On Friday afternoon, Mom and I undertook a task that we’ve been wanting to do for a while. Our steady stream to more organic living has taken us to the road of soap making. We wanted to make sure that soap making would not only be healthier but we were hoping it would be less expensive in the long run, and so far it has. We used the recipe from The West Ladies on their tutorial video Home Stead Blessings The Art of Soap Making.

tools graciously loaned by The Brooky’s

There is something so gratifying about making your own soap and waiting proudly as it cures for two weeks. Our first batch turned out lavender colored  (we think it was from the vegetable shortening that we used) and we ended up with 28 nice sized bars. We didn’t put any scent into it, though we added the suggested oats for moisturizer and cinnamon for colour, though it only turned out a darker lavender. Our next batch will probably have some essential oils for scent, but right down we’re going to test with plain soap.

I was reading this post on this dear lady’s blog, and I thought I could share it with those who hadn’t read it. Number 4 struck the most in my character and desire for marriage.

4) Cultivate a schedule (along with a daily quiet time) before you have to schedule life around children. If you can function on a schedule as a single young lady, then you will flourish as a wife and mother.

Schedule. That words brings either relief or fear. To me, having a schedule is refreshing, yet I sometimes fall into a schedule of no schedule at all, if that is possible. Like the aspect of my personality, where I enjoy waking up early in the morning feeling refreshed, yet it is hard, since I enjoy my sleep. The question is, which will I choose? The long term beneficial, or the “right now” desire for a few more minutes of rest?

Anyway, back to the topic. At any age, we should learn to handle schedules with maturity and sense. Either married, single, or young, we should be able to exercise self control and follow a daily pattern. Learning to rise when we need to, restraining when we should go to bed at a reasonable hour, eating healthy to maintain the temple of the Lord, taking in fresh air and sunshine, keeping a routine of either schooling, work, or house work. If we are preparing to run our own homes, and nourish a growing family, we need to be able to handle the daily hours with preparedness. Sometimes schedules are different due to ways of life, but nevertheless, there are schedules intact.

Keeping a schedule, when we are engrossed in it, is easy. But following a routine when we perhaps are not all enthused about it, is hard. My  growing in this area of life will mostly be in following a schedule where I am not the immediate beneficiary, or my hobbies are put on hold.

Our house proves that you do not need money to have a cutely decorated home…most often the homes that don’t match or have a theme but are purely kept clean and cozy out of a loving heart are the most inviting and pleasing. Our motto for decorating is “One man’s junk is a another man’s treasure” and it is indeed true. An old door-someone’s junk…that same old door-my treasure. Decorating is truly an art, for if one pays no heed to how to arrange their home…it will not look as well as a home that has thought and love in placing things around for company and the family. One can tell when a home looks like no one every uses the fancy china, or walks across the perfectly clean carpet; the kitchen that sparkles of no use, or the living room that looks like it hasn’t had laughter and people actually living in it. A home should not be for show, but for the family, though that does not mean that clean homes are unwelcome…but one can tell when a house has the fake beauty of things and pieces of decor, and when a house is lived in by a family that spills things on the carpets, uses the appliances, and wears out the floors and chairs from constant use. Those are the homes I feel most comfortable in.

Well, the time of year when stores stock up on candy canes, Christmas music, and flowery displays is fast approaching. This is the one time in the year that I enjoy going to the mall, for the Sinatra Christmas songs play over the speaker, and the trees donated by various organizations sparkle the hallways. Yet, this year we have begun a new tradition. Our family, being people who enjoy giving and receiving homemade gifts, are striving this year to have the majority of our gifts being handmade. Of course the variety will not be as great, for we of course cannot hand make items such as books, electronics, etc. but the items we do give will be of much more value sentimentally. Although that will not mean that anything not homemade will be excluded, for we do still enjoy the comfort of store bought gifts.

Around this time of the year, we can get a good start on homemade gifts that may take longer than some. Sweaters, afghans, quilts, clothing, etc will have a good amount of time starting now to be finished by Christmas time without much stress.

To get started, you can look through patterns, catalogs, craft magazines, etc and find all sorts of goodies through simple browsing. Christmas cards that are handmade are often valued above the store bought ones also

Some ideas of handmade items are: socks, scarves, mittens, gloves, hats, clothing, cotton dishcloths, leg warmers, handmade toys, soaps, baskets, paintings, portraits, and…look at etsy for some other ideas. The possibilities are endless. And if the men of the family enjoy working with their hands, Christmas will spark ideas for them also.

To see some handmade items of others just look through last year’s posts hosted by my cousin here.

