Something new!

What a surprise! I took a break and sat down at the torch.

I was inspired by the photographs we took for Tina's new book, The Essential Herbal - By the Hearth. We visited the oldest home and meeting house in Lancaster County and took pictures of their walk-in fireplace.

We had a salt-glazed jug on the table and I started thinking about making a vessel in that shape.

This what I wound up with:I was pretty pleased with the results. They aren't perfect, but for a first effort, they actually looked a lot like what I had envisioned.

There is a special offer going on right now on the sale of the book - 20% off and an entry into a drawing for a number of prizes.

As of now, the item I have made for the drawing is a bracelet I call "Winter White."
It is a big favorite of mine as I have made this type of bead in different shapes over the past couple of years. I love it because it is so neutral and "classy."

The other bracelet choice I offered her is called "Snow & Ice:"
It reminds me of a snowy night under a full moon. Tina chose the Winter White, so I will have to put Snow and Ice up on my website.

Here's the cover that inspired me:
If you have any interest in herbs, this is a great book! I did the layout and really enjoyed reading through all the articles, even though I have seen them all before. It supplies so much information to keep your family happy, healthy and well fed and so many ideas for projects to take you through the fall and winter while you are enjoying the snuggly feeling of being "By the Hearth."

A Magic Garden

We went to visit a friend last evening, and one of the things we did was to tour her garden by candle light. I wish my camera would have been set properly and that I would have taken more pictures because it was truly enchanted, but I can show you a few of the whimsical sights we saw.

Many parts of the garden were lit by candles in hurricane chimneys and it was lovely. Everywhere we turned, we saw another inviting vignette. This spot was lit by little blue fairy lights....
This is an old clawfoot tub in the middle of her garden, it has been converted into a fountain and the trickling of the water added yet another dimension. It looks as if it has almost been overtaken by the Virginia Creeper.
What a fun evening. It is easy to see the love and creativity she puts into her gardening, with a birdhouse tree and her herb garden, much of it in varying shades of gray shimmering in the candle and moon light.

She is a bit south of us and in a slightly warmer mini-climate, so she has drifts of blooming rosemary on the southern wall of her home. It is an unusual sight for us because our winters are just a bit too cold to successfully over-winter the tender perennial and hers grew to an unusually large size...

She always seems to have a wonderful spread of delicacies to entice the palate and during this part of the evening, we enjoyed our choice of two wonderful cakes and hot wassail in her screened-in porch while the garden sparkled outside under the hunters' moon... The whole effect was magical.

A September to Remember!

The last month will be the September to remember - not that there haven't been other memorable Septembers, but this one was a doozey!

It seemed we were working feverishly to play catch up all month. Apparently for all the bad economy news, the tourist season is in full swing and that is our bread and butter. We sell to a lot of tourist stops and they were ordering like crazy.

We had started the month with full shelves... plenty of soap that would have lasted us well over a month in normal times.

Even though we tried to keep up with the demand, replacing the soap weekly (it seemed) we were having a hard time finding properly aged soap to send out!

The very last weekend of the month was one of our rare outside events.. a master gardeners' symposium that we always enjoy, whether we sell a lot or not and the following Monday and Tuesday was our only wholesale show of the year.
Somehow we got everything done and appeared somewhat collected for both shows.

We returned home on Wednesday, pulled the orders from the show that were for immediate delivery. When we surveyed the shop, we were shocked to find the soap shelves practically bare!

While we were busy at the shows, my dear husband made us 10 new soap molds. Now we were no longer limited by our original 8 molds. So, we got busy and prepared for our most ambitious soap day ever.

On Wednesday, we prepared. We weighed the fats, set up all the extra ingredients and prepared the lye for 8 batches.

On Thursday morning, we made 8 batches and I immediately put on lye for an additional 8 and we again set up the batches we had planned. Around 4 in the afternoon, we made the other 8 batches.

In Friday, we cut 16 batches of soap and are well on our way to having everything completely restocked! One more good soap day and we should be set - famous last words!

Beautiful Morning, Beautiful Day

Yesterday, we started out bright and early for a day as vendors in Lebanon at a Master Gardeners' symposium. The sky was like a painting by Maxfield Parrish - all pinks and golds and blues...

