soap, kittens and soil blocks

having just promised three bars of soap to contest winners adjusted my queue for the day. we have been planning on making soap for several weeks now. today was the day. here it is curing in three inch pvc pipe as the mold. it then gets cut into thick wafers.

we set it next to the wood stove to cool slowly so it won't crack. i cut the pipe mold in half length wise to make getting the soap out more easy. it works great. thanks again tansy.

our spoken for kittens just lost their perspective home. an unstable economy makes for general instability. people don't want to make commitments when they don't know where they will be in the near future.

they are so cute and already feisty. they will be great hunters.
here they are waiting by the back door to play with the kids.

we are keeping the cutest one (not pictured) can you imagine a cuter kitten than these? well, i don't want to blow your cute socks off so i'll stop now. anybody want a great farm cat? they should start going off hunting with their mother very soon. she is such a great hunter and instills those skills in all of her offspring to date.

we transplanted our seedlings to larger soil blocks today. they look very kempt. our pendulum is swinging toward liking soil blocks again.

moving them from seedling soil blocks to larger blocks was really easy. it just seemed elegant. making the mix took a little time but doesn't everything?

tabitha and i worked together and made two hundred and forty blocks in short order. having those sturdy cedar trays makes things better. if we were putting them on plastic trays it wouldn't be nearly as pleasant. i need to install another shelf in the greenhouse because we are running out of room. having this green house is teaching me about what i want when i build greenhouse version 6.0. i am sure that version 6.0 will still be found wanting in some respects. i hope it's shortcomings are few. only time will tell.

tabitha pulled the bitter fall salad greens and we are planting more. fresh arugula will be in my near future. i love arugula. i know that most people find it slightly bitter, not me. tabitha added some of our swiss chard in dinner the other night mixed right into spaghetti sauce. all omelays here love it that way. toly sneaks into the green house and munches chard and kale raw. he has always liked leafy greens.

tristan got a kids' book of chess from the thrift store the other day. he has renewed his interest in chess. he has begun to see obvious threats but a little misdirection usually gets him, all in due course. he sees strategy in other areas of his life. a little practice will be good for him in this respect. he read the whole book and i think that he absorbed all of it. i look forward to playing him more frequently.

we are suspicious that toly can read. we don't have any solid proof since talking about it to him seems taboo. he spends an inordinate amount of time on starfall. then there is the fact that he knows stuff. an example of this is while driving he'll know what a sign says. does he remember this sign? he does have a huge memory. he does spend hidden moments looking at books. the books i've seen him with seem like something he could be reading. if he is not reading he will be very soon. he is very sensitive about this topic and clams up when prodded even in the most gentle fashion.

rome is cuteness incarnate and he knows it. we might really be in trouble with him.