Tis The Reason For The Season

Long, long ago, in a far away land, my mother and father labored over a task of love for their children, of which there are 5. How my mother got my dad to work on ceramics, I will never know. But I am so happy he did. This is a true labor of love and something my family treasures. We only see it once a year, but the memories and thoughts and good wishes it brings lasts the whole year.





Thank you, mom and dad.
I love you.

You Are Never Too Old To Learn

I have been a bit remiss in my postings. I let life get in the way. Here is a bit of what was happening in the Carson Valley. My orange painted toe nails did the trick. The Douglas High School Volleyball Team did not lose a league match this season. Yes, they won every match.

Including the Nevada 4A State Championship.



Our girls went out with a bang beating 2 teams from Las Vegas, Nevada, Bishop Gorman and Green Valley High Schools to win the title of Best Volleyball Team of the State of Nevada 2010.



It was very exciting and the result of many long hard hours of practice and conditioning. After all was said and done the league coaches pick "All League Teams". 7 of our girls made 1st team, 2nd team or honorable mention in their league. 1 girl made Player of the Year in our league.

What does that make the coach?

A coach much loved and respected. A coach who asks the girls to push it a little farther, work a little harder, but never asks more than she is willing to give. That makes the coach the COACH OF THE YEAR in our league. And she deserves it! Balancing home life, coach life, teaching life, girls, parents......quite a balancing act.

It was an incredible year. I learned a lot from these girls. Their work ethic will serve them well in their future. They made me realize I need to work a lot harder to reach my goals. That is why I am cleaning the computer room.

"Really?" says Tiger.

"What is all this stuff?"

More to follow later.

Thank You

To my dad, my husband, my uncle on my dad's side, my two uncles on my mom's side, my brother, his wife, my other brother's wife, and my dear nephew for their selfless service to our country. Without people like you we would not enjoy the freedoms we have in this vast country. You give up so much of your lives to make this world a safer place, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

A Busy Couple Of Weeks

The last few weeks have been very busy for our family. My dear daughter is on the high school volleyball team. They just played in the Northern Regional Playoffs and took first place. Yea Team! In honor of this occasion (which last happened 8 years ago), and to show my support for the team while they play for the state championship, I painted my toenails. The school colors are orange and black so....


While waiting for my nails to dry I melted up a few oils and made this.


Right now it has wax paper on it to cut down on white ash. It is a wonderful fragrance call Kauai Ginger Blossom. You can get it here. Suz from Oregon Trails Soap Supply has some killer fragrances that soap beautifully. This is what it will look like tomorrow.


You can buy it here.

After putting the soap up I finished something I started last night. I found this wonderful, easy bread recipe from this site, Noshings. She has a great blog and her photos and recipes are to die for. And yes, she makes soap, too.
I made one loaf last night, just plain. This morning I added in a few extras.




Yum Yum Good!

A Long Time Ago

in a far away land (well, across town) I took and still am taking a SEO class from Cricket Walker. I learned a lot from Cricket and her very patient helpers. She is the reason I now blog. She is also the reason I gained 25 pounds in the last few years. Cricket introduced me to a blogger one day by saying "hey check out this blog!"

I fell in love with the writer's style and wicked sense of humor. And her husband looks great in a pair of chaps, sorry but I had to say that. The blog is The Pioneer Woman. I have been reading her blog for quite a few years, I remember when she only had 1,000 comments instead of 40,000 every time she ran a contest. Ree posts the funniest and saddest stories and fabulous recipes. I always get lots of compliments when I make one of her dishes.

While visiting my mom a couple of weeks ago I stopped by my sister and brother-in-law's house, to raid their garden. My BIL can grow some serious vegetables. I left with ALL of their tomatoes and a huge bag of these beautiful red jalapeno peppers.


So......I had to make Ree's Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeno Thingies. They are to die for and with the red peppers I used they are just as wonderful. Thank you Cricket, Ree and dear brother-in-law.

First you cut them in half. Taking care not to squirt any juice in your eye.


I then take a spoon and clean out all the seeds and veins. This is what makes the peppers hot. Next time I think I will leave a few seeds in to give them more heat.


Add a dollop of cream cheese.


Wrap in 1/3 slice of bacon. These are small peppers, for larger peppers I use 1/2 slice of bacon.




Bake in a 375 degree oven for 1/2 hour.


Yum, Yum, YUM!

Every Once In A While.......

You meet a person who has the gift of giving. I don't mean they give you gifts. I mean they give of themselves. They share their passion, their knowledge, and their gift of giving.

I meet one such person through a soap making forum I belong to. I have learned so much from her blog. She does such intense research and provides an overload of information that you can't help but learn something.

Susan is a wealth of information about cosmetic chemistry. As she says, "often strange, occasionally useful, and always worth a stop as a point of interest on your journey through the Intertron." I have been enjoying my journey with her and share her obsession of crafts and the bath and beauty industry.

Now this person does not just give online. She also reaches out to children, and that is a subject near and dear to my heart. Her program is called "Rated T for Teen."
From their web page
"We provide different programs to youth at the Chilliwack and Yarrow Libraries (in Chilliwack, B.C., Canada) and most of the funding comes from the volunteers’ pockets. We offer craft groups to teens, tweens, and pregnant and parenting teens. We provide two card and board game clubs, two video game clubs, and a Japanese pop culture program, as well. We also offer parent-child crafting programs."

Part of her fundraising program has been the Aviva Community Fund Program. Here you can vote for her program to receive community assistance.

As part two of her fundraising plan, she put together a 122 page e-book entitled
"Back to Basics: Anhydrous Products."
" The book includes over 50 recipes and explanations for making lotion bars, whipped butters, balms, oil based scrubs, bath melts, bath oils, oil based sprays, solid scrubs, and facial sera, as well as all the carrier oil, exotic oil, and butter profiles and everything I've gathered about the chemistry of our oils including fatty acids, mechanisms of rancidity, phytosterols, and polyphenols."

For a $20.00 donation that all goes into the project you will recieve a e-book that you will be able to use for years. I am so excited for this opportunity to purchase this collection of facts and information AND to help her project to bring the wonderful world of crafting to their youth.

CHECK IT OUT!

A New Opportunity

I went to Sacramento, CA this past weekend to watch my daughter's high school volleyball team compete in a tournament (They came in second place). It was a fun time hanging with my family on Friday night and all the girl's parents on Saturday during the games. They started at 8:30 am and played until 8 pm. A long day, but nice to know you can hang with the big schools. I heard several comments about "that Nevada team"!

My husband and I drove down Friday and stopped at Apple Hill, CA. I wanted to check out some sites for craft shows and some year round gift shops. We stopped at Jack Russel Brewing Co. located in the Sierra Foothills near the town of Camino.

Picture is from their web site and taken by Lisa Richmond Photography

I have been wanting to try making a beer soap for quite a while. I talked to the girl serving beer and she introduced me to Dave, the owner. He was kind enough to give me a six pack of his favorite beers to do a little R & D. I have 3 different types of beer open in the fridge and I am going to make 3 unscented batches and 3 batches of scented beers. What scents do you use in your beer soaps?

It's going to be fun around here! I should have all 6 batches done by the time I return to Sacramento in a couple of weeks and I am stopping by the brewery to drop off my samples for a little tasting session. I hope they love them and want to carry my soap in their gift shop. Once those beer drinkers see how wonderful beer soap lathers I know they will be buying my soap by the boatload!

Stay tuned for lots of pictures as I venture into the realm of "Beer Soap Making"! I'll be taking notes and lots of pictures on the scents and behavior of the different brews to see which holds up the best. I am hoping the Blueberry Beer does well!