The moon had not yet set, and the sun was coming up in a blaze of red... It was gorgeous and certainly put me in a fabulous mood to begin the day.

We had set up the night before, so all we had to do was make the short drive to the venue, walk in and wait for the customers to get there.

I had brought both my soaps and my jewelry. We even added a special soap we had been making for one of the gardeners. We met him at this event last year and he has some great ideas for a unique additive and we've been trying it out in various soaps for him.


I brought all my jewelry and it sold nicely along with the soaps and body products.

This is a close up of my current vessels and teapots. I think almost all I have at the moment are in this tray.

I really enjoyed going back to this event. Getting to know the people who run the show has been a fun experience and we enjoy seeing everyone there.

Today is a day of rest (!) and preparation for our 2 day wholesale show tomorrow and Tuesday.

Then it'll be back to the regular day-to-day with no more shows on the horizon for a long time.

Through the County

A pictorial today - of some of the things we see while on our soap deliveries through Amish country in Lancaster County.

We were waiting at a customer's roadside stand while two huge bus loads of people (one of them from Germany) enjoyed their visit and left. While we waited we saw some of the sights through a tourist's eye.

Fist, down the road came the clop clop of a horse-drawn buggy.So picturesque as they drove along in front of the corn drying in the fields before it is cut to fill the silos in the background.

After it passed, I looked and noticed it was a "pick-up buggy."There was a big old express wagon in the back. Sometimes they are connected to the back of buggies and used as trailers.

I turned to the garden of our customer and noticed as always it is neat as a pin - and now cleared and waiting for spring planting.And as I turned to the left, I noticed the row of various types of martin houses - or apartments - natural mosquito deterrents since mosquitoes are a favorite food of the birds.Such a beautiful county we live in.... full of wonders we often times overlook.

To Market, To Market

Our son is home from grad school for the weekend and it seems that we have developed a tradition of going in to Saturday's Central Market in Lancaster whenever he is home. We usually get yummy bread and some scones along with whatever fruit is in season. His big purchase is a burrito from Senorita Burrito.

The market is undergoing some massive renovations so, today, as we wound our way through the torturous aisles, we came upon a woman holding a bunch of a plant that was completely new to me. It turned out to be "Oscar Milkweed." I'll have to do some research to find out exactly what this is, but for now, the common name will do!

I was captivated by the large globes hanging on the branches. The woman directed me to the stand where she had purchased her treasure and I swiftly lined up to buy the next to last bunch available.

From what I understand, these will dry beautifully, although I forgot to ask whether they should be hung or if they will just dry in a vase like hydrangeas. I'll give it a shot just like they are. They sure look better than the three year old dried sea oats that sorely needed to be replaced!

One of my main plans is to dry them, hoping to get a few seeds to scatter around our pond next spring!

If it all works out, I should have plenty for years to come!

The Birth of a New Soap

Some of our soaps will be perennially popular. Lavender, for example is a constant best seller.

We are always refining our line of soaps - testing new fragrances trying to find new and exciting varieties to add while dropping some of the older, less popular types. Taste in soap fragrance and look apparently ebbs and flows just like with any other product.

This spring, we made four sample batches with some new fragrances we thought had potential. We gave the scents time to mature in the soap to see how well they "stick" and also to make sure the fragrance stays true with time. We had friends and relatives weigh in with their reactions and then finally we made our decision.

My sister and I tend to favor very different fragrances and when we agree on one, it must be very special. This year, the fragrance that knocked our socks off was "Bamboo & Champaca" and we decided it was a winner.

The fragrance is very "fresh" with an undertone of tropical flowers. It would be considered a spa-type fragrance and I must say that the one in my own shower makes me feel quite pampered. It reminds me of a vacation we took years ago to St. Thomas where the shower was open to the outdoors and a flowering vine tumbled into the stall with me!

As with all our soaps, the base is moisturizing to the skin and makes mounds of fragrant bubbles.

A Soap Day

When we have a "soap day" around here, it really means a good 24 hours of time. First we decide which soaps are needed and we prepare the lye and allow it to cool for a few hours while we assemble all the individual additives and special ingredients for each soap.

Everything is laid out for each batch and the molds are lined.

