Let's Look at Lip Balm

   The mass marketing of many personal products lead to the chemical contamination of their ingredients. This reality, mixed with family allergies and my own personal struggle with ovarian issues, brought me to look long and hard at things coming into my system. Along with soap, one thing that touches my skin regularly throughout the day is lip balm.
   Whether sun kissed or winter weather chapped, my lips require a steady stream of moisturizing (wearing a mouth guard in self defense classed only makes it worse.) My favorite brand caved to the market monopoly and sold which changed the purity of the ingredients. Tired of trying to find a consistent supply of a good product at a good price, available year round pushed me forward in creative experimentation.
   

   No one recipe or product is perfect, nor can it meet the needs and preference of each person. One of my teens loves the fruity tinted stuff, one prefers more savory scent, I'm a peppermint lover while my guys think the whole thing should be unscented and plainly functional. With my handy notebook and pencil in hand, notes were taken, online located recipes were tested..altered and tweaked until we found a small batch, simple recipe to fill each preference.

   Simply Lips

8 Tablespoons coconut or vegetable based oil

3 Tablespoons beeswax

1 1/2 Tablespoon honey

30 drops essential oil of choice (optional)

In a double boiler set up. heat oil, beeswax, and honey until blended. Add essential oils, if desired. Pour into container of choice. 

**A Few Notes**

..beeswax pastilles (pearls/pellets) are the easiest to use and are available at health food stores or online

...if you skip the honey, it will not be as soft

...this fits in empty lip balm containers, small plastic containers, or tins which can be cleaned out very well or purchased online

..for even softer lip balm, add a few drops of olive oil, palm oil, or shea butter

I use a sauce pan will a few inches of water and a cleaned out soup can that has been gently pinched a the rim (for easier pouring)..this is my 'double boiler'. 

    I have fallen completely in love with this recipe..as have a few of my vendor event customers. Lavender, peppermint and plain honey are the top requests; citrus is a close runner in the group. Lip balm sales have only been local so far..I can't imagine shipping those little containers. If you are interested in purchasing our lip balm shoot me a message; local friends can 'skip the ship' and meet up with me. 

    Are you a home beauty product producer? Share your experiences, product information and shop listings with us..buy handmade and support handmade!

Experiments in Soap Making

   Long has there been a dream in my heart of beautiful bars of home made soap lined up in rows to cure on the pantry shelf. Natural, nourishing, and made from pure ingredients I was sure home made soap was a divine call. Years of reading about the horror of lye and the delicate chemistry of soponification stayed my dabbling. The reality is, it terrified me.
   Time settles things; my fears abated giving way to creative experimentation. Supplies were purchased, pans and scales designated, and the kitchen cleared for a day of discovery. Just over a year ago the first batch of Simply Soap came off the mold to cure on those pantry shelves. The results were wonderful. Creamy hand made soap with gentle lather and just a hint of rosemary graced the sink and became a household favorite.
   From the first batch of simple soap my heart desired natural results. As our experimentation continued, a commitment developed in us to keep it basic and as natural as possible. Home harvested herbs, luffa, and fats made their way along side purchased healthy oils and oats. No dyes were to be used in our soaps and any scent additions would come from essential oils instead of synthetic fragrance. Favorable results kept coming as the variety varied from batch to batch.
   Recently our hand made booths held baskets of our simple soap experiments with free samples for any interested in testing the varieties. Some questioned their subtlety yet appreciated the realization the soaps would not compete with their perfume choices or other fragrant products. We sold more soap than quilts last time. Strange where experiments can lead.
   I have no intentions of 'going into the soap business' or developing beauty products for the public. It is, and still remains, experimenting. Along with soap I have made lotion bars, essential fragrance bars, and beeswax lip balms; we love them and use them regularly. Wholesome products are often pricy and in short supply; having the skill to make my own is a gift to be cherished and used.
   Yes, our soaps are available in our shop..free samples are always offered when requested, but no plans are in action to leave the needle and frame for the beauty market. For now, the soap making remains and exercise in simplicity and a creative experimentation. 
  

