calamity jane

These days I mostly try not to write. My life is so full of work and family and weeding. But every now and then, my brain starts to itch and the only way to scratch that itch is writing. This is where you will find my most recent scratchings.

  • The Dishsoap Report

    Sorry to keep you all waiting. I’ve had a few days of baby/morning troubles. Not exactly that the Babe is being fussy, just the timing isn’t working out right, leaving me no time to write. Those other soapy posts were just a lead-up, and what I really wanted to tell you about was how the stuff works! Because it is a complete fascination to me. I can’t decide if it’s good or not. Here’s the quick answer. It works. The dishes are cleaned. It even cleans a smoked salmon jar, and that’s about the best test you can get. But…..…

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    Calamity Jane

  • No-Frills Five, Gone Seven

    I didn’t post about it, but yes, I did do my No-Frills Five in February. And the end of March is approaching, so it’s time again. This month, Consumption Rebellion is kicking my ass from five to seven. Which necessarily will include a weekend. This will make it much more challenging for me, which is good, right? That’s the point. Including a weekend means, for one, I have to tell My Man about it. Yes, I did the last two fivers without even telling him. He’s in class all week, so it was easy to keep my little limitations to…

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    Calamity Jane

  • The Dirt on Soap, Continued

    So, we left off at ‘the bars are finally cured and I’m ready to turn it into liquid dishsoap.’ Because someone mentioned in a comment, do you really have to wait three weeks if you’re going to grate it up anyway? I ought to mention that I did in fact do a little experiment at about 1 and 2 weeks. I just grated some directly into my dishwater and whisked it about, until it sort of dissolved. At one week, it was still much too raw. The dishwater was at the same time slippery from the lye (wreaked havoc on…

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    Calamity Jane

  • Soap, In All its Dirty Glory

    Whew. This post has been on my list since December. I did in fact make soap during my Crafting Vacation, if you remember. And haven’t you all just been waiting by your computers, breathless with anticipation, to hear the outcome? My soap making story begins with way too much, but still apparently not enough research. I was interested in soap for a very different reason than most. I could care less about a luxurious, creamy, fragrant lather in the bath. Whatever gets the job done, so long as it doesn’t burn when I use it my nether reaches, is what…

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    Calamity Jane

  • I Hate Daylight Savings, A Chronicle of Days

    Have they not studied physics? There is a specific quantity of daylight for each day of the year. Mother Nature in her infinite wisdom, gives us more or less, depending on the season, and our unique latitude. We as mere mortals can not make more daylight. When we set our clocks, backwards, forwards, round and round, it’s all just a game in our own heads. I for one hate this game. As does probably anyone else who arranges their day according to dawn and dusk. We had a nice routine going, and now it’s all fucked. In fact, that’s what…

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    Calamity Jane