After the lye has cooled, we go to town making the soap itself. With everything prepared ahead of time, we can usually get through 8 batches in about 2 hours.

Yesterday afternoon, we made 8 batches of soap. Here, you can see the molds for seven of them full and ready to be tucked away for the night. We usually throw a towel over them to hold in the heat and encourage them to "gel." The eighth batch was goatsmilk soap and it needs to spend it's overnight in the refrigerator to avoid over heating.This morning, bright and early, we turned the soaps out of the molds and here they are on the table, waiting to be cut.First, the slabs are cut into logs.Then the (short) logs are cut into separate bars.
The feeling of satisfaction when the shelves are reasonably well stocked is great. They will stay there for at least two weeks to continue their cure.
Of course, by the time these soaps are ready to be sent out, we will have already begun restocking those that they have replaced...

Jewelweed for Happy Wanderer

And the harvest goes on. Many of our soaps are "just for pretty", but some of our soaps are more practical.

Happy Wanderer is one of those. We add jewelweed and plantain, both of which are said to help with the itch and misery of poison ivy or mosquito bites.

We harvest both the plantain and the jewelweed and process them with olive oil. We freeze this "glop" in batch sized quantities so we will be able to make the soap all through the winter and early spring. We add this mush to our soap, along with lavender essential oil and tea tree oil. Both of these oils are helpful in preventing infection and the lavender is soothing as well.

The herbs are only available to us in summer, but people can be exposed to poison ivy all year 'round. I probably got my worst case of poison ivy when we were cutting brush and small trees in the early spring and I carried logs covered with (unbeknownst to me) dried vines. Mosquitoes are active very early in the spring as well.
This is a picture of jewelweed in the late summer, early fall, when it is in bloom. We try to get it a little earlier when the stems are still thin and not woody. The stems are full of a gel-like substance that helps with bites and itches. When sunlight shines through the stems and refracts on the water droplets that form on the leaves and especially when the plants are in bloom with their orange-yellow flowers, it just sparkles and I understand where the name Jewelweed comes from.

I learned about jewelweed many, many years ago when, as a Girl Scout, I was camping in a "primitive" camp site (built in a swamp-like area) and became covered with bites. Jewelweed grows in the same conditions where mosquitoes breed and we were told to pick it and rub it on our bites. It helped quite a bit.

Any good "real" soap will help somewhat with poison ivy. First, it will help with prevention because it can dissolve and wash the oils of the plant away.

If you haven't caught it before the reaction sets in, lather it on and let it dry. Then wash off and it will still help to dry the rash.

Harvesting for Soap

Along with all the vegetables loading our harvesting baskets this time of year, there are some special ingredients we need to stock up on for the year of soap making ahead.

Right now, bayberries are ready for gathering. We render them down for the wax that coats the seeds and add a bit of it to each batch of our bayberry soap.

My husband planted a few of the bushes about 4 years ago and they are finally starting to produce, but meanwhile, we have a spot where we gather them every year. We have found that we need to get there early because if we don't there are birds who love bayberries and one quick visit by a flock will strip the plants completely.

We do a pretty good job ourselves as we pick our way into the bushes, defying spiders, avoiding grasping branches - all the while trying not to drop any of the precious little balls of wax. The berries cling in clumps along the main branches and we have to hold the basket right below as we coax them from their perch.

We're not sure why (heat, drought, birds?) but this year, it seemed that someone may have beaten us to "our" berries although we still got enough to probably last us. Each year we seem to sell more and more of the soap that we once thought would be seasonal. Now find our customers want it all year around. Bayberry has a certain historic quality to it and the museums we supply are finding it popular as well.

On the way home from yesterday's exploits, we were contemplating the lush growth of bayberries along the Delaware shores and thinking of taking a quick trip to collect a goodly amount.

Dreams of bushels of bayberries with enough wax left over to make a candle or two is enough to probably push us over the edge!

Cucumber Blog Party!

While we're at it, cucumbers seem to be producing at an all time rate around here and I'm running out of ways to use them!

I asked my friends to join me in a blog party to collect some new recipes. See the bottom of this post for a whole list of blogs with a great variety of recipes for all those cucumbers.

