We slept in till about 8 a.m. Sunday, dressed, ate breakfast, broke camp (the temperature was about 33 degrees when we got up so we weren't in such a big hurry) and pulled out of the campground about 10 a.m.
We could have drove straight home, but there's no fun in that, and since the morning dawned bright and clear, we chose to make about a 30 mile detour north along the Blue Ridge Parkway just to see the fall color. The views were spectacular as always, and even more so on this crisp clear morning.
That wraps up the last camping trip, so onto the topic of today's post. If you remember, the purpose of this weekend's camping trip was so that Rob could attend a class on the art and science of soap making. Rob thoroughly enjoyed the class, and has been busy gathering supplies, and building some items for his foray into soap making for himself.
But first, a soap update. Here's the very first batch of Castile soap Rob made in his class, moments after it was poured into the mold....
And here it is, seven days later when Rob popped it out of the mold so it could breathe better for another seven days....
As we said earlier, Rob has spent the week ordering and gathering supplies. From the dollar store, Lowes, Amazon, other online companies, Rob has ordered a scale, base oils, Lye, fragrance oils, essential oils, and a few other odds and ends.
This weekend he has spent building two pound wood molds to pour the soap mixtures into.....
He has even built a wire hand cutter to cut the soap, and a mitre box to help keep the cuts straight.
He's even pressed into soap making service a couple of old stainless steel cooking pots to mix the lye solution in, and now he's on the lookout for old crockpots.
That's about it for today. It's a cool, rainy, dreary day here in our part of the world. A perfect day to just stay inside and read a good book.
Until next time, stay safe out there.....-R,T,&J.
Looks like you have made great progress! Try local thrift stores for the crock pot if you want a used one. I actually bought a small one at Walmart that works well. The low setting melts the coconut oil perfectly and then heats all multiple oils together nicely. I like your special cutter...mine isn't nearly so fancy! Have fun!!
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