Soapmaking

For awhile now Melissa and I have been wanting to try making soap. It took us awhile to get together the ingredients and supplies to actually do it. On Wednesday we finally had everything we needed so we tried making a small batch. We used a simple goat milk soap recipe that we got from the Majestic Mountain Sage website. The soap has goat milk, palm oil, olive oil, coconut oil, sweet almond oil, and lye in it. We scented it with lemon essential oil. The whole process was a lot of fun and pretty easy too. This morning we just took it out of the molds, now it has to cure for several weeks before it can be used. It turned out very nice. It is light and creamy and smells wonderful. I forgot to take pictures of the whole process but took some just after we finished.


The pot we used as a double boiler to melt the oils.


The bowl the soap was in.


Just after we poured the soap into molds.


The finished soap out of the molds.

Rose

Spingtime

Mandolins Baby!!

This afternoon our goat Mandolin kidded. We have been waiting for this to happen for a week now. She had one little doe. It all happened while Melissa and I were gone. We got a call from Mom telling us we needed to come home. We came as quickly as possible but by the time we arrived everything was over. We waited around to see if there was another one but it turned out there wasn't. Both mama and baby goat are doing well. Here are some pictures of the new baby. Isn't she sweet?

A Walk in the Almond Orchard

Mandolin and Willow

This is Mandolin. She is a friendly and confident Kinder goat. She will be kidding for the first time around the end of this month. I am planning to learn to make cheese and also try making soap with her milk.





And here is Willow. She is a shy and skittish Pygora goat. She is a fiber goat and I will be shearing her this spring. I plan to spin the fiber and experiment dyeing it. Willow is the newcomer around here, I have only had her a week.

Ice Skating

On Thursday we all took a day trip over to Yosemite Valley. I wanted to go there for my birthday this year and go ice skating. I had never been ice skating before, which is sad since I lived in Montana for 10 years. We had lunch in Yosemite before going over to the outdoor skating rink. It was quite chilly, but once I started skating I was warm enough. It was a lot of fun but also very hard. I had the worst time keeping my balance! Everyone else made it look so easy:) There was one lady who was very nice and helped both Melissa and I a little at the beginning. Altogether we skated for about two hours then drove home in the dark. It was such a fun day. Now I want to ice skate again and actually get better at it.

A New Year

It is hard to believe that another year is already past. Looking back at 2006 I see a year filled with new experiences, new friends, fun times with old friends and family, and quiet happy times. There have also been times that were difficult, boring or painful.

Now I look ahead and wonder what the new year will hold. I have many plans, goals, projects, and ideas I would like to do.

There are two things I would like to focus on this year. One is to delight more in the Lord.

Psalm 37:4

"Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart."

I want to know Him, serve Him, and love Him better and spend more time in His Word. I also want to trust Him more and be content in every situation He places me in.

The second thing I plan to work on this year is using my time more wisely. This includes getting up earlier and wasting less time. I can be a terrible time waster.

Visitors

Last evening a family we met last summer at music camp was able to come visit us. The Curran Family is from Oregon. They have two daughters and one son. We had such an enjoyable time of visiting and fellowship. The Keulen family also joined us for a fun filled evening.

Even though the Currans were only able to stay over one night it was a good time and fun to get to know them a bit better.



Visiting at the dinner table


Getting breakfast ready


Enjoying breakfast together

I Really Am Still Here...

...even though I haven't posted for ages. I am just going to post a few random pictures and comments from the last month.



We stayed home for Thanksgiving and had some friends over for the afternoon. I gave pony rides to the little girls, we played games, and ate a wonderful turkey dinner.







Lately we have been getting ready for Christmas. We got our tree and decorated it and I have been making cookies.



A chilly winter morning at our house.



A while ago we recieved our Vision Forum Catalog in the mail. As I was reading through it I noticed that they are having a Jamestown treasure hunt. I found the first clue and solved it then didn't think about it for awhile. The other day I got into it again and now I am having a hard time getting other things done:) What have I gotten myself into? It is alot of fun but quite challenging.

Well that's what I've been up to lately along with other projects and ideas that I will hopefully post on soon.