House Cleaning and Making Soap

I remember the days when I got my whole house cleaned in about 2 hours with energy to spare. Now it takes me about two hours, with the help of my daughter, and I'm worn out the rest of the day! Do you suppose it could be that the house has gotten bigger over the years or that I'm getting older and slower?? No matter -- my house is sparkling clean! The best part to me is when you're all done and you can stand back, look at the shiny clean surfaces, and feel a great sense of satisfaction.

I got a new toy yesterday! A soap cutter! This little baby is all stainless steel and will cut a perfect 1" bar of soap. I can't cut straight for the life of me. My bars of soap end up being bigger on one end or are all cockeyed. My new toy will alleviate that problem! And it will get good use in the next week or so as I have about 10 batches to do to get ready for a bazaar I'm in on December 1st. Plus lotion bars, milk bath, room spray, and anything else that I can fit in! Good thing I got the house cleaned because I don't here will be much of that going on until after the bazaar.

When I make soap I'm like a little kid on Christmas morning. I get all done mixing and pour it in the mold, cover it, and then try to wait. Last night before I went to bed I just had to take a peek to see what was going on under that blanket on my dining room table. It was still very hot but was in the gel phase so I knew that things were going as they should. This morning I had to take another peek. The soap was much cooler and starting to look solid. When I get home tonight I'll probably be able to unmold it and then use my new cutter. I can hardly wait! This batch is oatmeal, milk & honey and smells sooooo good! I'll post pictures tomorrow.