So much has happened in the past two months that there has been no time to make soap. We moved to simplify our lives,which we are happy about; but we moved so fast we didn't have time to get rid of a lot of our stuff. So here we are in a small 100 year old Craftsmans cottage in Ashland, Oregon, that is less than half the size of the house we left. Needless to say, it's been a challenge in getting settled especially since we decided to do some remodeling while we were moving in. The cottage is darling, but sadly lacking in storage which has been an on going challenge. I still have bags of all my laundry room soaps, polishes, etc in the living room while we wait for the new combo laundry room/powder room to be finished. The garage and the attached small barn/workshop and basement are all filled to the max, so there will have to be a big garage sale in the fall hopefully.
I've given a lot of furniture and other things away and there is so much more that has to go in time.
On top of everything else, I am going in for hip replacement surgery in a few days, so I'm frantically trying to finish planting so our daughter won't have to hand water all these potted plants. She's going to have enough to do taking care of Jim and I and our animals as well as keeping an eye on the garden without having to hand water everything in pots once or twice a day. Our last house had hardly any soil in the back yard, so most of my planting was done in pots, including trees.The gardener promised to come tomorrow to set up a dip system for my soon to be secret garden and all the hanging planters.
My little secret garden is shrouded in remay to keep our resident deer off my plants since the people can't come till August 8 to start on the 7 foot deer fence.
Our daughter is coming from Germany to take care of both of us for a couple of weeks and I thought I could find time to make another batch of Nag Champa soap for her, but I just don't think that is going to happen in the next few days since the sub contractors are all suddenly coming back to finish up the new laundry room/powder room. Fortunately I found one last bar of Nag Champa while I was unpacking yesterday so she'll at least have that one to take home. There is just way too much else to do in the garden and the house before surgery, as well as doctors visits and shopping for several weeks worth of food for the freezer since I won't be able to drive for six weeks, and our daughter let her U.S. drivers license expire.
The property needed huge cleanup, tree pruning, new garden beds created, etc. The interior of the house needed re-painting, some new appliances, new fixtures, and on and on. I can't believe we've been here over a month since the time has gone by so fast. A lot has been accomplished but there is still so much more to do.
We didn't get air conditioning until last Thursday, and we've had weeks of temperatures in the 100's and high 90's, so I didn't get as much unpacking or gardening as I would have if the weather were kinder; but at least we had a small portable air conditioner in the bedroom thanks to a loan from one of the sub contractor, where we took refuge most of the time.
It was just this week that I was able to dig through the garage that the movers packed to the rafters, to find my second soap materials cart. There's a third one in there but it has so little in it that I'm leaving it in there for a while. My plan is to put these two main soap carts in the new laundry/powder room. I've already designated part of a flat back cupboard in the kitchen for some of my oils and some other soaping things. There's a second, new fridge in the barn for the rest of my soaping butters and oils, so as soon as I'm physically able I should be able to make some soap. I wish the rest of the house was as organized as my soaping supplies!
Once that new room is finished I want to get started on redoing the kitchen. I've already gotten the bid for new cabinets; but have to find time in the next two days to go to the showroom to see what their version of Shaker cabinets looks like. I also have to go over the bid and get a few questions answered about flooring and see if he's been able to find a match for the current counter tops since we are adding a few more base cupboards. It will take about 8 weeks from the time I OK the bid, for kitchen cabinets to be ready, so I'm hoping there will be a couple of weeks, maybe more, before the cabinets are ready when I'm mobile enough to get some soap made. One can always hope.
Hope everyone is having a good, productive, soap making summer so far.
I've given a lot of furniture and other things away and there is so much more that has to go in time.
On top of everything else, I am going in for hip replacement surgery in a few days, so I'm frantically trying to finish planting so our daughter won't have to hand water all these potted plants. She's going to have enough to do taking care of Jim and I and our animals as well as keeping an eye on the garden without having to hand water everything in pots once or twice a day. Our last house had hardly any soil in the back yard, so most of my planting was done in pots, including trees.The gardener promised to come tomorrow to set up a dip system for my soon to be secret garden and all the hanging planters.
My little secret garden is shrouded in remay to keep our resident deer off my plants since the people can't come till August 8 to start on the 7 foot deer fence.
Our daughter is coming from Germany to take care of both of us for a couple of weeks and I thought I could find time to make another batch of Nag Champa soap for her, but I just don't think that is going to happen in the next few days since the sub contractors are all suddenly coming back to finish up the new laundry room/powder room. Fortunately I found one last bar of Nag Champa while I was unpacking yesterday so she'll at least have that one to take home. There is just way too much else to do in the garden and the house before surgery, as well as doctors visits and shopping for several weeks worth of food for the freezer since I won't be able to drive for six weeks, and our daughter let her U.S. drivers license expire.
The property needed huge cleanup, tree pruning, new garden beds created, etc. The interior of the house needed re-painting, some new appliances, new fixtures, and on and on. I can't believe we've been here over a month since the time has gone by so fast. A lot has been accomplished but there is still so much more to do.
We didn't get air conditioning until last Thursday, and we've had weeks of temperatures in the 100's and high 90's, so I didn't get as much unpacking or gardening as I would have if the weather were kinder; but at least we had a small portable air conditioner in the bedroom thanks to a loan from one of the sub contractor, where we took refuge most of the time.
It was just this week that I was able to dig through the garage that the movers packed to the rafters, to find my second soap materials cart. There's a third one in there but it has so little in it that I'm leaving it in there for a while. My plan is to put these two main soap carts in the new laundry/powder room. I've already designated part of a flat back cupboard in the kitchen for some of my oils and some other soaping things. There's a second, new fridge in the barn for the rest of my soaping butters and oils, so as soon as I'm physically able I should be able to make some soap. I wish the rest of the house was as organized as my soaping supplies!
Once that new room is finished I want to get started on redoing the kitchen. I've already gotten the bid for new cabinets; but have to find time in the next two days to go to the showroom to see what their version of Shaker cabinets looks like. I also have to go over the bid and get a few questions answered about flooring and see if he's been able to find a match for the current counter tops since we are adding a few more base cupboards. It will take about 8 weeks from the time I OK the bid, for kitchen cabinets to be ready, so I'm hoping there will be a couple of weeks, maybe more, before the cabinets are ready when I'm mobile enough to get some soap made. One can always hope.
Hope everyone is having a good, productive, soap making summer so far.
