Soap and Swans

I got a beautifully scented package in the post yesterday, Anna who had asked to me to do the guest post sent me some of her handmade soap. Anna is a very talented lady who does evening classes in gardening and crafts in Mullingar in Co Westmeath.Anna has another blog and the soap making is included in that.Last year when I had so much dried lavender I would have loved to make soap or bath bombs but could not find any similar classes down here, I may have to book a weekend in Mulligar for next season!
The soap on the left is seaweed soap, seaweed has amazing properties and for an island nation like ours surrounded by sea and coastline we do not utilise it enough.
The soap on the right is Gardeners soap, a handmade castille soap with Olive oil,coconut oil,rain water,calendula and orange peel.
The children are off school for the Easter break and today we went to visit one of my daughters in Castlemartyr in East Cork. We passed Loughderra lake and I had to stop to take some photos of the swans, this cheeky fellow was giving me the Bums rush!He kept diving underwater for quite long perods of time.
When my children were younger they called it swan lake due to the amount of swans on it. It is a lovely amenity in East Cork as it is also used for fishing and boats can usually be seen out on the water. The local residents have made a walk way all around the lake for walkers and families to enjoy with picnic tables along the roadside. It is a popular stop for travellers as there is a small snack truck permanently parked up here.
There were gale force winds so these swans were sheltering near the wall and most of them had climbed out to a nearby field which runs down to the lake, no bird brains here!
The weather has really taken a turn for the worst with heavy snowfalls in some parts of the country and rain and hail showers.It is not outdoor weather so gardening has taken a back seat until the week end at least.
My plastic greenhouse has withstood the gales, it is anchored down with bags of compost around the sides and I had also cable tied the shelves to the frame for added stability.
One of the Moneymaker tomato seedlings has finally put in an appearance but still no sign of the red peppers.Heated propagator space is at a premium (the bedroom windowsill),they may have a longer germination period so I will give them until the weekend to show.Hopefully we will be back to gardening by the weekend

Comments

Anonymous said…
I went over and read the post on you. It was great. Those soaps look wonderful. I love homemade soaps so much better than these store bought ones we have. I have often said I would love to learn how to make some, but I never get the chance to.

Willow
March 31, 2010 at 8:33 PM
Anna Bee said…
Peggy - glad to see that the soaps arrived safely - hope that you enjoy using them. Thanks again for guest posting...

Anna
March 31, 2010 at 9:46 PM
Ann said…
There's nothing nicer than scented, handmade, soap, I wouldn't be able to bring myself to use it though!

Aren't we having some awful weather? We have snow forecast for this afternoon, the wind is bitingly cold but, at the moment, the sky is a gorgeous blue
April 1, 2010 at 10:14 AM
Linda said…
Hi Peggy, I was thinking of you last night as we were at a concert here by the Cork Youth Orchestra. We know the conductor, Tomas McCarthy, as he comes to our annual Suzuki strings workshop in October. But this was the first time he'd brought his orchestra over. They were fantastic! What a talented lot of musicians you have in Cork.
Luckily they got here before the weather turned nasty (see my Scotland blog post today about that), and had enjoyed having in snowball fight.
April 1, 2010 at 5:31 PM
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