bath fizzies

Happy birthday to tow of my fabulous daughter-in-laws, Sara and Brandi.  Our family is much better with you as part of it.

I've tried to make bath fizzies several times without success.  It comes down to a delicate balance of enough moisture to hold them together, but dry enough to not set off the chemical reaction that makes them fizz.  A mix of equal parts citric acid and baking soda are the main components.  You can then add in corn starch, sea salt and any of the healing oils that you like.  After that is mixed together you add in sprays of witch hazel just until the mix will clump together, color and fragrance can be added if you want.  I press mine into mini cupcake pans and let them sit undisturbed for at least 24 hours.  To remove I tap the pan firmly on the counter covered with wax paper. em let that dry several days before packaging.  Kids love these but they are even better for adults who can appreciate the relaxation and skin softening effects.

a no plan day

 Andy and I both work hard.  He works 50-60 hours a week at his real job and is on call 24/7.  I spend many hours each week on VCB, volunteering, school and re-purposing projects to sell.  Our weekends are filled with family, shows, errands and home projects.  When the rare free weekend day pops up we try to spend at least part of that day with no work plans.  That's exact;y what we did last Saturday.  We finished our regular chores pretty early and decided to hop in the car and go for a ride.  No agenda, no errands, no places we normally go.  We just drove where we felt like going.  We saw beautiful fall color, farmers harvesting, old  houses, cemeteries and long winding roads.  If it looked interesting we spent the time checking it out.  We ended up in the town of Casey about 30 miles from home at lunch time.  This was a sleepy farm town that is trying to revitalize itself with tourism.  Someone had the idea to make the worlds largest wind chime and put it on display.  After that it was the worlds largest golf tee, knitting needles and next the worlds largest rocking chair.  It is amazing how many people will get off the interstate while traveling to come and see something like that.  Bravo to the brilliant minds that thought of the whole project and the city for supporting and promoting the whole idea.
It's so easy with our busy lives to just let that take over and miss the small stuff along the way.  Just my way of saying take time to stop and smell the roses.

certified the worlds largest wind chimes, yes they work.

long winding roads on a sleepy Saturday

ringing the chimes

they've started on the rocking chair

cider pumpkin bread

It's not very hard to take a basic box mix and make it even better with the addition of just a couple of different ingredients.  I took a pumpkin bread box mix, used apple cider instead of water and added a cup of chopped pecans.  When the bread was ready to serve I made up a bowl of honey butter to slather on top. Just soften a stick of butter and add 2T of honey.  YUM with some redeeming nutritional value, the pumpkin is full of fiber and vitamins after all.

hospital show

Kathy and I had our first VCB show of the season this last weekend.  It was at the local hospital and very well attended.  We have several new products and have redone most of our set up.  Lots of work, long hours, friendly vendors and great crowd, you can't ask for better than that.

new set up

ollapsible shelf unit, these were the hit of the show.  Several vendors took pictures and asked lots of questions on how to make them.  AH made these and when apart they are easy for us to carry

Old doors, wreaths and chalk board banner

soap display too high and will rethink for the next show

Tybee Island

One afternoon while in Savannah we decided to go to Tybee island about 20 miles away.  Although the town is full of vacation rental property it isn't as commercialized as Savannah.  There aren't streets full of shops and souvenirs.  We checked out the ocean, walked along the public beach, drove down a one way street and were told by the police to turn and leave because it was a closed movie set and visited the working light house.  It was a nice way to spend an afternoon and I'd rent a house on here for a vacation anytime.

beach dune

Atlantic

These birds were so use to people they would come right up to you looking for food

