Random Facts About Me

Apr 10, 2008 by Judi

Reward Rebel tagged me for Random Facts about me. I didn’t realize until this morning that Connie from Easy Share also tagged me for the same thing! I was double tagged. Wow! I’m terrible with doing these things in a timely manner.. but I think I’m only a week or so late on this one.

1. I gave birth to our oldest son in a kiddie pool, in our living room with just my husband, my mom and the girls here with us - a planned, unassisted homebirth. We video taped the whole thing. We did end up transferring to the hospital after the birth because Tege was slow to start breathing - that is normal for a water birthed baby.

2. The year before our oldest son was born, I was pregnant with my husbands first baby. At 36 weeks pregnant, she died of unknown cause - she was stillborn almost a week later. I can’t even tell you how difficult that time was - I didn’t want to leave my house, even to get the mail for fear someone would ask how things where. Losing a child, at any age is horrible… birth stories … while we don’t talk about it much any more, she is still part of our family. We have a garden dedicated to Jordan.. which this year, the boys will help plant, weed and water.

3. I make soap, though I do sell it, mostly I make it because I love making it. I haven’t used regular store bought soap (or deodorant bars) in about 6 years. I share tutorials and recipes about handmade soap on this site. My favorites are the Oatmeal Milk & Honey (scented, with real goat milk and oatmeal), Lavender (with goat milk, lavender and lavender essential oils), and Yuzu (a crisp, grapefruit scent - Japanese Grapefruit).

4. I love pets. Currently, living in our tiny house we have 3 dogs (Bean, our whippet girlie and oldest; Sky, our adopted Australian Shepherd; Enzo, my italian greyhound boy); I’ve assumed ownership of Olivia, my tiny, sweet Apricot African Pygmy Hedgehog - my little piggy; Not mine - 7 adorable and friendly rats, momma rat is a “dumbo” and the older she gets the sweeter! Oh.. and the cat.. she’s been with us forever; and a 10 gallon fish tank. In the past, I also had a couple of smiling leopard geckos, bunnies, a bird (mustache parakeet) and a multitude of other rats, cats, pooches and fishes.

5. I met my husband through my ex-husband - we were still married. Bad relationship and after too many years (but two lovely girls) we parted ways and he moved in with a friend from work. I had met this friend a few times, but when they moved in together, I started seeing him a bit more. He asked me to see Lyle Lovett in concert and even got permission from my then-to-be ex… one thing led to another and today, we’ve been happily (almost the whole time, ha!) married 11 years.

6. I have Crohn’s Disease. This is a big deal for me because I’ve always been so healthy.. and in the last 2 years, so much has happened. It’s not easy to deal with things like not being able to eat what you want - I’m talking even healthy food, like salad, beans.. so much makes me hurt, or worse, I throw up. Sometimes one of the hardest things being sick, is it’s not always (usually never) apparent to other people. I am sick and I hurt and I may come across crabby.. but it’s *because* I’m sick and I hurt. I sometimes wish for a t-shirt or a sign “Just because I look healthy, doesn’t mean I am”.

7. I can be kind of obsessive about things. Two summers ago, I spent a week digging a hole about 5×7 and 30 inches deep so I could put in a pond. I wanted a natural pond, so it would help wildlife.. after digging with a shovel, having my husband cut the roots with his saws-all, picking just under 1 million rocks and pebbles, I decided I couldn’t afford it and filled the whole thing back in. (Thanks GG, my lovely grandma, for this trait… actually I like the trait and I adore my GG.)

There you go.

I am going to just tag one person:
Marianne - and Marianne, you don’t have to play along.

Invitation to Play:
If anyone else wants to play, leave a comment here to your post (so others can visit, of course) and have fun!

Already done it? That’s ok.. leave your link anyway. I’ll come read your random facts and leave my link too.

Lavender Soap with Tea Tree Oil and Oatmeal Recipe

Sep 12, 2007 by Judi

Here is another lavender soap variation and it’s another big favorite too.

Lavender and Tea Tree essential oils have long been reputed to have tremendous healing and soothing properties. Lavender essential oil has been known to be soothing to dry, itchy skin; calms the mind and eases stress. Lavender eo has been used to treat various skin disorders because of it’s antiseptic and anti-fungal properties, such as acne, wrinkles, and psoriasis. Tea Tree Oil has been used to treat acne, oily skin, rashes. It is used as an antiseptic as well as a general disinfectant. This soap makes a great face soap, and is easy on baby’s butt, too.

I used a few different base recipes, but my all-time favorite was a very simple one.

Makes 2 pounds

24 oz. Olive Oil (75)
8 oz. Palm Kernel Oil (25%)

4.38 oz. Lye (6% superfat)
8.8 oz. goat milk *

1 oz. lavender essential oil
.5 oz tea tree essential oil
2 TBSP lavender powder
2 TBSP fine oatmeal, powdered

* This is your lye amount x 2.

Lavender tea, water, oatmeal milk, soy milk, all may be substituted for the goatmilk.

Freeze the goat milk in the container used for your lye mixture. Once frozen, very slowly add your lye. Stirring, and slowly adding - this helps prevent the milk from getting hot too fast. I also put my container in a bowl with ice to keep the goat milk and lye mixture as cool as possible.

Once mixed and set to cooling, put aside (in a safe place!).

Measure your Palm Kernel Oil (PKO) and melt (not hot, just melted) - I have used a microwave in the past to do this, just make sure your container is microwave safe. If you are able, a stove top works well. I use a hot plate in my soap workshop and love it - found it pretty cheap at a local flea market.

While your PKO is melting, measure your lavender and tea tree essential oils into a glass container.

Prepare your lavender powder and oatmeal powdered. I buy lavender powder, because it’s really fine.

Making oatmeal powder is a little different. I use a combination of whatever I have on hand, rolled oats, instant and I love using baby oatmeal cereal. Whatever I use, I put in a food processor and zap a few times until really fine. Then I use a screen and collect about 2 tablespoons of fine powder for use in this soap.

Have your mold clean, lined and at the ready.

When your PKO is melted, add the olive oil. Feeling the side of the pot, it should not be hot. A little warm is fine, but generally a the cooler the temperature the better when mixing a goat milk soap (actually, I prefer working with cool temps all the time - more time to mix).

Now, your lye mixture should be cooler to the touch and your oils cooler to the touch… think “luke-warm”.

Have your stick blender (immersion blender) at hand and ready. Slowly add your lye mixture to your oils (note: always add the lye TO the oil). Blending while you pour…

Bring your soap mixture to trace (trace is when your spoon or blender leaves a trail and takes a minute to disappear back into the mixture). Once trace has been reached, add your lavender and oatmeal powders, mixing, then your essential oils, mixing..

Everything should be mixed well, now pour into your mold. I do not insulate my soap, but if you prefer to insulate, what I used to do is put a piece of cardboard on top of my soap, then draped a blanket or a thick towel over it. Then, I put it on a shelf for about 24 hours before I unmold and cut. Once cut, I leave on a shelf for another 24 hours before I bevel edges.

Give it a couple weeks before using, though a good month would be best as the soap will harden up nicely over time.