A New Month

Yeup, another month has come and gone! Where did July go?
Is it really August? Does school start in two weeks? Wow!!
Next thing you know we'll be doing our Christmas
shopping, hustling and bustling around like a bunch of
mad hatters.

There hasn't been much going on around here, nothing that
was blog-worthy anyway. The heat has kinda put a stop
to me being outside very much. The heat has been bad,
the humidity has been worse. A few evenings ago as I
was driving home, the humidity was so thick it actually
looked like smoke in the air. I kept looking around for
a house or brush fire... and fully expected to see one.

Baby, my little pup is growing by leaps and bounds.
Unfortunately I've had to start keeping him in the dog
pen so he doesn't run off. He's just too lonely around
here with no other animals to play with. I kept having
to go round him up from my neighbors' houses. He
doesn't paticularly like the pen, but is very good about
going back in at night. I try to let him in the house
for a little while every day, feed him good so his belly
is huge, and the little guy will lay down on the kitchen
rug in front of the sink and take a 2 or 3 hour nap.
He certainly enjoys the air conditioning. Barkley
still isn't crazy about him, but tolerates his presence.

I had to go outside and dig through the shop for a
mold a little while ago. If all goes well, I'm going to
try a new "just for fun" project in a bit. It is
chocolate covered oreo cookies. They look delish and
I know the Grandmonsters will like them. Here's a
link to the instructions I found.

http://www.teachsoap.com/oreos.html

Yes, Yes!! I'm stalking the soap making sites! lol
I've taken a hiatus from making any new soaps for
a couple years. We had soaps piled up and I had
plenty for the few craft shows I do, so it was
sensless to continue making it. So I focused my
time on sewing. But, lately the soaping bug has
been nibbling on me. I keep looking at all those
cute soaps on Etsy and keep thinking to myself,
"Old gal, you can do that. Why are you stalking
everyone else's products?". One of the newest
things to make is the Soapsicle Soaps. They are
just adorable, but expensive in my opinion. I
know my Grandmonsters would LOVE them! As
would my cousin's children, kids in our community
and the numerous kids that call me Mamaw,
Grandma Carmen, and Jaylan's Mimi. lol

The Soapsicles are made from the glycerine melt
and pour soap bases. I have a few pounds of it
in the shop from my earlier soap making runs,
but I didn't have enough and I could not, for the
life of me, find a popsicle mold. Oh yeah, I found
one on ebay that would work, but it's like the
bomb pops we used to eat as kids. Remember the
red, white, and blue popsicles? The regular
popsicle molds I found weren't really what I
wanted. So... I ended up ordering one from a
soap supply company. But I couldn't just stop at
the mold, I ended up ordering a few more pounds
of glycerine soap base, both the clear and the
opaque. So hopefully, this time next week I'll
be up to my elbows in Soapsicle Soap!! :)

While out in the shop I also dug out all my soap
recipes.... the pile of soap books and all my notes! lol
Quite a pile when I got done. But, you know me,
I do nothing in a small way, I think I need to
over-do everything! Yes, one of my faults, I'm
completely aware of it, Thank You. :) So cold
process soap making is also in my future. I've
been collecting supplies for a couple months now.
Buying up olive oil, vegetable shortening, lye,
and all the fixins.

And while stalking all these soaping sites, I've
learned several new techniques. The techniques
for soaping change all the time. Things that I
did a couple years ago are becoming outdated.
I guess I'm going to have to go with the flow
and update myself. Soap Cupcakes.... can I
really make those and have them come out
looking like cupcakes?? According to the
tutorial I found I can. lol I'm gonna try them,
if they flop, I'll just melt down my base and
try them again. They'll eventually turn
out right, I suppose. :)

Ok... 'nuther subject. My precious Hubby is
getting homesick I do believe. He went
through a spell where he was calling me in the
middle of the night, he couldn't sleep. Well,
when he does that, it throws my sleep
pattern off and I start to become a night owl
all over again. It's been several nights since
he's called so I'm starting to rise earlier now.

A few weeks ago Mike called me and was soooo
excited. He and some of the guys he works
with had been to a bar. Someone came around
and asked them to put their names in the pot
for a prize. Well, low and behold, my Mike
won the prize. It is a two day white water
rafting trip for 4 people. He was ready for me to
pack my bags and fly out the next day. Oh no!!
That's not my cup of tea, but right up Mike's
alley. He's still holding onto the certificate,
trying to decide what he's going to do with it.
I keep encouraging him to go on this trip, he'd
absolutely love it. Besides... how many people
get a free offer like this? I'm keeping my
fingers crossed that he will do it. I'm sure
some of his friends from work would go
with him.

I'm working on a care package for him again.
Hopefully the shipping part of this project
will go smoother than the last time! :) I
found him a couple western shirts to put in
our box and of course I'll be baking some
stuff for him. And of course Jaylan will
have to "write" him a letter and draw several
pictures for him.

Ok... I'm off to drag out the double boiler
and get started on this oreo cookie project.
Wish me luck!! :)