Making Soap

Posted on October 29, 2009 by Momzoo

Fall time is soap making time, at least once all the canning is done!

There really is a particular reason I pick this time of year to make soap and it has to do with the amount of daylight and the temperature outside.

I use lye in my soap making and lye gives off some pretty nasty fumes at first, I like to be able to keep the windows open to let the fumes disperse. In the winter it is too cold and in the summer it is too hot!

I could make soap in the springtime, but the days are getting longer and my attention is focused outside planting my gardens.

The picture above is my soap in its mold the morning after I made it.

I pop it out of the mold in one big solid block.

And cut it up into neat squares.

The soap then needs to sit for six weeks or more to cure and harden. Then it becomes wonderful soap that I use for everything, from washing my face to washing dishes and laundry. This is wonderful stuff!

http://down—to—earth.blogspot.com/2007/07/how-to-make-cold-pressed-soap.html

This link is where I got my recipe and know-how from.

Why make my own soap?

Well, it is about getting back to a slow self sustaining life. I know I can run to Walmart and purchase soap for a lot less than I can make it at home. That soap will also be full of chemical and synthetic fragrances. The natural occurring glycerins are pulled out of the soap and petroleum based moisturisers are added back in. With homemade soaps I know exactly what is going on my skin and on my children’s skin. This soap seems to last longer too, I only need about 4 batches to get me through the year, and I use it for household cleaning too not just for bathing.

It also makes a really fun impromptu gift for any occasion.

Have a wonderful day!

Calming the Confusion

Posted on March 4, 2009 by Momzoo

Life around our house has been crazy and confusing. There has been a lot going on and so our normal day-to-day routines have been disrupted. for some people that is no big deal, they just cope and move on. For me it can be major! I am like a big ‘ol plow horse, slow and steady, happy to plug along day after day. When something changes can usually adjust, but when there are changes day after day after day it just completely throws me off and it can take days to get back to normal.

Because of the weeks worth of different, our home and family has been under some strain. My house doesn’t have the calm sense of well being that I try to create. So this morning as I was looking into my living room I decided that I was going to create some calm.

Here is the before picture. The living room isn’t dirty, just messy.

I looked at the clock and started my clean up. It took about an hour and a half, I had several interruptions. I am now home schooling my oldest, so I had to stop a few times to help her and then I had some surprise guests arrive for a short time. I know I could have done it in about half that time had I been uninterrupted.

Here is the room finished:

It is amazing to me how a quick pick up can change the feeling in a house.

(p.s. do you like the color of the walls…it is new! I have before and after pictures coming soon!)

That’s My Story….

Posted on January 10, 2009 by Momzoo

Because of This:

My house looks like

This:

I swear that is the reason

Promise!

Keepin’ it real

Posted on June 19, 2008 by Momzoo

So I had a question about how I handle my mail. Real Me asked:

Can I ask you what do you do when your mail comes in? I have a station
in the kitchen where I put them but my desk and stuff is downstairs in my bedroom. I feel like I have too many stations to maintain. Do you have a tip?

First of all I have to admit that I am terrible when it come to piles, I pile everything everywhere. After reading Fly Lady’s site I have bee trying to keep my piles picked up. Honestly it is working (there are some piles, rather large ones that I am ignoring for the time being) my living room and kitchen seem to stay cleaner longer. In the past I would always skip my piles, I figured I didn’t have time to take care of my piles unless I had a big chunk of time. What I have learned is that it really only takes 5 minutes or less to clear off my “hot spots” (Fly Lady) and I would have a clean room.

Now for the mail issue. It use to get piled on my desk, or the counter, or any other flat surface. Then in January I did a big cleaning of my bedroom (this is my biggest pile zone) and I think I had three months of mail on my desk….sigh…not very efficient. I set up my desk as I have it now with little baskets to organise things, specifically bills, my envelope system (thanks Dave Ramsey) stationary. Just because I have the tools of organisation doesn’t mean I am going to be an organised person. Being the person I am there is always going to be some level of ciaos around me, but I came to realise that my behavior needed to change too if I wanted an organised home

So, for mail, this is what happens on a typical good day: The mail is brought in and placed on the table by the door, I will sort it, all adds, catalogues and credit card applications go into the recycle bin (shred the credit card apps.) I do have to say that most of the time I don’t do this durring the day and Dadzoo will quickly sort through it when he gets home. Anything Dadzoo needs to see; medical statements, bill statements or maybe a catalogue that I know he will like stays on the table, he looks through them when he gets home then takes it downstairs to file it away. Bills that need to be paid get put in a certain place on my desk to be paid when Dadzoo gets his check.

We really only get two bills in the mail, the rest are paid on-line, so we only get statements in the mail for those. I don’t feel like I can throw those statements away (for instance our morgage payment) so Dadzoo just files them, they require little attention.

There you go, what I do with mail, very simple, very easy, it really is just a matter of making yourself take care of it as soon as it comes in the door.

And for the Keepin’ it real part, here is a picture of my management center as of 8:00 this morning!

I am still a work in progress, but aren’t we all!

De-Junking the piles

Posted on June 16, 2008 by Momzoo

I am participating in Biblical Womanhood’s Make your Home a Haven Monday today.

I am a piler

I have piles everywhere

if there is a flat surface in my home, there is a pile on top of it.

the problem with piles is that they make the house look messy

and there is stuff all over,

even if the piles are neat

the house just looks out of sorts.

The last month or so I have been making a real effort to eliminate my piles.

I would say that I have been moderately successful,

I have eliminated many, stayed on top of many and ignored a few big ones (I swear I will get to those)!

I am finding that there are a few piles that just won’t go away. I didn’t really know what to call these piles until I read a post on Biblical Womanhood about her “management center”. A-HA! Bingo, these weren’t just piles of garbage, they were my management centers! I have two of them and these places are where I run my home from and they serve a vital function. I could never get rid of them because I needed these areas! I use these areas!

Below is center #1

it is in the kitchen right by the phone.

This is where I do my meal planning and my daily schedule, this is where the calender is and where I take phone messages.

Even though this is a busy spot, it doesn’t need to look so messy and really, in all that mess who can run a home efficiently. It takes up my whole counter and the computer just gets in the way, and is very distracting (I would much rather blog stalk than clean or cook!)

This is my second management center, the desk in my bedroom. This is where I pay bills and write letters. Usually my computer is on this desk too, but my box of seeds are in the way!

What a pile of mess!
And seriously who can keep track of bills in this clutter.

So a couple of weeks ago I deiced to tackle this clutter trap and make my management centers more efficient.