Our new home.

Ready for a whole mess of photos of our new space taken on a beautiful foggy morning? 

Good, I thought so. 

Stu exploring our neighbor's pistachio orchard across the street.

Looking down our street from our front yard.

Stu still exploring. He just popped out of that whole in the barn.

We have a pool!

10 acres behind our house is leased out to an organic farmer.

We have oranges!

The end of our street looking towards our house. That is a prune orchard on the left.

Our home! The mini grey house in the background is my new soap studio/seed starting room. 

We are settling in and happy to be here. 

So, we moved to California.

Hi Friends!

What a whirlwind the past few months have been. Matt graduated with his PhD and got a job in Davis, CA. We just moved here last week! I didn't mean to be gone from this space for so long, but I notice I tend to shut down on the blog during busy times. I'd like to change that. You will hear more from me soon as we are still getting the Internet all sorted out.

xo,
 Jess

October

Homemade pumpkin pie. Matt can't do gluten so he makes this pie crust. We love it.

Still loving my calendar from Sloe Gin Fizz. Can't wait for the 2013 edition. 

Can't let go of the flips yet. Why should I?

Homemade Sriracha. We got this idea over at the Lusa Organics blog. So good.

Knitting again!Fingerless mitts for me. They go with the matching headband which I love even more. Find the patterns here.

I didn't know how hard it is to take a proper photo of yourself modeling a headband. I tried, but gave up after awhile. Here are some of the shots anyway.

You can find me on Ravelry now. I am trying to be less of a lurker there and post my finished projects. It is such an inspiring community there, so why not join the fun?

Have a good October weekend!

Where you been all my life?

Geez. Didn't really intend to be gone from this space for 2 months.  Sorry about that. But, hey, I'm back.

Here is some of what we've been up to round these parts...

I rendered my own lard to use in a batch of soap. Isn't it pretty? I didn't think I'd ever use the words lard and pretty in the same sentence, but there you have it.

We've started canning using old school glass lids. Matt bought some off EBay and his mom sent us the mother load from her yard sale score.They are a little more temperamental to work with, but we like the re- usability of them and the lack of weird chemicals.

I have been intrigued with natural dyeing techniques. I dyed a piece of fabric with turmeric and it came out so beautiful. Turmeric fades with time, but I think that makes it all the more interesting. I purchased some natural indigo powder and am eager to work with it soon.

Two new soaps made their debut in my Etsy shop and at the Farmer's market. Lavender Rosemary Mint & Palmarosa Orange. Oh, how I love them.

Happy Monday! I'll be back soon. Promise.

Life and Times

Oh man, this month has flown by. I swear I've been busy. 

Here, take a gander at some of the latest....

Here I am milking Penny goat. I milk this little sweetheart once a week. Soap. Cheese. Yogurt. Yep, we're making it all. More pictures to come of her and her goat menagerie. 

Ran my first half marathon with my friend Gina. I loved it! One of the best parts though was getting the photo below as I was approaching the finish line....

Best picture ever for two reasons: 

1) The little girl to my right clapping for me. Thank you sweet little girl who claps for anonymous runners when they are tired. 

2) The two kids in front of her. Did that little boy just do a trust fall? 

Awesome.

Okay, had to sneak in a gratuitous cat photo of Stu. 

And one of Lou too. Is he staring into your soul or what? Maybe it's just me.

Ok, back to business.

New soaps!

Gardener's Scrub

Peppermint Pumice

Anise with Dead Sea Clay

And, sadly, one of our chickens died. 

RIP Blanche. 

You were a good chicken to us.

Well, that's all for now folks.  

In the meantime, catch us at the Flagstaff Community Market starting this Sunday May 27th and running until Oct.14th. We'll have some soap waiting for you!

Canoe Love

Matt and I took a quick overnight trip down to Bartlett Lake with the canoe this past weekend. Remember the canoe?

I feel pretty official now because I have a Arizona fishing license and a really nice life jacket. We didn't catch a damn thing, but we enjoyed our time paddling around, doing a little bird watching and spending time together without any distractions. And laughing at the really bad techno music some other campers decided to bump into the wee hours.

We didn't bring my usual camera, but just the ol' point and shoot. Here are a few shots:

And in soap news, I just listed a new gift set in my shop. It includes a bar of my soap, a hand knit organic cotton wash cloth and a wooden soap dish. These were really popular at my last craft show so I decided to offer them in my shop. It makes a really sweet gift.

Have a beautiful week!

Winter Musings.

Hope you all had a lovely holiday out there!  I will be back in full force on the blog after the New Year (which is soon, I know). I have been taking a wee break to restock my wares and have a little down time from computer land.

But until then, here are some photos of our yard when we got a big snow a few weeks ago. Stu and I went to check on our chickens in the morning and walked into a snowy wonderland. I am feeling nostalgic today because it has warmed up like crazy and the snow is melting fast. Come back snow, come back!

See y'all in 2012!

The Hills are Alive

Flagstaff is a special place to live. It just is. And the aspen trees this time of year practically make me burst out into song they're so damn beautiful ( kinda like the opening scene from The Sound of Music).

I went on a hike with Lou today and I wanted to share some of this beauty with you. Singing optional.