Reclaims From the Resale Shops

  My friend called me up this morning, and asked if I wanted to go shopping at the resale shops-"Sure sounds good to me" I say.
   We hadn't gone in awhile now. I didn't have anything to sell but my friend had a big box full ready to go. I was on the look out for silk clothing, linen, and I always check out the men's all cotton shirts in xxl. The cottons are excellent for quilting and the silks I can use for my crazy quilting, or dye projects. I was mostly looking for neutrals that I could dye easily, but we found some gorgeous colors today instead. I don't mind a little linen either especially linen and silk which is nice for embroidery projects.
   I have my friend now looking for reclaims too-saves so much money. She does allot of beautiful embroidery and we found some gorgeous linens for her-deep purples, blues etc.
   I took a few photos, I also found one pretty silk blue tie which I forgot to add to the photos.
                    This first photo is 100% cotton shirts-these were high quality with a wonderful feel to them

This second photo is 100% silks. Love these colors. The blues and greens will work out for my under the sea crazy quilt block I am planning on doing. I only found two neutrals for dying, but I think I could dye the green too. The greens were a good find. One is an xxl mens shirt with very cool buttons too for .50 cents. The other green was a blouse and pant outfit for .50 cents as well-that made up for the couple pieces that were $3.00

These two pieces are linen and silk

I found these pieces at the two resale shops we love, and spent under $20.00 for all of it That price also included a vintage dish from Germany that I can use for a photo prop for my soaps. So a nice day out-and no more storms today.

   All is good here where I live. We had very hard rains, lightening, strong winds, and hail-but no damage. 
   Prayers for Oklahoma.

Bracing for Storms and Severe Weather

 

 Lots of thunder and lightening started early last night here, lots of rain too. It has now stopped and will start up again later this afternoon threw the night and tomorrow when the worst of it will arrive from Oklahoma.
   Prayers for those that have had their lives turned upside down in Oklahoma and Kansas already. 
   I moved most of my smaller potted containers under the overhang to protect them from the high winds, strong rains, and possible large hale. My tomatoes are in huge tubs so can not move those-and they have pretty strong stems already, so hoping they will be ok
     I grew up with tornadoes living in Indiana, so I have seen the damage they can do first hand-I remember those Palm Sunday tornadoes that hit a huge area near where I was living. Wow that was a really long time ago too.
   I should know more about my Mom later today. She ended up having a partial hip replacement, and soon will enter rehab. My brother has been right there with her all this time, but took yesterday off, as she was stable and was doing much better. He will find out today why they have not put her back on her dimentia medication, and will talk with the lawyer as well. We are hoping after the month or so at rehab that she will be able to return to her home, but with more caregivers on hand. My brother had found this really nice home that was up for rent right across the street from him. A couple of years ago she needed to move off of the farm so he could better watch over her. This has worked out pretty well so far.
    We had a nice visit with our friend. He just wanted some down time and a visit, so we didn't go fishing or visit state parks in the area. We did go to an annual flea market on Saturday. The guys went together and I went in with my neighbor friend-as she had a few more stops to make in town. We kept running into each other-which was fun. We even ended up at the same restaurant for breakfast-lol and the guys paid for our meal-
   My friend and I didn't get back home til late afternoon, I was looking for a few more veggie plants and came away with more sweet potatoe plants, roma tomatoes, and a few flowers. When I got home I did make my lemon meringue pie as promised-turned out soooo good. I cut the pie in 6 pieces. We had warm pie after supper-which was really yummy, and cold pie for breakfast  the next morning just before he left to go back home in northern Illinois. (my pie recipe is in my labels under recipes pie or here is the link-this is an excellent recipe from Farm Journal Cookbooks http://kathyinozarks.blogspot.com/2010/05/lemon-meringue-pie-just-out-of-oven.html )
     We have another friend and his daughter coming down this Friday-mostly to go trout fishing-which will be fun. The storms will be out of here by Wednesday and we will stay in the 70s and 80s which is good too, better than these low 90s already
   I am feeling kinda pooped this morning so not sure what I want to do with my day. I may just do some weaving, or if I get more energetic start back on my tissue paper walls in the bathroom

  Have an awesome Monday!  oh and opinions please on my new page redo--is it still easy to read or is the green too bright? thanks


     
    

