We have mushrooms!!

My  first try at growing mushrooms is appearing to be successful so far. I soaked this log of shiitake mushroom spores a couple of weeks ago, and put it in the greenhouse where it will get regular mistings of water...and it is going great guns.Lots of yummy mushrooms coming along nicely. So I will need to make something yummy with these.

I still have to plant my field mushroom kit down the back in the shade, but need to build a fence to keep the chickens out of them. Still lots to do to keep me busy, I need to get a lot of seedlings up and running, plant a big crop of corn, and  get some sunflowers coming along (just because they're pretty)
Damian picked the pumpkins that had grown, we only got a few off the vine, they just didn't seem to do very well this year. I also have quite a few varieties of potatoes to plant, I have had them sitting ready to plant for weeks now, but haven't got to it. I still need to paint Kasey's bed and desk, and it is right in the middle of a very busy wedding season, so I have lots of weddings coming up over the next couple of months, as well as lots of preservations to finish off.  I also need to start to put some effort in to getting a little organised for Christmas...I haven't done anything really so far this year to prepare for that...but it will all come together, so I'm not going to get my knickers in a knot over it! If I don't get things handmade, then I will just head off to the shops...or the markets, or etsy or similar...anyway...I might try and get a batch of soy candles and a batch of soap made this afternoon, and head out to the vegie garden this afternoon to do a few plantings....we'll see how we go.

Lemon Myrtle soap

I made a batch of soap on Sunday, I used a gorgeous lemon myrtle essential oil...it smells divine....I am waiting on some oils to arrive from my suppliers, as I need to make up some more batches, as we are running quite low on soap, this batch made 11 bars and 5 round roses. I used a small amount of yellow clay to give it a lemony coloured tint. I have planted a lemon myrtle in the front garden, to use as a botanical in future soap making. I first came across one in the bus tour we did during the permaculture course, and the smell of those leaves is absolutely amazing...I could walk around smelling them all day long...mmmm

Christmas scented soaps

I made up another batch of soap on Wednesday, I wanted a Christmassy one, with the smells of Christmas and the colours of Christmas.  I was hoping the soap would be a bit richer in the red colour, but never mind.  I used a red oxide instead of clay, but found the colour wasn't really that different to when I use just the clay.  I used patchouli, peppermint and cinnamon leaf essential oils in the soap. The peppermint is quite strong, but blends in well with the other scents. I am going to gift wrap some for gifts for Christmas.

New soap varieties and shapes, and my xmas endeavours so far....

I made some soaps a few weeks back.  I used my log mould, which yielded 11 bars, and a new rose mould I purchased, which made 6 soaps.  I used red clay to make a dark browny colour, as I used a chocolate essential oil, and I used mango essential oils in the rose ones. I probably won't used the chocolate one again, I think I prefer fresher smells for our soap.  Some of the rose ones are for Christmas gifts, and the rest will be for our personal use along with the bars.  I made some more soap yesterday, with vanilla essential oils, which I will post photos of next week.

I really enjoy making soap, and would like to start experimenting with different scents etc and different colours and textures.  Next year when I am making a concious effort to spend more time at home, I am hoping to have lots more time to devote to these type of ventures.  I went and had my hair cut and coloured today, and my eyebrows waxed.  They included eyelash tinting in the price, but I was too claustrophobic to get it done, just the thought of not being able to open my eyes had me freaking out, and I had to tell her not to go ahead with it, and she had to take it off after putting it on just one eyelash....gawd....she must think I'm a nutjob......anyway, made a dent in the Christmas shopping, and I am hoping to finish it all off next week....I am nowhere near finishing my sewing projects I had planned so if there is no way I am going to get those done, then I will have to come up with some other pressies for certain people....will see how I go...

Bugger......forgot again...

arrghhh...I have forgotten Kasey's full dress rehearsal this afternoon for their Christmas ballet concert next week....I have rushed her down there an hour late :(  but they are still running through another time yet....I felt pretty silly running Kasey in there, and the teacher was very gracious, but what she was thinking I don't know, I forgot her normal weekly class last week as well, as I am still getting used to her having classes on a Monday....  I thought I was so organised today, I was busy making lots of phone calls and organising things I have put off for months, I made some soap, and went and organised the quote to get the car fixed from where it was damaged when it went in for a service recently, I just forgot to write today's rehearsal in my diary..... where is my organisation???  Whoever stole it....I want it back.......