My contribution is this tasty, recently rediscovered side dish that I used to make years ago:

Creamy Cucumber Salad
2 medium to large cucumbers
1 small (2" diameter) onion
1 C Sour Cream (or 1/2 C. Sour Cream, 1/2 C. Mayonnaise)
2 T. vinegar
2 T. sugar
salt
Peel, core and thinly slice cucumbers. Spread out on a shallow dish and sprinkle with salt. Leave slices on platter for about 20 minutes to draw excess juice out.
Drain and place in medium bowl.
Add thinly sliced onion.
Mix together the sour cream, vinegar and sugar.
Pour mixture over cucumbers and onion and mix well.
Chill and allow flavors to develop.

This usually makes about a quart of the salad. It can be used as a side dish like cole slaw. My husband just loves it and can sit and eat most of a batch at one sitting! Okay, two.

I would think that this is a PA Dutch recipe because of the sweet sour flavors, but I think the first time I ever ate it was in Ohio and it was an old family recipe.

More Cucumber Recipes:

Becky's Cucumber Cocktails

Tina's Cucumber Lime Salsa

Cindy's Tzatziki

Janiece's Tomato Cucumber Salad

Nancy's Chilled Cucumber Soup

Karen's Cucumber Dill Sauce

Beth's Cucumber/Watermelon Salad

Zucchini & Orzo Salad w/Basil

If you're growing them, you're trying to find something to do with them or you will be soon.
If you aren't, you may start finding them on your porch in the morning....

I'll admit, I've never felt the need to grow zucchini, but I've often been gifted with them and found ways to use them. This salad is probably one of my favorites.

I'm not sure if I had even tried zucchini before, but many years ago we were participating in the Landis Valley Herb & Garden Fair.

It was in the early days of the fair and Fridays were a by invitation only affair for the press and special friends of the museum. On Friday night, May wine was served along with a various little canapes.

On Saturday, lunch was catered and as (some of the few) vendors, lunch was free to us as a little something extra (for our $35 table fee!) One year, this salad was the main course and I loved it. I tried in vain to find the recipe and actually picked up a few other good ones along the way, but for some reason, the original was finally published in our newspaper and I was sure to copy it down. I hope you will enjoy it too!

Zucchini & Orzo Salad w/Basil

4 Med. Zucchini, coarsely grated
2 T. Salt
2 C. (packed) fresh basil
½ C. Olive Oil
3 med. garlic cloves
8 C. chicken broth
1# Orzo
¼ C. fresh lemon juice & zest
ground black pepper
1 C. imported Kalamata olives
Basil sprigs

Drain Zucchini in colander. Sprinkle with 1 T. salt. Let drain 30 min. Stir or shake twice. Squeeze dry. Transfer to large bowl. Fluff with hands to separate.
Place basil & olive oil in processor 1 minute, drop garlic in and blend.
Add Zucchini to basil mix.
Bring chicken broth to boil in medium saucepan. Stir in 1 T. salt and orzo, return to boil. Simmer 10-15 min. ‘til orzo is tender. Drain.
Stir all together and cool to room temp.
Just before serving, stir in lemon juice and zest (if desired) Season with pepper. Garnish with olives and basil sprigs.

For more zucchini recipes, visit my friends:

Becky - Zucchini Fritters
Tina - Zucchini Bread Recipes
Patricia – Stuffed Zucchini
Karen – Zucchini Pizza
Cindy – Calabacitas
Beth – Zucchini Brownies

Next, Cucumber!

A String of Blue Beads

So, I said I'd show you what I did on the torch last week when the weather was so temperate.

I made a few other things, but this set is my favorite.

The base is a very pale transparent aqua and the flowers and vines are a pale sky blue. They're pretty right out of the kiln, but I etched them so the design shows up more clearly and they appear to glow from within.

I can see them made into a bracelet to be worn on a tan wrist. Perfect for the summer.

Where did I get the name? One year for Christmas, when I was about 7 or 8, one of my gifts from my parents was a book called A String of Blue Beads. I think the theme was something like The Gift of the Magi. I always remember that gift because for some reason it made me feel very special. It may well have been the last Christmas our parents were together and it was a nice memory.

A Stinky Post!

