rawwwwther pleased with ourselves
we’ve had a mad rush on soap lately, and of course, like everyone else, we’ve only got two hands apiece and seven days a week.we were pushed to desperate measures yesterday….yes, on a sunday!…..we got up quite early and started soaping with only a couple of coffees under our belts, and pumped out a full [...]
cats that never stop posing
this is the sort of neauseatingly adorably cute display we have to tolerate day in and day out around here.don’t tell me it isn’t all deliberate and attention-seeking. how cute are those fat little marshmallow toes? agapanthus (fat panda) and pukeko, all streeeetched out and relaxing.
kipfler potatoes and greens
scrub a decent handful of kipflers per person. dry them, oil them, salt them, bake them whole in a hot oven, so the skins crisp. while they are baking, chop some flat-leaf parsley, some basil, some sundried tomatoes, scallions, garlic. make a thick vinaigrette with red wine vinegar, avocado oil, sea salt, black pepper, a [...]
pandora radio
this is my new favourite thing:http://www.pandora.com a fully-customisable, personalised, nonstop, online “radio” that plays within the browser.it’s a great way to discover new music and there is no DJ yapping at you. some of my favourite “stations” so far:the ames brothersbic rungaeartha kittthe sleepy jacksongoldfrappshirley bassey if you discover anything FABULOUS on pandora, please please [...]
yungaburra market
today was a PERFECT market day!absolutely gorgeous weather….after some heavy mist in the very early morning, the sky cleared to a cloudless sunny blue and the temperature was just right. we moronically left our entire cash float at home and were so hemmed in by cars and tents that i had to wake up my [...]
jungle rebel essentials
from the computer of miss gayle’s son, neville.i showed him my bali soap pix and asked for his thoughts.i’m still laughing over this.
smartphones
a few years ago, i owned no technology more advanced than a pencil and a piece of paper.my good friend, damian, gave me a mobile phone he was finished with (due to an upgrade) on the grounds that nobody could really run a serious business without a mobile phone. o, how i resisted and kicked [...]
fastest cutting session ever.
we are getting very slick at cutting soap.i avoided it for years, but lately it seems easier to just do it ourselves, rather than mess about with staff.today’s session saw us averaging 6 minutes per 100 bars.that’s not bad : to unmould, cut into logs, trim, cut into bars, stack on racks and take to [...]
soaping in the dark
we started soapmaking in the late afternoon, yesterday.laaaaate afternoon. first soap up is a layered thing that requires military precision and operatic timing and balletic balance.seriously.we call it the divorce soap because we never know if our marriage will survive making it. so, we make the first batch and it gets split and poured into [...]
anzac day project
i picked these today…..there are about thirty kilograms of chillies out there to harvest.here’s the real joke: they are all self-sown from last year.we planted a few types of chillies and they just went mental and took over.these are a bit past their prime, but will be fine for sauce.i think tomorrow will be chilli [...]
hard vegetable salads
someone asked me, what IS a hard vegetable salad?a salad with a gun and an attitude?not so.it’s a salad based on hard vegetables: carrots, celery, fennel, capsicums, onions.we’ve been living on these things lately.a few days on salads certainly make you feel frisky and clear-eyed and sweet-breathed. firstly, i get some baby rocket and baby [...]
domain names
today, i recalled that last december i managed to buy www.pattiflynn.com it simply was not available when i first went domain-name shopping, so i grumpily/huffily took the hyphenated version and made do the best i could. i’ve emailed the nice people to ask them how do i go about hooking both domain names together….that hyphen [...]
personality types
last night, i was chatting to a soapmaker friend in denmark and she brought up this personality test:http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.aspi took the test, 70-odd questions, and came out as an INFJ.what rare and elusive beasts we INFJs are….i had no idea.this bit especially resonated with me: On the other hand, INFJs operate within themselves on an intuitive [...]
my brother on front page of local rag….
…..donating $530 to local kid’s playgroup, to replace a stolen shed. 16 April 2007 Some stories do have happy endings. Last week the Yungaburra Playgroup lost their not-yet-erected kitset shed worth $530 which was stored in the Tinaburra Waterski Clubrooms at Lake Tinaroo, to thieves who broke into the shed with bolt cutters. Today, Liam [...]
you are sleeping on my face
agapanthus and pukeko….fast asleep together, a couple of months ago.
tangerine peel + camellia leaf bars, cut and RTG
i’ve done “something” to my camera and now all my photos have this odd moody blue cast to them.o well, i’ll sort it out eventually, i suppose. these are the salt bars.i’ve tried one out and they aren’t nearly as scratchy as they look!the salt chunks all seem to wear down evenly with the soap [...]
our workshop
essential oil cat
this cheeky little agapanthus cat AKA fat panda climbed into the blend shelf the very second i took out a flask and created a cat-sized space!i turned around and there she was.
fabulous display
a beautiful display of our soap at the DIVINE perfect potion, at the westfield southland shopping centre in melbourne.
cincinatti chili
i made this tonight: Ingredients 2 T olive oil 2 rashers bacon 1 1/2 cups onion, chopped 1 cup green or red capsicum pepper, chopped (optional) 500g minced lean beef 1 425g can chopped tomatoes 1 425g can tomato puree 120g tomato paste 1 425g can kidney beans 1 425g can cannellini beans 200g corn [...]
soap of the week
lemon lavendera scrumptious blend of sweet lavender and tart lemon (our favourite), with a touch of may chang and patchouli….with yellow australian clay (gently cleansing and tonic) and turmeric (loaded with antioxidants)….and topped with purple lavender buds. it will make a delicious face or body soap, for most skin types. available this week, until 17/4/07.
Making Soap in Timor-Leste
Making Soap in Timor-Leste Timor-Leste is Asia’s newest, and poorest nation. It is a mountainous, tropical country of 15,000 sq kilometers and a population of approximately 1 million people. There is a hugely high birth rate and correspondingly high infant mortality rate. There is also very little employment (50%) and most people live in small, [...]
soap of the week
lemon lavendera scrumptious blend of sweet lavender and tart lemon (our favourite), with a touch of may chang and patchouli….with yellow australian clay (gently cleansing and tonic) and turmeric (loaded with antioxidants)….and topped with purple lavender buds. it will make a delicious face or body soap, for most skin types. available this week, until 17/4/07.
easter sunday
i awoke at 3am to the sound of torrential rain….so the easter sunday market was decidedly a no-go.if i was selling ANYTHING but unwrapped handmade artisanal soap….i’d have gone. so, we had a whole day with no plans and the local dump was open in the afternoon.what to do, what to do?ooooo i know!let’s shift [...]
long time, no blog
as you can see from the dates, i haven’t been blogging.i’ve been running around bali instead. i spent almost 3 weeks there, in feb/mar and had a very marvellous time.i met up with jen and rebecca from the USA, both of whom i met online a while back.rebecca is a professional photographer and i commissioned [...]
