CHRISTMAS SOAP MAKING

Hello and welcome.... The last week has found me elbow deep in Christmas, yes I know it early but I have had lots to for the markets and soap orders as well....

For last Sundays market in Toowoomba I made Christmas hand towels and dishclothes which were a real hit. Also Christmas candles and soaps.

With the soap I have made the grandchildren {all 14 of them} there names, I am sure they will enjoy those....So many A and Es to make though,all done now.

As I only had 4 moulds it took a little while to get all the letters but all part of the fun. I have made a few Christmas orders for soap as well..

The above one is activated charcoal to get the black colour with peppermint and eucalyptus it smells amazing...I decorated it with gum nuts and leaves from the garden....

This was a order to use egg yolks in the soap with no colour or scent, I must say I wasn't to sure but it turned out OK...It came totrace very quickly so was hard to work with...It also took longer to cure. But the customer is happy so that is good...

This order was for Christmas soap and the customer has children so I had some fun....The block soap I tried to makelook like candy canes but it looks more like peppermint fudge hahahaha....Also made soap with christmas trees..

All orders are done now and we have 3 more markets befor Christmas then we will have a break untill February..... As I write this it has been raining all night and day which is such a blessing, the garden is loving it.... Untill next time.... Mandy

WELL HELLO

It has been a long time since I visited this old blog of mine! So much has happened in the last year but I am not going to bore you with it all, so lets start here and today. The most exciting thing is I have decided to give up work.For the last 6 years I have worked at our little local Post Office and truly enjoyed it.Things change and now it's time to move on.

I will spend more time with my children and grandchildren and a lot more time with my Mum and Dad...Bruce and I have lots of ideas and things we want to do and see. We have been busy doing the markets this year selling candles and soap, Bruce has been making wooden items as well, we both enjoy doing the markets and getting out and meeting new people and saying hello to our regular customers.

My days are filled with the rhythm of slowing down while working in the garden growing our food to eat, making soaps and candles for our marketstand and just taking the time to stop and enjoy the beautiful place we have created and live. Life has many seasons in it and I amgoing to enjoy this season in my life. I am going to make the time to blog again even though on this old computer its so hard. I can't even connect my phone to it to download photosbut I have found a way to get around that by sending them to myself and then downloading them.... For now I am going to make a cuppa and finnish making the candles for next weeks market.... Mandy.....

CHICKENS & VEGE GARDEN

Who doesn't love chickens???? Our chicken run is now right behind the vege garden, this makes it so easy to get rid of unwanted veges and waste. The chook pen used to be at the other end of the garden, so it makes more sense here.

As you can see above the vege garden opens into the chook pen and then out to this large paddock that they have free access to daily, lots of insects and worms out here. Having them here also keeps insects down in the vege garden.

This pic is from the hilltop where the goats milking shed is, from here you can see the green house and chook pen surrounding it. We have 23 chickens and one rooster. 10 are ones we hatched and raised ourselves and should be starting to lay soon....

We have had a sprinkle of rain in the last 24hrs which makes everything nice and green, also makes it a good day to be working in the vege garden. At the moment we are harvesting cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes, capsicum, chilli, zucchini and asparagus....Lots of salad food perfect for the weather we are having.

Today I planted out the garlic bed, now I already have some shallots planted in here but they will be havested soon and more garlic will go in. The potatoes are down the other end of the vege garden as I will be planting onions in the next bed and they shouldn't be planted close together. I have planted my own garlic that I saved from last year,I also got some from Diggers club called Italian Late and New Zealand Red... Not sure what mine are as I just saved them and forgot to mark them so I called them Mandy's Mix hahahaha....

Soon to go in beetroot, carrots, cabbages and lots of brassicas, also broad beans..... Such a wonderful time to be in the garden as it starts to get cooler.... Have a great week all, we are heading to Brisbane on the weekend to watch our grandson Mason Swim....Really looking forward to seeing them all... Blessings Mandy

FARMSTAND

Hello and welcome.... I thought I might show you our little Farmstand/roadside stall that we have out the front.... Its easy to see look for the PINK house...

Yes Pink, I have always wanted a pink house,but that is for another post when it is all done.

