Making soap again!

I finally have finished all of the paperwork involved in settling my Dad's estate and am back on track making soap.  I made a 5lb loaf yesterday using my standard recipe but substituting tomato juice for 2/3 of the water.  This makes for a great facial soap.  It will have to cure for 4-6 weeks before it is ready for sale.

New Car

I'm still dealing with my Dad's estate.  There is so much paperwork and I keep getting requests from the insurance people for the same things over and over.  Haven't sold his house yet either.  I did, however, buy a new car because mine had 162,000 miles on it and was about to need a few thousand dollars in work.  If I bought now I should get it paid off by the time I retire.  It's a 2014 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid.  I love it!

New soap

I got back to making soap now that most of my Dad's estate has been settled.  I made two batches using the lard, olive oil, coconut oil, canola oil and rice bran oil I had on hand.  On loaf was scented with peach and pineapple mixed and the other with Dragons Blood.  The blue/gray batch was scented with honeysuckle and used for swirling and the leftover was made into bars.  The batter got thick very quickly so the drop swirls didn't penetrate very deeply, but that's OK.  Dragons Blood makes soap get dark due to the vanilla content.
Check out my web site at http://www.nomadhandcraftedsoap.com.

Liquid soap vs bar soap

Since I make bar soap I found this article to be very informative.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-chameides/chemical-marketplace-bar_b_2104678.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false

I'm back, sort of

I've been working my way through all the paperwork for my Dad's bank accounts, insurance claims, stocks, bonds, etc.  The first weekend of April I will be in Lizella, GA at my Dad's house having a 3-day estate sale.  If interested in attending, email me at nomadhcsc@gmail.com and I will give you directions. It's strange being the last remaining member of my family.  At one time I had two parents and 3 younger brothers.  After the estate sale I'll be selling the house and property.  A double-wide mobile home on a permanent foundation with front and back porches added on 9.67 acres.  I'll bet back to my soap business after all of this is done.

I've been away

I haven't posted in awhile because my Dad was in the hospital and I went down to Macon, Georgia to be with him.  Unfortunately he wasn't responding to treatment so he chose to cease the treatment and let nature take her course.  He was 91 years old.  As the last surviving member of my immediate family I had the task of taking care of the funeral and closing down his house and accounts.  I had a great deal of help from my two nephews Matt and Brad and I really appreciate their help. Matt's wife Priscilla also helped a great deal as well as my cousins Steve and Jeff.  I still have to go back in a couple of weeks to probate the will and disperse the estate.  I'll miss Dad, but am glad he didn't have to suffer a lengthy time of invasive treatments in a hospital or in a nursing home. I'll get back to soaping as soon as I can.

Over the Holidays

Finally over the holidays.  Cookies everywhere, traveling, freezing weather and finally a bad cold.  Feeling pretty good now, so I'll get back on track this weekend.  I'd like to invite everyone to view my web site:  http://www.nomadhandcraftedsoap.com.   Also saw this sign of Facebook and liked it.

Banana-Maple Syrup Soap

I had one of those small bottles of maple syrup you get at Cracker Barrell with your pancakes and decided to make soap with it.  I used my regular recipe and added pureed bananas and the syrup to the oils.  Seems to be a great soap.  I'm calling it Banana Flip and it is available on my web site. #handcrafted #soap http://www.nomadhandcraftedsoap.com