Garden’s still going.

It’s been really hot in this part of Texas and hasn’t rained very much. Wednesday was the 38th day that it has been over 100 degrees. The record is 51 days set back in 1998. As for rain, the tally ended at 56 days on July 20th and we haven’t had much since then. Because of this I am surprised that our little garden is still producing.

There are squash babies still growing and here are some that we have brought to the table. The little one loves tending to the garden, especially watering it.

In addition to the yellow squash, there are bell peppers, cucumbers, melon, and butternut squash. There’s another 10′ X 10′ square that we are in the process of preparing for our fall garden.

Basmati Rice Soap

Basmati Rice is a new scent we have been waiting anxiously to try out. It is reminiscent (such an appropriate word here) of rice pudding with spices like cinnamon, vanilla, cardamom, and a dash of rose water. The molds for these bars are recycled containers. We are very please with how they turned out.

These bars were made using the cold process method. This method uses sodium hydroxide (lye) to saponify the oils. In this bar, the oils are olive, sweet almond, coconut, and avocado. The natural glycerin is retained so skin is cleaned and left moisturized and soft instead of dried out.

“Topography” at TLC

The “Topography” colorway is made up of a light yellow-tinged green, bright red, black, purple, sea water blue, and earthy brown. Licorice Twist makes up the base yarn. It is a 4-ply wool yarn in which one ply will absorb more pigment than the other three, creating a twist effect when dyed. This skein is available at Tiny Lady Cooperative today. The colors really show up nicely on the twist.

The colors were inspired by a topographic map of a more rural area.

A color key of a topographic map would show:

Brown – topographic contours (there is no scale on the map above, but the contours are widely spaced so the terrain is relatively flat).

Green – vegetation, such as grasses and trees.

Blue – hydrographic features, such as lakes, ditches, creeks, and streams.

Red – imporatant roads and land grids.

Black – roads, boundaries, railroads, and cultural features.

Purple – shows revision changes, but is being phased out of new maps.

Goodies in the Spotted Box

When my Spotted Box arrived I wasn’t able to immediately go through it. Waiting was so difficult! It is packed full of wonderful items. A recent change the box has undergone is less packaging and I like this. The goodies in my box included a tooth pillow, toddler girl’s applique shirt, cappuccino lip balm (which I am loving!), rosewood bathsalts, watermelon foot soak, wool wash, chocolate milk bath, hair clip with a bow, ice pop finger savers, cranberry pecan granola, bracelet, activities for little one’s, photo note card, 2 bookmarks (these are going to replace the receipts I’ve been using), heart applique, bird applique, a variety of trinkets, wool blend felt, angel earrings, an unpaper towel, play clay (it’s gluten free! great since the little one follows a gfcf diet) and a gift certificate. So many good things to try out. Exciting!

The little one immediately grabbed the play clay and formed a wind turbine. He love’s them! Smell is a big factor for him and he likes the lemongrass scent. It’s a hit!

Inspired

New things to come.