Homemade Lotion Bars

I suppose I don't need to tell anyone Texas is dry, especially in a year of record breaking drought. And hot (another redundant statement I suppose). This combination wreaks havoc on skin. My arms are beginning to look like one of those road maps that has all the smallest roads. You know the kind, lots and lots of squiggly lines. Yup that's what my arms are beginning to look like. And I want to stop it now.

I've been applying commercial lotions but they always leave my skin feeling greasy and don't really seem to do much so I went searching for something that might help. Lotion bars came up in my search and they sounded like just the thing except"Whoa Nelly...they are expensive!" Pricesvary but they average about $10.00 for a 2oz bar. That doesn't fall into my definition of frugality. Hmmmph and I so wanted to try them. So I searched, and much to my frugal little self's happiness lotion bars can be made at home for far less than the cost to purchase them and even better all the ingredients are natural!

For my first try at making homemade lotion bars I found what sounds like a very simple recipe:

Simple Lotion Bars

1 part oil (sunflower, olive, almond etc)

1 part beeswax

1 part butter (cocoa, shea, mango etc)

fragrance oil or essential oil (about 10 drops per oz of oil)

optional: vitamin E oil capsule

Melt oil, beeswax and butter together and add scent if desired. You can always remelt it add more ingredients if it is too hard or too soft. To make it harder add more beeswax; to make it softer, add more oil.

So I set out to buy the ingredients. I found cocoa butter in 1oz tubes at Walgreens for $1.39 so I bought two of those. I had olive oil at home but opted to purchase some almond oil at Target ($6.99 for 80z)-it just sounds nicer than olive oil. Then I hit a roadblock I couldn't find beeswax anywhere, and had to order it online. I found some at Amazon for only $1.99 for 5oz but $4.49 shipping brought it to $6.48 total).

So now with ingredients in hand I set out to make the lotion bars.

First I melted the butters and oil together. For lack of a double boiler I just boiled water in a pot and used a glass measuring cup as the top pot. It sat nicely on top of the pot. I realized after I started that I should have melted the butters together, and then added the oil as the oil was over the heat much longer than necessary while I waited for the beeswax to melt.

This is the beeswax melting in my "double boiler"

Here you can see the beeswax is taking longest to melt

For scent I asked my daughter what she liked. She chose peppermint and lavender -I'm not so sure with the cocoa butter that those were the best choice but we opted for them. I think next time I'll use vanilla or cinnamon with the cocoa butter. You add the oils just before you pour the wax so that they don't get cooked off.

I let the concoction cool a little and then transferred it into the molds. I used a turkey baster to measure out the lotion but will not do that again. It's impossible to clean the wax out of the baster so it ended up being tossed in the garbage. My measuring cup that I used to melt the wax in has a pouring spout and with care that's good enough.

I don't have any fancy molds so I rummaged through my cupboard and found a muffin tin. I tried lining with cupcake papers and without. It's definitely easier to get the bars out the pan with the cupcake papers and it gives the bars pretty little edges to. I also used a teabag holder that I have that is heart shaped. It's cute but it wasn't so easy to get out of this mold and I damaged the edges a little getting them out. I also poured some of the lotion back into the stick containers the cocoa butter came in.

My various improvised "molds". The one with the little pieces in it is just leftover material I later put into a lip balm container and used up first.

Here is the finished product (you can see the damaged edges on the bars that I poured without papers liners.)

I store the finished bars in the freezer as there are no preservatives in them. I think these bars are the perfect texture. They are solid but melt easily when rubbed on the screen without being messy.

The final tally is 6oz of lotion bars for a grand total of $7.12 (I didn't factor in the essential oil cost as I already had that on hand, and used so little). These were very simple to make and I think a great success. I"m using the bars after every shower and on my feet before bed. I think I can the roadmap on my arms is fading and the sandpaper on my feet has disappeared!

There is a predator amongst us...

The other day at 7:00 am when the sun was just breaking the night sky, my dogs who had just gone out for their morning business created quite the ruckus. This was no bark at the horse type "arf arf" but a true cacophony. They were sounding the alarm. I figured probably a stray dog had found its way to our yard. I looked out of the window but couldn't see anything. I looked out the side window and could see something definitely was amiss -the horses were standing heads raised nostrils flared. I went to the next window and there I saw it. Standing right beside my chicken coop not 20 feet from my window was a large coyote. I could practically see the drool on his lips as he sized up my ducks and chickens.

This was no scrawny half-pint coyote. At first I thought it was a german shepherd but when I went outside and it sidled away I could see by the tail and its actions -definitely coyote. If a coyote could be called beautiful this one would be that, but it is varmit to me and no varmit can be called beautiful. This one was so brazen and I'm sure I could here it's "ha ha, I'll be back" as it slipped away into the morning's dusky light.

