fresh grated ginger and ginger essential oil for fragrance.

I'd recommend having NO kids OR pets aroung while working with lye. One distraction and you can have some serious lasting damage even just inhaling it. 

Seeing that I've never done soap making, my friend Theresa walked me throught the steps, using all quality ingredients.  Seeing that I'm no expert, I would refer you to a website that has supplies and many recipes and tutorials. That website is

http://www.soap-making-resource.com

There are certain rules when making soap with lye. Like NEVER add the water to lye. You always add the lye TO the water. You can see the protective gloves that Theresa used. She was also wearing goggles. We did this outside because it was cool, plus we did not want the fumes in the house. Some people do this step in their kitchen. We chose not to.

Safely adding lye to water

The lye mixture will reach temperatures to approximately 160 degrees. I guess another tricky part is cooling the lye down to about 100 degrees to match the temperature of your other oils and ingredients. They must be almost exactly the same temperature to be mixed. The link above is a nice tutorial and walks you through the steps complete with pictures.

Do you know where lye actually comes from? I didn't.

Lye can be made from ashes. There are videos on You Tube to do this. It can be quite tedious also. I'm glad I can buy it at the store! 

We had fun choosing ingredients. Coconut oil, olive oil, palm oil, oatmeal, goats milk, and we even had some silk. 

We added some turmeric into the mixture for coloring, but left a little bit in the bowl to add an extra boost of turmeric for a darker color splash, poured it over the top and mixed it into a pattern with a knife. 

When finished, we put the cover on the mold, wrapped it in a heavy blanket to help it "set" over night. The next day, the soap was hard enough to cut, but then we had to store them on a rack to dry and further set for about a month.

We made about three different kinds of soap, including a shaving soap. 

The last picture is our final product. These turned out fabulously!

Our stache of home made soaps! These were started in October and were ready for gift-giving at Christmas a few months ago!

I hope you try it some time. Invite a friend and have some fun making your own non-toxic luscious lathery soap! 

~ Sue ~

I didn't know what to expect, but I entered the "mini-classroom" at a local Photo Shop, with young and well, not so young learners with their tools laying on the table in front of themselves. Some of them seemed mighty proud with their large telephoto lenses displayed, and I uneasily slid into a seat with my camera still hidden in my camera bag. Not only that, I saw everyone with note paper, and I forgot mine. Nice.... So I had to get up again and go out to the lobby to ask for a few sheets of paper. Ok, now I'm ready. I eventually had to take my camera out to see what the teacher was referring to on my camera compared to the slides, and I realized that my Canon Rebel was a fine camera after all. Sometimes size isn't all that important.

During cless, I had a brief conversation with the woman sitting next to me during break time, and the little tip she gave me in a matter of minutes turned out to be literally a year long commitment, the 365Project. (a link to my page!) I went home and looked it up and found the photo sharing site that is sort of like social media, but a little more sophisticated, and you can't just post what you had for dinner that day, unless you include the picture of it. I decided right then to commit to taking one picture a day, and posting it. So far I have kept up. I do take a picture every day, but sometimes can't post it. But pictures now have the dates embedded, so at least I can still post it to the date it was taken. It is a great place to learn also. Any question you have about photography can be asked or has already been asked here. I love it. Will I see any of you there? 

So maybe I should share a picture? Seeing that I love coffee, I decided to take a picture of just that. Here it is!

I've always had a desire to be creative, and in between the studious bouts that consume me, I return to balance with something that gives me immediate gratification, like beading, or more recently photography.

Today I was at a book store, reading about photos in blogging.

I suppose a latté would have improved on that already satisfying moment, but that didn't happen. I particularly like the endless photo apps on my phone and a few tricks I've learned from a photographer friend. Many thanks, Chip!

Another slippery slope.

Pictures from food to plants, birds & body parts. Sometimes I enjoy capturing every day beauty through that old "rose colored glass" or whatever suits me at the moment. Hipstamatic, Photoshop Lite, Tilt Shift Generator, or nothing at all.

It's all good, and all fun.

A great escape or diversion from the everyday routine. What is your passion?

Six tea bags brewing; 4 black & 2 ginger-peach. Prior to this step, I boiled 3 quarts of water, then added 1 cup of sugar & boiled that for 10 minutes, & then transfered this to my jar as you see here

Kombucha!

After a few years of developing a taste for this healthy elixir, and spending between three & four dollars a bottle, I ran across some YouTube videos where various cooks in the kitchen were brewing their own potions.

Intrigued & hopeful of saving a few pennies, I watched many of them, but being a little confused, I put it on the back burner. Haha, no pun intended. Getting past being grossed out by the "mushroom" aka "baby" aka "mother" aka "SCOBY," means

"symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast," which is a "living" complex.

Adding my SCOBY, a "gift" from a friend.

 Lovely...

I really was bent on giving this little experiment a try. Getting your "hands on" the essential scoby is kind of like finding someone to give you a starter for that "friendship" bread or "amish" bread. Same concept. This too, was my first experience "handling" this little jelly-like fungus-like rubbery-like mass. I welcome any of my friends to lend me a "hand!"

This is a gift that keeps giving. And a real gift it is...

Adding 4 oz. of store-bought Kombucha.

The nutrients in Kombucha appeal to all those looking for real cellular health. The benefits are well worth the not-so-troublesome preparation.

What are some of the acclaimed benefits of Kombucha?

