells soooooooooo good.

I had an appointment with the Doctor today, and while I was waiting I picked up a magazine and browsed the articles.. one caught my eye it was '30 tips from cosmetic experts' one of the first was 'Never use soap on your face'.. I had a wee chuckle because it went on to say use one of these products.. all chemical bars or soap free yet chemical cleansers in a tube.. all containing stuff I doubt I could pronounce, funny thing is since I have been washing my face with real soap, made with real vegetable and nut oils, with nothing out of a test tube added, my skin has never felt better... don't use soap.. well Mister Cosmetic specialist.. you need to re write your article and announce Never use chemicals on your face!
To see a full range of my soaps and there descriptions take a look here

On My Feet..

I have had a few emails and messages asking how I am doing and if I am ok, as I haven't posted here for  a day or three.. I am up and about.. feeling a bit better every day but still taking it a bit easy.. well not today maybe. Today I over did it a wee bit perhaps. I did have good reason.. well in my mind. You see when I was confined to bed with nothing but the laptop for company, I heard the distant call of a bit of online shopping, I thought it might be good for what ailed me.. sooooo I shopped at a couple of me favourite places.. Heirloom Soap Supplies and Aussie Soap Supplies  what you see a pattern forming? Maybe just a liddle one.. well yesterday my treasures arrived and I had to try them out. So today I made, some Comfrey Salve with Rosemary & Lavender essential oils, ( I had been waiting on the Rosemary e.o) and two lots of soap - Comfrey & Nettle scented with Lavender, Eucalyptus &Rosemary essential oils and a drop or two of sweet grass fragrance just to sweeten it a little ( smells so nice), and I also made Coconut and Lemon with a yellow swirl. I will take some photos tomorrow when it is out of the molds. I have a fair bit of herbal infused oils that need to be used before we go, the carriers won't ship anything that is open.. a jolly nuisance. I had thought perhaps to pack it myself, but if it spills or breaks and they find it has opened lids then we loose the insurance.. so I will make soap and hope it is all cured by the time we go.
The salve will be available in my wee store in the net day or so, I am hoping to be selling my soap by late December early January, just getting the bugs ironed out and the paperwork all finished. So add to the soaping a few loads of washing and a house vacum and I am about ready for a nap.. bet I will be in strife when the man finds out what I been up to today.. *smiling* well had to do something yesterday was sat on me butt making banners for my other blog and Made It shop and labels for soap and salve containers.. here is my handy work if you want to take a peek. From My Hearth 

She's Got The Look

This about how it is.. 

.