Dexter's Domain and Spring 2014

Dexter is very happy this time of year.  Cool mornings and a lot of shade and bugs!    What more could a hound want.

I love the roses.   These Roses always bloom so fully this time of year.  I always think of my daughter and prom when they bloom.  Good memories and hearty flowers. They thrive on neglect, and I am oh so thankful.

*edited this was pre-rainy weather.  :). Happy rain drops!

Lavender Tea Soap

 Lavender Tea Soap with Lemon.

The soap is our usual 100% Olive Oil base.  There are finely ground lavender buds in the body of the soap. And to make it pretty the bottom is set with full lavender blossoms.  The scent is light and reminiscent of Tea.  The soap has high quality lemon essential oil.  There is no artificial coloring in the soap.  It is one of our most natural bars, that just happens to be lovely also.

Our most popular selling soap - we can hardly keep in it stock.  Raspberry Vanilla.  (pure olive oil base, Sun-ripened Raspberry fragrance with Vanilla Bean Oil, and smidge of  food coloring to make it pretty).

What's Cooking (besides soap)

This past  week I had a carb craving ... specifically sugar/dessert type craving.  So I hit the internet for low carb cheesecake. I am glad I did.  I learned to use almond meal for crust. (mighty tasty) and I have a delicious low carb yummy treat.

The recipe is here ...

I give this recipe a five stars.  It was easy to make and delicious. (Disclosure..this post was supposed to go out a week ago... I have been inhaling carbs for the past week.)

Violin News - Sundays are Violin Days

Sundays are good days for violin..well for me an especially good day.  I get to play throughout the day and I get a lot of string time. Soap is cooking and I get to blog and play the violin. 

There are three songs that I keep playing and playing.  I have never mastered them  by any means and the last few weeks I spend an hour each day practicing them.

 1. The Godfather Theme  ... I need to get it right, I don't a want someone to breaka my face).
 2. SwallowTail Jig... seems to be the song that keeps me in the fiddle land instead of my lofty dreams of all classical violin.
3. Minuet 1, Bach ... the song at the end of the first violin book.  It seems to me I play it WELL, I can seriously graduate to book 2.

I am hoping that in the next Sundays to come I will have sound clips to share with  you and I hope that on Sundays you will join in...what are you playing? What would you like to play?   What is on your to do list ?

Happy Sunday.

Peace and Cheer.
Toni

On April Gardening

Hello and Happy Saturday.

This week there was some time for gardening. My regular yard, trees, scrub, flower beds are a mess.  I was overwhelmed.  So I focused on the potted garden.

I had a good time out in the semi sunshine planting.  The goal here was to put in some Pansies and Sweet Peas.(Okay Spell check made me spell Pansies like that....I hope it is right).

 That was before....Here is after.  (Noelle in the picture)

.
The Sweet  Peas are not fairing super well.. I hope that changes. 

I am hoping for a nice place to sit and soak up the sun and play some violin songs/fiddle tunes.
I mean my noise can't hardly be as bad as weed eaters, leaf blowers, lawn  mowers, kids, dogs, and traffic.  Ah...Suburbia.

This afternoon a nice batch of Eucalyptus Mint is cooking...as far as soap.

Happy Weekend.

Toni  (note to self ..clean dirt smudges of garden pots..)

On the needles and out of the molds

On the needles.....

I have Celaeno, a beaded shawlette coming along nicely.  Also a Corrugated Baktus scarf. It is knit night yahoo!!

Out of the molds... 

(Sneak peak)

A very natural soap...with essential oil.   And a new soap mold... Lavender Vanilla has a new look!  

Into the garden... Sugar snap peas.  

Happy Wednesday to all!!

Formerly - A Circle of Books

Hello Friends!

I have blogged for years at A Circle of Books (books and reviews) and A Blog of My Own (crafts and family).  I am starting it all up fresh and new from a new blog where I can write about all the things that I like to share.

I hope that many of my blogger friends will join me again.  I hope my old and new Facebook friends will join in and read also.  I also would love to see my new friends from the Fiddle Forum here.

I still read and knit.  However lately.... I play violin, I make Soap and I cook.    I play violin obsessively whenever I am not making soap or cooking.

So what am I going to be gabbing about?

Homemade soap has become a great passion for me.  Ever since I have made it and tried it, I can't imagine not making it.  I am on a fresh journey with my Soap Shop with the help of my lovely daughter, Jessica who keeps things organized and in tip top shape.    I can't wait to release new soaps for  our soap customers.

I love to talk about violin, violin music, and all kinds of classical music.  I am also ready to finally share some sound clips of my violin progress and I hope that we can have a lot of great violin conversations here.  I am casually learning the guitar also.

Knitting, oh yes I still knit and love to share and talk about knitting projects.   I love my knitting group and I hope that we get to pow wow here also.

Books, I still read and occasionally I would like to review a book and get some literary discussions going on.  I value all the reviews and input from years of bloggers that became such lovely friends.

There will be a lot of changes and additions to this blog over the next weeks. (sidebars of Dexter, Soundcloud, photography, and all things cool!)  I hope everyone enjoys and comes by often.

Thank you!  I am so very excited about all of this.

Peace and Cheer!