• enzymes
• probiotics
• glucaronic acid (a detoxifier; and building block of hyaluronic acid)
• folic acid
• lactic acid (good kind)
• several B Vitamins
• restores pH of blood
• stimulates immune system
• modulates blood sugar
• aids digestion

 ... and a plethora of other reported evidence. In fact, famous Russian dissident & Nobel Prize winner, Alexander Solzhenitzyn believed that it was Kombucha that as an adjunct to radiation & chemotherapy, restored his health from cancer. See here how Kombucha was used for cancer in the Soviet Union. This article is a goldmine of information & instruction on making your own brew: 

____________________________________

Covering my brew for it's eight day fermentation process.

Kombucha

The Folk Remedy That Can Prevent Cancer
What it is, How it works, and How to prepare it
By Stan Russell

____________________________________

But where is a scoby when you need one?! With the help of a Facebook friend who gave me my scoby and a link to a website, The Jeub Family, and a Twitter friend who gave me tips, I was on my way.

It's really quite fun. I noticed that my husband is getting a kick out of my facebook posts sharing my proud, new endeavor, and today he wrote on someone's wall,

My brew after 8 days. WooHoo"we have stuff fermenting and growing all over the place... was a time we made wine and beer... now sprouts and kombucha... alas how things have changed."

All kidding aside, he really enjoys it, and is the first one to volunteer. Well, he is coerced to volunteer!

Bottling my first batch of brew. Looks good to me!

I removed my scoby after eight days, and began bottling my brew. You can see a little fizz there! Not everyone likes that, but I do. I was advised to leave it sit out for a few days to increase fizziness, and then refrigerate it.

I saved about four or five ounces to store my scobys in the fridge for the next batch, and bottled the rest.

My new supply of fresh Kombucha. I ended up filling the bottles a little more by partially using up one bottle, and then drinking the rest! My new scoby is on the right.

Here it is,

my first batch! CHEERS!

This is Chris, the awesome Chef at The Urban Frog Deli in Green Bay, WI. Chris is brewing up some tasty fresh juice, and loving every minute of it!

Happiness!

This is a BIG deal for Green Bay.

There is NO Trader Joes, & NO Whole Foods.

We have here just a few stores with limited stock of sought after pesticide-free fare.

This particular day, these vendors all came together to promote a newly forming co-op here, The New Leaf Market. I'm new to co-op activities, but was elated to see the effort and availability of quality foods from consciencious farmers and individuals committed to goodness. And heavenly smelling home made soaps? What's NOT to love!

Heavenly homemade soaps...Along with the veggies, we decided to add a couple of organic chickens and a couple pounds of ground beef. What can I say... I enjoy meat! Not that I'm a firm believer in the blood type diet, even though I'm an "O" and happen to eat meat.

Oh, I enjoy my veggies, salads, and of course my juicing. There is not a day that goes by without them.

Organic peas, raisins, radishes, & zesty radish sprouts.

I'm sure this is not new to many of you, but the bounty of carefully & thoughtfully nurtured food & crafted goods was a treat. One that we must never take for granted.

To ensure our food safety, you can help by going to HealthFreedomUSA.org  and having a voice in promoting good, clean, untainted & chemically sprayed food.

To Your Health,

~ Sue ~

Maybe it's the comfort, the bonding, the general cheeriness, maybe it's the smell...  ahhhh....

I've always liked the smell of coffee.

This morning my husband and I tidied up the house a bit , grabbed our reading du jour, and made our ritual stop at a local Starbucks. I often take one of my health related books, but today I picked up my new issue of Artful Blogging, and I couldn't put it down.

Just like the last two issues.

I'm kind of a blogger wanna-be. I guess that's why I picked it up in the first place. It wasn't what I expected. I was looking for maybe a book like "Blogging 101" or "Blogging for Dummies" but when I saw all of the eye candy in Artful Blogging, I was drawn to the colors and creative imagination in it. Not sure of how it could help my blogging prowess yet. I thoroughly devoured that particular issue, but then reluctantly & painfully put it back on the shelf. Thank you Barnes & Noble.

The very next weekend I went back to the book store and picked up the same issue, paged through it again, and this time? I bought it. Like a kid in a candy store. I am hooked.

The issue I was perusing today was my third purchase of this magazine. There's an abundance of tantalizing articles in this issue, but what really spoke to me was the piece about Blogger, Kelly Lish. Her story of health challenges stirring the pot of her talent. Ahhh yes, I can relate.

She states,

"Some of us are lucky enough to get a wake-up call --- a reminder that this existence here on earth is only temporary, and that time is fleeting. Life is too short to hold anything back and to allow in fears of failing." Her blog is Kelly-loveismyreligion.blogspot.com

Upon further reading, her wake-up call came in 2007, where her attention had to focus on some health issues, the same year as my wake-up call of breast cancer. So it hit close to home for me, and I really perked up then. She adds that "You go for it! You give it your all and you soak it all in."

So that sounds really good to me, and I will try to do exactly that. Indulge in a few more passions; More blogging, more beading, and maybe even more photography!

Thank you for the priceless inspiraton Kelly!

Be sure to pay her blog a visit, and see her fabulous art!

To Your Health,

~ Sue ~

Wheat Sprouts in three days!This is the picture I took after only three days, and they are ready to eat! These sprouts are very sweet... ok, for sprouts that is! Yes, a little "green" tasting, but these little things pack on the protein, about 8 grams per 1 cup serving.

There is SO much nutritional value to these, I swear you could live on these and water! I don't know if I would care to experiment with that though!

I found another site Good Sprout News, that has a wealth of nutritional information on it. Seriously, check this one out. You will see that this food is like manna from God.

So, what are you waiting for? Try it and share your experience!

To Your Health,

~ Sue ~

DESCRIPTION:
Eucalyptus opens your pores and clears your sinuses while enveloping the body in its warm invigorating vapors. All oils and essential oils are certified organic to the National Organic Standards Program. Packaged in 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles

See what you think!

To Your Health,

~ Sue ~