Making Bath Salts

I love making bath salts and soaps and even lotions. If it were not so expensive a hobby I might do more of it. So as it is I just do it for Christmas presents and to sell them at our ministry bazaar once a year.

I use Essential Oils I buy online at Wholesalesuppliesplus.com and they are of excellent quality. I have tried those you buy fairly cheaply at hobby stores and find they do not last as long - that is they do not hold the scent as long. Of course if you use the bath quickly that doesn't matter but if it sits for some time, you may open the jar or bag and find that it has no odor.

After using some today in my bath I may add just a bit more drops of oil next batch.
The jars smelled fairly strongly but the bath didn't seem that scented (it was nice enough though). It did soften the water though which around here is very needed as our water is very hard.

In mixing I mix the "oils" in one bowl and the powders in another (epsom salts, baking powder, sea salts - coarse grain, and this year I added a cup of Nutrasorb Milk Bath powder to each batch - it helps to retain the essential oils and is also nice in the bath water as well.) The oils include Sweet Almond Oil as the base, about a teaspoonful of Vitamin E oil, a few drops of coloring, and about 15 drops of the essential oil that I've chosen. I made 5 different types this year - Honey Almond, Peony (a soft fragrance), Nature's Rain (a clean smell), Lavander and Vanilla and a mix of Jasmine and Sandalwood that was nice.

I hope I haven't bored anyone reading but I really enjoy doing this every year and my kitchen certainly smells good for a week or so afterwards!

Mount St. Helens 2008

Duane just returned from a trip to Washington state. He took over 300 photos of
the Mount St. Helens area. I cannot possible post all of them so I'm having to
go through them and choose but he took a lot of good ones. This is hard. I'm definitely going to have to give in and start using Picassa.
As you can see the volcano is still smoking. I wish I had been able to go!

Can Crushing - Air Pressure Demo

From Apologia Physical Science text:
The key to doing this one is speed. Put a small amount of water (SMALL amount, just cover the bottom of the can) in an empty soda can. (Or as we say in the deep South, a Coke can which means any soft drink). Have a bowl of ice water ready nearby. CLOSE BY! And wear heat proof gloves. (I've tried using tongs. Unless you are great with tongs and can move fast with tongs, forget the tongs and go with heat proof gloves!). Put the can on a heat source (as you can see in the photo I just used the eye of a stove. When you see steam coming out of the can (proof of boiling water) you know that the air in the can is HOT HOT HOT. And this is what you want.
The air pressure in the can has now risen and it is pushing against the sides of the
can as hard as it can (of course some is coming out of the hole in the top of the can and that is why you want to move quickly.). Cover the hole with your hand (you are wearing heat proof gloves right. This is important unless you want to treat burns later.). MOVE QUICKLY NOW. I cannot emphasize this enough.
Put the can upside down (HOLE DOWN) into the ice water. QUICKLY. The can will
collapse into itself as the air goes from HOT to COLD quickly - it pulls the sides
of the can in with it. (If you were too slow it won't work and you get to try all
over again.).

It is a "do that again" experiment (as you can see!) I did it 3 times this week
with different results each time but it worked all 3 times.

More Science Experiments

In Apologia Chemistry text:

This one uses "The Works" drain cleaner which is composed in large part of
hydrochloric acid. (Vinegar will also work - acetic acid - just much much
slower.). That is the liquid you see in the jar. Use gloves when using this
stuff. It will burn! Carefully put your raw egg in the jar in the acid.
You'll see bubbles immediately forming as the calcium carbonate shell starts
coming off. (See the white foam? Some of that is soap suds but much is
the shell too.). After about 30-40 minutes I carefully spooned the egg out
(still wearing gloves) and went and washed it off. The egg membrane is intact
but the shell is completely gone. It is rubbery feeling and the kids are
always amazed. Great one to do at home. The photo of the egg is hard to do
to make it do justice afterwards but maybe you can tell there is no shell there.
It's one you really need to do yourselves!
Definitely shows a Chemical Change.

Mentos Redux

Always a FUN Demo to do when the weather is great (as it was yesterday) and Physical Science WAS on the unit on air (so it was SORT OF related - we released a LOT of carbon dioxide all at once - I'm sure it contributes to Global warming though so I shall have to repent later.)

And I will have to give extra credit to my volunteer helper this time - the new student this year, Felipe, who bravely pulled the string so I could take the photos.
He got soaked. I'm SO sorry!

Update on My Dad

It just dawned on me (I'm rather slow at times) that my blog
might be an excellent way for me to keep some folks up to date
on how my dad is doing.