Lighthouse

more Savannah

On the last full day we were in Savannah we were ready for less crowds, hustle and bustle.  We didn't make a plan, just headed south towards the Atlantic ocean.  We decided we would just stop at things that looked interesting. Our first stop was at the coastal botanical gardens. It was started to do studies on what would grow best in the hot Georgia weather.  Along the way they started planting bamboo groves to study the uses for this amazing grass.
After we left the gardens we just kept going south and came across a great old fashioned southern food restaurant.  When you go by a place that is packed with a waiting line at 11 am, you know the food is probably good, and it was.  We also hit a couple of resale shops. unfortunately everything I loved was just too big to carry back on the plane or too expensive to ship home,sigh.
One of the things I had really wanted to do while in Savannah was visit a plantation home.  Unfortunately one close to the city wasn't open and the other had terrible reviews about nasty workers and uninteresting tours.  We just ran into the Hwoful-Broadfield plantation just off the coast.  This is a state historic site and absolutely beautiful..After watching the short film about the history we toured the home and out buildings.  We spent hours there in this fascinating historical site.  The property was a land grant to the family in the 1700's by the king of England.  It was originally a rice plantation, then cotton and finally a dairy.  The place stayed in the same family until the death of the last member in 1973 when it was given to the state of Georgia.  At it's height the plantation owned 240 slaves and farmed 2700 acres.  About 70 miles south of Savannah and definitely off the beaten path this place is well worth the time to go and check it out.

The path visitors would take to the house

smoke house

goat house

the house like anything state owned needs work, lacks funds

house with screened back porch

slave quarters built as duplex with a shred chimney in the center

living room tea table, they didn't use coffee tables

everything in this home was family owned and kept through the centuries

one of the sisters bedrooms

sick room kept apart from the main parts of the house this is about the size of my bathroom 5X8

Some times the unplanned travels can bring the best surprises, your vacation doesn't have to be filled with plans every second.

vcb

Vintage Cottage Beauty has its first show of the season this weekend.  Friday and Saturday 10 17-18 at Sara Bush Hospital in Mattoon, Il.  Come see what we've been mixing up for all your pampering and gift giving needs.

kitchen full of boxes and bags check

check lists, equipment and tools check

new products ready for sale check

YEP it's show time

More Savannah

Our next two days in Savannah we spent touring the historic district and river front area.  The traffic is horrible and the parking is poor so I highly recommend taking one of the trolleys.  We used Old Town Trolley and their guides were full of information and interesting facts.  It made 16 stops and you could get off and on as much as you wanted for two days.  The trolley and a river boat cruise was $57 each a real bargain for the lack of aggravation.  We visited the old market, many historic homes, saw the squares that were originally set up and hit plenty of shopping spots.  Later that day we went to the river front and took a ride up the Savannah river to learn more of the history of the area.  Savannah is the third largest sea port in the US and there were plenty of large container ships to check out.
We finished that very long day with dinner at the Pirates House.  The first building in Savannah and where Oglethorpe and his council set up what would become the state of Georgia.  The building where the restaurant is was built in 1732.  There are tunnels running under the house where pirates carried their goods into town and supposedly shanghaied men who had a little too much to drink.  They would wake at sea to find them selves with the choice of working for the pirate ship or walking the plank. The food at the restaurant was fabulous.  Best pecan crusted chicken I've ever had.

many of the sidewalks were made with oyster shells, interesting

historic homes everywhere

Mercer home from the movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

Mrs Wilkes supposedly the best buffet in Savannah

the town is filled with churches everywhere you look, this was the first Methodist church in the area

Pirates house restaurant

More on the trip next week

Savannah

We just got back from a week in Savannah, Ga and loved it.  I could have stayed much longer but alas we had to return to the real world.  Lets do a little tour.

We usually put our suitcases on the kitchen table to do any last minute packing.  I guess these guys thought we should take them along

After our arrival the first place we visited was the city museum and visitors center.  We learned more about the history of the city. its industries and famous people from there

Bench that Tom Hanks sat on during the movie Forrest Gump.  Movies are a big thing in Savannah, while we were there they were filming Magic Mike 2.  We did come up on one of the sets but no sign of Chaning Tatum(sigh)

Many of the early 20th century industrialist and inventors stayed in Savannah part of the year

typical room setting for the 1800's

Julia Gordon Lowe dress  she made me look very tall

hand woven coverlet a big business here when cotton was king

loom for weaving

coverlet can you imagine the hours this took

If you go to Savannah wear comfy shoes, layers of clothes and forget driving in the historic district, take the trolley system.  More tomorrow.

picket fence ideas

I love picket fences, they just have an old fashioned look to them.  Here are a few things I've done with them lately.

back of our display shelves.  These come apart and lay flat for easy transport

pieces of fence fashioned into a serving tray

box for flowers, office goods, bath necessities etc to fence ends and 1X8 sides.