Caribbean Coconut Soap Rebatched

The other day, after pouring our "Caribbean Coconut" soap into the molds, I realized I had left out one of the oils in my recipe and it was too late to do anything about it. I'm currently out of Caribbean Coconut soap so I really didn't need the headache or expense of screwing up this batch and then having to wait for more fragrance oil to arrive before I could make a new batch. But rather than cry (which I really wanted to), get mad (which I usually do), or complain (which I sometimes do), I decided to put on my big girl panties and salvage my mistake by "rebatching" the soap and I decided to do a little experimental scent blending while I was at it. FYI, rebatching soap is done by carefully and slowly melting previously made soap. You can use a variety of heat sources but for this batch I chose the microwave.

So here is the soap I need to salvage.

Here is the soap cut in smaller pieces sitting in the microwave ready to be rebatched, aka melted.

After about 30 minutes of low heat and intermittent stirring the soap is still not quite ready.

While the soap finished melting I took some time to select the colors I would use to color my soap. I love this part. I decided on some beautiful blue micas and oxides. I also ended up adding a beautiful green mica that's not pictured here.

Here's my soap finally melted and me adding the missing Avocado oil. I also decided to add a small amount of additional almond fragrance oil that I mixed in with the Avocado oil. I figured a coconut scented soap with an additional almond note sounded good.

The avocado oil and almond fragrance oil have been mixed in and now here I am adding the colors. Did I mention I love this part?

Now that the colors have been added the soap is poured/plopped into a mold and left to cool and harden. Rebatched soap has the texture of soft mashed potatoes thus the rough and rustic looking texture.

And here is the soap after it's cooled, removed from the mold, and cut. By the way, the scent turned out yummy. It reminds me of an Almond Joy candy bar. After it's well cured I'll add it to our online store as a "special edition" soap.

Update and New Bath and Body Gel coming soon!

I was all excited this past month of June to introduce a new goat milk product. Unfortunately, (big sigh) it's not yet ready. So what was this mystery product I was so excited about? Goat Milk Bath & Shower Gel that we are still (ever so slowly) working on. But wait! There is still some good news. Though not made with goat milk we are getting ready to introduce our new Bath & Shower Gel which is a wonderful alternative for those that love our scents but don't use bar soap. This gentle and moisturizing cleansing gel makes oodles of silky soft, creamy lather. And trust me when I say that a little bit goes a long way. Seriously, I used 1/2 teaspoon ( yes I measured) on one of those nylon poufs and I had more lather than I new what to do with! Now, I'm still doing some final fragrance testing, and putting the finishing touches on the packaging, but we hope to have this wonderful product available within the next two weeks. We'll keep you updated!

In time for Summer new fun and fruity candle melts!

Fruit scents have been a favorite with our customers so it's fun to introduce some new ones for the summer season.

Introducing............

• Juicy Watermelon: Cold, crisp, sweet and juicy Watermelon at its best!

• Cucumber Melon: Sweet Honeydew Melon with crisp, fresh Cucumber.

• Sun Sweetened Raspberries: Sun Sweetened Raspberries with a sprinkle of pure cane sugar and soft vanilla.

• Carousel: With sweet notes of cotton candy, French vanilla, creamy caramel, milk chocolate, dark amber, soft musk and a mix of light florals and juicy strawberry, this fragrance is sure to be a hit with the young and those of us that are young at heart. (Okay, maybe not really a fruit scent, but it is fun!)

• Kickin' Kiwi: Sweet like a strawberry and refreshing like a summer melon is this delicious fruit known as the Kiwi.
  

• Jamaican Me Happy: Tropical fruits of pineapple, papaya, and banana, mixed with grated coconut, zesty mandarin and a hint of rum makes this a tropical vacation in a candle melt. Don't forget the sunscreen!

• Creamy Lime: Tangy, zesty lime sweetened with soft notes of creamy coconut .

• Island Retreat: Juicy notes of ripe mango, sliced pineapple, and fresh citrus, complemented with soft notes of pink plumeria and lush, tropical greens nestled in a base of creamy coconut and white musk makes for one complex and delicious Tropical Retreat!

Phew! The past two months have been very busy. We've had 11 does kid (give birth) with only two left to go! And as a result, my daughter and I have been spending many hours in the barn these days, milking, feeding bottle babies, monitoring pregnant does, and the list goes on.

I've also been spending time working on new products and scents. In our Candle Melts, we have several new scents coming mid June, scents like Kickin Kiwi. Black Cherry, Juicy Watermelon, Jamaican Me Happy, Sun Sweetened Raspberry, and Carousel! I can't wait to officially introduce these along with our new goat milk_______ (not telling yet because it's a surprise) that we will be introducing soon!

Here's some of our kids waiting for their bottle. From left to right we have Lady, Milo (the only guy in the group,) Fae, River, and Molly.

Getting Ready for Kidding!

Here's a few things we have ready before our does start delivering.

Kidding pens ready!
These pens are set up inside the regular pens. This gives the doe her own space when it's time to give birth yet keeps her close to her herd.


And almost ready!

Fresh Straw for bedding

Relaxing, Calming, Lavender Essential Oil!
We put a few drops in and around the kidding pens.

Clean towels!

Ingredients for Vitamin/Gatorade drink
(Given to mamma doe after she kids)

Plenty of hot chocolate and coffee for those late night kiddings!

Makeshift bed in barn.

Wet, gloomy weather!
The rule of thumb is if you have does due to deliver you have to have cold, rainy weather. It makes those late night trips out to the barn so invigorating!

