Soap adventure continues

Posted on April 27, 2015 by farm2011

I’m still putting in all my efforts to see if I can be a good soap maker. Now usually I have high expectations, but at this point I know that there are soap experts out there and it’s out of my reach at this time. I’m just looking for the category ‘good’.

So my last adventure was to make the soap ‘Barefoot in the grass’ and the soap smell and look was just what I was hoping for. But I also wanted to try out a new mold that I had bought. It was one of those fancy ones that you can put in the sections so your soap comes out nice and clean and without any cutting.

OK, sure.

I noticed when I bought it there was a lot of comments on how some people couldn’t get it apart and seriously I thought how hard can this be? I saw a YouTube video of someone doing it and it didn’t look bad at all. And you know that the web never lies right?

So once the soap set up it was time to take it out of the mold. Now I know that I get less and less patient as I get older – but HOLY COW this wasn’t working.. at all!

I tried all the tricks that was suggested on how to get the mold apart and I finally got out a knife and cut the soap out of the mold. Now seriously it didn’t even look too bad and I used the dividers as the guide so my lines were somewhat straight.

So step # 1 with my mold – unsuccessful.

But check out my green soap DSCN9770

 

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Busy Sunday

Posted on April 26, 2015 by farm2011

Even though today was a Sunday, we sure got a lot done today!

The morning started out with Mass for the First Communion children. My nephew was receiving his First Communion this morning and with a family celebration last night and the special Mass this morning, well he really had a lot of people around him helping to celebrate!

I think parents of First Communion children should get a ‘do over’. What I mean of a do over is that it seems like your’e so busy getting ready for the day and making sure that if you’re having family over you have all the food ready and your house is also ready for company. Then there’s getting the First Communion child’s clothes all pressed and sitting out ready for the gobs of pictures that will be taken. Lastly there is the rest of the family and making sure everyone knows what they’ll be wearing and when you all have to be at the church. So what I’m saying is that there is a lot put into having a special day and for me when our kids were little it seemed like you’re so busy that you almost forget to stop and take it all in. I know for sure that I didn’t notice when our kids had their First Communion that almost everyone in the class stood at least one or two inches taller that day. Yup, I want a do over!

After Mass, Daryl did some farm stuff outside (I think he just moved tractors back and forth if you ask me) and Kyle and I had a meeting with another book member to go over what we are going to do for this years town book. You know we said last year that we really have to start this book the late fall/early winter before the Irish Fest. Yea, that seems like that would have been the best idea yet! Too bad we didn’t do it! But we’ve got some really good ideas and with Kyle’s help this year, I’m hoping that we’ll get it done in time. Keep your fingers and toes crossed!

I was also able to make some ‘Barefoot in the grass’ soap and in my new mold nevertheless. I’m pretty stoked about it and anxious to see how it turns out. I wanted to keep working on coloring the soap because a couple of previous batches the bubbles are brown. Yea.. brown. But the fragrance reacts so weird with all the oils and things, that I think it’s literally hit and miss until it gets unmolded. We’ll find out tomorrow!

And finally we had another wake to go to tonight. Can you believe it? That makes three wakes in a little over a week. Now that’s just way too many if you ask me! Before the wake we didn’t have time to grab anything to eat, so we headed to a local tavern for a quick sandwich after the wake and before going home. The funny part of the day is that when we’re just pulling into the yard we see the dogs sitting so good on the porch IMG_2810and we literally say at the same time how good the dogs were …. and then we see this. IMG_2808Yea. Not such good dogs anymore!

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And then there was Two!

Posted on April 25, 2015 by farm2011

I can’t believe it. When I saw the pile of feathers outside the chicken house and then all the death screaming going on – well I for sure thought that we were going to be one chicken less.

But guess what? When I was looking outside the window this morning – there was two little white chickens standing there. Seriously who would have guessed right?

Look who showed up this morning!

Look who showed up this morning!

