Woolybuns

Small Luxuries

A bit more than a year ago, a friend offered a clearance sale on her soaps.  I know lots of people who make soap but this particular friend, Stella of Lotus Soapworks, takes her soaps to the artisan level.  They are so pretty! My skin does not like most soaps, especially the big business types.  When friends first started making their own soaps, I thought yay!  Soaps I can probably use.  But... no.  Too drying.  I have really sensitive skin, can't use make up, can't use ointments when I get poison ivy, can't use sunburn creams (holy cow that was the worst!).  My "beauty" routine has generally been limited to a good scrub with a thick terry towel after a shower.  I started that way back when I was in college studying horse management.  The skin on my face was turning kind of leathery, so I called my Dad (a doctor).  He told me to stop using soap and just scrub my wet face with a good thick towel.  I followed his advice and my face slowly returned to skin instead of leather.  So I buy really nice and thick terry towels instead of make up and skin care stuff.  And my skin is comfortable.  I still used soap on other parts of me but never my face.  And the rest of me was always vaguely dry and itchy.  And then along came Stella.  We met because of the bunnies, and she gifted me with a few of her soap and lotion samples, a very smart promotion of her then developing new business.  I used a bath bomb first and it was loaded with moisturizing stuff and was just such a delightful experience.  And it didn't leave me dry and itchy.  So I tried out some of the other gifts.  And then came that clearance sale.  Talk about a luxury treat!  I still don't use soap on my face, too afraid to try it.  But for the rest of me, I love Lotus Soapworts!  The first bar of soap I used from that clearance sale is just now at the end, so I pulled out these two bars, the green one for my kitchen sink because that color coordinates so well with the kitchen, and the pink for my shower just because I love the look.   It's a small luxury - seriously, color coordinating a lovely soap with my decor? -  but a delightful one.   

Stuff

Today was the biennial auction at spinning guild.  We donate stuff to ourselves via the guild then buy each other's stuff, as a means of stuffing the treasury so we can bring in talented mentors to teach us stuff.  And then we can make new stuff for the next auction.  It's the nicest kind of vicious cycle.  I donated one of my merino angora glitz batts, some angora, some cherry pink cormo angora roving and a white merino angora silk  blend roving.  I brought that stuff in the lovely hand made basket I won in a previous guild scotch auction. 

Now y'all know I do not need any more fiber or yarn, right?  Fiber grows in the back yard and I spin my own yarn.  But when the offering is 5 skeins (1050 yards total) of handspun natural grey shetland wool and the price is just a few dollars a skein, I had to get in on the bidding right?  So that ended up in my little hand made basket because you can't leave a fiber basket sitting empty.  And then up for bid came a hand sewn denim bib apron extra long, perfect for shearing bunnies so I had to bid on that, too.  And then there was a cute little blue and purple floral print canvas bag with inner and outer pockets, perfect for a large project bag, like 5 skeins of shetland wool maybe.  And nobody was bidding on it.  It just called out in the prettiest little voice and my bidding paddle just jumped right up to answer that call.  I think they train them to do that.  

The shetland yarn is too new for it to voice it's desire for a particular pattern, but the floral canvas bag hollered out for a project.  A ball of fawn angora I spun volunteered.  It's going to be a simple eyelet cowl or scarf, depending on how much yardage there is.   But first, it's Nap 0'clock.

Well, Hello. It's Been A While.

I just paid for another year of the blog. Kind of silly if I'm not going to use it so, here I am, blogging. How about some bunnies? Humphrey would like to meet you. He is a very friendly fella, pure German. I bought him almost a year ago, and love that he goes back to some of my old German lines on his paternal grandsire's side. His dam is unrelated to my bunnies so he is a nice mix of genetics for my herd diversity. At the moment, the only camera I have is my iPad and it doesn't do low light well. I took Humph's photo during this morning's feed time, before full daylight, so the light source is a flashlight. Meh. You make do. A new camera is on my to do list. So is a new laptop. I'm not a big fan of iPad for a lot of things. I am a big fan of the delightful little granddaughter my daughter and son-in-law gave me almost a year ago. What a joy this little bundle of busy and curious is! I will mention her here on the blog but I won't be posting photos. I don't think children should grow up in the full glare of public. I am especially not a fan of social media shaming as a way of disciplining kids. I am also a big fan of Sock Madness, that crazy, fun, inspiring sock knitting competition that is gearing up for another blast. I signed up again. Not sure where I think I will find the time for focused and intense knitting, but I'm putting that in the category of challenge rather than obstacle. Hey, this blogging again feels good. I hope to keep it up.