For those who have no idea what I'm talking about - about 2 years
ago now Dad had surgery for cancer of the esophagus, developed pneumonia
and we almost lost him. It was a long stay in the hospital. He made it
home but he's never truly recovered.

About a month ago my mother called me to take them to the Emergency
room and they admitted him to the hospital again with pneumonia.
To make a long story short - it was a horrible stay but they did discover
that he aspirates everything he swallows - it goes into his lungs. So
they made in NPO (nothing by mouth) and put him on TPN (total parental
nutrition).

He has been at home again for about 2 weeks now. When he came home he
weighed 103 pounds (if I remember correctly). We took him to the nutrition
doctor last week (Dr. Kenneth Olsen who is great) and he is up to 109 pounds.
He is a bit more active and staying up a bit more. I go over every evening
to help mother prepare the TPN bag and hang it. But my mother is doing a
lot on her own. He is getting some home health care - physical therapy
and speech therapy - she is working on teaching him to swallow again.
We got him a hospital bed after he fell last Saturday and broke a rib.
Another trip to the emergency room but they didn't keep him. There's not
a lot you can do for a broken rib.

SO, pray for dad (he's 81 - almost blind (legally he is), almost deaf and very
feeble) AND for mother (she has the patience of a Saint!) for strength.

The Fair Part 3

And finally Darcy with Spongebob. And one I played with so you can color it.
I had some fun with the camera doing some light photos too (I only posted one but fair lights are fun.)

The Fair Part 2

The car ride was the favorite for the twins. About half way round Jeremiah was determined to see how it all worked though and we thought he might be going to climb out with the cars still moving - he just hung halfway over the side of the car watching. Jacob was content to drive. Darcy loved the Runaway Train but it was hard to get a photo of that as it was moving to fast. Finally they tired and Jeremiah tends to show that he is tired by throwing a bit of temper (as you can see). (They all won prizes at a few booths in the kiddie section too - the boys wanted balls, especially Jeremiah.) Amy and Matthew seemed to enjoy it all too. And of course the grandparents (US) really enjoyed it all.

The County Fair (in 3 Parts)

It was a bit overwhelming just taking it all in at first...what to do first.
Jacob just kept saying, "Let's go" (not understanding one must buy tickets first)
Jeremiah held onto daddy's shoulders and just looked in amazement. Darcy kept pointing out what she did and did NOT want to ride (she was not afraid of much).
All had a great time.

Wall Street Woes

Democratic leaders have emphasized to rank-and-file members that Paulson has told them that he could only spend about $50 billion a month on the securities purchase program. Of the $700 billion figure, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said: "Nobody believes that's going to be the final cost."

Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.), the senior Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, who has refused to participate in the talks, said a "critical mass" was forming behind the measure because of fears that Congress's failure to act would cripple financial markets and devastate the economy.

From Sunday's Washington Post Sept. 28th, 2008 on the passage of the 700 BILLION
dollar bailout plan of Wall Street.

Moral of the Story - Do Not "loan" money to those you know have no means to repay.
If you are a Christian and you see those in need just give them the house but please don't think the government is the answer. Government is never the answer. Habitat for Humanity is an answer. Government is not.

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the Public Treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits from the Public Treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy always followed by dictatorship."

Alexander Fraser Tyler, "The Decline and Fall of the Athenian Republic"

More Grandkid Photos

Showing How You Feel

Jacob, age 2, on his way to winning an Oscar

A Virtual Pond Dip - For Biology

http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/ponddip/index.html

Great Site!

Chris

The Elements Song

For my Chemistry Class (Perhaps I should have you memorize this! lol)

Bacteria Flagellum

Cat Waiting

I Wait - and Watch -
It's my job and I do it well.
But my servant is gone a lot lately and
I'm very lonely. I hope she gets to stay home
soon. She says she does too!
Aslan

A Cat's Life

My servant has been a way a lot lately. She is off at a place called a
hospital with her father who is sick. So since we aren't working I've just
been enjoying some of the books. This Jan Brett book is very good. "In the
Castle of Cats".

I like having Grandma here to feed me too. She's blind. So she just fills the
bowl to the top. And whenever I meow she fills it up again. My servant came
home from the hospital the other day and wondered why the 5 pound bag of cat
food she had just purchased was already empty. I tried to show her where some
of the food had spilled on the floor where Grandma had missed the bowl but I'm
not sure she bought it.

I do miss my servant. No one else here picks me up and scratches my ears
like she does.

Aslan

Grandparent's Breakfast With Darcy

Me, Duane and Darcy

Papa George and Darcy

We had a very nice time eating and visiting and meeting some of Darcy's friends
and her teacher.