We had such a fun Christmas season here with family and friends. Christmas morning started with me making scalloped potatoes for dinner later with Dean’s siblings. Against my better judgement I filled the pan to the brim and put it in the oven. By the time everyone was here to open presents and have breakfast the house was filling with smoke. So even though the temps were in the single digits we opened windows and doors and bundled the little ones under blankets on the couch! Fortunately we put a cookie sheet under my  overflowing potatoes and the the smoke stopped and the house cleared and we shut the windows and warmed up the house. The day after Christmas we had our son and his wife and her family come and stay with us. Her family got to experience a real snowstorm and temperatures colder than they ever had before. We all enjoyed our visit and they even got to stay an extra day because of the storm. They are safely home now and I am glad they left just before we dipped down to -18 degrees. But this is winter in the great northeast. Stay warm!
Archives
04
Jan 14
View From My Window – January 2014
06
Dec 13
View From My Window – December 2013
Oh My oh my! This isn’t the view from my window. It was the view from my bed! Just in case my life seemed too boring we volunteered to do dog sitting for our son and daughter-in-law’s german shepherd Trigger, while they visited family in North Carolina. Unfortunately Trigger loves Jordi  so much and has just a tad of separation anxiety. It was a long first night. It was pretty rough for Trigger (and me and Dean and our bedroom carpet)!  I am happy to report there have been no more incidents and that Trigger has decided life on the farm is not that bad!
Dog Sitting Trigger
04
Dec 13
Dog Story
It’s no secret that we love our dog Chia. We got her seven years ago after a year of sad goodbyes of parents dying, our kids moving out of the house and several states away and the last straw was when our 14 year old dog had to be euthanized as much as it broke our hearts.
About a month after that I had to fill in the dog shaped hole in my heart and Chia has done that perfectly. I had always heard that poodles were not only very smart, but eager to please. Even though Dean was not keen on the idea of having what he called a foo foo dog, I was completely sold on our next dog being a poodle. And I thought the fact that they don’t shed was a big plus.
For some reason my beloved little Chia pet took a very long time to house train. I would take her out, but she was always leaving little puddles when I wasn’t looking. For a while I thought, what was I thinking getting a puppy, but eventually she got the idea. She has an endearing and gentle personality and I often find myself calling her sweetie. Early on I was sewing toys for her and I would fill them with unshrunk shrink wrap. She loved to chew on them and make that crinkly noise. Now every time she hears my sewing machine I find her looking up at me in excited anticipation, thinking I am making her a new toy. Actually anytime anything comes in the house that vaguely resembles something that could be a dog toy she wants to check it out. I think that’s what happens when you get a dog when your kids move out. They get the idea they are the center of the universe.
I had read that dogs can learn up to 300 words and I tried to get her to connect to lots of words. I didn’t know how much she listened to our conversations until one day a friend was telling me about her daughters pet rabbit when Chia came in a set her toy rabbit on the table in front of her. We just looked at each other in amazement! She seems to like to think she is helping so we have taught her to close doors, bring notes to each other as well as put her toys away, which she promptly spreads out all over the room again.  Even Dean is quite taken with her. I clip her myself and give her what Dean calls a farm clip, basically a crew cut. She doesn’t look foo foo and it helps with burrs and ticks. She is smart a wonderful companion and puts up with all our nonsense.
21
Nov 13
Your Skin: Absorption
You have probably heard that your skin is the largest organ in your body and that it is a semi permeable membrane. But that doesn’t mean that anything you put on your skin goes right through it.  It is actually pretty hard for most substances to be absorbed through your skin. Pharmaceutical companies spend lots of money on research to try to make transdermal patches to deliver medicine, but there are very few on the market. Absorption through the skin is influenced by the size of the molecules of the substance, the concentration applied, how long it stays on your skin, other ingredients that can be added to aid absorption, the region of the body where it is applied, the condition of the skin, age, gender and race.
Your skin is made up of four layers and is about 0.05 inches thick or should I say thin?  The deepest layer (Basale layer) is where skin cells are made and they gradual migrate to the outermost layer called the Stratum Corneum). In between are the Stratum Granlosum and Stratum Spinosum. The Stratum Corneum is what you see when you look at your skin. What you actually see is tough, hard, dead skin cells (called corneocytes), which form a protective barrier, something like a brick wall. This protective layer is not only responsible for protecting against pathogens it also helps regulate temperature, maintains hydration and prevents water loss. These cells are surrounded by a natural oil layer called lipids, sort of like the mortar in the brick wall.  The corneocytes cells don’t have a blood supply and are held together by proteins. These proteins disintegrate over time and release the dead skin cells, exposing and replaced by the cells underneath. When these cells fall off irregularly it can create something like mountains and valleys, leaving your skin feeling rough and patchy. You can help to alleviate this feeling by applying creams or butters that fill in the gaps left between the intact cells.
This shedding of dead skin cells happens naturally but can become a problem when the natural skin oils are depleted through the use of harsh skin care products, too much exfoliation, ultraviolet radiation, climate changes, dehydration and hormonal levels. Disruption in this layer can make it more permeable to pathogens, allergens and dehydration and cause a variety of skin problems.
20
Nov 13
Buddy
Hi friends, today I’m introducing P. Buddy.  He is a collaborative brainstorm that was sparked by our grand daughter, Number One. It all started several years ago with having a Christmas open house at our soap shop. I decided I should do a little decorating for it. Among other items, I bought a cute snowman that stands about two and a half feet tall. Later when our son joined Alabu he thought we looked too homespun and folksy. He thought Alabu needed a more professional image to match the precision of our formulations and the quality standards of our products. He said the snowman had to go. So I happily brought him home.
The first time our grand daughter, Number One saw him it was love at first sight! She carried him around our house even though he was taller than she was. That was when we started calling him Buddy. She put him down for naps on the couch and covered him with a blanket. She made him stand in the chair for time out.  She even brought him into the bathroom when she thought it was time for him to be potty trained. Number One really liked to come to Grammy’s house to play with her Buddy. She would often say to her mom “Grammy’s house- lunch- play Buddy!†But Buddy had one big drawback. His body and legs are sticks and he doesn’t bend. All the hugging, carrying and dragging were taking its toll on him. He was getting very sad looking and I finally took him apart and nailed and glued him back together.
That little exercise got me thinking. I could make one that was soft bodied that could sit and be more huggable. I had made my kids dolls were they were little, so I was confident I could do it. Then it occurred to me that this new Buddy would be even better if he had a wire skeleton so he could be posable.  I recruited Dean to create a skeleton out of coat hangers. He made one fairly easily. Unfortunately I had not thought about how I would make it after that first step. It was going to be much harder to make the shell of the body and stick the wire inside and have it completely covered with stuffing. I tried a few different ideas and I wasn’t happy with the results so I took him apart and started over with the wire skeleton. I had no idea what I was getting myself into with this project and I wanted to give up. Finally on my third try I decided he was done (or actually I was done  :o)  I wasn’t entirely happy,  but Number One and Number Two think he is wonderful. We decided to name him P. Buddy. P as in posable.  We have even recruited his help at Alabu.
Now both girls are asking to come to Grammy’s to play with P.Buddy and Buddy and Mr. Moose! Yeah, well he is another story for another day.