Friends at the Light Festival

Here are some photos taken Sunday at the Light Festival at Sharonville, Ohio on Sunday November 20, 2016.  That's me on the left wearing my Exploration Station Shawl - a Stephen West Mystery Shawl project from a couple years age. (Looks like I need to adjust that thing........ I hope I didn't walk around all day wearing it like a giant bib!) 






Here is Debbie. In this picture she is trying out the DoTerra oils.

There is a lot to see and do at The Victory of Light festival.  It has gotten a lot bigger over the years.  It is held in the Sharonville Convention Center.  This particular 2-day event has speakers all day long in addition to the vending area that consists of 3 large rooms.   I guess I have been attending this type of show too long because none of the topics were of much interest to me.  The couple of lectures I attended contained  very basic info I was already acquainted with.  I did win a drawing and received a free psychic reading.  Nothing in the reading I wanted to hear either  It basically ended up being a session with the man telling me to sell my farm.  It does enter my mind to put my place up for sale but that isn't any new information.  That is something I think and wrestle with every day.  I am pretty much convinced there is nothing to be learned from a psychic reading that you don't already know.  I paid for another reading and this woman spent five minutes describing my aura!   How in the heck is that helpful?  Then she got on the farm and more advise to sell................ blah, blah blah



Besides me and Debbie another friend and neighbor, Ann, made the trip with us.  She currently has her poperty up for sale.  I'm kind of waiting to see how that goes for her.  We are both too old to be doing all the work involved in keeping up the type of  places we own.  The difference is - her family is behind her making the move.  In my case, my son would be very upset if I sold. Decisions, decisions!

AGE 70, Still Standing November 2016 -   Just adding an updated photo to my blog.  I made it through all the (January/February 2016) cancer radiation/chemo treatments and have had a couple good reports through PET scans and PAP tests since my last radiation treatment February .  I do still have some kidney issues as a result of either the original tumor or the treatments.  I am not really clear on all of that.  Anyway, I thought this would be a good time to record all of the procedures I have been through.  It is just for my personal records since the paper I have them noted on seems to keep getting lost.  My original cancer diagnosis came in October of 2015.  Since then I have been subjected to the following hospital procedures, most of which  required anesthesia (in bold). The Nephrostomy and PIC Line were placed under a local.......

Daily Radiation (5X week) started 1/5/2016 and ended 2/23/16)
Chemo once a week began 1/6/2016 with last dose on 2/11/16 - I think one treatment was cancelled because of kidneys.  I also had a lot of infusions during this period, but didn't really track them.  They usually followed the radiation treatments with some extras thrown in after the external radiation ended. I think the PIC line was in until April sometime because of additional hydration treatments.


11/19/15 - Cold Knife Biopsy
11/23/15 - PET Scan
12/24/15 - Left Stent
 1/05/15  - PIC Line inserted
 1/28/16 -  Internal Radiation
 2/01/16  - Bilateral Stents
 2/04/16 -  Internal Radiation
 2/12/16 -  Internal Radiation
 2/18/16  - Internal Radiation
 2/25/16  - Internal Radiation
 4/15/16  - Bilateral Stents
 7/11/16  - Bilateral Stents
 8/23/16  - PET Scan
 8/25/16  - Flat X-ray of Kidneys
 8/29/16  - Nephrostomy Tube & Bag
10/18/16 - Bilateral Stents, Neph tube removed

Well, that's it for now. I will be receiving a call Mid January for my next Stent Replacement surgery.

No wonder my eyes show a little of the strain!  Not quite myself but feeling better and better.

Panama Hat - October 21, 2016

I have spent the better part of 2 days working on this hat only to find out it is too big.  So, I guess I will start the unraveling.  For reference, the pattern I used follows:  (This pattern is available as a free Ravelry download ).  After studying the pattern given, it is wrong.  I started round 8 with 16 (4 DC +ch+FPDC+ch) or 7 stitches X 16 repeats for a total of 112 stitches.  The child's hat was supposed to be 96 stitches, so I should have stopped at round 6 with 16 (3D
C+ch+FPDC+ch) or 6 stitches X 16 repeats for a total of 96 stitches!  Pattern is wrong! 

More Slow Cooker Soap - August 1, 2016

Soapmaking August 1, 2016:  I had 4 oz of Lye left from my previous soap making.  I decided to try this recipe.  Although found in the Handmade Soap Book by Melinda Cross, the recipe below was provided by (p 27) Lori Schenkelberg:

 

20 oz (567 g) vegetable fat (Crisco)

 6 oz (170 g) coconut oil

 6 oz (170 g) palm oil

12 oz (340 g) distilled water

4 ¼ oz (120g) lye

My Changes:  I had some flax oil on hand and used it in place of the palm oil.  I did not have Crisco and used Vegetable Shortening from Aldi.  For color I used 1 tsp tumeric mixed with some fragrance oils I had around the house.  I even added some patchouli essential oil and some clove oil.

Notes on this batch:  The soap began to trace at around 10 minutes.  I then put the lid on the cooker and continue to slow cook on low for a total of 60 minutes.  I did stir the mixture a couple times.  After 20 minutes it was already a thick glop.  After another 20 minutes there was some oil floating around the edges.  I stirred the mixture and finished cooking for a total of  60 minutes - mixture looked like vaseline.  After mixing in the color and essential oils,  I glopped the mixture into the molds. It took about  3 hours for the large bread pan mold to cool and harden enough to remove.  This soap is still soft so will probably need a week of drying time to harden.

