Skip to main content

The Simpler Life

It's 2015 already!  And halfway through January, to boot!

For me, 2014 was a blur of action--farmer's markets twice a week, an abundant garden, a few big home projects, summer work as a school aide, lots and lots of soap and even a couple of vacations wedged in among everything. It was a good year, but....not the sort that creates a sane family life.

Late last summer, my husband and I discussed pulling back on some of our commitments and purposefully not signing onto everything that looks like fun.  (A significant weakness of mine.)  So, I finished my stint as manager of the Monroe's farmer's market in November and didn't fill up every weekend leading up to Christmas with craft shows.



Life is much better!  Right now I'm enjoying the slower pace that comes during the winter months.  But my primary focus this January is streamlining 10th Ave. operations--making bigger batches of soap and learning to be more efficient with my time in the workroom to make everything run smoother.

When I'm not in my soap room, I've been catching up on many things that I neglected in 2014. making my family pretty happy.  For instance, here are the results of a recent afternoon:


All this to say that I'll still be around this coming summer, of course, but I may miss a market here and there for family "emergencies" that involve kayaks, tents, and bicycles or maybe just nothing.  (And if I'm not at the market and your soapy needs reach critical levels, check the tab at the top of this page titled "Buy soap locally.")

Hope to see you at the Winter Market on the Square on Saturday, January 17th from 9-2 at the Masonic Temple building on the north side of Monroe's square!

Labels:

Comments

  1. SoapJamJanuary 16, 2015 at 9:12 AM

    Yay to a simpler life! :) Happy New Year, Amy! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Amy@10th Ave.January 16, 2015 at 9:31 AM

      I'm trying, anyway! :) And happy new year to you, too!

      Delete
  2. LatherBeSoapingJanuary 24, 2015 at 3:47 PM

    Happy New Year, Amy! Simplifying things sounds like a great resolution. I'm happier when life is calmer, too. Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Soaping with Madder

I know that any color added to soap can morph into a surprise, but there is an added element of unknown when using botanicals to color my soap.  Some people jump out of planes or ski off mountains, but this is how I live on the edge these days.  Hmm.  If I weren't having so much fun, I'd be embarrassed. I recently had my first go with madder.  So....whatsa madder?  It's a root--the root of the madder. Ahem. (I love puns...) I infused 8 oz. of olive oil with 2 t. madder root powder for almost a week.  This amount worked out to be 20% of the oils in my batch. I wanted something in the way of embeds to add visual interest.   I dearly love my soap balls but I don't want to over do a good thing.  I've recently done square-shaped embeds, so this time I cut a bar of white soap into slices. I panicked a little that it wouldn't get dark enough--it was kind of a dusty peach--so I added 1/4 t. dried powder right before pouring. Madder powd...
21 comments
Read more

Loofah--from vine to soap

If you've followed my blog for a long time, you've already seen a post on one of my favorite things to grow--loofah, but I think it's time for another one.  People are often surprised when they learn that loofahs are grown.  No, a loofah isn't a sea sponge, but the mature "skeleton" of a zucchini-like plant.  Everyone knows they are good for the bath but they also make great natural pan scrubbers in the kitchen.  They are so popular that I have to remember to tuck away any that I want to keep myself. I raise three or four plants every year.  Like a zucchini or a cucumber, it likes to spread out with little regard to another plant's personal space.  Here is last year's crop. Early in the summer, the loofahs remained neatly on the trellis: But then they wandered over to the basil: Cozied among the tomatillos: And hung out with the butternut squash: Harvest time was a regular treasure hunt.  But I ended up with about 20 loofahs fr...
17 comments
Read more

Soap Challenge--Dandelion Swirl

This Great Cakes challenge started off, well, challenging for me.  I had internet problems (a lack of it) and something went rather tragic in my attempt to cobble together a recipe without access to my online lye calculator crutch or a good saponification chart.  Obviously, I need to work on this skill, since my first batch of soap is still not firm enough to cut.  I've seen firmer marshmallow cream.  I'm estimating that I'll be able to cut it in a week or two or maybe three. The top came out pretty, though, didn't it? Sigh.  I wonder what the inside looks like. On to batch number 2.  I went for a winter/snowy theme this time, scented with BB's Fresh Snow fragrance. I made a small 6-bar batch.  I kept noticing that my divider (a dollar store cutting mat) didn't stay in the center but kept migrating toward the edge with every pour.  I was concerned that it would ruin the design, but it held well enough. I know this challenge was all abo...
29 comments
Read more