Of all things that are ugly.

Oh I know, the title sounds a little mystical, a little poetical, sort of lofty and worthy, like a show on PBS from England, but really...the truth, I come from a family of people who sweat.

We live life to the fullest and work hard in the process.

My husband does construction, basically, like rolling in a dirt lot in one form or another. My daughter is a waitperson, trays, grease, crab-apples that don't tip. My son rides a skateboard for fun after his day at work as a carpenter. I have 2 little grandbaby monkeys, 2 3/4 and 4 1/2 who's job it is to play and explore the whole day long in the back yard, and I run after grandkids 7 days a week sweatin' like an oldie.

I am a soap groupie of a sort, I am hooked on the process of what happens when you mix oil and lye. I love the chemistry of it all, the triglicerides in the fats, how the dirt clings to the fat instead of your skin,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saponification.

Ingredients?
The instant sieze of the batch, or the long haul mix depending on the oils that you use.

Process?
A quick hot processed brew turned out of the mold and sliced within a day, or a vintaged cold processed cure period, a fingertip to lip kiss, and a hearty voi la! as the batch is revealed after 6 weeks.

Or, lovely frilly melt and pour, where your creativity is only limited by your wallet, this mold, that scent, pink, no white. It's all part of my happy happy obsession.

I love to scope out other soapmakers shops and still, to this day, get excited over their descriptions the fragrences and the ingredients, get jealous at the beautiful bar that they have to offer.

And, with all that being said, I can truthfully say I have never seen an uglier bar than this bar.

Experimenting you query? Yes.

I thought, this looks like concrete, this looks horrible, but I bet it will be a great scrub bar (ever the optomist) as I wiped a tear from my eye, I was expecting better.

A hand washing test or two led to a shower or two, led to a grand kid scrub or two, led to the final test.....drum roll....my husband's after a grueling day of work shower.

This soap passed the dh test.

It has become our soap of choice, it is like a home remedy in a bar, the day just melts away, and we are ready to take on the night, smelling not one bit like dirt.

http://www.1000markets.com/users/3261

Tag I'm it! Featuring Heart's Desire Beading Co.

I just love reading blog awards, where you have to list things that you love, hate, do, don't do and the like. I got this fun Tag you're it from Heart's Desire Beads, Debra, a lovely lady who is about as active as a person can be...for example, she home schools her kids! That is a major full time job but she manages to run a thriving BEAUTIFUL wrapped wire with gems jewelry business.

Just for a treat jump over and check out her talents, her stuff is just gorgeous. http://heartsdesirebeads.silkfair.com/ I would be jealous but I like her too much! Well without too much further ado, here we go:

YYYYY Tag....I'm It!

Eight things I'm looking forward to:

1.) The painting to be finished in my kitchen.

2.) The cabinet doors to be hung in my kitchen.

3.) Fourth of July.

4.) The first egg from our chickens.

5.) The fruits from my garden, hopefully peas soon.

6.) Hitting the thrift store today, that will mean that I have put the last coat of paint on my kitchen cabinets.

7.) Noon and a diet Dr. Pepper, the flavor of the week.

8.) Receiving my new antique button broaches. (Not pictured)


Eight things I did yesterday

1.) Painted my kitchen cabinets over and over -it's oil based enamel.

2.) Primed cabinet doors, stained and varnished them.

3.) Made fun fun fun soap labels for soap I'm listing today.

4.) Made the Curves scene.

5.) Watched my oldest grandson on his new big boy bike (it still has training wheels).

6.) Watched my youngest grandson on his hand me down starter bike (outgrown from #1 grandson).

7.) Watered my much loved garden.

8.) Watched my backyard birds. They are such happy creatures this year.

Eight things I wish I could do:

1.) Lose the compulsion to think 'I can just do it myself'(ref. question 1 and 2 above.)

2.) Just hire somebody to do the kitchen face lift for me. (ref. question 1 and 2 above.)

3.) Lose weight by miraculous means (I mean as in poof!)

4.) Create something that would sell in multiples, generate income.

5.) Win the lottery and have money to start businesses to employ disabled people.

6.) Be extremely wise.

7.) Forgive quickly, lose the anger. What a waste of time not to forgive.

8.) Have more time. Honestly, what's wrong with a 36 hour day?

Eight Things or Shows I Have Watched:

1.) The HGTV network *LOL* (ref. questions 1 and 2 above.)

2.) Martha Stewart Show *LOL* (ref. questions 1 and 2 above.)

3.) House

4.) Bones

5.) Greys

6.) Days

7.) My chickens frantically scramble for worms. So comical.

8.) Just recently watched over 130 card makers participate in the blog hop for Cards For Heroes. So awesome. http://cardsforheroes.org/send-handmade-cards/



Eight of My Favorite Blogs: Impossible to chose, I love blogs. These are not in the order of their importance, nor are they my absolute favorites. Just a few I follow.

1.) http://afancifultwist.typepad.com/ I visit here frequently. lovely whimsical lighthearted and youthful, sort of naively innocent. Fun for me.

2.)http://mytwocents.wordpress.com/2009/05/27/my-two-cents-on-mark-driscoll/ smart, religious. stuff I like.

3.)http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2009/05/more-about-da-book-and-da-immediate.html
Interesting with links out

4.)http://jimblazsik.com/
funny irreverent

5.)http://berlinswhimsy.typepad.com/berlins_whimsy/
a breath of fresh air every time I visit.

6.)http://blog.marshillchurch.org/
who doesn't love Mars Hill Church. So hip trendy and relevant. I wish I could upgrade my computer to get their stuff, we (me and my computer) are dinosaurs.

7.)http://onecosmos.blogspot.com/
so funny, so smart, so clever.

8.)http://www.firstthings.com/blog.php?blog_link=the-anchoress
this is randomly last on this list but I LOVE THIS BLOG.

So hard to pick my favorite links, I am suited for the Internet and the Internet is suited for me, it is a garden of information, and I spend as much time as I can spare gathering those lovely little wildflowers for a mason jar on my table. Thanks again to Debra, who by the way has a lovey blogspot of her own, http://heartsdesirebeads.blogspot.com/, a treat every time I drop by!

And many thanks to Debra @heartsdesirebeads.blogspot.com for the beautiful pictures in this article.