Now there is two scenarios for this situation. The first one is that Duff was pretty lucky and was a fast healer. He went into the trees and stayed warm in the 30 degree weather that we had last night and has fully recovered.

Or the second scenario. This scenario was that I’m missing a second chicken that I don’t know about yet.

I think you can be the judge of which one actually is true. My guess today? Well that there’s someone else that might have gotten de-feathered 🙁

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M.I.A.

Posted on April 24, 2015 by farm2011

I was outside tonight gathering eggs tonight when I noticed this on the side of the chicken house. IMG_2804

Now this is not a good sign if you have chickens. Well it’s probably not a good sign even if you don’t have chickens right?

I knew right away who it was. It was one of the little fluffy chickens and to be honest didn’t look like any situation that was going to have a good outcome.

So I started to look around the farm and then heard this horrible noise like someone or something was dying. And for the first couple of seconds it really never registered  what this noise was and then… then I knew! It was some type of  bird that was in pretty big trouble. At first it sounded like one of the peacocks screaming but then I remembered the feathers. I ran up to the grove where the noise was coming from and around the corner comes Kaiser looking very guilty. And when he didn’t even stop by me and just kept running and ended up by the house, I knew he was doing something very naughty!  Now the outcome of whatever was screaming was even getting worse when I saw how Kaiser acted.

Off I go to try to find what was in trouble and I spent some time looking around under and in the trees, but as you would have guessed I couldn’t find a thing. So it was time to lock everyone up. I did a quick check to see if both white chickens were in the coop and just as I suspected there was only one.

So for tonight – Duff was considered Missing In Action. 

Have you seen this chicken?

Our new chicken Duff

Our new chicken Duff

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It happens once a year

Posted on April 23, 2015 by farm2011

It happens once a year.

And what is that you ask? Well it’s our wedding anniversary and this year we’ll be celebrating our 32nd year. Holy Smokes!

Seriously I remember as a kid looking in the newspaper and seeing an announcement where the couple was married 25 years and do you know what I thought? I thought wow those people are really old! I’d look at them and wonder how it would feel to be married to someone for allllll those years 🙂 I just couldn’t imagine it. When your 12 or 13 you think someone who is 18 is old – much less married 25 years!

So what did we do on our anniversary? Not much. When I got home Kyle said that Giggles got out again and when we looked outside – you guessed it, he was was again. So we put in him and it seriously was about 15 minutes and here he was just hanging out by the Roadhouse chair- on the wrong side of the fence. Just so not cool.

Now I really don’t mind him getting out, but I do mind if he would get on the road and get hurt or worse yet, cause an accident. After looking around,  we finally found where he was getting out. Normally you would think that there is no way that Giggles is squeezing through this part of the gate. I know he’s little – but come on right? But after Kyle and I took a better look at the situation and not only saw a path worn in the grass already, but incriminating hoof prints in the mud. Yup, Busted! So for now we stuck a fork in the way so he wouldn’t get out again and so for so good!

There is a fork in the middle of the road

There is a fork in the middle of the road

Daryl had to work long hours today and when he got home he hurried up and got cleaned up so we could get to a wake that was being held in our town. When you live in a small community you seriously pretty much know everyone (and everyone knows you!) And when someone dies, there’s a  good chance that it’ll be someone that you’d like to go and pay your respects to the family at the wake. As we were waiting in line, I looked around at all the flowers and gifts and then saw his wife sitting with the rest of the family. I couldn’t help to think that they sure seemed to be married for a long time and I wonder just how long it was? So I checked out the prayer card and saw that they were married for 60 years! OK, now our 32 years which sounded like a very long time is just a drop in the bucket compared to this couple. So even though tonight was pretty much uneventful, I guess we’ve got about 28 more years to make up for it!

There is one thing that I do every year on our anniversary and that is to get out the photo album from our wedding and just check out the photos. It’s always fun to check them out and every year I think to myself why in earth I chose to wear a hat for the wedding? That decision is way beyond me! Then I wrap the book back up and back it goes into the cedar chest for another year. It seems kinda silly doesn’t it. It’s not like the pictures change or anything. But I’m guessing next year – out the book will come again.IMG_2806

Funny how little things like that become more important as the years go by ….

