Be Thou My Vision

This is called the "Waves and Island" stage of saponification. It has thickened considerably from when I first melted the oils and added the lye/water mixture. Be careful when pouring and mixing the lye. Lye is very strong and will burn your skin and eyes. USE CAUTION! I wore plastic gloves and you can wear long sleeves too. I refered to a library book, "Natural Soapmaking" By Delores Boone. It has step-by-step photos of how to make it. Will post pictures of the finished soap later! :-) I enjoyed making it for the first time. It has a nice creamy lather. The ingredients: coconut, olive, and canola oils, lye and water powdered milk and water essential oils: lavender, rosewood, rose absolute, lemongrass, and spearmint. (about 5-10 drops each) The soap ended up smelling light and fresh. A little bit floral but not so overpowering as a stronger rose scented soap might be.

A sweet baby I photographed at our "Sports day". ...... So cute, I like her blue eyes! What's been happening recently.... Olympic Day was last Thursday. We were out in the park running races and talking to other fellow participants and friends and trying to stay out of the sun. :-) There were 100 yd, 200 yd, and 50 yd. dashes and hurdles. And the Football Throw, Soccer Kick, and the last and most popular contests: Jump-Rope and Hoola-Hoop races. By 3:30 pm, I was ready to come home to the air conditioned house, and a cool shower! Then, we left again at 6 pm for our homeschool band concerts. I played "This is My Father's World" on the piano and daddy played along on trumpet. A Father/Daughter duet :-) A few of the same people who we saw at Olympic day earlier were also at the concert that night. A long, busy day for sure! Mommy said I was the unofficial "staff photographer" for Olympic Day! :-) It was a satisfactory, fun, day for our family!...

Our cute little lamb! ( photo taken in March 2009)

-Rose-

"Branny Browny chocolate muffins". (Recipe from a health food store magazine) There are 2-3 cups of unsweetened dark chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate in these!!! Yum! Our sewing booth. :-) My PHOTOGRAPHY booth. Art- Chocolate cherry cake I had a photography and handmade card booth at the Homeschool Convention this year. My booth was in the "Student Entrepeneurs"section. I had fun meeting new people (and also seeing old friends) and sold a few photography cards. cute sleeping baby- a loud freight train! Sisters- :-) still life- Delicious homemade sourdough bread. The three bakers- :-)