Look what I harvested today!

Last fall one week, we played hooky from "our" market and visited another nearby market. Lo and behold, one of our fellow vendors was set up there too. He had some lovely garlic bulbs and I asked about growing them. He explained the process and so I took them home and planted them, really expecting nothing.

When the snows melted this spring, I went out to see what was happening around the yard and - there they were! Green shoots where we had planted the single cloves.

I cut the scapes and used them when they "bloomed" and waited. When I was out weeding and tying the tomatoes the other day I noticed that the foliage was looking yellowish and wondered if this was the cue to harvest.

I checked with Tina's Yahoo list and was told they are ready when the first few sets of leaves were dried up. Then, I was given instructions to dig, not pull, them and then to hang them in an airy place where they could cure.

I waited until the heat returned today(!) and decided it was time to dig them. I couldn't wait to see how they had fared.

You can see my harvest above. What a thrill! No more garlic in a jar for us.

The tomatoes will be ready soon, basil is producing profusely, now we have our own garlic. We'll be eating a lot of Pasta Fresca this summer. (Recipe from "Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home") Heck, I might even have to make my own mozzarella!

I have them bunched and hanging in the shop. They may have to be moved outside. Don't want the soap to pick up their "scent."

I actually did manage to get to the torch during our brief spell of gorgeous temperate heat and low humidity weather and I will post the results soon.

PA Dutch/Mexican Beads!

This should be from Cinco de Mayo, but these beads only appeared in the past few days, so ... better late than never!

I started out with an idea... bright colors on a black background, inspired by a set of beads in a gallery online.

At first, looking at this "set" of beads, I thought, PA Dutch. But, as I looked at the a little longer, I was reminded of the beautifully embroidered Mexican blouses. Usually, the designs are on unbleached muslin, but sometimes on black... So, these are my PA Dutch/Mexican beads! It made me think of my lampworking friend, Rachel, who is of Mexican descent and how when we get together (me being PA Dutch), fun and pretty things result.

One of the beads that came out of this effort was a cone bead. I plan to string it as a pendant with a cascade of other beads of the same colors coming out the bottom. This may give you an idea of my plan.

The entire "set" shows the cone bead along with a couple of multicolored florals, then a leaves and hearts bead. The last five beads on the strand are leaves with flowers - in pinks and turquoises.

Click on the picture for a better look.

I have a pretty good idea of what I will do with the turquoise flowered beads. They remind me of Forget-me-nots and I want to make them into a bracelet along with a stamped link...

I'll have to do a follow-up post when these are finished.

The last few times I torched, it was really for a swap I am involved in, but these beads are somewhat different from what I have been doing lately and they have inspired these differet ideas that I will have to keep at least the ones I talked about using.

Something else sort of different came out of the kiln too...

Thee are some nice round beads with silvered ivory, intense black, murinis and contrasting random dots.

I think these will be part of my swap project.

I'm liking them too and would like to make some actual sets like this... maybe all in one color!

Sets do seem to be escaping me lately. I'm just having fun experimenting and one thing seems to lead to another rather than just copying the same thing over and over.

Baltimore Orioles Up North

I'm excited about this! I've seen Baltimore Orioles on very rare occasions here in our yard, usually at the top of our big old sycamore tree.

Today, as I was closing a window in the shop and covering the soap, one landed right in front of me and looked in the window!

I was planning to go into the house and as I walked out, I saw him/her(?) fly out of the purple plum right outside the shop and into the sycamore. It hung around and then sort of disappeared into a glob of what looked like dried leaves near the end of a branch.

I went into the shop and got my camera to snap a picture in telephoto mode and see if it was a nest... Yes! It was. I've never seen an oriole nest in person, but have seen lots of pictures of the neat little bag they build.

From one side, it looked like some old leaves that may have gotten caught in the crook of a branch, but I climbed up the hill to try to get a better shot and this was what I got after I enlarged the picture and cropped it. I'll have to keep track of it as it is built - I think there is more to go on it to make it a secure spot for their precious eggs.

It seems to be bird day around here because this past winter, we finally lost our last Guinea hen. But this morning, Bob came home with a dozen week old chicks and set them up in a cage with a heat lamp to nurse them through the first few weeks before we can put them outside in a safe spot to become acclimated to life outside. There is a tree in the spot so they will learn to roost at night.