We have all sorts of seasonal goodies in our Farmstand, the last couple of weeks I have been busy making chutney... Beetroot, Mango' Choko' and Eggplant...Yes eggplant, sounds awful I know but it is actually really nice has a caramel flavour to it as it has Indian spices in it..

This summer has seen so many eggplants, beetroot, chokos and cucumbers...The vege garden has done well through the heat really.. We also have our eggs that we sell...lots and lots of eggs from our lovely ladies.

Blue,green,white,brown and I am sure some have a pink tinge maybe I am just wishing....

I have also been drying herbs and making tea, the tea has been really successful. The one we have at the moment has Lime verbina, lemon grass with blue butterfly flower that make it a wonderful deepblue colour. It is great hot or cold. I like to add lots of ice on a hot day... so refreshing.... We also sell..

Dishclothes made from 100% cotton so just throw them in the wash every couple of days...

Lip Balm...made from coconut oil, shea butter and beeswax..

SOAP

CANDLES

FLOWERS...This summer has seen some beatuiful blooms in the garden so I am glad to share them.. Really whatever we have excess off we put out in the stall. All the money we make goes into buying grain for the animals..We may be small here but all the animals have a job to do and nothing goes to waste.

Our veges and fruit are all chemical free, so anything I make is chemical free as well... If you live close buy come for a drive one weekend and stop at other farm roadside stands on the way...Bring an old book you have finished reading and swap it in our Book Swap Libary it is out every day.... Do you have an excess in your garden that you could sell to help with feed or seed bills...I hope I inspire you to give it a go...

I started with flowers on a table in our driveway.....Some times starting is the hardest part what ever it is... We are OPEN WEEKENDS ONLY, this suits us as we are home. You make yours to suit what days you would like... Have a great and blessed week all. Mandy

SOAP DAYS

Hello and welcome, it is a beautiful overcast day here today so makes working in the garden so much more enjoyable. Last week I used the last of my frozen goats milk to make more goats milk soap..

Thankfully my beautiful girls have had their babies and have lots off lovely milk again, so milking is back on the daily list. You have to freeze the goats milk other wise it will curdle when you make the soap....

Then blend just like normal with your oils, I don't put any color or scent in the goats milk as those that want it like it plain.

I also made lavender soap, the lavender needed trimming so was a good time to make it. I soaked the lavender for 24hrs flowers stalks and all and then drained it...I ended up with a nice lavender tea that I then used to make the soap....

Once it all comes to trace you pour into moulds, above is my goats milk in moulds and all other soap I used bar moulds.

Then leave soap to harden for at least 24hrs this depends on the weather and soap you make, the lavender takes longer to set then the goats milk... I then cut it all up and stamp....

I have been making soap for over 20years now and never not want to make it...I love coming up with new ideas for my soap adventure. Over Christmas I had fun making Christmas soap using paprika, green clay and activated charcoal for colours.

And yes I didnt take photos off them, hahaha these are the round ones but the block looked so much better.... I also made a Summer Nigths soap. Sitting outside the sky was red and orange as it was starting to get dark and then the new moon was there as well..It was one of the most beatuiful skies I had ever seen, so I made a soap to remember it by...And it is ready to go this week.

Once I have made my soap it goes into the racks to cure for 6 weeks, I try to make soap every week so there is a new soap coming out each week. Did I mention I love making soap hahaha...My garden inspires me as well as the night sky..

These are some I have made with roses,calendula,nettle, peppermint and also a night skies one....The spring one has dried oranges in it and is amazing the oranges took a bit to dry but well worth it. I also like to decorate my soap with dried flowers.... I hope you enjoyed my soap making journey.... Blessings Mandy..

HAPPENINGS

These 2 handsome young man are getting married.... My two youngest how time goes fast when they grow up...

Robbie and Emma got engaged a while ago and will be married in January 24.. Emma is still at uni and finishes at the end of the year so its been a long engagement, but worth the wait. They both live in Brisbane but look forward to moving once they are married.

William and Pricilla have just got engaged this month.They are getting married this June. When you know you know, thier father and I new from the moment we met and were married 9 mths later... Will still lives at home and Cilla lives in Toowoomba, they will stay local when they get married... I look back at when I started this blog and so much has happpened over the years,I mightn't blog as much as I used to though. Our family continues to grow and grow.. I hope you enjoyed this little update and will be back soon.... Mandy