28 February 2009

It's the Little Things

Some days, I feel like I'm not making much progress towards where I want to be. It's too hot to garden, too hard to cook. I'm sure we all have days like that. On these days, I find it important to remember that the steps towards simplicity and sustainability aren't always large. Sometimes, doing something small, can make a big difference.

This week, I knitted a small soap saver. DH likes something to scrub with in the shower, and when his last plastic scrubber wore out, I wasn't inclined to replace it with another plastic item. This simple knitted bag does the job, and hopefully means we can use the soap up to the last bit, meaning it will last longer, and we will waste less.


Speaking of soap, I also made a new batch of soap this week. Why is it that I always wait until we're using the last bar to make a new batch, even though this will take at least another week to cure? I wasn't sure how this lot would turn out, in fact I thought I had wrecked it at one point, but it looks like it will work after all. I used the same recipe as last time, only I added some honey as well. I'm not sure if it was the honey, or the fact that I oiled the moulds (the bottom of empty 3L milk bottles) with olive oil, but this soap is far more oily than the last lot. However, so long as it sets, and isn't caustic, we'll use it anyway! The extra oil will just help the soap be a little moisturising! It's all a learning experience.

2 comments:

Sincerely, Emily said...

Hi -
I just found your blog and noticed the soap - I have made one batch of soap so I am soaking up all the recipes I can find to see what differs between then to try one I like when I make soap again. do you have a recipe posted on your blog somewhere? thanks, Emily (also starting to think about getting a few chickens so I have read some of your chicken posts too. thanks for all the the good information.

Unknown said...

That soap looks almost edible Tamara!

And the soap saver takes me back to my childhood where we used to collect all the slivers of worn-down soap (before they disappeared down the plug hole) in an old sock or stocking tied in a knot. We kids never liked to touch the soap but in it's little 'soap baggie' we used to scrub and scrub.