January 1, 2006

Start the New Year with a Contest!

Happy New Year everyone! I have decided to start the year with some excitement by having a contest.

As you may know we have a number of does who will be kidding soon, very soon. But when? Maybe the sheep know, but your guess is as good as mine, only if you guess and you are right, you WIN! I will tell you as much as I know about these girls, and we will each be armed with the same info. If you can guess who will kid first, I am offering 2 choice bars of my goat's milk soap. If you can guess who will kid first and WHEN they will kid, I offer you 2 bars plus a matching 2oz tin of whipped shea butter. Just leave your guess as a comment to this entry. Ready? Here we go with the lowdown on the does.

I took this picture about 2 weeks ago, but the gals look no different today. Here we have Emma in the front (behind the turkey!) and Febe behind her. It is Febe's first time kidding. This is Emma's second. They were put in with our buck Kong August 1.
Here is Nala. She grunts all the time and has to rock back and forth to rise from her naps. She was put in with Tucker the buck August 17. This will be her 3rd kidding year.
Here is Sarah. She was put in with Kong August 12. She's pretty big and she is always eating, like she is here. This is her third kidding year.
Here is Ma. She was put in with Tucker August 17. She kidded for the first time last year.

So here is a tip. Goats' gestation time is 5 months plus about a week. They could get bred the first day they are in with the buck, or the first week, or it may take even longer. Good luck!

Posted by roosterh at 11:48 AM | Comments (47)

December 29, 2005

Green Day

It's Green Day here today. Not only is it 40 degrees, raining and almost exposing grass under the snow, but I made 2 batches of green soap. On the left is a batch of Avocado Lane soap, made with fresh pureed avocado. On the right is Comfrey Comfort, made with olive oil infused my comfrey grown in my chickens' garden. "What?" she says in her best Martha Stewart voice. "Your chickens don't have their own garden? It's a good thing." Smells pretty herbaly in here today.

Posted by roosterh at 12:02 PM | Comments (0)

Cutting Soap

So it's the next morning and the soap is ready to cut. After I peel away the freezer paper, I am left with 2 logs, lumpy and bumpy where the folds of the paper lay.
As you can tell it is a high-tech process. Here is a mitre box I bought at Home Depot years ago for about $2, and a mud knife. I use a ruler to mark off my cuts,and then rely on the box to cut straight and even.
It has taken me about an hour to cut both logs. I like to trim all the edges for a squared-off bar. I use the trimmings to make soap balls. The soap is a little soft right now and easy to roll. Now I need to decide what to make today.

Posted by roosterh at 7:11 AM | Comments (0)

December 28, 2005

Back on the wagon

It's been a while since I have been in full soap mode. I have the week off from my full time job, and while I planned on making a batch a day, here it is Wednesday and I am on my first albeit two batches.
Instead of soap I have been organizing and cleaning. It's the time of year I take to put things together to donate to Goodwill, and immerse myself in cleaning and re-arranging things. The cleaning extends to the barn and the coops, everyone benefits!
Back to the soap. Pictured are Purely Herbal, top, a dupe of Herbal Essence shampoo with chamomile flowers and kelp for color. The bottom soap is a lavender basil blend with lavender buds. Smells pretty good in here. Each log weighs a little over 4 pounds and will make 13 bars of soap about 4" x 3".
Oh and note to self -- next time I place the soap pot containing hot melted oils on the porch to cool it to 110 degrees, make sure turkeys do not see me. I reached outside to get one pot, and they were all gathered around the pot trying to figure out what it was. No turkeys were harmed in the soap making process.

Posted by roosterh at 10:41 AM | Comments (0)

August 21, 2005

Finally made soap

Forgive me but it has been too long since I soaped. I have had this new mold for months now and no time to break it in.
I am doing some soaps for a wedding. First up is Rooster Spice. I did this first because it contains Clove EO. Clove likes to seize your soap batch =fast= so when I use it I do not discount my water (which can give a faster cure time). So, I made this one first. I am a little disappointed with the mold since the inserts do not easily lift out with pliers as advertised. I am going to have to figure this one out to make sure I am doing it right.

Posted by roosterh at 9:51 PM | Comments (2)

January 11, 2005

Soaps for Valentine's Day

Here are some soaps I have made just for Valentine's Day. They will be available for sale soon on the website, but you can pre-order if you are interested :D Send me mail

The hearts turn out to be about 2oz and the bars about 4oz.


First up, Chocolate. This is a wonderful chocolate soap, it smells like brownies. It contains cocoa butter, jojoba oil and lots of olive oil so it will be very mosturizing for February! Raw silk is also added for a smooth soap, and even smoother skin. Each soap comes packaged in a special bag.

Next up is a wonderful Rose scented soap, colored pink with Kaolin clay. This is another moisturizing soap with loads of olive oil and shea butter and raw silk again, and a nice lather. Each bar has a rosebud added.

