Tag Archives: winter

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Saving soap scum

Do you reuse the soap scum from your shower or bathtub? Great! Neither do I.

For some time now I have been keeping those slim bars of soap that are almost ready to turn into scum. You know the ones, the kind you set down into the soap tray that turn into a sloppy mess by the time you pick up your washcloth. I’ve been keeping the soap slivers in a container in the back of drawer that holds the new bars of soap. My thought was that I could turn them back into a bar and prevent soap scum (at least some of it).

This all stayed in the theoretical project stage until my favorite brand of bar soap has refused to go on sale. For quite some time too, since I have a whole drawer for hoarding soap in.

It was time to get serious and chop up those slivers of soap and make them useful!

After chopping, I got my hands wet and packed the soap together to form a ball. I needed to wet my hands after each layer and found that packing the soap too loosely would create a crumbling soap-scum-super-starter.

Ball of packed soap flakes

If you have any small plastic toys laying around, they can be covered with soap flakes for a shower surprise at a later date. I am fortunate enough that I can surprise myself these days.

Plastic snake waiting for a soap shell
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Fall to winter

Tuesday

I’m thankful for our public servants and those who keep an eye on them. I attended the county board of supervisors public hearing for the 2012 budget in the morning and the public library board meeting in the evening. It is a challenge to match revenue to services, however we can meet this goal if we work together.

Wednesday

It sounds like guns firing at varied distances from our house, but it isn’t good hunting weather out. Heavy, wet, white snow is falling everywhere. I suspect the globs of snow falling from the cottonwood trees onto our poorly insulated roof are making the gunfire noise. I went out to photograph our first snow and was treated to the loudest thunderboom that I’ve ever heard in the snow.

The first snow

Quince tree bowed in the snow

Cottonwood trees in the snow

My culture shows because I’m more concerned about my roof caving in because of  heavy, wet snow than militant hunters who will apparently hunt in  any weather. For the first time in my life, I shoveled a roof (at least part of it). I was well soaked by the time I got back into the house.

While the snowing continued, the sheep went out to eat in the front yard (the mobile electric fence either shorted out or simply tipped over). By the time I got back to photograph the evidence, the snow had already blotted out the muddy hoof prints.

What was recently yummy kale

I’m thankful to have  a short, fat, old glassblower for a friend and to see him quoted on Science Friday!

Photo of wet newspaper

Transparency in the media

I should have picked up my paper before it got soaked.