But for today – – Happy Anniversary to us! img113

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Mystery Photo 4-22-15

Posted on April 22, 2015 by farm2011

Let’s see if you can guess what this picture is.

Ready? Here is the clue –DSC_0441a

Posted in Wednesday's Challenge Photo | 3 Comments

4-15-15 Mystery Photo Results

Posted on April 22, 2015 by farm2011

Seriously, how can you guys be THAT good?!!

Here was the clueDSCN9752

And here was the picture. It was used on Daryl’s folk’s horses – Mabel and Topsy,  on the farm. DSCN9753

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Update on Reno and the Caramel Bar Recipe

Posted on April 21, 2015 by farm2011

I think I might have done a too good of a job on Reno last night. If you saw my post, then you know that poor Reno’s leg was hurting so I gave her a really good massage. Yea, I gave a dog a massage. I know..

She seemed pretty happy and everything was good as the night went on. Well it was until the time to lock them up for the night and when we looked outside on the porch we saw Kaiser but no Reno. What!! Where did she go? She never goes anywhere with out Kaiser and now she was gone. After calling and calling for her with no luck, Kyle grabbed a flashlight and headed down the road to see if she got hit or was hurt. I mean she’s never and I mean never been out and about by herself. It didn’t look like a good situation at all.

After Kyle checked the roads we thought well it’s one of those times that we’ll have to see what happens. If she did get hit on the road, we probably couldn’t do anything about it. Now this thought lasted about 5 minutes and I grabbed the car keys and headed out to see if I could find her. As I’m driving around the block looking in the ditches or seeing if I can find her, I decided that I’m just going to go back. It was around 9:30 and time to think about getting ready for the next day at work.

When I was pulling into the yard, the porch light was on and there both dogs were sitting by the front steps. And who looked the most guilty? If you guessed Reno, well you’d be the winner! And when I was locking them up for the night, she sure didn’t seem to have any trouble with her leg now. Even though she wouldn’t make much eye contact with me, I’m thinking that maybe she was feeling a little bit too good last night!

She’s trying to get back in tonight. This is not only a popular spot for the dogs, cats, but also the peacocks. They will stand there and watch us or watch TV. I’m saying that it looks a little goofy when you drive by and see who’s watching us watching TV. DSCN9766

Caramel bars

I grabbed my camera and took a quick picture of one of those good bars that I’ve been talking about.

Chocolate Caramel Bars

Chocolate Caramel Bars

I thought I’d better do it tonight before they’re all gone! Here is the recipe for them:

Chocolate Caramel Candy Bars

Bottom layer:
1 cup chocolate chips
¼ cup butterscotch chips
¼ cup creamy peanut butter
Filling:
¼ cup butter
1 cup sugar
¼ cup evaporated milk
1 ½ cups marshmallow creme
¼ cup creamy peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ cups salted peanuts
Caramel Layer:
1 package (14 ounces) caramels
¼ cup whipping cream
Icing:
1 cup chocolate chips
¼ cups butterscotch chips
¼ cup creamy peanut butter

Combine the first three ingredients in a small saucepan, stir over low heat until melted and smooth. Spread onto the bottom of a lightly greased 9×13 pan. Refrigerate until set.
For filling, melt butter in a heavy saucepan over medium high heat. Add sugar and milk. Bring to a boil, boil and stir for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the marshmallow creme, peanut butter, and vanilla. Add peanuts. Spread over the first layer and refrigerate until set.
Combine the caramels and cream in a saucepan, stir over low heat until melted and smooth. Spread over the filling layer. Refrigerate until set.
Combine the chocolate chips and peanut butter and melt over low heat until smooth. Pour over the caramel layer. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before cutting. Store in the refrigerator.

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Bean bags, dog massages, and loud noises.. oh my!

