Rainy Days

Who couldn't use a giant smiley face on a rainy day? Actually, I thanked God for this rainy day. As our homeschool year is winding down and things are ending for the summer, I am thankful for a day of being at home. The rain just makes it more convincing to stay home, inside, catching up on sewing, soaping, and reading.

I am reading the whole Bible this year. It's been a goal on my long to-do list. This Bible just happened to fall into our hands by accident. We were buying a Bible for the angel tree last Christmas and were in a hurry and there were so many to choose from so I picked up this one. When I got home and had more time, I started flipping through it and realized this was not the right Bible to give to someone that did not have one. Over dinner I told hubby that I would take it back. He flipped through it and thought it might be useful to keep. It sat on the dinner table for a couple weeks and then got moved upstairs where I saw it everyday. It nagged at me constantly and finally the middle of January I relented and started reading. I had a few weeks to catch up since it is The Daily Bible.

I have enjoyed the stories of the Bible, but admit that I had to slog through the laws. Thankfully, they were grouped by category, which made them a little more bareable. I am now in the midst of the Psalms which are uplifting. They too are grouped by category which means reading groups of battle Psalms followed by praise Psalms and currently Psalms of thanksgiving. I'll be honest, I dread reading them because they are getting monotonous, but once I get into them, I find things that I need to hear.

On a soapier note, I whipped up a batch of laundry soap last night. I made some coconut and soybean oil soap which was almost 100% saponified (no extra fat). I scented it with some lavender essential oil and popped it in the oven to sit overnight. It made a delightfully hard white bar that I was happy to chop up this morning. I'd like to try the powdered version because it would be easier to keep but I think I will have to use the liquid version because our water won't dissolve powdered laundry soap.

I also have a batch of goat milk bath soap curing. I've been playing with the soap calculator at Soap Calc and it is fun to see what different oils do to the hardness, lather, and moisturizing qualities of soap. Next up is a batch of shaving soap.

Hubby also told me the other day that he is getting spoiled by my soaps. He used the nasty stuff they have at the gym the other morning and said he realized how much better my soaps work and feel. I'll take that compliment and keep going.