Let’s talk about Soap / Fresh Farm Products

Lets talk about soap for a moment.  I’ve been making lye soap for about 10 years now and I still love it and continue to be in awe of it’s powerful purity and many uses.  It’s so nice to be in my bathroom where no bottled chemicals or detergents cover the shower floor.  There is only a bar of soap that does it all.   

 

 

Laundry has become more simple too.  The large laundry bar I call Simply Soap does such a good job in the washer.  I grate it and blend it with Borax and Washing Soda.  My clothes get clean and smell so good as I hang them on the line to dry.  I make a rinse to add to the laundry:  In a gallon bottle place 2 cups white vinegar fill the bottle half full with water before adding 1 cup baking soda.  Add the soda in small amounts as the vinegar will fizz.  Then tap off the bottle with water and add your favorite essential oil. 

One other thing I have learned is to use baking soda for all my general cleaning.  It is so good on sinks, toilets and showers.  I keep a container of soda in the shower to scrub the shower doors.  It is so easy and the hard water build up comes right off.  I had my own cleaning business years ago and used chemical cleaners.  I got so toxic that I had to find something natural or die.  Baking soda, vinegar and a little grated soap are now my first choices for cleaning.

 

Carolyn,

Love to hear from you.

107 Degrees here in Kanas/ Reid Ranch Farm / Small Farm

107 degrees here in Kansas today. It has been in the hundreds most of the month of July and hot in June too. What’s to complain about? We can find so many reasons to be depressed and complain.” It’s, Oh so hot! “ It’s been so hot the gardens are dying.” I’ve mulched and watered and tended to the tomatoes and the tomatoes are drying up on the vine.” Squash bugs are devouring everything.” Where is the rain?” “ The cows have little to eat.” The complaining can go on and on. I right now, have made a decision with my self to not speak a word unless I can be positive and encouraging about the situation here in Kansas. Things will then look better even if not in the natural. Prayers get answered when offered with a positive, joyful spirit.

Me and My Apples

The fruit love the hot weather

Thank you for looking.
www.carolynsnaturalsoap.com

How did the Old Time Farmers do it? / Kansas Country Farming / Midwest Simple Living / Natural Farm

Farming the ways of our forefathers in this busy, fast paced world of corporations, big money and overwhelming taxes, takes a peaceful, patience person to survive and be successful .  It takes talents and  determination with a love of the freedom to work for yourself and enjoy the pleasures of small successes.  My Dad was a farmer in the 1930ties and on in to the 70ties.  I didn’t realize how much I had learned from him until we started our own farm.

My father was his own boss and never worked for any other man.  His desire to be a man of means, working only for himself, gaining and living in the freedom this country offers was how he lived.  He helped many people and worked very hard to provide for our family.  Dad spoke freely to us children on how to keep our minds open and encouraged us to ask questions and think before you answer a man.  Farming was in his blood and he tried many things to keep diversified. He raised beef, sheep, row cropped tomatoes, strawberries, raised acres of wheat and  alfalfa. He cleared fields of grassed and planted orchards of walnuts and prunes.  Dad bought land and worked hard to pay the mortgages.  He always tried to be successful but had many disappointments.  He would always say, “If you don’t take chances you’ll never know if it would have worked, so don’t be afraid to fail.”

To work for yourself can be exhausting.  Brian and I have not had a day off for over 5 years. Our gardens have not always been productive, even though we worked hard to plant and weed.  The animals take much care and they are not without cost.  The buildings always need repair or rebuilt.  Brian added on to the barn this year using much of the reclaimed lumber he had stored of several years.  We have lost chickens to the wild life here in Kansas and lost our investments many times over.

The joy of living and working for yourself is hard to express.  It’s spiritual, and never leaves the heart.  Living this way with loving animals and wild creatures,  enduring the weather in summer and winter, evokes a pure way of life that echoes from wholesome, honest, loving farmers of the  past.  My hope and prayers are that more families will find this same desire to live off the land and give their children the same confident,  land loving, positive education I received from my father.  

CREAMS AND THINGS / Kansas Farm Life / Natural Farm Products / Natural Face Creams

CREAMS AND THINGS

When I was a young girl I often messed around making concoctions with mud and would add flowers and grass.  Most children love to play in the mud and make mud pies.  I made mud face cream.  I rubbed this cream on my dolls and on myself.  My folks had an old barbecue pit in the back yard.  When no one was watching( I thought), I would build a fire and make a pot of flower water and mud into tea.  I drank the tea and served my dolls.   I guess making creams and lotion was a passion with me.  Now I make real creams without chemicals and with organic and natural oils.  Today the purity of creams are really in the hands of the manufacturer and the laws that protect us from some of the chemicals do not apply to all makers of creams and lotions.  Many products do not tell the consumer what is really in the product. That’s why I now make creams and lotions that are without chemical preservatives.  The problem with no chemicals, is that the creams keep much longer if refrigerated.  This seems easy enough to do and the beauty benefits are so much more achievable.  Making Mud Creams have brought me to this new line of  Real Pure Facial products.  WOW !  There is a Creator who gave us all we need in His creation for our health and healing.