Posted on April 20, 2015 by farm2011

Bean Bags

Check it off the project list! William and I have been talking about getting some bean bag games made for quite some time now and we finally made that a reality these past few days. You might remember the picture of William cutting out the wood and making the frames from a couple of weeks ago.

I laughed when I saw what wood he was using because on the back of the board was a city that Kyle made probably 25 years ago for all his little tractors and trains, and entertained him for many years!  But now it was being re-purposed into a big kid entertainment. So here is the picture of William working on getting the frame built.

William working hard on the games

William working hard on the games

And now.. here is a picture of the finished product.

Can you tell we are Iowa State fans?

Can you tell we are Iowa State fans?

After one coat of primer, then two coats of white paint, and then 3 coats of color – well let’s just say I’m pretty much done with the painting part of this project. Tonight we added the stickers and Bam they’re done! Check it off the list!!

Dog Massage

First my disclaimer: I am not a crazy dog person. There are people who’s dogs are almost more important than their kids and even though I really love our dogs, well they are still our farm dogs. So when Reno has been having a small gimp in her walk lately I got worried and knew that I need to take her to the vet to see what was going on. But it seems like lately there has been too much to do and I just honestly haven’t gotten an appointment yet to get her in. So I’m thinking, why not give her a good massage with some of the oils that I’ve been reading about lately? Could it hurt? No. So into the house both dogs come and I spend quite a bit of time reading what I should do for her. When I finally find one that I should use, I added it to some other oil and start massaging her back legs and her back hip. To say that she absolutely LOVED IT is an understatement! And kinda for awhile I thought I killed her or something because she literally didn’t move a muscle. I did one of those checks that you do when you have a little baby in the house – you look to make sure that their belly is going up and down to double check! Now I realize how I must look when I get a massage 🙂 After she got all rubbed down and I walked into the other room, here she comes limping again. What? It was her front leg and not her back leg!! So I grab my little bowl with the oil in it and as she was leading the way back to the blanket to get her front legs massaged,  I swear she was smiling!

Kaiser on the left and Reno on the right

Kaiser on the left and Reno on the right

And finally loud noises

There has been a lot of chatter that I’m reading about tonight on facebook and the internet about a loud noise that was heard over the midwest last night. And I don’t know if you heard it, but I sure did. I was upstairs in my craft room when I heard what I thought was an airplane going over. But when it lasted over a minute I started to listen closer and thought that maybe it was just the rain or something. When it was lasting over two minutes it started to kinda freak me out so I literally went outside to try to figure out what it was. It lasted about 3 minutes and not only I can’t figure it out, but it looks like a lot of others can’t figure it out either. I found quite a few articles on it as far as Wisconsin – but with no explanation of what it was. Weird huh?

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Sunday – Rainy and Lazy!

Posted on April 19, 2015 by farm2011

Have you ever thought to yourself that when I wake up, I’m not going to do a thing today? Well if you haven’t, that’s too bad. But if you have – well that’s exactly what I thought this morning. And to be honest, I was pretty successful at it! Now granted I had about 85 billion things to do today and well being lazy wasn’t on any of my to do lists. But did I care? Nope. Not at all! I’ve been standing on my feet for over two days now and it was time to give my back a day off.

So the couch and myself got to be good friends and the only activity that I did this afternoon was to get up and nuke some leftovers for lunch and then of course go to the Roadhouse and get the bars that I was hungry for last night.

For some reason today I have been pretty hungry and as I was laying on the couch I could hear my stomach just growling. Now I know that eating 4 of these very fattening bars isn’t the best thing for .. well pretty much anyone, but hey I’ll start running again tomorrow. I’ll have to post the recipe because they are very good. How can they not be because they have chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, peanut butter, heavy cream, marshmallow cream, salted peanuts, butter… well you get the idea right? Really not a good diet food but they are really a good hip food. That’s where they were headed on me anyway!

The night ended up with Kyle and I going to our town meeting to discuss the upcoming Irish Fest that our town hosts every year and how we can help out. It looks I know what my next project is!

 

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