In The Family Way

This is Judy's daughter Justine here :). We wanted to share some pictures of our very pregnant girls residing in our barn. These lovely ladies are 4-6 weeks out from their due dates. The average gestation for goats is 150 days. LaManchas average 145 day, and other breeds have been known to go up to 155 days. All but 3 does are bred to our Nigerian Dwarf buck Jack Jack, so their kids will be 1st Generation LaManchas.

Before we go on I want to clarify what exactly a 1st Generation LaMancha is. When a LaMancha is bred to a Nigerian Dwarf, their kids are what is known in the goat world as a First Generation LaMancha. 1st Generation's average size is 80lbs as opposed to the 140lb-170lb LaMancha or the 40-60lb Nigerian Dwarf. You can have 1st Generation in other breeds also, it just requires breeding a standard size goat such as a LaMancha or Nubian to a Nigerian Dwarf buck. I won't go in to more details and bore you guys with the whole genetic dynamics. I did want to give an outline, so you could better understand when I refer to a doe as a 1st Generation LaMancha instead of just LaMancha.

The LaManchas bred to Jack Jack, will have kids averaging about 3-5lbs. The 1st Generation LaMancha's bred to Jack Jack, will have kids averaging 2-4lbs. The size of the kids depends on how many they are carrying. A goat can have anywhere from a single kid to quads and you do have the rare quints, most common is twins although we have had singles and triplets here on the farm. A single kid is going to weigh more than a kid from a set of triplets, which is why I say the size depends on how many kids. I do have 3 does bred to my LaMancha buck Abraham which some of you might remember from last February. Their kids will average about 7-8lbs.

Ping my mom's 3yr old 1st Generation Mini LaMancha, due March 25th. You can't tell in the photo but her belly actually is quite large. Me and mom are guessing she will have 2-3 kids, do you have any guesses?

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Ricoalette my mom's 9yr old LaMancha due, March 26th. She is also known around here as "The Tank" :). Mom and I where discussing how many she might have and we think maybe twins. She is large in her belly anyways, but do you have any guesses?


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Rosie my mom's 3yr old 1st Generation Mini LaMancha, due March 30th. She has a pretty large girth going, so we are guessing triplets. Any guesses from you guys?

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This sweet lady is Nim, my 2yr old LaMancha, due March 30th. She is the first of the three bred to Abraham. This girl is the sweetheart of the farm, she loves her cuddles and kisses as you can see in the top photo :). She is bred to Abraham, so I am thinking a single kid. She might be hiding a second baby up in her rib cage though, any guesses? (these kids will be in the 7-8lb range)


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Sue Bear is my 2yr old LaMancha due March 30th. She is actually showing a bit in the belly so I am thinking twins what with her being bred mini. She is what we call a first freshener meaning she has never been bred. First freshener's tend to not show as much when pregnant for the first time. Any guesses from the peanut gallery?


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Mia is my 4yr old LaMancha, due March 30th. I am thinking she will have triplets, with her being bred mini. Her belly is getting quite large, but she has surprised me before. Care to wager a guess?

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Briar Rose my 3yr old LaMancha, due March 31st. She is one of my most dairy looking does on the farm, add her long body to the mix and she could be hiding twins. She is bred to Abe so you have to remember the kids will be in the 7-8lb range.

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Tinkerbell my mom's 2yr old 1st Generation Mini LaMancha, due April 7th. You can't tell from the photos but out of all 4 mini's we have due she has the largest belly going on. Mom and I say triplets, how about you guys?

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Trinket is my 7yr old LaMancha, due March 8th. She isn't as strong in her hocks and that comes from her momma but so far her babies have been nice and strong. She is to Abe and her belly isn't too big so I am hoping for a single little girl. What do you think? (again 7-8lb kids)


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Last but not least we have Zoe my 2yr old 1st Generation Mini Lamancha, due March 11th. She is just a bit smaller in the belly than her twin sister Tinkerbell so I think twins. Any guesses on how many she is going to have?

Funny little fact, Trinket is Zoe and Tinkerbell's momma. I was rather tickled to see that they are all due within a few days of each other.

When all these does are 1-2 weeks out from delivering we will post some updated photos of their increasing girth and then of course when they finally "pop" we will give birth announcements along with photos :). We do have 3 other does due later but they are no fun to post pictures of as they are still retaining their girlish figures for another few months. But no worries when they start getting some womanly curves in their bellies we shall post some pictures.

Where did January go?!

January is typically slow for us. No big shows to attend. No goats to milk. No goat babies to bottle feed. But that doesn't mean I haven't been busy. Food/soaping oils, like coconut oil and palm oil, have been skyrocketing in price! Trying to keep my soap prices down I've been busy tweaking and testing my current recipes seeing what changes I can make to keep costs down with the cost of my supplies rising. I've also been working with different additives like beeswax and stearic acid( aka vegetable wax) seeing how I can lengthen the life of a bar soap all while keep it smelling great, lathering well, and super gentle on the skin.

Some basic soaping ingredients from left to right: Lard, Stearic Acid (Vegetable wax) Palm oil, Beeswax


Early January found our weather gray, wet and gloomy, basically a typical Pacific Northwest winter.


Looking across our goat pasture. Notice there are no goats in the field because they are hunkered down in the barn.


Our backyard in early January. Green, gray, and brown are the predominant winter colors around here. At least we have green grass in January! And notice the beautiful green wheat field in the background!

Our buck pen with its occasional duck pond that occurs during really wet weather. There's Arwen, our lone duck, enjoying this wet spell. She's around 11- years-old!



With all the gloomy weather I took time to experiment with creating some colorful soaps.

As you can see in my color choices I'm longing for spring and summer colors!


I've also been busy testing many wonderful new fragrances for both our soaps and candle melts! I can't wait to introduce some of these new fragrances over the upcoming months!