Lazy Day Today

  I needed a "down" day, and today has been a nice day for that. A hazy cloudy day, not too hot, not too humid. I finished up a big soap order, made lunch for our out of state friend and hubby and then went out to my new sitting area amongst the flowers and veggies-and read my book awhile and dozed off a bit too, with miss calico kitty on my lap. so that was really nice.
    I also had washed and set up lots of hummingbird feeders this morning-as they are buzzing all over the place. So was relaxing to listen to them.
   My (86 years old) Mom fell and broke her hip yesterday morning. My brother had just retired from 35 years last Tuesday so happened to be home. He called her in the morning, no answer, so went right over to check on her (she lives across the street from him now) He had a key to get in-and found her. So she had a partial hip replacement, but with her dimentia-is very confused now. Big decisions will now need to be made for her care. So this is all a concern. 
    Our doctor finally got back to us and said nothing had changed in the blood work from last time for hubby, I am thinking of seeing if I can get his yearly cardiac visit moved up to see what he thinks. My blood work always comes back perfect except I have high cholesterol and I am on medicine for that. He says all the other numbers are low and excellent so not concerned with that. I need to see what I can do on my own to bring it down though. I don't eat much dairy, small portions of meat, have a gluten free diet so don't know what it could be. Perhaps heredity 
    I am thinking of getting energized to make a lemon meringue pie from scratch. I have fresh farm eggs, and I have lemons-so that sounds really good to me-lol
   I also just added a contact me by email button on my right column, if some of you would check that out-and tell me if it works or not-thanks.
  Enjoy your weekend!

What's New in my Kathyinozarks Soaps? Sales!

  I just put several items on sale on my etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/shop/KathyinozarksSoaps?section_id=12872070

  I have my pumpkin scrub-which is really awesome, whipped shea butter-my favorite, and even my gardeners hand scrub all on sale. Would like to make some new items but would love to sell what I have on hand first. I also put some  guest soaps on sale too. 

Thanks for looking 

I Will Mostly be--Not Around This Week

 Just wanted to drop a note that I will pretty much not be around this coming week. I am finishing up with the cleaning hopefully by tomorrow will be mostly finished. We have a friend coming down to visit from out of state sometime within the next few days, I just got in a large soap order to make up, I also need to find time to get back to clearing the grass out of my little garden spot-but right now cleaning the house is priority, and the weather has been perfect here for working outdoors instead-sigh. I guess next time I will clean on those rainy days-which I don't like to do.

    I will be popping in for my breaks to read, but won't be posting too much. Just so ya know. 

I need to pick up my fishing license too, so I can tag along with the guys fishing this week. This morning Larry and Mr. L went fishing at ha ha tonka state park for something different besides trout-in the 30s this morning-too cold for this girl-lol

Have an awesome week!

I Won a Giveaway Too

Awhile back I entered an awesome giveaway for a Vera Bradley tote bag. One of the blogs I read, thanks to Akuna for introducing me to, 2 Bags Full, was holding the giveaway.

These were so pretty, bright and cheerful that I decided to enter. Out of hundreds of entries-I won one-how fun is that?? I love giveaways both winning-which I seldom do and giving away.

  My pretty bag arrived today, found a photo of it online. So now I can't wait to use it, with all this rain-raining again today-I need some sunshine. I am not complaining too much about the rain cause no rain is worse-but I need it to stop raining for a bit so I can get my little garden ready to plant.  Thank you again to Vicki

And the Winner is----

 I have been mixing these names up off and on the last few days, we even got a last day entry too. These are all of you that entered here on blogger and also on blogster-those of you that posted on facebook thank you, and you all got an extra entry.

Congratulations Pam!!  Please pm me with your mail address and I will mail the mothers day basket off to you.

What's New in My Soap Etsy Shop?

  The first two photos are of soap I just made and listed in my shop. I tried a new soap base too all natural glycerin aloe vera and olive oil which gives the soap a light green color, and I added with it the baby buttermilk soap base which I really love. The baby buttermilk glycerin natural soap base includes buttermilk, honey, calendula extract, and oatmeal. I added in a little kaolin clay and for fragrance oil I used oatmeal-honey-milk. This is really a very creamy luxurious soap.

   I made a 5 rose guest soap set which is nice for little gifts, or gift favors for showers, bridal party, or birthdays. The frond bar soap is a little smaller than the larger bars so easy to hold for the youngsters or the elderly.

