Cemetery

 

Ever since I saw it on the survey map, I’ve been curious to find this cemetery. It’s not on our land but right next to it.cemetery survey

 

It’s tricky to find as it doesn’t stand out much from the rest of the forest. Lots of graves from the early 1800s, cool stuff!

IMG_0632

 

Soap boxes & soap

Soapmaking is Nicole’s project but she doesn’t post anything about it. As this settles into an acquired skill, it’s time to build some proper boxes.

A few two-bys

IMG_0432

 Watch your fingers, arms; pretty much any protuberance

IMG_0434

Assembly required

IMG_0436

Reminiscent of Breaking Bad

IMG_0513

Curing

IMG_0540

8 weeks curing time, I’ll post the soaps when they are done. We’ve been using them for a while now and they are my absolute favorite. They are made with our wax & honey, tallow from friends’ animals and sometimes goat milk. They last forever unlike the shit you buy in stores. Nicole is experimenting with a recipe that does not include coconut oil or olive oil, this way we’ll be able to source all ingredients locally.

Fun fact: soap is thought to have originated on sacrificial altars when rain mixed with ashes and fat made a suspicious substance someone decided to take a shower with. Sacrifices & dumb luck created one of the biggest advancement in chemistry. Maybe we could sacrifice our way to Mars?