Teach Soap

Hello! First I'd like to thank you all for letting me enter into your little community. I've been lurking this forum recently and it's nice to become part of it.

A little introduction stuff. My name is Todd and I'm 45 and live in a small Wisconsin town with my wife Linda and 3 kids (though one is 27 so "kid" probably doesn't count). I have a quiet little acre with a backyard flock of chickens, a few cats, 2 Toulouse geese (Betty and Bernice), a potbelly pig named Gracie and my faithful "farm dog" Shadow. Recently I started gardening and very recently decided to explore the world of soap making. As I get older, it seems that the simple country life appeals to me more and more.

I have watched many a Youtube video, surfed a few forums, read umpteen online how-to's and have read 2 of Anne Watson's books and a handful of others on the subject so far. Soap making absolutely fascinates me and have tried 4 recipes to date, starting the beginning of September. So far the results have been quite pleasant, in some cases surprising, and rather rewarding, the soap is fantastic, although as a "workin' man" I feel guilty having such soft hands now!

Thanks again for letting me join up and I look forward to talkin' soap with you seasoned experts.

Welcome!

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.

Welcome!! You'll find a plethora of info here, and friends as well! ^^^ Irena really knows her stuff! (and has been sweet enough to answer my insane amount of questions...I'm like a nagging little sister LOL)

Welcome! Hope you enjoy the forum!

What kind of chickens do you have? I love chickens!

_________________
Olivia :)

Thank you for the welcome! Well Stoked, I love chickens too, probably more than my wife would like though as I just keep adding more! This spring I grew the flock to 24, due to a sexing oops at the hatchery and my lack of luck in the straight-run lottery I ended up with 3 roosters to my 21 hens. Two of the roosters are Polish (Drogo and Fluff) and one is a big black sexlink named Eagle. The hens are a mix of brown (5) and black (2) sexlink, Rhode Island Red (4), Barred Plymouth Rock (3), Easter Eggers (7).

I recently read somewhere a recipe for a soap using egg yolks, might have to look into that, got plenty of raw materials.

Welcome!

_________________
Linda
I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they sure have some great ideas!

Welcome Todd!

Yeah, unfortunately straight-run hardly works out the way it's "supposed" to! Quite the opposite, actually. We have gotten Polish roosters as the "Free, Rare, Exotic Chick" (translate: extra roosters that we can't sell) in our order from the hatchery. One year we named him Puff, and the next year, Puff 2, I think. They would always get pecked on because of their top feathers, though, so we have learned to get no more Polish. I'd like to get some true Auracana one day, instead of the typical mutt chickens from the hatchery that just have the genes to lay blue and green eggs! But true Auracana or not, colorful eggs are fun!

But sorry for rabbit-trailing off on a chicken conversation, back to soap now....

_________________
Olivia :)