Eckenrode Family

Right Now

I am . . .

Smelling the soap I just cut. Lavender, oatmeal tangerine; and peppermint tea tree with green clay.
Keeping a close eye on mama hen and her 3 chicks and watching with fascination at her teaching them the ways of the chicken.
Appreciating always this constant shadow of mine. His loyalty and love are so comforting.

Seeds in the Ground

The garden has officially been started. We are excited about the richness of the soil this year due to mulched up leaves, ash from our woodburning stove and pine shavings from the chicken coop. We think the plants are going to love this rich soil this year.

Miles hockey season is now over and so our weekends have just gotten a lot more open. As much as we love to watch him play, it is nice to have this break in our schedule.
I've been working on some gardening soap and just made a batch with cornmeal and honey. The other two are green clay with peppermint and lemon tea tree and tangerine with orange peel.
And I can't help but add several photos of the chickens that I took today. They are loving this nice weather. We turned the soil over in their run and they were enjoying pecking around for worms. We have a bantam rooster in the group that just started to crow and it is the funniest thing to hear. It is a very high pictched crow. I really can't believe how much enjoyment these little creatures bring me. I enjoy greeting them each morning, watching how they interact with one another and just marveling at their beauty and diversity. I know, it may seem strange but I think I'm a bit obssessed.

Here is our bantam rooster. This is sort of how his crow sounds.

30 Days of Happiness: Day 20

Cutting soap today I thought of the stories my dad told me last night of my great-grandmother. How she kept chickens and one day went to the coop to find that a black snake was swallowing several chicks whole. She grabbed the snake, cut it open and saved several of the chicks. And how on wash day she’d hike up the hill to get water, build a fire, heat the water and wash the clothes. I feel lucky that I can choose the things I want to do the way she used to like baking bread, hanging laundry, and making the things we use. I feel lucky that I don’t have to do them if I don’t want to. But mostly these stories of a relative I’ve never met make me feel strong and capable.

Soap, Some Bunnies and the Broken Down Car

The car broke down last night and in a weird way it’s the best thing that’s happened to me in awhile. I am a very schedule oriented person and having the car break down has forced us to break our schedule and get a taste of what it feels like to slow down and not go and do. Four mornings a week the kids and I usually go to the YMCA where I work out. Without a car this morning we just hung around the house and enjoyed a slow morning. This has gotten me thinking about not being so religious about working out and abandoning our schedule. Never again will my kids be at this age where we have the luxury of lazy mornings and open days and I’ve made the decision that we’re going to take advantage of this freedom and soak in these days together without rushing around. This decision feels good and right and I have a broken down car to thank for this revelation.

In crafty news I finally got around to photographing the way we packaged our gifts of soap for Christmas. I truly believe that giving a gift of handmade soap is made so much more special by the presentation.


In the past I’ve done this various ways: raffia and tags & cut fabric tied into bows. This year I used tissue paper with the labels made from cardstock printed in landscape. I think so far this has been my favorite packaging because it’s fast and easy and looks great.

Lastly, I sewed up some rabbits from the Hop Skip Jump pattern. 
Ben set this photo up and insisted that this bunny be photographed next to the bunny I knitted him this summer.

I found this pattern very well written. There is a little too much hand sewing for my taste but overall it was easy and fun to do. I see more of these bunnies being made for special gifts.

Two of these bunnies have been claimed by my boys and the third will go to my nephew on his upcoming 1^st birthday.

Our Weekend

Our weekend was filled, once again, with working at our new house. We drive there right after breakfast on Saturday and Sundays and spend the daylight hours working in the yard and cleaning the house. We also spend a little of the time hanging out with the neighbors. I’ve finally found a neighborhood where the neighbors treat you like family. Like better than family depending on what family you’re from . . . It feels so good and I really feel like I’m home. Like this is the place in which the boys are meant to grow up.  It just feels right. Also, I’ve been mentally preparing myself to leave this house. This is such a special place to us and I know this house means a lot to the families that lived here before us. This house radiates love and warmth and home.
The most defining moment for me as a mother was when we carried Miles through the door. This house suddenly felt very different to me, like walking through the door was really entering motherhood. The only thing making it easier to leave this house is the excitement for the possibilities of the new place. The boys will have the experience of a huge garden, a friendly neighborhood and the freedom to explore a 300 acre biological reserve. Yeah, I’m excited.

Also this weekend Tim and I made more soap. This is something that we enjoy doing together while listening to great music and drinking some beers.
I love that Tim has joined me in this hobby. I got a few requests for the recipe that we use. We use the recipe from The Natural Soap Book by Susan Miller Cavitch. If you are considering making soap, this book is a great resource.

For our soap we use distilled water, sodium hydroxide, olive oil, coconut oil, palm oil and some essential oils.The supplies you need :

• 8-12 quart enamel or stainless steel pot with lid
• 3 quart (2.8 liter) saucepan
• 2-3 quart heat-resistant glass bowl or pitcher
• 2 heavy-duty rubber or silicone spatulas
• good quality scale
• 2 good quality thermometers (because you will end up accidentally dropping one in water or oil at some point).
• molds
• knife for cutting soap

Peppermint

Thanks to Facebook I learned that my friend Sarah was loving the Peppermint Mocha from Starbucks and now I too am in love. Ever since then I’ve had peppermint on the brain and so when it came time to decide what kind of soap I was going to make it had to be peppermint. Now I have it on the brain and in my nostrils. This is the 3^rd time I’ve cut soap using the cutter I got on Etsy and it really makes the whole process much easier. I don’t even have to shave the soap. Just cut and let it sit. I’m also loving the molds my husband made.

 



 

Weekend Snapshots

Miles and I went to Comfest to get the kids annual tye dye shirts. We ate some ice cream and listened to a little music and watched all of the colorful characters that come to this festival.




Later Tim and I made a new batch of soap – Lemon with French Green Cosmetic clay.
This is one of my favorites because the green clay helps to make this soap extra silky when lathering. We are experimenting with some new loaf shaped molds. Tim is back to the drawing board, but with this last adjustment I think the next version of the mold will be just right. Once we figure out the best design, I’ll post it here.

Orange Lavender Soap

In the background is my crafting area.