Making soap with tea and wild mint

I had seen somewhere to use tea in place of plain water to make soap. So I brewed some mint tea a few days ago and put it in the fridge so it would be nice and cold. I read that the colder the tea, the lighter the soap will be. And that it's best to use slushy tea for a real light tea. So I stuck it in the freezer and went to gather some wild mint to throw in too.




Darla had to follow me across the pasture on the way to the mint place. The rest were taking their mid-morning siesta under the shed in the shade.

This is a really old house next door across the field where the wild mint is. I love this house. Been abandoned for a LONG time. It's going to just fall in one day. A family dispute, I have heard. So sad. So the mint grows along these flowers in the front and along the fence line.

                           Of course I have to show my most favorite old oak tree behind my house.

 Didn't mean to show it twice, but it's worth a second view. And I can't figure out how to take it off once I've already gotten it on here, without deleting the whole post and starting over. So you'll have to enjoy it twice!

                                      This is the tea in the lye. VERY dark. Like a burnt goat milk.

Here is the mint and some ground up waiting to be added to the soap. It smells amazing! I love mint.

And here is the soap being stick blended. It almost looks like pumpkin puree. I had also read that the more you stir, the lighter it gets. Well, mine did not get lighter. I then added the mint. It looks horrible now!

  I sure hope it lightens up as it dries. It sure did not so far. I will see in a day or so. This is a veggie based soap, with coconut and olive oil and shortening. It is supposed to stay in the mold 48 hours. I can hardly wait that long for most of them. Too suspenseful!

      Ready to be wrapped up now. And still very brown. But I don't mind dark soap. Most people like the white or lighter colored soap though.

Back Valley Rd.

Just look at this! Is there anywhere else on God's green earth more beautiful than this right now? I don't think so. This is just a few miles from where I live. Just awesome. And someone owns all this right here. Acres and acres of pure beautiness.

                                 You can just see the house in this shot. And some vicious dogs.

This tree has got the best shape, even naked. With the mountain barely showing through the branches. And the lake just below to the right.

If you click on this picture, you can see a few horses way in the background. What lucky horses to live right there. Can you imagine?

                 Here is that amazing tree to the right. And another horse in the shadows of the hill.

                                                                  Wow. Just wow.

Just a little more color here. I love how we can see the actual shapes of the tree's branches and trunks when there are no leaves to hide them.

I LOVE this time of year. And this past weekend seemed to be the peak for us here. Amazing colors, so vibrant against the beautiful bright blue sky. Each minute brings some new color and each turn in the road, something more spectacular. I can not get enough of this right now.

Beautiful day. And hang gliders.

Yesterday was amazing. So beautiful. Bright blue sunny sky. Warm with just the right breeze blowing. We went up on Lookout Mt. to  take one of the grand kids home. She lives just a few miles from the hang gliding place. This is where a world-wide competition took place several years ago. It was about 5 in the afternoon and people were still lined up to go off and others were just getting their gliders set up to go.

                                                                 This guy is ready to go.

I love looking up into the blue sky and seeing all these people up there just circling around, so quietly.

                              And I love all the colors of the gliders too. These are rainbow colored.

I would love to do this, but this is the part I just could not do. Standing here on this big concrete pad, with the wind blowing, waiting on just the right moment to jump off. I know it is amazing to just float around up there, all by yourself. With the birds. But I don't know.

It looks so fun. And there were 2 really little planes taking off below with hang gliders attached. They would take them way up higher than we were, then let them go. I might could do that. Maybe.

And there was this guy there with this thing. A para glider? Anyway, he was standing on the platform with this thing spread out. When some wind would come along, he'd lift it up. It looked like he was going to get carried away one too many times, I had to stop watching him. Then as we were leaving, I saw him back up there, with his gear on and hooked up to this thing, ready to jump off. Oh my! I hope he made it ok.

I love this view here. That is Sand Mt. in Alabama, that he's headed toward. We can see Tn, Ga. and Al. from this spot. I love it here.

This is the place they all land. The one in the middle. There are also lots of little cabins where people stay when they come from out of town. Down in this little valley. Beautiful place.

                                  Here are my 2 grands, sitting on a ledge. So close to the edge.

                                                          Beautiful day on Lookout Mt.