A Third Kind

This is a Close Encounter moment for me. As much as I don't want to take a trip on the dreaded Metro this morning and as much as I don't want to march alone among crowds of strangers, I found myself compelled to go. I've been building a mountain of mashed potatoes in my head all week-except that my mountain looks more like the Washington Monument. 

The road that runs smack down the middle of my county and brought me home for the 20 plus years I was a PGCPS teacher leads right to the front door of the White House so I can't just pretend like today is just another Saturday. I'm off. Wish me luck.

When a Bell Rings

 Is it just me? I feel like this was then...

...and this is now. I've been on C-SPAN all week listening to the hearings.

I need a break from all the noise. Clarence where are you when I need you? 

Dragon Moon

 The last of the latest batch is out of the mold and it's not too bad. No spots, thank goodness. I really like this scent so I am glad it worked out.

 I didn't do anything but pour the batter in the mold but I got an interesting angry moth thing happening.

The cubes came from the slab mold. I had to pop out the whole slab and then cut it into cubes with a knife. I've never made square soap before so this will be a first when it comes to testing it. Soap that fits in your hand is a big deal so I am not sure how this is going to play out in the shower.

 The interior looks pretty cool even though all those dark colors faded quite a bit.

The soap shelves are officially full again. Now to wait for six weeks to see if it was worth all the trouble.

Knit Talk

 I'm all over the place with my posts these days but I assure you there is knitting go on and on and on. I am at the second lace section of the Nurmil...whatever scarf. It's my TV knit at the moment.

 The Ghazal cowl is pretty long. I am going to stop when I run out of yarn which is not that far away by the feel of the ball. I knit on this while I am Netflix bingeing at night.

 My Paris Geller cowl is coming along nicely. I knit on this during my daily visit to Stars Hollow. In these trying times I can't get enough of that mythical small town.

 It also helps that the pattern is really fun. It looks simple but there are a lot of unusual things going on.

 There are also socks. I like to knit and walk. Sounds crazy but I walk around the house knitting all day with my yarn in my apron pocket.

Valerie, this yarn of yours is gorgeous. I had no idea what to expect when I balled it up but it is really fabulous. Either you or your mom is a genius-probably both!

Snowy

 It's not snowy here. It's just a bit chilly but this month's cards are all about the snowman.

 I bought that adorable stamp and die set from Penny Black at Christmas and now I am having fun putting him/her in different snowy settings.

See what I mean?

These two have their scarves and hats cut out from fancy paper.  It's like playing with paper dolls. The possibilities are endless.

I Have a Dream

When I was a teacher the name of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. must have flew out of my mouth at least once a day. He was such a hero in the eyes of the kids in my class that almost all discipline issues could be addressed simply by invoking his memory.

I never had to teach it. My first graders would usually come in with a good understanding of what he would expect in terms of their behavior and classroom performance. Those who didn't get it would get schooled on the facts but good by their classmates. He was better than Santa Claus no matter what color, size or shape the kid was. I know it's a minor point in the man's legacy but I'm forever grateful to him for making my job easier.

Sunday Soap

 I've still got that big bag of natural cocoa butter and a half pound of natural shea butter to use up. All that chocolate soap didn't finish it off. I had some fragrance samples I hadn't used before so I decided to see how cocoa smells with other scents. This is Love. It's a Lush scent knock off from Nurture Soaps. The mica colors are also new to me. I bought a set of pink samples. They are pretty but spotty. I've seen this problem before and I'm not happy. Maybe it was the dark cocoa butter or the dark shea? Whatever it is, I've got lots of spotty soap again. Ugh.

 Same issue with the set of green mica samples. Spots. This is Shampure which is an Aveda knock off fragrance. Sigh....it wasn't my day for soap.

 The Lavender Sage colors and fragrance worked nicely together so I did get one decent loaf out of the big mess I made in the kitchen.

 I had one fragrance sample left so the next day I used my new slab mold to see if I could pull off the fancy spin technique. The mold is sitting on my cutting mat that spins. You pour the soap in and then give it a few whirls and you are supposed to get something cool. I didn't. The soap got too thick too fast. I should have used a recipe with more soft oils and less colors so I could move quicker.

 I took a skewer to it to try to give the top a little more oomph. Oh, well...there's always next time.

It does smell wonderful. It's Dragon Moon also from Nurture Soap. I went ahead and made a regular loaf so I would at least have something to show for the mess. At least I hope so. Who knows what lurks beneath that mold since I can't cut it for a few days.