  The last soap I brought back, one of my favorite molds. These soaps all come with custom options for your choice of all natural soap base and also your custom option for fragrances.

and speaking of soap if you have not already signed up for my Mother's Day Gift Basket please do. The basket is filled with my hand made soaps, goat milk body moisturizer, and my friend Rita's lovely spring knitted wash cloths, mini's and soap bag. The last day to enter is this coming Tuesday. I will draw a name that evening. International is welcome, be sure I can get a hold of you if you are the winner. Gift basket has a retail value of $49.95

Brrrr Cold Rain and Chilly This Morning--& Upcycled Eco Garments

  Last night one of those nights with not much sleep. Read allot of blogs, and then read my civil war diary book. It rained alllll night and periods of sleet thrown in. No snow here but parts of Missouri got 4" of snow, lots of car accidents during rush hour in Springfield, Mo do to the icy roads. They could get snow today-definately a record breaker in the weather books this week.

   I had brought up all of my potted plants so they be under the overhang and covered them up too as we would be right at freezing. Took the covers off and they look safe and alive. I guess by Wednesday we will be back to "normal" in the 70s Just in time for Mother's Day looks like.

   I think I will make this into a soap making day-got in a small tray of a new soap base-all natural glycerin with aloe and olive oil. Now to decide which mold I want to use for this one, and which fragrance. May attempt the soap fizzies again too. Had never tried these so took a hot bath with my fizzies that didn't turn out-very cool in the bath-fizzes up, and makes the water real soft-nice. I also threw in one of my bath teas with herbs-so that was nice and relazing-don't know why I couldn't get to sleep last night-Probably worrying about hubby-went for our 6 month check up yesterday morning and he has some new health concerns-hoping to hear back from the doctor today.

  I also browsed on Etsy for awhile too-whenever I need inspiration for my crafts, or need supplies-I really love Etsy. So many excellent finds there, including vintage too. I ran into an Etsy store that upcycles clothing into very comfy looking dresses, etc, and purses. I may need to make me one. They are chic but I think they are country too. From a magazine I had purchased that had the silk on silk dye project-they featured many designers making upcycled garments-so this must be a fashion trend-living in the woods so not up on these things-lol  here is the shop I really liked  https://www.etsy.com/shop/CreoleSha    Love her dresses and she makes big tops like this too  If you do a general search for eco upcycled garments there is allot there for purchasing.

Some that I liked from the link I shared:

   Any of you getting cold rain, sleet, or snow this May??  have a great weekend

Reminder-please sign up for my Mother's Day Giveaway-a pretty basket filled with handmade soaps and bath items-previous post

Mother's Day Giveaway

I wanted to post this early so everyone that is interested can sign up in time for Mother's Day

 My friend on Etsy-Rita, and I are hosting a Mother's Day Giveaway. 

Rita knitted lovely spring colors of wash cloths, mini wash cloths, and matching soap bag. From my soap shop, I am including several of my handmade soaps, my goat milk moisturizing lotion, and will be adding more items threw out the week.  I chose pretty spring time soaps: hummingbird, butterfly, lavender flowers, rose.

These handmade bath items will fill up a pretty basket with handle, perfect for gift giving.

   I am hoping to master the art of making bath fizzies, but today's first attempt was not so good-lol Need to call my supplier tomorrow to see what I need to correct; so am still hoping to add fizzies.

  I will be hosting the giveaway here on this blog post, and also on my Blogster blog post-so you can comment on either blog-for the drawing I will add all the names together and choose one winner.

  International is welcome.

  One entry per person However:

 However, if you would like to spread the word and are on facebook or on another blog site-please post a link and photo (you may copy and paste for this) on your page there. Come back and let me know you have shared this giveaway and I will give you another entry chance.

The Giveaway starts now-and will end on Tuesday May 7th-Which will give me time to mail to you close to Mother's Day  So  will draw the winner the evening of May 7th Missouri USA time.

Good luck in the drawing.

 And when you have the chance, if you haven't already, we both welcome you to explore both our shops. I have also had a couple requests if this basket could be purchased if they did not win. Yes we can make up a few more baskets, which would sell for $49.95 plus shipping.  If I get the bath fizzies mastered I will add those to the basket.