And back it was. Today in full daylight. We didn't let the chickens out of the coop until about 10:00 am. At 11:00 I heard my young cockerel makes it's first roostery sounds as it sidled past my window with the two ducks hot on its heels. I thought "odd, where's the hen?" I went outside and she was gone. No signs of a wrestling match, no pile of feathers, just a missing hen. Gone without a trace. I think I know who to blame for this. What nerve in bright sunlight to come plunder my yard! And to think it may be this same sod who stole my precious cat.

"You left your tracks in the sand and I know who you are. Oh Mr. Coyote you have such good taste, first my favorite cat, and now my favorite chicken? A rooster who has no use here wouldn't do for you would it? Nah, you want the pretty hen who is just ready to start laying. Oh Mr. Coyote your days are numbered if you come around here again!"

Meanwhile the chickens are cooped up as I'm sure in the cover of the night, Mr. Coyote will be back. I've moved their tractor to an area out in the open away from the trees and in full view of my front yard, in full sight of the dogs, and not totally out of sight of the guardian dog. How I wish I could set him loose to secure the whole farm, but I fear that though he'd do a good job, he too would disappear as how's a dog to know which fence is yours and which is that of thy neighbor? And then who would I have to watch over my sheep? Tis time to set up the electronet around the coop. I hope the remaining fowl have enough sense to stay within it's boundary of safety.

Not Just a Cat

She came to us just about 3 years ago in a bittersweet time -our beloved Aussie, Selby who was only 12 years old had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and given only weeks to live. We were making the best of our last weeks with her living each day as if it were her last not knowing how many tomorrows we would have.

We had decided that barn cats do better in pairs and had decided to get another kitten to keep our little orphan kitty Tootsie company out in the barn. I had seen an ad on Craigslist for some super cute looking kittens and decided to go see them. It was kind of odd when we went to see her. We knocked on the door and said we were there to see the kittens, the little girl who answered basically shoved the kitten into Katielyns arms and then we were sent on our way. No small chat was exchanged, just a rather cold "here she is" and we were seen to the door. I'm not even sure if we really had a chance to say no!

Baby "Amy"

We christened our new addition "Amy". She was supposed to be 6 weeks old, but did not look a day over 5 weeks, if that. There was no way she was going out to the barn to fend for herself, so she was ensconced in the house until she grew up and was big enough to become a barn kitty. Annie our youngest Aussie was quite taken with her, and Amy, the kitty, with Annie. Annie became her foster Mom -the little kitty even tried to suckle on Annie. She would climb up onto Annie and snuggle into her fur. And Annie was ever so gentle with her licking her clean. I was almost afraid Annie would lick her bald! We never had any trouble finding the kitty, she'd either be snuggles with Annie or Annie would be following her around, sometimes with a look on her face that said "Could somebody please control this child?"

Amy and Annie Snuggling

As Amy grew up it became apparent that she really wasn't barn cat material. She lacked the lithe action of a barn cat, and for a cat was rather clumsy. She would jump up onto my desk, and miss, and fall to the ground taking with her an avalanche of papers. She'd then get up, shake, and strut off as if saying "no-one saw that, did they?"

Amy and my daughter became bosom buddies. When I'd go into Katie's room at night to read to her, Amy would follow and jump onto the bed, purring like a finely tuned sports car. It was as if I were reading to them both.

Nobody who came into the house could ignore Amy. She'd jump up onto our dining room table and proceed to lie down on anything they had brought with them. She loved to crawl into boxes of papers my accounting clients brought with them. And my assistant, Ronda's laptop carrier-that was a truely beloved spot to hide!

Typical Amy squishing her pudgy self into a tiny space

As Amy matured she really became a pretty cat, with long mottled orange, amber and white hair and sporting the stripes of a tabby within her calico coloring. Her big eyes expressed her amusement with life, and her long eye lashes made her irresistible.

Sadly this past labor day weekend, it seems Amy slipped out of our lives. We're not sure what happened. We always brought Amy in each night. I used to jokingly call her "coyote bait as she is so happy go lucky and totally unaware that danger could lurk around the next corner. I can envision her now strutting up to a coyote and saying "Hi, I'm Amy". Sadly that vision may have come true. One evening she was here and then the next morning her presence was missed. We think she must have slipped outside unbeknownst to us.

We have posted fliers around town, at the schools and put them in mailboxes. I asked the mailman to keep a lookout for her as well as all the neighbors. I've walked our acreage and all the adjoining parcels, and nary a hair to be seen. I've looked up every tree and crawled under anything that a cat could possibly use as a hidey hole. The shelter and local vets have been alerted to her loss and an ad placed on craigslist and in the weekly newspaper. It seems that she's disappeared without a trace.

