A chill in the air, and time to make soap.

We have had a cold snap here in Southwest Florida. Of course it's nothing like the frigid temperatures that most of the country is experiencing, but to me it's pretty darn chilly and I want my mid-70's back. I covered all my plantlets Wednesday night and uncovered them today, they needed a little water but were not hurt by the cold at all. The Buttercrunch and Romaine lettuces are growing very nicely, it's been a long time since I grew lettuce with success. We do eat a lot of salad so it's nice to grow our own greens for it. I got some tomato plants from a friend the other day, German Queen is one of the varieties. His plants are doing well and are full of fruits and I hope to have a good crop myself. If I can grow enough tomatoes I want to can, dry and freeze some for the summer as it will be too hot here for them to produce. I know there are a couple of varieties that are very heat tolerant and I may try a few plants this summer, but if they don't do well I will have a second source for tomato goodness.

I will be making heart shaped soaps for Valentine's Day this week. I think a few scents like Vanilla Spice, Strawberries & Cream, Secret Whisper and Midnight Jasmine will be lovely for the gift baskets I am planning. They will also include massage melts, scented flower petals, candles and a bottle of scented massage oil. How romantic and enticing does that sound? I'd love to receive something like this as a gift instead of the usual flowers or chocolate. If you would like to order a gift basket for Valentine's Day or any other special occasion that calls for a little romance and sensuality, please email me for details.

Happy 2009 everyone!

2009 has started out fairly well. My daughter and her cousin had a ball at the beach and just "hanging out". No Chuck E. Cheese, which didn't bother us at all. It was fun to see him, his mom and his "me-mom" as he calls his grandmother. They leave today to go back to North Carolina, we probably won't see them again until June. We were busy at work last week as more seasonal visitors have started to arrive for winter. The traffic has increased and so has my stress level just a bit. :)



My tomato seedlings aren't doing very well now. They looked like they were off to a good start, I don't know what happened to them. The seeds are a couple years old but haven't germinated as nicely as I was anticipating. The cucumber plants are fantastic; I have planted Lemon cucumbers, Poinsett 76, and Picklebush, which is supposed to be an excellent pickling cuke. We shall see in a couple of months when I try my hand at making pickles again. It's been about 12 years since I canned anything so I think a little refresher course will be necessary. I am getting some nice lettuce from my plantings, it is time to sow some more this week. I ordered 4 inch plastic pots from HomeHarvest.com, they shouldn't take too long to ship and I can't wait to get them. Today I am sending out soap to a friend in Nashville and shipping a belated holiday box to my mom. If you send holiday gifts late three years in a row does it become a tradition? I heard a comment/quote on the radio Friday morning that I liked quite a bit - "Stop walking through the motions of your life and start living your life." Doesn't that sound like a good way to start 2009?