He also told me he has (I think) 6 silky chicks on order for next week.... Those are the fluffy white chickens. We'll be adding to the menagerie once again.

Between the loud chuck chuck of the Guineas, another few clucks to add to our chicken flock and the sweet clear call of the orioles... it'll be a noisier place around here this summer.

Return of the Muse

My flameworking muse is back - for how long, I never know.

However, the last few days, I have been inspired to sit down at the torch and create, something I haven't done since last month.

I've had a certain frit around for a long time and at some point, I made an interesting (if wonky) focal with it. The frit floated around in the middle and the ends were red - "bordello" to be exact.

I really liked it, but wasn't inspired to do anything more with it until recently. Yesterday, I made a set with it - frit on a nice neutral in Kalera shaped beads, with bordello spacers. Then I made a large lentil with the same combo. I'll post them soon.

There was a thread on one of my favorite online glass haunts about vessels and I guess that made me think about this application. The very base is bordello with a bordello neck and handles... The body of the vessel is clear with frit spattered through it.

The main vessel turned out so well that I thought it should have a special top, so I made an applied top. It's basically a blob of glass at the end of a rod, dipped in frit, then a bit down the rod, flame cut and tapered. I added a dollop of bordello to the very top and it looks like a little flame dancing on the top.

The first picture was taken inside next to a paisley curtain with very similar colors.

The second picture was taken as it hung in the window. Neither one does it justice. The bordello is a deeper red than it appears on either of the pictures.

When the sun finally appears again I may try to get a truer picture, but meanwhile, I gave up and had fun with Photoshop.... note the lens flare on the handle of the second picture!

The stopper almost fit exactly, but I wound up grinding just a bit off it. It fits very well, but I suppose if I sell it, it should have a cork option!

I'd love to make some kind of a wire stand so it could be displayed too.... Another day, I suppose.

An early spring garden

We (Tina & I) spent a lovely day on Sunday with a friend in Waynesboro, PA on Sunday. Our excuse for going to visit was to attend the Carroll County Spring Flower Show just outside Hagerstown, MD.

The flower show was a bust, but the visit was great! Sharon had a wonderful variety of delicacies prepared for our visit and we seemed to be eating a good part of the day!

It had been raining for a few days, but the weather held for us most of the day. We went out and explored her gardens, finding a number of brave little plants starting to poke through the newly defrosted ground.

This was the scene that greeted us as we approached her door:
Snowdrops! These are so often the very first flowers to pop open in the early spring, sometimes even through the lingering snow. They always make me happy knowing that spring is really on the way.

We turned a corner, and:
A sink was tucked into an out-of-the-way corner... Her house and gardens are all full of wonderful little surprises like this.

As we toured the gardens, Sharon kept noticing many things, especially birdhouses, that were the worse for the rough treatment they had received in this snowy winter and the last few very windy days before we arrived. She spent a lot of time finding things and putting them aright. One of the things was this:
A butterfly house...

So many treasures. I think we need to return a bit later to see everything after it has greened up a bit. Her garden was a much better vision of spring than anything we saw at the show and the trip and visit were a delight!

Torch Time

I got some torch time in yesterday and these were some of the best results:

I've been seeing "baleen" beads and reading people referring to "the cuts" - and "the tool", so I decided to experiment just from what I could gather instead of purchasing a tutorial. It didn't turnout too bad for a first try.

Then I thought, while I'm in the zone, why not do a moon vessel. These are always popular and sell quickly, so here's the latest:

It's better than it looks here - really a graceful shape. I should have waited to get a better picture, but just didn't have the patience today.

Resin addiction!

Okay, I'll admit it. I'm addicted to resin!

Here are the latest:
A little closer up view of the three larger charms. I tried a number of different techniques.
And the smaller ones... The top two are an experiment with trying to use tiny shells we picked up on the beach in Bermuda many years ago. I think they turned out pretty well and plan to make a pair of earrings out of them.
The Queen of Hearts was cut from a tiny deck of cards - a little glitter paste and a red jewel..

Then two "M" charms. Might as well play with my own initial for now!