On one of the days shortly after she disappeared, my husband (not a cat lover) told me "It's just a cat" -he's lucky I didn't divorce him on the spot. More false words have never been spoken. Amy truly was not "just a cat".

I keep hoping to her scolding "mrow" in the morning, telling me off for leaving her out so long, but alas, each morning there is silence. I look out on the back porch where she'd pat at the door knob wishing she had thumbs, but there is no Amy there. I beg the phone to ring with someone saying they have her. As each day passes my hopes fade a little more but they won't die. Just today I was reading on Google about a cat that was found in NY city 5 years after it had disappeared from it's home in Broomfield, Colorado. Can you imagine that? The cat was 1600 miles from home, if only it could tell it's story, what a tale it could tell! Truly inspirational.

We've only had Amy just shy of 3 years, but how she has woven her little self into my daughter and my hearts (and Annies too). Amy wherever you are, you are very missed, I truly hope there are more snuggles in our future.

How Quickly they Grow

I was just out taking pictures of our not-so-little-anymore ram lamb as requested by his new owner. It's amazing how quickly they grow. Here he is:

And this is our ram lamb we purchased in April. I just love this guys expression -he has the sweetest face.

And this is Jasper now about 8 months old. He's pretty good with the sheep -he just has one he can't resist "playing" with. We work on that daily. Next step will be chickens...that'll be fun!

Stain Removal Tips

It seems I'm forever running to my computer to google how to remove stains from clothing so I've decided to create my own post which I will add to over time so I have one place to look-up how to remove (insert stain of choice). Many of these stains will be the kind that all good homesteaders run in to in daily life.

• Acrylic Paint: Pour rubbing alcohol on the paint.  It will dissolve the acrylic. 

• Berry Stains-for stains from berries of all kinds (I've tried on blackberry, strawberry and blueberry stins): Boil water and pour over stain -watch stain disappear before your eyes!

• Blood -pour hydrogen peroxide on stain, rinse with cold water.

• Iodine-Rubbing alcohol will remove it from your skin. For linens, rub the stained area with a slice of lemon. To remove iodine from cotton or linen, cover with a soft paste of mustard mixed with water and let stand for a few hours. (My sources don't say what kind of mustard to use-if you know please post a comment!)

• Tomato Stains:
  1. Working from the back of the stain, flush with cold water.
  2. Pretreat with a liquid laundry detergent, tamp the stain, and let stand for several minutes.
  3. Rinse well.
  4. Sponge with white vinegar.
  5. Rinse well.
  6. Repeat Steps 2 to 5 until you have removed as much stain as possible.
  7. Pretreat with a prewash stain remover.
  8. Launder.
  9. If the stain remains, rub with a liquid laundry detergent, and then soak in warm water for up to 30 minutes.
  10. Launder with fabric-appropriate bleach, if necessary.
  
  

For all stains, once stain has been lifted, wash garment straight away as usual. Here's a link to a great site on stain removal: Stain Removal Guide

Homemade Upholstery Cleaner:

1 cup of warm water

1/4 cup of dish detergent

Whip it in your mixe

Lemon Aid

I've been wanting a Meyer Lemon tree for a while now. I saw some earlier this year at the big home improvement stores and passed them by thinking I could

1. get better looking specimens and;
2. get a better deal ( Iremembered the year before seeing large trees lined up at 1/2 price at Lowes)

They then sold out and much to my dismay I couldn't find any others. I sure was kicking myself.

Then I decided to get proactive and started calling the many small nurseries around here and much to my delight the closest nursery had one Meyer Lemon tree and it was 50% off because they were closing for the summer that weekend. I scooted over there and acquired my Lemon Tree - a great specimen. It's about 5 feet tall with one branch that towers about 7 feet high (I'll probably prune that branch). I was so happy to get such a nice tree and it was only $30.00!

That's where the happy story ends and despair sets in.

I got it home and then had to decide where to put it. I put it on the South side of our house figuring it would get lots of sunlight -which it did but the winds were knocking it all about and I feared all the fruit would get blown off so I moved it to the North side in a sheltered corner.

I've been blogging about my war with pests this summer. I had always thought that citrus was a bit of a natural repellent . How wrong I was. After a few days I found some leaves curled up and some kind of bug hiding within, so I drenched the tree in insecticide soap. I was vigilant in spraying it every couple of days with the soap.

Despite vigilant spraying, I found mealy bugs and aphids and grasshoppers on the tree. And to make matters worse it began dropping leaves and the remaining leaves were turning yellow. I fear I over watered it. I felt horrible -the tree was gorgeous when I got it and after it came home it was subjected to about every torture imaginable.