WHAT IS THAT IN THE SKY? / Kansas Farm Life / Mid West Farming

WHAT IS THAT IN THE SKY?

Have you ever noticed the long trails of spray that comes out of some of the jet airplanes?   I’ve been looking upward more now since I’ve seen these long trails criss cross like a Tick Tack Toe board in the sky above the farm.  If you  watch for awhile, these white, cloudy trails will completely cover the length of the sky, begin to spread out and look like cirrus clouds.  I watched several planes, ( at least I think they are normal planes, they are so far up in the sky they look like little dots) as I came home the other day, spreading white trails of something, I’m sure it’s not normal, right in front of the sun as it was setting.  I counted 9 trails.  In California they sprayed our area with a chemical to kill a fly that was killing the fruit trees.  This seems similar but to a greater degree and much higher in the sky.   Even this morning when I went early to give the calves their bottles, long trails were stretching across the dark sky. If any of you have knowledge about these things maybe you could share.  Very Concerned. Thanks

Thanksgiving 2010 / Music from the Reids

 

How was your Thanksgiving?  Being thankful for our blessings is so important.  Now days with all the talk of how inflation is soon to be at our doors, and how we need to prepare for the deflation of the dollar, it’s good to be with family and friends to enjoy the comfort of laughter and great food and not think of the troubles our nation is in for awhile. 

We had a grand time around the table at our daughters house eating and  remembering past Thanksgivings at my mothers house when the children were small.  Those Thanksgiving meals meant so much to me because of the music and how the children were involved in sharing a song.  That’s when we learned to make the house ring with music and that musical desire continues even today.

Singing at Thanksgiving 2010

Don’t let the years slip by become alive / Mid-West Farm Life / Carolyn’s Natural Soap

Time just slips away.  We moved into our new farm house two years ago and I can’t believe we have been in our beautiful home that long all ready. 

I must start to be faithful to write in a journal so I can remember what goes on day by day and month by month then the years will go slower, I think.  Life is so short and yet so important because every thing we do and say affects another generation.  I hope my steadiness in times of trouble and faithfulness to my husband will help influence our grandchildren in their future.

YOUR VOTE? / Mid-West Farm life

Does your vote really count?  Neither party are really pulling for this countries success.  I believe that unless the person running for office has the spirit and boldness to speak the truth about government and it’s greed and desire to  control men and money, your vote is a squeak in the dark.  The truth is,” you will know them ( the ones running for office and the ones in office) by their fruits.”   Our job is to resist, ( become like a mule) the evils of this big government, and stand and stand, not moving, as you look, and become aware of all who destroy freedom. Just Watch and Listen, you’ll know  who is real.

Carolyn’s Thoughts

LIFE IS A GIFT / Carolyn’s Thoughts / Mid-West Farm Life

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the direction our great country is going ,and it doesn’t look good.  The present President of our country is signing new bills and legislation into law and we don’t even know what they are or how these laws will affect our lives in the near future.

I can’t believe what’s on the TV news and the repeated non important stories told over and over by every news channel.  Are we being mind controlled to some extent by the media? I have real concerns about the future and wonder if any of you do too.  Can we do anything together as communities and friends to take control of our lives and start to build a productive and successful country ? Maybe the elections in November will help. Maybe not.   We could plan for a declining dollar and everything to become to expensive or not available.  Why not preserve our food from the garden or purchased from the Farmers market.  Plan to be ready for a quite time free from traffic and running to and fro to the store and began to enjoy a simpler life.  We really do not know what to expect in the future. It’s better to be prepared for the unknown then  to be caught unprepared.  Life  is a gift and each moment is spiritually guided.  No mater what the future holds we must continue to be positive and aware of how we’re being directed in love and peace.  Just some thoughts from my heart.

by Carolyn

AMERICA’S FREEDOM / Mid West Farm Life

Photo By CCPSC

Outside of the day to day life on the farm , the world seems to be falling apart.  It’s hard to believe that as we continue each days duties; feed the cows, water the chickens, feed the chicks, weed the garden, mow the grass, milk the cows, wash the milk jars, wash the clothes, hang the laundry, cut the hay, bale and stack the hay, and on and on it goes, we tend to forget that out great country is slowly, but steadily changing directions. These changes are trying to take away the heart and soul of a great free and independent people.  Do any of you out in the Internet World know what I’m talking about?  The lawmakers are not thinking about how their laws will really affect the everyday man.  The restrictions on businesses and communities will put such a burden on us that no one will be able to make a living as we have become  accustom to doing.  Maybe, we can all stand together and just say no and become more stubborn, like a mule, or we will become a country not recognizable.

Carolyn

Comments are welcome