on soap
grannyfiddler: grannyfiddler
been making soap over the weekend. it's one of those earthy creative things that helps keep me sane. like gardening, and making music, baking cookies, and sewing with beautiful fabric. something about combining the work of my hands with the work of my mind pulls all the disparate parts of life into focus, and helps blow out the fluff. takes some of the sharp edges off me.
And soap is so satisfying to make - it's a small miracle how a pot of greasy fat and a piltcher of vile smelling and toxic lye water can produce this gentle, lovely-smelling cleanser. it's the last thing anyone would expect from either of the original products. then i add essential oils, plant matter and moisturizers and end up with this luxurious gourmet subsatnce that's so richly colored and scented that it would seem decadent if i hadn't made it with my own two hands... from fat and lye.
i could buy my soap for less than it costs to make, but i don't handle all the scents and things they put in manufactured soap. and that stuff doesn't give me the little glow of pleasure every time i use it, that turns a plain old bath or shower or washing of hands into a small occasion for celebration.
facing a job interview in the city on Tuesday, for a job i think i'd love. but i'm not sure how i'd love living in the city. it makes a lot of sharp edges on me. i might have to make a lot of soap and bake a lot of cookies. but 3 of my 4 kids are there, and my granchild, none of whom i see nearly enough the way things are now. i need to be more accessible. there's still stuff they need to learn about what family is, and what family does, that no one else is going to teach them.
i made the soap to get my feet on the ground, and get in touch with what's important. yes, working at something you enjoy is important, but i don't hate my present job. i could probably keep doing it for some time. so it's less about the job, and about me personally, and more about being part of a family. my siblings, parents, ,cousins, etc are a group of islands, ,with very little travel from port to port. i don't want that for my children and my grandchildren. isn't it part of our job as parents to try to make things better for coming generations? i think that means all usual things - making our communities safe and pleasant places for them, and providing opportunities for them to discover their gifts and excell at them. But doesn't it also mean rooting out those family traditions that didn't enrich our lives, that, rather did the opposite, and replacing those with new things, that will become more healthy traditions?
it's all really a non-issue anyway, right now, as i haven't even had the interview, let alone been offered the job.
time to go have a long, relaxing bath by candlelight, with a bar of rich, earthy, soul satisfying soap
been making soap over the weekend. it's one of those earthy creative things that helps keep me sane. like gardening, and making music, baking cookies, and sewing with beautiful fabric. something about combining the work of my hands with the work of my mind pulls all the disparate parts of life into focus, and helps blow out the fluff. takes some of the sharp edges off me.
And soap is so satisfying to make - it's a small miracle how a pot of greasy fat and a piltcher of vile smelling and toxic lye water can produce this gentle, lovely-smelling cleanser. it's the last thing anyone would expect from either of the original products. then i add essential oils, plant matter and moisturizers and end up with this luxurious gourmet subsatnce that's so richly colored and scented that it would seem decadent if i hadn't made it with my own two hands... from fat and lye.
i could buy my soap for less than it costs to make, but i don't handle all the scents and things they put in manufactured soap. and that stuff doesn't give me the little glow of pleasure every time i use it, that turns a plain old bath or shower or washing of hands into a small occasion for celebration.
facing a job interview in the city on Tuesday, for a job i think i'd love. but i'm not sure how i'd love living in the city. it makes a lot of sharp edges on me. i might have to make a lot of soap and bake a lot of cookies. but 3 of my 4 kids are there, and my granchild, none of whom i see nearly enough the way things are now. i need to be more accessible. there's still stuff they need to learn about what family is, and what family does, that no one else is going to teach them.
i made the soap to get my feet on the ground, and get in touch with what's important. yes, working at something you enjoy is important, but i don't hate my present job. i could probably keep doing it for some time. so it's less about the job, and about me personally, and more about being part of a family. my siblings, parents, ,cousins, etc are a group of islands, ,with very little travel from port to port. i don't want that for my children and my grandchildren. isn't it part of our job as parents to try to make things better for coming generations? i think that means all usual things - making our communities safe and pleasant places for them, and providing opportunities for them to discover their gifts and excell at them. But doesn't it also mean rooting out those family traditions that didn't enrich our lives, that, rather did the opposite, and replacing those with new things, that will become more healthy traditions?
it's all really a non-issue anyway, right now, as i haven't even had the interview, let alone been offered the job.
time to go have a long, relaxing bath by candlelight, with a bar of rich, earthy, soul satisfying soap
posted by grannyfiddler at 8:34 PM
6 Comments:
Just ran across you at maison madcap and was puzzled because I knew I hadn't said anything about a fern.
From one granny to another, hi!!
cover visit me sometime at
rocrebelgranny.blogspot.com
Ann Adams ann.adams95340@gmail.com
Congratulations on your first "real" post! I might be making soap this winter, or I might not. Kinda depends on who visits me ;-) Thinking of you and tomorrow and everything... Good luck!
Thanks for your comment on rocrebel granny. You're right - there's no such thing as too many grannies. I thought about signing as granny Ann (I did over on madcap today) but think I like granny no-fiddle better. We'll let the people who haven't discovered you shake their heads over that one.
I perform introductions on my blog so I'll mention you in my next post.
Oh, I just started my blog in late September so I'm almost as new to it as you.
Granny no fiddle
Have a great day.
We did it again at maison madcap. Too funny.
I now have you on my blog roll and have explained about the two of us. It's not that uncommon to have two people with the same actual name but two "grannies" showing up in the same place at the same time is a little different.
I was surprised once to see a comment by my online friend "L." that was totally out of character for her. I checked with "L.1" and sure enough, a second one had surfaced. She changed hers to "L., the original, not the other one", at least temporarily.
Just ran across you via Ann Adams - another Granny to say hi to! Don't make soap, don't think I'm tempted to, but love you making it - because you describe it so well.
Some of your dilemmas register too.
CG - hi there! i've visited your page a few times, return to it now with great pleasure and expectation...
not sure what the protocol is - to reply here or directly...
as i don't have my own source of fat, and have to buy it, and it's ALL expensive at the store, and as i have vegetarian friends i like to share my soap with, i mostly make castille soap, (olive oil constitutes all the fat in it) this is a soap that solidifies more slowly than those made with animal fat and/or coconut/palm oil. it also tends to separate out a bit for a couple of days, so i keep it somewhere very warm for several days, so it stays soft enough that i can stir the layer of oil that collects on the top back in. (used the heat plate of a yogurt maker till that died, now i set it, wrapped in towels, on top of the plenum of my furnace) ... so when oil stops coming to the surface i know the lye has pretty much all bonded to fat. at that point, it can still be stirred (because it's still warm from being on top of the furnace) i'll add very stable things like chunks of soap trimings from other batches, for a conglomerate, multicolored look, or spices like paprika or turmeric for color. But it's not finished saponifying yet for a couple of weeks, so it's still a bit caustic. i know there are lots of recipes that say you can add your essential oils, etc. then, but i've never had much success with them. and you lose so much of the scent as it cures... and essential oils are so expensive. so i only add the oils to milled soap now.
one of my kids' favorite soaps is chocolate. i've used both melted chocolate chips and powdered chocolate mixed into cocoa butter with good results.
do you use your own rendered fat?
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