Processing Poultry Tips

   Processing time came and went here on the little farm. Spring butchering filled our freezer with healthy food plentiful enough to feed our family and share with others. Over the many years we have honed a setup and work through plan that has served us well making large batch processing efficient and timely. For example, I 'fast' my flock the night before butchering to prevent busted crops and messy processing. Here are some processing tips we keep handy.

 

   1. Stations everyone! Whether I process alone, or have helping hands with me, stations are the best way to get the deeds done quickly and cleanly. 'Killing Cone' is station one: knives, cones, and lined buckets are ready, waiting, and stay at this station until clean up. 'Break Down' is station two:  cutting boards, knives, bowls of salted ice water, large lined trash cans are on hand for the main processing station. 'Cool Down' is station three: positioned near the sink are sealing bags, markers, and towels to rinse, dry, bag and label. There are also several large ice chests filled with ice for quickly cooling processed birds once they are washed. The final stop is the freezer..but only once the birds are cooled down.

   2. Loose the skin. One of the nastiest parts of butchering poultry is plucking; dipped in boiling water and stripped of every feather these birds leave a fragrant memory you never forget! I skip this all together skinning my birds before processing.

 

    3. Get to Pieces. Smaller broilers are selected to be processed whole for roasting and making broths, but the majority of my birds are harvested as 'breast and leg'. Leg and thigh are removed as one piece, breast and tenderloin are removed in one piece. This makes storage space stretch farther and helps the meat cool faster further preventing spoilage or loss.

    4. Party! Have a processing party. Grill some meat, bake some treats and invite green horns to come learn the fine art of processing. The more the merrier. Family, friends, local college kids can often be bribed with food..or the promise we often make..you clean it you keep it.

    5. Relax. Plan ahead, play some music, and make the event work for you. My farm boy and I can process 50 birds in a few hours. We set the date, setup the stations, set the radio and get it done in a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere. It helps when the weather is nice (like today..it was awesome!).

    If you have never had the privilege of processing your own poultry or if you are considering it, I encourage you to step out of your comfort zone and give it a go. Start small, maybe a few birds, and work to a goal that meets your family's needs. Sitting at the table tonight, we shared in good food and the satisfaction of hard work and the provision it brings, the security of a well stocked freezer, and the joy of fellowship shared over the task.

   Are you a home processing family? Share your experiences and tips with us..we love to hear from you!
  

Meet Me In the Sewing Room

    Sometimes getting started is the hardest part of any project; hand quilting is no exception. In the video today we take hand quilting step by step: threading, stitching and ending, while addressing a few tips and trouble spots along the way.

Let's meet in the sewing room and stitch something wonderful!

 

Sunday

Auschwitz - Birkenau camp

Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day. Let us stop and consider all those who suffered at the hands of a hateful government that promised change and a better life for our children. Let us consider Esther's plight; the road she faced as she went before a wayward king to plead for the lives of her people. Let us pray for our nation, our brothers' in the faith, and our plight in the face of a wicked government. 

Esther 4

King James Version (KJV)

4 When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry;

² And came even before the king's gate: for none might enter into the king's gate clothed with sackcloth.
³ And in every province, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
⁴ So Esther's maids and her chamberlains came and told it her. Then was the queen exceedingly grieved; and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from him: but he received it not.
⁵ Then called Esther for Hatach, one of the king's chamberlains, whom he had appointed to attend upon her, and gave him a commandment to Mordecai, to know what it was, and why it was.
⁶ So Hatach went forth to Mordecai unto the street of the city, which was before the king's gate.
⁷ And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him, and of the sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasuries for the Jews, to destroy them.
⁸ Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them, to shew it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her, and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people.
⁹ And Hatach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai.
¹⁰ Again Esther spake unto Hatach, and gave him commandment unto Mordecai;
¹¹ All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or women, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.
¹² And they told to Mordecai Esther's words.
¹³ Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews.
¹⁴ For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
¹⁵ Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer,
¹⁶ Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.
¹⁷ So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.