I decided to move my tree to the other side of the house where it would get more sunlight. I also started using a moisture meter to gauge soil moisture. I watered much less frequently which I found disturbing considering every day the temperatures are over 100. Still the tree declined. Then the grasshoppers attacked in full force. One day it was just a poor tree that had been over watered, the next it was stripped of most of its leaves and even some bark. I couldn't believe the damage.

Grasshopper damage to bark

Major intervention was in order. I decided I didn't care about organic care at this point, the grasshoppers had to go. I went to Home Depot and browsed their shelves. I was disappointed that there wasn't anything other then Sevin which even listed grasshoppers as a victim. I have Tempo in the storage shed -that will kill everything but I'm not using that in my garden. I came home empty handed and disappointed that I was still without grasshopper killer. I then stewed on it some more and opted to not succumb to non-organics. Since the Lemon tree is in a pot, I chose to bring it inside where I know I can at least keep the grasshoppers off of it.

I purchased some Alaska Fish fertilizer in hopes that some good natural fertilizer my help my struggling tree. I mixed it up as per directions and oh my. This stuff stinks. The label says it is "deodorized with wintergreen oil". Who are they trying to fool? It reaks. You know it smells disgusting when no sooner had I watered my plant with it then my dogs were fervently trying to get in the pot and dig and eat up the dirt. Great now I have to contend with them digging up the plant. I shooed the dogs off and told them they were gross.

Poor Bedraggled Tree Prior Prior to Repotting

I was still concerned about the pot size so I chose to repot the tree this week. It was in a 3 gallon container so I thought an up size to a 5 gallon would suffice, along with a well draining media. After a lot of reading I figured a gritty mix would be good for the lemon tree. Here is the "recipe" for the gritty mix I made:

Gritty Mix

3 parts pine or fir bark fines
3 parts Turface MVP (or equal)
3 parts crushed granite (turkey or chicken grit - not crushed shellfish)
1 part vermiculite
1 part coarse silica sand
1 tbsp gypsum/gardening lime gallon of soil (1/2 cup per cu ft)
if you use gypsum instead of lime, add 1/8 tsp Epsom salts/gallon of water each time you fertilize

I wasn't able to purchase any pine bark fines so pine mulch and some pine nuggets I had on hand had to suffice -I just pulled the large pieces out of the mix. I was able to buy chicken grit at the local feed store by the pound so wasn't stuck with a 25# bag to use up. And turface isn't carried in most of my local stores so I opted for "Oil-Dri" which is very similar.

Materials for Gritty Mix

I mixed up my planting media and then dumped out my lemon tree. The roots do not look healthy -they were in a tight ball and there certainly aren't many healthy looking white roots spreading out from the ball. I broke up the ball somewhat and put the tree in the 5 gallon pot -it barely had any extra room around the edges. This size pot wasn't going to work. I went to our shed and of course I didn't have anything bigger. Now what. I looked around and decided that my container blueberries which have been struggling didn't need a pot as big as they have and they were very unceremoniously dumped out and the lemon put in their pot in place. It is a perfect size. The roots have room to spread but the container is still quite movable.

Close Up of Gritty Mix

So the lemon tree is now replanted. I still have it in my "mud-room" which has a sunny east facing window. Each day I check the plant for new growth. I haven't seen any yet but it was just Thursday that I re-potted. I should sacrifice the lemons that are still clinging to the tree and allow the tree to nourish it's trunk and leaves rather than the fruit but it seems such a shame to lose them now. I will watch a little more and if I don't see new growth shortly, they will be picked off.

Texas 4-H Dog Show

Katie and I had the pleasure of going to the Texas 4-H dog show in Belton this weekend. It was a wonderful experience all around, very well organized, lots of great Kids and of course loads of dogs of every shape and size!

Katie was the only competitor from our county, Cooke. She competed in just about everything (rally,tricks, obedience, costume, conformation, showmanship, photography and agility!). I was very proud of how well she did and how well she handled the ups and downs of showing. Her low was when Diva wouldn't potty no matter how much she walked her and then pooped in the obedience ring. Her high...I'm actually not sure what her high was, there were many. I think I was proudest of her 2nd place in the tricks class as there she was competing with kids of all ages including seniors, and she trained her dog herself! Each competitor had to perform 3 tricks with their dogs. Katie and Diva did weave through legs, skateboarding and pushing a ball with her nose (the dog pushed the ball not Katie!).

My favorite class was the costume class. This had to be the best costume class I've ever seen. The kids were allowed props and it was obvious a lot of thought went into the design of the outfits and props.

Katie and Diva ready for the costume class

Unfortunately I didn'tget many photographs as I was a volunteer and was kept very busy working!

Getting Diva Ready for Mixed Breed Confirmation

Katie and Annie getting 1st Place in Novice Showmanship