Weird Weather and A Late Soap Update

I can't believe the weather these last few days. We went from snow to 60's! It worked in well for putting out the crocus and the garlic late, but the plants are confused. My daffodils are about ready to break through the soil and the chrysanthemums are coming up. My chives are about 6 inches tall and my hydrangea is budding up. I haven't checked the other plants, but I certainly wonder what this late warm weather is going to do to everything. I lost my all my thyme and now wonder if it was from the same reason, as we had strange weather last winter as well.

While I was out doing some catch-up yard work, I gathered the last of my seeds. I got really behind on things, so I didn't really harvest anything. I was lucky and was able to get the seeds from my Dutch and Siberian irises as well as my garlic and regular chives. I found a patch of chives that had reseeded in an area I didn't want them in, so I dug them up and potted them up to keep inside this winter. I've never overwintered chives inside so we'll see what happens. Right now, they aren't looking the best, but this is just after potting them up - complete with dirt still on the side of the pot!

Crisco Soap curing.

Back in January and February of 2015, I made 3 batches of soap. My first batch of soap was from a soap making class that I took locally and it really didn't do very well (you can read more about it here). The second batch was a soap recipe using Crisco and that one traced really quickly (read more here) and the last batch was made following the instructions from Becky's Homestead. This soap was made using olive oil. (more info here). Well, they were cut, cured and then tried, but seemed like each one needed longer to cure. They were put in shoe boxes, put on the top shelf and there they sat, forgotten about, until this past year.

The bars are definitely dried and some have cracked, but they are all still usable. Out of the three, I like the Crisco one the best. It lathers enough to be pleasing, cleans well and doesn't seem to dry my hands out. Becky's recipe didn't do a lot for me. I'm not sure if it's the additives I put in or just not my type of soap, but that stuff will melt quickly and turns slimy. It is certainly not one for the shower. Even after 4 years of sitting in the box!  The one I made from the class is my least favorite. It just doesn't do it for me at all. Maybe because there was the lack of trace, I don't know, but without a recipe, there's not making again to find out.

Will I attempt soap making again? Yes! I just need to get through these bars first. That may be awhile, though, because now that they sat for so long, these guys are taking FOREVER to get through!