Posted by roosterh at 6:51 AM | Comments (1)

December 13, 2004

Last Craft Show of the Year (with pix)

I did a small craft show in Brooktondale this weekend. Small, very small, it was only about 16 vendors selling everything from photographs to cherry pit pillows, handsewn bags and scarves, homemade pies and jewelry, wreaths and rugs.
And soap :D

I did a small craft show in Brooktondale this weekend. Small, very small, it was only about 16 vendors selling everything from photographs to cherry pit pillows, handsewn bags and scarves, homemade pies and jewelry, wreaths and rugs.
And soap :D
It was the smallest show I have ever done. Most purchases were made by other vendors. My biggest seller by far was Whipped Shea. That stuff is great. The one item I thought would really sell only sold one. :(

I sat by a woman about my age with a small girl, about 3 1/2 years old who was so much like my niece it made my heart ache (my niece is in Idaho and I see her only about once a year). We traded a birdfeeder she was selling for some lip balm. Her mom was selling rugs that were crocheted fabric. They were so pretty I wanted one, but the colors were so light and bright I was afraid the second they came into the house they would be trashed. She wanted to bring her daughter out to see the farm. My niece Maggie is still talking about her visit so I know this little girl will enjoy it too.
I also sat by another woman who wove rag rugs on a loom. These were excellent as well. We chatted a lot about knitting.
There was a lot of knitting going on there. I was not the only one to finish a scarf as I waited for customers. I chatted with a woman who was there selling some beautiful scarves and hats. I was eager to show off the scarf I had made the morning before in a deep red chenille.
I also met a Pampered Chef, uh, agent? Is that what they are? Anyway I grabbed a catalog and immediately saw a couple things I never knew I needed. ;-) She's local so I will look her up after the holidays. My cupboards are crowded so I can't go too crazy.
There was an article about it in today's paper. I was interviewed but didn't make the final cut for the article. Maybe next time ;-)

Posted by roosterh at 4:24 AM | Comments (0)

November 13, 2004

Recent Projects

Some holiday soaps! This one is Christmas Spice, it is a handmilled soap made from other soaps, a melange of holiday scents :D

Everyone loves mayan gold. This has curls of gold soap embedded in it, and has cocoa butter and jojoba oil for extra moisturizing. I love this recipe.

Frankincense and Myrhh. This one seized on me, fast so it was hard to do the swirl I wanted. It uses the same recipe as the Mayan Gold. I added some Ghiradelli chocolate as well for a darker color.

Mmmm. I love this scent. I wish the color of the clay came out a little more but it is nice, soothing, and subtle. Smells of green apples and pears.

Posted by roosterh at 6:40 AM | Comments (2)

August 8, 2004

Spiedie Fest

Gary bought me this tent and his mom bought me side walls. When I took down at the end of the show, I was happy to learn I could clean up and dismantle my tent faster than my neighbor, who had an EZ-Up and about 5 other people helping her. :)

Sold soap at the Binghamton Spiedie Fest/Balloon rally this weekend. Did ok despite the fact our aisle was blocked at the bus loop and folks did not have a clear path.

There were also a total of 6 soapers there. I was thrilled when people came to my tent and told me I had the best soap, and the best smells.

Met some other vendors there who really made the weekend for me. It was also my birthday this weekend.

Posted by roosterh at 12:16 PM | Comments (0)

June 20, 2004

Strawberry Fest in Owego

My first street fair Sold soap at the Owego Strawberry Festival this weekend. Despite having only 2 hours of sleep, I think I did really well. We had a pattering of rain in the morning, followed by some nice winds in the afternoon that lifted my tent canopy off the frame, but other than that everything went smoothly. It was quite a group effort. I had my stuff, and some of Kirstin's products, planters that Gary had made, plants from a friend's greenhouse and borrowed the tent in exchange for web site development.

Front of booth Right side, soaps, lotion bars and balms Left side, more soaps and gardener's soap

Posted by roosterh at 4:43 PM | Comments (1)

April 26, 2004

First weekend at the Windmill, We welcome pigs

The Windmill is a large outdoor market with Amish influence, although there are more English shops than anything else. Mine included! A friend of mine, Kirstin, has been the main impetus for getting us in to this large market. This will be an interesting adventure: seeing if our soaps will sell and if we are good sales people! The first day is typically slow but this year opening day had a good crowd til about 2 p.m. (Then I took a the chance for a quick tour of all the shops!) We did good business. My bggest seller was my Happy Hippy soap -- a blend of patchouli and hempseed oil. Kirstin sold a lot of lotion bars.	Here is the view from the front of our booth. Say hi to Kirstin!
I didn't pay as much attention to display as I did product, but it turned out ok	Kirstin paid attention to every detail
Rooster Hill welcomes pigs! This weekend also brought the arrival of a pair of 6 week old pigs, both girls and both unnamed so far. They came from a pig farm in Newfield. They quickly got used to their new home, although they are still getting used to us.	Gary with a pig

Posted by roosterh at 11:31 AM | Comments (0)