I'll Pour: Grandma's Memories

I'll Pour: Grandma's Memories:  As I was sewing a binding on a small wall quilt, memories of my Grandma Mary Johnson appeared.  Years ago she made a quilt for me.  I gGrao...

Grandma's Memories

 As I was sewing a binding on a small wall quilt, memories of my Grandma Mary Johnson appeared.  Years ago she made a quilt for me.  Off and on, I got poked by a pin, but it took me some time to locate that pin and remove it.  In this case, the pin had a glass head.  I was able to use a pair of pliers and break the glass head and the pin slipped out easily.  A couple of months ago, my brother gave me a small quilt that my grandmother made for him.  He has had the quilt for many years.  (30+ years)  The quilt fits a twin-size bed, but not a full-sized bed.  I have a smaller bed, so I decided to use the quilt. Every once and a while, I felt a little pin-poke.  Yes, this quilt also had a pin left in it when grandma quilted the quilt.  Ha! Ha!  It was more difficult to remove this pin because it had a flat metalhead.  I had to maneuver the pin to a seam and guide it through 2 stitches.  This story is not to make fun of Grandma, but to share funny memories. I love these old memories of Grandma!  

Yesterday my granddaughter asked me why the dog's ears were sticking up like they were?  My comment back was that he had his listening ears on.  

Dawnie

Update on Whipped Laundry Butter

From time to time humans decide to take shortcuts.  Sometimes the shortcuts can work and at times the result is a complete disaster.  I made lots of soap last year.  It was just collecting dust and waiting for me to make laundry soap from it.  I made the soap  from coconut oil, lye (sodium hydroxide), water, and essential oil.  This soap was made without extra fats or colors (zero fat).  I used lavender essential oil for fragrance when making the soap.  I usually grate the soap up and follow the laundry butter recipe.  In our house, we ran out of all laundry butter and had to use store-bought laundry soap.  Due to the extra cost and extra chemicals in store-bought soap, I was in a hurry to make more laundry butter so I wouldn't have to buy more at the grocery store.  I couldn't find my salad shooter so instead of shredding or grating the soap up nicely, I chunked up the soap.  I made a double batch, where I would need 12 ounces of chunks.  I poured 12 cups of boiling water onto the chunks into a large plastic container with a lid.  I placed the lid on the soap and water and left this mixture alone for hours.  When I got a chance to work on the soap again, the water was cold and the soap chunks had melted into the water.  I added 2 cups of washing powder (made from baking soda) and 2 cups of 20 Mule Team Borax to this mixture. 

I blended a few minutes (2-8 min.) with my stick blender and it whipped up and thickened.  I wasn't sure if the whip would go down or not so I was hesitant to pace the soap into containers.  I did it anyway and it stayed nicely whipped.  I have since made 3 more batches and this still works fine.  The amount it makes depends on the amount of air whipped into the mixture.  This last batch made 7.5 quarts.  I am very happy to find that this shortcut worked!  If you try this and it works for you, let me know.  Thanks for viewing this post!  Dawnie

It's Just Me

When you were growing up, you didn't always understand what grown-ups were saying.  You tried to say the words correctly so you could be understood.  My youngest granddaughter is the same way.  We were in the bathroom getting ready to go somewhere.  She was pushing me away from the sink saying "It's just me.  It's just me.  It's just me."  I knew it was just her.  Why was she pushing me away from the sink so she could be in front???  Then it occurred to me.  She was meaning to say excuse me.  I have had the giggles several times just thinking about this.  

I hope you have a great day!

Dawnie