Cookies, Soap, and stuff like that

Hello, everybody!

Well, much to my dismay, I have to admit that fall really is here. There are yellow leaves all over the yard and the evenings have a decidedly chilly overtone. On the bright side, the varying shades of green, yellow, and a bit of red in the trees is actually quite pretty. On the down side, the lovely red highbush cranberries and rosehips won't be ready to pick until after the first frost - meaning the anxiously-awaited pickings will be accompanied by cool-weather clothing and chilly fingers. Not exactly having my cake and eating it too, huh?

Speaking of cake, I haven't found a casual excuse to bake and decorate any cakes since we've been here, but I did decide to decorate some cookies for a Homemaker's Club potluck for the firefighters last week. I got this awesome folk art bear cookie cutter in Homer last month, and had been itching for a good reason to use it. So, I made polar bears and piped on Eskimo-style hummingbirds. Not bad, but a lot of work:

After doing a few, I switched to quicker silly bears instead. The one on the left is blue with cold. ;^)

In other news, James has been going to the Mt. Redoubt Baptist Church for the past couple Sunday nights to play music with some guys who gather for a bluegrass jam. He's been helping Jim put up the portable garage for when Little Sweetie comes home, switching out faucets, and stuff like that, as well as his Small Business Management class at Kenai Peninsula College. Jim is looking into buying some metal stairs to make getting down to the lake shore easier. That'll make getting ready for kayaking go quicker and make sitting out on Brad's dock a more appealing idea.

Me, I've got raspberry jelly in the cupboard now and am thinking this week I'll put up either an apple maple jam or something else apple-y. Yesterday I took a cold-process soap making class. Reading up beforehand on cold-process soap making, it sounded scary and dangerous, so I'm glad a near neighbor teaches workshops on it. Turns out it wasn't so bad at all, just as long as you're careful and take your logical precautions. I split my batch of soap into lavender and patchouli scented bars with an oatmeal exfoliant, and wintergreen and peppermint scented bars with glacier silt exfoliant. They have to cure for six weeks before we can use them, but I can hardly wait. They smell SO GOOD.