Spice

Today we said goodbye to our sweet little mini, Spice.  He will be dearly missed.

Christmas

My parents came to visit this year for Christmas.  Mom and I got in a lot of riding while Matthew and Dad did some golfing.

 

 

Mom and I dressed up in holiday hats and decorations for a ride and drive around the neighborhood.

 

The stockings hung by the chimney with care, complete with my parents' cat Casper.

 

The decorated tree and gifts.

 

A special gift, one of our foster kittens!  Stormy and Gale were adopted shortly after Christmas.

 

Mom and I distributing gifts.

 

Family photo, this time with our foster Gale.

Fancy Dancing

We finally busted out Matthew's birthday present and got all dressed up for some fancy ballroom dances the last two weekends.  First, we went to Hilton Head Island for a Plantation Dance.

 

Last weekend we got all dressed up again for a dance at the Elk's Lodge near our old house.  This time I wore red in true holiday spirit!

Making Soap

After about a year of planning on making my own soap, I finally did!  It wasn't as hard as I thought once I came up with a recipe using some online help.  First, all of the ingredients were measured by weight.  Then I combined the lye with the water and heated the oils to match the temperature of the lye water.

 

I used an immersion blender to blend the oils with the lye water and lined a loaf pan with butcher paper as a mold.

 

Mixed and poured! (notice the gloves and glasses for safety)

 

After 24 hours I unmolded the soap and sliced it into bars.

 

I've made three successful batches of soap so far: one unscented, one lemongrass, and one laundry bar.  I can't wait to use them! (Soap has to cure for 4-6 weeks)

Bridge Run

This past weekend we participated in the Savannah Bridge Run for the third year in a row.  We had to leave the house early and were able to watch the sunrise on the way to the start.

 

Before the run.  I wore my Tabby Tales Rescue shirt to support the new cat rescue.