Blooming now

I don't know what it really is but I call it a yellow daisy "thing".   It is blooming now.  It has tiny white bulbs or possibly tubers.  If I cut it back when it finishes blooming, it will bloom again later in the season.  I love it!

roof moss decoration

They look a bit damp because they are.  I am arranging the moss I've removed from my roof onto chunks of bark I've removed from my woodshed.  Together they make art instead of waste.

My fingernails are finally strong and growing well

I am taking 5000 mg of biotin daily in addition to my usual vitamins.  My nails are still ridged and because I am very hard on my hands I have a chip or two, but of all the things I've ever tried in my entire 54 years of life there is nothing that has worked like this and it shows after just two weeks use.  This pic is a bit blurry but you can see that I do not spend much time on my nails.  I had forgotten that I added the biotin to my pill container until two days ago.  As I type I feel the strength instead of the old bending.  Everything I do brings my attention to my new harder and stronger nails.  

Renaissance Room

I was a widow for nearly two years.  I asked my Dad to give me away even though in this picture I am 49 years old.

He danced for me down by the pond.  He called it Stylin' and Profilin'.  He is 6'5" and in that tux with tails I was totally entranced!  The bouquets were made especially for me with a great deal of love by my friend, Hwa Cha.  They were awesome!

I said anyone who wanted to be could be a flower girl.  I still don't know how many I had but I hear stories...

Two of the flower girls are my granddaughters!

I had flower girls of nearly all ages!

My Dad and Me.

My ladies, the ring bearer and the groom!  His men are on the other side of the tree.

The best Flower Boy ever!

A few of the guests.

The rustic benches are covered in white plastic.  Flowers were planted in pots in advance.  Hog fuel was purchased for the ground.  The deck chairs were brought down for anyone over 90.   My dad drove his van as a shuttle for people who had trouble walking to the back of my 10 acres.   This is the Renaissance Room.

And he kisses the bride!

Lacey caught the bouquet!

And back up in the yard we were gabbing instead of posing!

The Renaissance Room today.  My sister was married here over 20 years ago.  Since then, Mark & Franny were married here.  I was married here to my second husband in 2008.  The wedding  pictures are from 2008.  

Still damp!

So far we've hatched 3 chicks this morning.  The eggs marked 2 are peeping but the shells are so hard that these chicks might not hatch. I'm trying for Leghorn crossed with Banty, Light Brahma and even Sumatran.   I want something quick and tough enough to get away from the coyote!

As far as I can tell, I only had two Banty hens lefts as of yesterday! The pile of feathers and the coyote sighting on the trail cam suggest the end of the rooster.  He was a brave soul.  I boxed with him almost daily.  I suspect he went at the coyote the same as he always did to me.

Emerald Aisle Soap

My first brick of goat milk soap looks real good.

My husband cut the goat milk soap for me because he's so good with his knife.  He is really good.

I can't wait for this soap to be ready!  This is one of my Sunday Clean Soaps.   This one is for really dirty hands.  I've added ground rye as an abrasive.  I boiled cedar and fir boughs in rainwater.  It is rich, extraordinary, and original.

I love my label.  This is Soap 7.   It is Applejack Peel scented poured over chunky bits of a whiter unscented soap.  

You can nearly see the high gloss on this soap.   It is amazing to me that used cooking oil could create such a high quality soap.  I added coconut oil until I got the hardness I was looking for.   This photo gives the wrong color since I did not use flash.  It is a light tan.   The cooking oil was fragrant with fried chicken.  I can't pick that out in the soap but I have not bathed with it yet.

These are two of my soap molds.  The black pipe and cap is self explanatory.  I can pull the cap off after 12 or so hours and use it on another piece of pipe.  The caps cost more than the length of pipe you see in this picture.  The other mold is a length of downspout.  I found the idea on the Internet but she was using a bag to cover the end.  When I tried the bag idea I made a pretty big mess.  I cut this chunk of soap from another batch and it plugs the end tidily.  I filled this mold without leaking a drop.

Chinese Lanterns

The Chinese lantern is almost ready to start over for spring.   The vigorous green leaves shoot up as the runners spread through my garden.  Small white flowers bloom before green three dimensional heart shaped "flowers" appear.  People call them flowers but I think they are the husk to the fruit because they already had a small flower.  As they turn orange they light up the entire garden. At this stage I pick some of them to hang and dry for indoor arrangements but I have learned to leave some to nature so that I can see these incredibly delicate miracles become awesome works of art in with the most intricate filigree patterns imaginable.