The last few days...

Sunday I caught up on some washing, and made a batch of soap.  I tried a new combination of essential oils, and a couple of new moulds, a mango soap in some gorgeous rose moulds, and a mango and chocolate soap in my new log mould.  We went to the beach in the afternoon, took Max over for a paddle, and then went and had a bbq for dinner.  We are trying to get Max used to socialising with other dogs a bit more, he is really friendly towards other dogs once he has a sniff, but he always runs up to them like he wants to eat them with his hair on his back up, so he looks very intimidating, but it is all such a big act, and he just wants to play, so I may look at taking him to training next year to socialise him more with other dogs as well....The bbq was nice, but very cold and windy, so next time, will definitely take warmer clothes, as we were freezing, and all of us girls had towels wrapped around our legs to keep warm. Yesterday I had sewing class in the morning, working on the textured table runner, and today I was working on the xmas tree skirt I started last week, attaching the gold bias stained glass strips. That is about 1/2 done, so still a little way to go to finish it off.  My new sewing machine arrived in store today, so I will pick it up some time over the next week, when I have time to sit down and open it up and have a good play with it. Tomorrow and Thursday I will be at home, tomorrow will be spent in the office catching up on paperwork, and Thursday catching up and getting ready to head away for the weekend.  Next week I have a fairly free calender, so I am hoping to just spend a few days sorting stuff out at home, I may even set up a workroom area in the shed so I can setup my craft things..not sure though as it can get quite dusty out there...I really long to have a craft area back...I am hoping to convert the lockup area in the garage to my craft room and floristry area, a place where I can meet with clients as well, maybe next year....anyway, enough waffling for today...

A long night.....and a busy day ahead....

I have snuck in a few sleep ins the last few days, and I paid for it last night/this morning....no sleep, not even a few minutes....by 4.30 this morning I figured there was no point in trying to sleep any longer, so just got up. It is very peaceful this time of the day, even though the eyes are quite red....I have a bit planned for today, I have been trying to get a daily routine schedule drawn up over the last few days, I am really over having no direction each day and just flailing along day by day. I much prefer to work to lists and a routine, and my routine has been sadly lacking for a long, long time. I don't think I am alone in not knowing where to start each day, and this has gone on for such a long time now, but so many people say the same thing, and that is that they just don't know how to get the routine back in their life...I am definitely in this category at the moment. I tried the flylady thing about a year ago, but it just wasn't really my thing, there was a lot of good points to it, but I just felt like I never stopped and that I was spending all of my time cleaning!  I think a modified version would work for me. The problem I am having is that I just can't prioritise what I should do first, so I end up not doing much of what I actually want to do. And I have so many things I want to do, that I don't get to any of them. I also find that even when I make up a list at the beginning of a week detailing what I need to achieve that week, while it helps immensley, I still need to be more structured with how long something takes me to do, and how long I should actually spend on it. So I have so far done up a day by day plan for Mon-Fri of each week. This will be the core things I will do each week. I have slotted in some free time on the Friday's that I am not doing weddings, and after dinner each night to do craft and sewing etc. I have done it up on an hour by hour basis, so that I know what I should be doing at what particular time of the day....if I find this too hard, then I will perhaps do it up a bit less structured, with a simple am and pm format...but I will try the more structured format first. Yesterday I stripped my bed and washed the sheets, doona and cover, pillowcases and pillow protectors, and I vacuumed the pillows and woollen underlay. It was lovely getting into a lovely fresh bed...not that I did any sleeping...I also made a batch of soap last night, it turned out really well...probably the best batch I have had in some time, I made the oils and the lye a little cooler this time, and it seemed to make a big difference...I need to go out and get a couple of things today, I also want to go to Spotlight and get a few craft things for Kasey, I am looking at getting her a pair of small knitting needles and some wool, and she can start to learn to knit. I may also get her one of those french knitting looms, and she can try that as well, and if they have any cross stitch suitable for her age, I may look at that as well. I want to try and make some lemon butter and some passionfruit butter today or tomorrow as well. I have a sewing class tonight, we are starting on a beautiful elegant evening bag, it is absolutely stunning...so I hope mine turns out that way!  I have heaps written in my diary today, I was thinking last night that maybe there was too much written there, but as I am getting a nice early start it should hopefully be achievable....