Downburst Damage

Sorry for the bad pic - best I have.

 Remember that garden pic I posted just a bit ago? You know, the one with the lovely and tall corn? Well goodbye to most of the corn. We had a downburst that it wiped out about 85% of it. All my plans for freezing, drying and eating are gone. We'll have some for fresh and maybe a bit to freeze, but that's about it. Not only did we lose our corn, but it laid down on top of the peppers and couple of tomatoes - damaging them as well. That's what is still holding the corn up a bit in the photo. We are both disappointed, but that's nature - harsh and unpredictable. 

Air Plant my daughter gave me.

On a more upbeat note, my daughter bought me an air plant while she was here. I had some a few years ago, but the then kittens ended up destroying them - so I decided not to have any for a while. She bought me a nice sized one with purple tips and said it was a rare one. It was lovely, but upon closer inspection, the purple tips were only on the outside leaves and look suspiciously like they had been spray painted. All the newer ones are the plain green. I hope not, as I'm sure she paid a lot for a "rare" plant. Either way, I'm thankful for this plant and that she loved me enough to think of me when she saw it.

Hubby's version of a latte.

I always look forward to the weekends - not because we can travel and do things (although I like doing that) but these are the two days hubby makes me his version on a latte. He has an espresso maker and he just LOVES making the weekend espressos and lattes. He foams up the milk as high as he can and then pours the espresso down the middle, topping it off with a sprinkle of sugar. It's not the way I learned how to make them, but he likes putting his own twist on things. His lattes are the highlight of my weekend!

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!