Hunting in Kentucky

Deer season has been in full swing here in Kentucky. I don't want to offend any of my followers but I also want to share my life with you just the way it is and hunting is a part of my life. It's been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. My husband hunts, my parents hunt, my brothers and sister hunt, uncles, aunts, cousins, even my grandmother hunts. She also fishes. She's the one in the bottom photo with the big catfish.

We eat what we kill and I have never hunted just for sport. My husband and I both put meat in the freezer during deer season, we use it up during the year and we're teaching our kids to hunt with the same ethical values ingrained in us. I have killed several deer including smaller bucks over the years but I killed my first big buck yesterday. I take what the Lord provides and he happened to provided me with a nice buck this time. Rick over at Whitetail Woods featured me on his blog today and I wanted to share the link. What I didn't want to do was plaster a photo of my deer on here and not give people the choice of looking or not looking at it. This is not a "hunting" blog and I realize that some people are offended by hunting photos and can happily go through their lives without having to look at those kinds of photos. I wanted to give you a choice (and send Rick some traffic while I'm at it.) No, it's not gory or anything but it is a photo of a dead deer. So with that said....for those of you who want to see, check it out.......

This is Why I have always wanted to Deer Hunt in Kentucky by Rick Kratzke

Took the Week Off

I haven't ran away, I promise! My husband and I both took the week off to get some things done around here before the holidays. We decided to get some Christmas shopping done today but as soon as we got started the school called me. Jake was sick with a high temp, throat hurting and a headache. We hurried home to pick him up. He's my "high fever" child. I'll probably be up most of the night keeping his temp down. Just wanted to check in and say Hi!

I'll leave you with a new recipe for moisturizing body butter. It's easy to make and smells wonderful!

Honey Almond Body Butter
1 oz. coconut oil
1 oz. 100% cocoa butter
1/2 Tbs. beeswax (optional)
Oil from 1 vitamin E capsule
Honey Almond Fragrance oil (Hobby Lobby)

Grate the cocoa butter and beeswax. The beeswax will make the mixture thicker. Without it the mixture is very soft, almost like lotion at room temp. It's a matter of preference how you like it. I can't decide so I have a jar of both. Melt cocoa butter (and beeswax if used) together. You can microwave it or use a double boiler. I use a canning jar sitting in a saucepan of water on medium heat (don't let the water boil). Remove from heat and add vitamin E oil and coconut oil. Mix well. Let cool slightly and add fragrance oil. Mix again and pour into container. Mixture with thicken. This is wonderful on dry hands and feet. It will feel a little oily when you first put it on but quickly absorbs into the skin and leaves it feeling very soft.

Hope you enjoy it!

A Soap Followup

Remember the cold process soap tutorial?
I made this the day after I made the Honey Almond.
This is Spicy Apple and it smells so good!

Spicy Apple Handmade Soap

I think it turned out very pretty!


And even better,


I have already sold ALL of it!

Glass Light Block Winner(s)

Contest closed! And the winner is Arlene from The Secret Flower Garden. Email me with your pick of the blocks! I have decided to give the other one away too! Whichever Arlene does not pick goes to Aimee at Diary of a Busy Mom. Email me using the "Contact Me" link in the right side bar with your addresses. Arlene, please let me know which block you want!
Congratulations ladies!!

Not Just For Soap

It's that time of year! Time to start thinking about our feathered friends who have to spend the winter outdoors in the cold!

Don't forget to try my suet recipe. I like this one because it doesn't melt if the weather turns warm. Not that it has a chance to melt once the birds find it!

I make up a large batch of suet each year to feed the birds. I was thinking about making a batch of suet last night when I happened to notice my soap mold sitting on the counter. Ding, ding, ding..don't you just love those light bulb moments!? I made up a triple batch of my suet recipe, poured it into my wax-paper-lined mold and let it sit on the counter overnight.

It had hardened up this morning but I stuck it in the fridge for about an hour to make it easier to cut. It lifted right out of the mold, no sticking whatsoever.

I peeled the wax paper off and sliced it up with a sharp kitchen knife. I tried my soap slicer but the edge was a little too blunt to go through the seeds and peanuts.

They turned out so pretty, I decided these would be adorable additions to baskets I am making for friends for Christmas. I have several bird lovers on my list! If you don't have a soap mold, you can use lots of things as molds. Orange juice boxes were a favorite to use before I made my soap mold. I also used those little sandwiches boxes for your lunch you can get for $1 at the dollar store.

I made up some cute little labels.

Then I wrapped my suet cakes in plastic wrap and hit them for a second with my heat gun to make them look nice and there you have it, homemade suet treats for your friends, your birds and your friend's birds! This batch made 12 suet cakes.

Don't forget about the glass light block give away!