Update, part the second - success, and (partial) fail?

Two other projects from the last two weeks were inspired by online tutorials. The first was my contribution for TuesdayFamilyPotluck, where the theme was "hippie food" ...
Theme: this upcoming Tuesday happens to be Sophia's birthday, so Sophia decided on a theme of "hippy food"... so when pressed what that means, she was envisioning food in rainbow colors, though she hastens to point out that she doesn't care for tofu (which is really a fine exemplar of a "hippy food". So I'll leave it to your fine imaginations as to what direction to go with that.
Upon reading this I knew exactly what I wanted to make, the Rainbow Cake from Omnomicon. Looking very much like streetfair tyedye, with the added delight of the surprise factor, I knew this would be a fun birthday cake. Fortunately, I had a box of gelpaste food coloring in my baking cupboard already; I ended up using about a third of each little jar to get the desired intensity of color. Rather than the peculiar chemical-filled diet frosting suggested, I made a basic vanilla buttercream. My final touch was a cake topper with rainbow colored letters "have a groovy birthday" in the balloon lettering popular when I was a hippie back in the day.The cake came out even better than I had hoped it would, and was received very well by all; the birthday girl was quite happy.

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The other online inspired project that I have tried was not so successful. On several "green living" sites I had seen instructions for making your own liquid handwashing soap by dissolving bar soap in water. I much prefer to use liquid soap at the sink, since it is possible to turn on the faucet and pump out soap using the back of the wrist if your hands have come in contact with some kind of germ factory. And since Doctor Bronners is between 35 to 50 dollars or more a gallon, I was very interested in a more frugal DIY option. I followed the directions I found here, and was surprised... Although the instructions say you should fill a pump dispenser with the resulting liquid soap, what resulted was a gallon jar of the most amazing blob of soap-slime, so oddly slippery and stretchy that I could not remove a smaller quantity from the jar to put into a smaller container to use next to my sink.

Looked online for what to do to salvage this project, and one source suggested melting it with more water. I tipped the "blob" into my largest soup kettle and added another half gallon of water and heated it gently on the stove, after an hour it had dissolved and looked more like liquid soap, and could be dipped out with a ladle without stretching back into the pan. Unfortunately, as it cooled, the liquid changed back to a blob of gel. The soap that I put in my pump dispenser is very difficult to pump out, and then a long string of soap gel stretches away from the spout. Obviously there is more to soap chemistry and technology than the chirpy online articles would have you believe. I wonder if any of the writers have actually tried their recipes? (it is telling that there are no pictures of the finished product, just pretty still life images of the ingredients) I now have a gallon and a half of slug slime soap.

partial update...

Another sunny day. Grateful I am for the new front porch, since it is over 80°F in the shade here. I may be able to avoid covering my living room windows this summer (for the past several years they have spent the summer covered with mylar bubblepack insulation, which keeps the house about ten degrees cooler, but adds a certain peculiar ambiance to both the interior and the exterior). I forsee a fabric shade for the south side, until I can get hop starts planted, which I hope should flourish in that sunny location

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The hot weather totally saps my energy, and I collapsed for a nap after riding my bike to do errands this morning. After riding to the local post office, which I'd forgotten was closed on Saturdays, I decided to hop on the MAX to the grocery store, where I was unable to resist temptation and bought a six pack - of lacinato kale starts. Since I have not had a chance to get to a real plant nursery, and hence have no chard, at least I will have a nice variety of kale for the fall and winter (I already have two other kinds of kale starts). Have finally cleared the terribly weedy garden beds and plants are mostly tucked in. Grass is the worst offender, sending incredibly long rhizomes into the more soft fertile soil. I have heard that if you call a tree service, they will leave you a deposit of wood chips, which if layered over thick newspaper or cardboard, will discourage the revenge of the lawn.

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Awoke from my nap to the sound of loud rattley-bangs coming from the street... the van with the flat tire, which has been parked across the street for so long it has plants growing under it, is getting worked on, and having newer air-holding tires attached.

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My week long visit with my mom was great. She enjoyed meeting some of my local friends at the teaparty, and my friend Sharon (from high school) came down to visit one day with her daughter my friend Heather and Heather's one year old Elencia. A trip out to the Edgefield for lunch and garden-viewing was a treat as well. Besides the social visiting, we had time to do mother-daughter sewing and crafting...I may have encouraged my mom into a new hobby of beadwork jewelry. My mom decided to rent a car for the week, and I must say that having a car is like having running water - really easy to get used to. Errands take a very short time, compared to bussing it or biking it. With the rental car, we were able to get outside of Portland as well. One day we drove a loop to the coast, which I really enjoyed, (except for the personal challenge part) We had decided to go to Cape Disapointment, on the Washington side of the mouth of the Columbia. I knew there was a bridge involved, but somehow hadn't thought about what sort of bridge it was likely to be. I have had a driving-over-water phobia for decades, and my worst nightmares are those with that theme. To say that I was pleased to drive straight up in the air, then hang a left onto a high bridge then swoop down to a causeway barely above the water than onto another bridge would be a lie. But I did it. Knowing that I would need to do it yet again, or take an Inappropriately Long Detour to get home. I do not take kindly to my own foolishness, and there were a lot of some bad words, and some "I refuse to stand in my own way, I can do this" The park was worth the drive though, I only wish that we had had more time. On the way back, we found the fish and chips boat in Astoria, but they were closed that day (sigh). Ah well, more fun things for another trip. The sweetest thing was that my Dad called every morning to talk to her. They have been married for fifty-five years and are still in love.

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I've started using my serger and I am delighted with it. Since I've signed up for the 4-month Wardrobe ReFashion challenge this will come in very handy, there is yardage in my bins o' fabric that will be much easier to deal with now. I'm considering making some fun Fair clothing; I know that buried in my stash is some blue rayon velvet, and various bits and bobs of printed rayon that would be really happy to go to the Oregon Country Fair. For now, I've taken an assortment of indigo scraps and made a stripey patchwork travel vest for my Mom.

The Akita t-shirt that I made four years ago (for a different online challenge) was something I rarely wore, despite the fun graphic, Not sure what I had been thinking, I just don't like regular t-shirts; their neckline is too high and the sleeves are too short to look at all attractive IMHO. So, I hacked up another black and blue flower knit top, extended the sleeves to ¾ length, and recut the neckline and bordered it with more of the flowered knit.
Much more wearable now. My current refashion project is to turn my former denim overalls into an overall jumper. I'm thinking workwear/playclothes, with added gores and extra pockets, and the patchwork flounce from another worn-out denim jumper; 'twill be pretty funky, but if I can get another season of wear out of them that will be good.

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I'd best be away back to my weekend projects...

coexistence? (NOT)

My morning routine is get up and get dressed, let the chicken(s) out, empty the dog, make breakfast , then start my day of work and projects and art...This morning I was preparing breakfast for Smokey, when I heard an awful ruckus coming from the backyard; a raccoon was chasing Henny Penny round the yard. I'm not sure what the neighbors thought of my hollering NO YOU QUIT THAT RIGHT NOW! as my one remaining hen ran for my back door and I ran out yelling and chased the raccoon off. Gorram cheeky little bandit. There are feathers aplenty on the ground, but Henny Penny seems uninjured. I think this afternoons task is to make a more secure hen shelter, if the raccoons are coming out in broad daylight looking for trouble prey.