So far, : The Prairie Homestead Slow Cooker Soap is the hardest and quickest soap.

Slow Cooker Soap

7/26/16 - More Slow Cooker Soap:

The recipe below is what I used for this soap.  I was well pleased with how easy it was to make.  I used my smaller 4 qt crock pot without any problems.  I did let the lye misture cool down to around 130, and also the cooled the melted oils to about 130.  When I added the lye solution it seemed like it immediately started to thicken and reached trace in around 5 minutes. this batch fit perfectly in the silicone loaf pan.  I did end up with a round bar because when it set up (that was very quick, too) I sliced off the crumbly top layer, added a little water, reheated in a saucepan then added it to a small mold.

Homemade Hot Process Soap Recipe in a Crock Pot

Author: The Prairie Homestead

Recipe type: DIY - Soap

Ingredients

·                            10 oz olive oil

·                            20 oz coconut oil

·                            9 oz distilled water

·                            4.78 oz 100% pure lye (135 g)

·                            Essential oils for scent (optional)

·                            Other Equipment:

·                            Digital scale

·                            Safety gear (safety glasses, long sleeves, gloves)

·                            Stick blender

·                            Crock pot

·                            Non-metal dishes and utensils

Instructions

1.                Measure out the olive and coconut oil.

2.                Place the coconut oil in the slow cooker, and turn it on so it begins to melt.

3.                Measure out the other ingredients, weighing each and every one on the digital scale first.

4.                Once the coconut oil has completely melted, add the olive oil to the crockpot and allow it to mingle and warm up.

5.                Add the lye to the water, stirring slowly. Do this in a place with ample ventilation, while wearing your safety equipment.

6.                Add the dissolved lye/water mixture to the melted oils in the crockpot. Stir gently.

7.                With the stick blender, continue to mix/stir for several minutes until you reach "trace."

8.                Place the lid on the crockpot, set the timer for 50 minutes, and allow the mixture to cook on LOW.

9.                If the soap tries to bubble out of the crockpot, give it a stir.

10.            Line the soap molds with parchment paper (if required)

11.            Once the 50 minutes has elapsed, perform the "zap test": I like to do this by grabbing a small amount of the soap mixture, allowing to cool for a second, and then touching it to my tongue. If it "zaps" me, I know there is still lye remaining in the mixture and it needs to cook longer. If it just tastes like soap, we're ready for the next step.

12.            Allow the mixture to cool slightly before adding any additives.

13.            Press/pour the soap mixture into the mold, making sure to press it into all the corners and smooth out the top as much as possible.

14.            Set it aside for 12-24 hours, or until it sets completely. (Usually, overnight is plenty of time).

15.            Remove the soap from the mold, cut it into bars.

16.            Allow it to dry for another day or so to allow it to harden up a bit.

Hot Process Soap

7/25/16 - My soap from Sunday 7/24 is finished and pictured here.   I am going to let it dry and hopefully  it will harden a little more.  Right now it is still a little soft for my liking.  I decided to get a bigger slow cooker because I didn't want to worry about runover while cooking and the lye was still caustic.  I think it was a good decision because at one point the foamy, cooking soap almost reached the top of my new 7 quart cooker.

For some of the olive oil in this batch I used the olive oil from my herbal salve making.  Blog entry here.

I already have my next recipe picked out.  It is available on the internet here.  I have posted the recipe on my blog 7/26/16.   I will use the remainder of my herbal olive oil for this batch.

NOTE:  I have been having all kinds of computer connection problems   I also couldn't get my blog entries to save, edit or update.  Some of the links have not been working because I couldn't get them to update.I am working on getting things fixed.  Hope this entry has been edited.

Crock Pot Soap Making - Hot Process

7/23/16 -  I have made soap a couple different times.  It has been some time ago and I am ready for more so I spent the day gathering up all the supplies I need to make a batch of hot process slow cooker soap.  I even purchased a Crock Pot to use from the Goodwill store for only $3.99.  The last time I made hot process soap I cooked it in the oven,  It is too hot here now to run the oven and I like the idea of using a crock pot.   I would have preferred a 5 qt cooker but I think this 4 qt (128 oz) cooker will work.  The ingredients I am using total 93 oz.  Total cost for this batch around $20.  Here are the ingredients:

32 oz lard ($3.58)
10 oz Canola ($1.99)
  4 oz Coconut Oil ($2.00)
10 oz Olive Oil (leftover from healing salve ???)
21 oz Distilled Water ($ . 89)
7.2 oz Lye (204 g on the scale) ($5.97)
Essential Oil ($???)

Using the .Lye Calculator at MMS Sage I came up wiith 21 ounces water and to stay in the 5% to 8% excess fat range for lye - 7.2 to 7.5 oz.  These figures are consistent with a recipe called Down Home & Broke Soap, pg 99 of Handcrafted Soap by Delores Boone.

Original Down Home & Broke Soap
32 ounces (909 g) lard or tallow
24 ounces (682 g) canola,  corn, sunflower, safflower or any combination of these four vegetable oils
21 ounces (596 g) distilled water
7.2 ounces (204 g) lye

Quote from the book: When using a slow cooker to make the recipes in this book, make sure it measures 5-6 quarts and has a low-heat setting.  Keep in mind that all slow cookers heat differently, and the length of time the soap cooks may differ. - I guess  I will be getting a different cooker tomorrow.  I don't want a batchful of lye active soap running over. :(