For the past few weeks, Mom and I have been attending a Knitting Class at our local library. I was taught to knit around 3 to 4 years ago and really haven’t progressed. I knew how to knit and purl and bind off, yet I lacked the essentials of productivity. In short, I didn’t know how to make anything. But now I am learning how to read a pattern and talk while knitting:) Here are the two patterns I will be working on next. One is a felted coin purse, and the other is a multi-coloured scarf. Two of my favourite things: felted wool, and scarves:)

Mom and I also went to the beach on Tuesday to get in some good reading time. I finished up The Princess Adelina while she worked on Do Hard Things. The weather was perfect, and I got a little tan.

And for creativeness, I have been making homemade envelopes out of brown paper bags from the grocery store. They are very crisp and elegant. Although I may have to actually part with one of them. And also, I am in the process of making a prairie dress which I am hoping to wear for my sixteenth birthday.

(Click on the picture for self explanatory instructions)

This Saturday we are planning on buying a tent for our camping trips. We used to have a camper, but the poor thing was more of a burden than a blessing. I love to camp, however, every time we do camp my books smell like campfire smoke.

And I am currently reading through Creators by Paul Johnson. Excellent book so far. I really enjoyed the quote at the beginning of the book: “People do not always discern the creative element in their lives and work. But those who do are more likely to be happy.” Most of my life I have been sure that I am not creative. Yet, God made us all creative in many different ways. So when we announce in a crowd that we are “not really creative” we are undermining God’s ability to make us in His image. No “buts” about it.

After our poor bees died during the winter, we were hoping to order some more bees. However, situations arose that we may not be able to purchase them, however my darling Granny decided to chip in and actually bought our order of bees and a hive and order of bees for herself! She loved the taste of our raw honey so much that she decided to get some for herself also, and we couldn’t bee happier:) So we ordered two three pound shipment of bees to install into our two hives and in the meantime we arranged her hive and painted it.

Then on the 18th of May, they arrived after a nice journey from Georgia. After they arrived from the post office, I immediately formed an attachment with our new bees. They are so unique and wonderfully made by God. We prepared ourselves for installing them by watching a few YouTube videos, which can indeed come in handy for situations like this. We agreed that we like this video best:

This is basically what we did today. We installed at our home and then at my Granny’s. I was only stung once but I savored the moment. Beekeeping is such a wonderfully exciting hobby that I hope will last my entire life. We plan on getting more hives and selling our own honey to frugal consumers like ourselves with really good taste:)

Here are a few pictures (they can be enlarged-just click on them):

The bees fresh from the post office

10,000 bees and myself

“To me, homesteading is the solution of all poverty’s problems, but I realize that temperament has much to do with success in any undertaking, and persons afraid of coyotes and work and loneliness had better let ranching alone. At the same time, any woman who can stand her own company, can see the beauty of the sunset, loves growing things, and is willing to put in as much time at careful labor as she does over the washtub, will certainly succeed; will have independence, plenty to eat all the time, and a home of her own in the end.”

Letters from a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart

On Wednesday, my aunt took Breezy *you can see her basket here*, Emily Rose, and I to our second basket class to finish up our previously started baskets for our 4-H projects. Perhaps a few dedicated readers can remember the basket I made last year? Well, I like this one much more.

Williamsburg Basket

It took me maybe 6 or 7 hours to make in two days. It is simple and is finished in a walnut stain. I simply adore its shape and I can’t stop looking at it and feeling its elegant weave. I must say that basket weaving is probably one of my favourite past times…I suppose I should do it more than once a year.

I must admit that I am one of those unfortunate people who suffer from dandruff. The feeling is awkward and the speckles of white become more tedious every single day. So, finally after a scratch or two I picked up a few books from the library and searched the web for a natural homemade remedy that would not cost a trip to the store or learning a new aisle in the supermarket. I chose this one:

2 Tablespoons of vinegar to every 6 tablespoons of water, mix, and dab with a cotton ball onto your newly shampooed scalp, sleep with the mix on your head over night

Mom massaged this “potion” onto my scalp last night after a very thorough wash over the kitchen sink, and even though your hair smells like vinegar until you wash it out, this works very well. This morning I woke up with shiny hair, which is very rare for my head, and my head was dandruff free. This is very helpful for my scalp, so I am sharing it with anyone who suffers as I do. Hope it works!

My mom is a quilter. She quilts by hand, machine, and love. Her excitable ties to fabric is just one of her loves about quilting. So, a few days ago, she decided that we were going to make a quilt together, since we have plenty of opportunities to be using our hands; readings during school, while watching movies, during our nightly bible reading, etc. So we began two days ago and have been cutting out 2 inch squares of fabric and sewing them together to make pairs, and then we’ll make fours, then eights, etc. until we have a big comfy quilt to let all of our cares fade into. We don’t know if it will go into my hope chest or in our blanket basket for everyday use.

We have only been working on it for two days and this is how much has been completed in a leisurely pace. We think it just might get finished before we thought…