Snail Sleds

We did a really fun project yesterday in 4-H that I wanted to tell you about. This was thanks to one of our more scientific club leaders, who organized a way for the kids to study the concept of proportionate strength. First, they all gave their predictions about how much weight they thought a snail would be able to pull...it's own weight, two times its own weight, four times, etc. Then, they made little paper "sleds" out of index cards with a string attached and taped them to the snail's shell. They put out little pieces of lettuce as an enticement for the snail to start moving, then began adding pennies to the sled. In the end, the strongest snail was able to pull over 60 times its own body weight. Amazing!!

Gender Neutral

My kids and I love root beer. We love the smell, the taste, and the refreshing sweetness of it. True root beer is made from sarsaparilla root, but in some parts of the country there is a carbonated beverage that is very similar to root beer called birch beer. It’s made from sap extracted from the bark of the Black Birch tree (Betula lenta). Apparently, in the dairy country of Pennsylvania a float made with vanilla ice cream and birch beer is called a “Red Bull” and one made with chocolate ice cream is called a “Black Cow”. Yum.

When sweet birch essential oil is combined with vanilla oil, it blends their sweetness and herbal spice into a smell very much like birch or root beer. I use these two oils, along with pure cocoa powder in my Gender Neutral Soap. Since kids often love root beer, I wanted to stick with a child-like theme for my root beer soap. One day I happened across this hilarious vintage image of two toddlers and knew I had to use it somehow. Don’t you wonder what it was intended for originally? I would love to know!

Smooch Stick

Here's something you probably don't know about me. I'm an addict. I can't go to sleep, or sit at the computer, or drive, or do laundry without putting moisturizer on my lips. This habit is probably most annoying to my husband. I've killed many a romantic moment by pausing to grab my "lip stuff" and apply a layer. Before a kiss, after a kiss...never during a kiss though. That would be too much.

A few months ago we had to take my car in to be serviced because the little storage compartment in the driver's console wouldn't open properly. The whole unit had to be removed. When it was, the repairman found a total of 8 lip balm tubes that had fallen down into the space under the lid, jamming it so it wouldn't open. Boy, did I get some dirty looks for that one.

I have tried lots of brands of lip moisturizer. I can't stand the petroleum-based ones like Chapstick or Carmex. Burt's Bee's is nice and I don't mind Neutrogena, though it contains paraffin. I've tried lots of "boutique" lip balms over the years too, some good, some bad. I just never was totally happy with any of them, so I started playing around with my own recipes a year or so ago. I wanted something all-natural, smooth, fortifying and nice tasting (but not too sweet).

This is what I came up with. I call it "Smooch Stick" and offer it in two different flavors, each with different nourishing oils and butters. The Sweet Orange and Spearmint Smooch Stick contains apricot oil, beeswax, grape seed oil, mango butter, vitamin E oil and sweet orange and spearmint essential oils. I use ammonium glycyrrhizate as a sweetener, which is a natural powder that comes from licorice root.

Here's a little back story on the flavor of the second Smooch Stick variety. My kids and I love marzipan. Our favorite bakery is here in Ballard and they offer a multitude of tasty treats which include marzipan or sweet almond paste. They even sell one pound bricks of plain marzipan, which we always have on hand in our refrigerator...just because we can. There's an ongoing joke with my husband (who does not like marzipan) that whenever I really like something or consider it a guilty pleasure, I say "Mmmmm....just like maaarzipaaaan!" It amuses me. We must enjoy life's little pleasures, right?

The Marzipan Smooch Stick contains sweet almond oil, beeswax, wheat germ oil, cocoa butter, vitamin E oil, bitter almond essential oil and the same licorice root sweetener. Both varieties of Smooch Stick go on smoothly, without a waxy feel and moisturize with natural oils and butters that make your lips feel soft and supple. It's like maaarzipaaan!

The Market Arms

Today my new favorite drinking, dining and socializing establishment opens for business at 11:30am. The Market Arms in Ballard is owned by the same folks that have mastered the fine art of the British sports pub for the past 15 years at Fremont's George and Dragon Pub. We used to live a stone's throw from the George and Dragon in my early Seattle life. I actually remember when it changed over from the Midget Tavern to the George and Dragon...I was hugely relieved, as the Midget was a pretty dive-y place with a very rough and colorful clientele. I used to love going to Quiz Night at the George. My husband still goes regularly with a group of guy friends to get their butts kicked in the quiz challenge. Oh sorry...did I type that out loud?

And now we have our OWN place in Ballard, on the direct bus line from our house. It's like DOOR to DOOR service! I feel like the old Norse gods are smiling down on me today.

We are also lucky enough to be friends with the wonderful owners. Kids are worth having, if for no other reason than they make friends...and then you get to become friends with your kids' friends' parents. We've met some of the greatest people that way.

Even though it's brand new, I have a strong suspicion that the Market Arms is going to become a Ballard institution. There is already a strong bond formed between some of the old guard Norwegians of Ballard and this new English crew. I love it. I can't wait to see what the t-shirts are going to look like (hmmm John?).

It's also just a really nice space to hang out in: lots of windows and light, mixed with lots of wood and warmth. A great deal of care and attention to detail was taken during the build-out. The table bases were brought in from England, the bar was custom made for the space, large screen TVs are easily viewable from every seat in the house, and the signs in the bathroom were attached to the wall with magical screws so that they can't be nicked from the place too easily.

Oh yeah, and the food is great. It's pub food: bangers and mash, fish and chips, shepherd's pie, cheeseburgers, etc. But it's Seattle pub food...that is to say, our expectations here are for above average food, and the Market Arms more than delivers. I got to taste a bunch of different dishes, and they were all excellent. The hamburger was to die for. Hamburger Harry's next door is going to be hurtin'. And they have an amazing beverage selection, obviously. And a very friendly, experienced and enthusiastic staff. And they're going to have Quiz Night on Wednesdays. And the bathrooms are nice. And you can play pool and darts. And they have outdoor seating on the front patio and off the back with a view of the fishing boats and water.

AND they're open just in time to start showing all of the 2010 World Cup matches (which begin this Friday). If you are a soccer fan, you may have already peed your pants with excitement. If you're not a soccer follower and fan of all the roudy World Cup revelry, remember to come back in another month or two when the windows are all open, the sun (or moon?) is shining off of the water, the folks at the table next to you have a relaxed card game going, you can hold a pint of beer in your hand...and settle in for the long, lovely haul.

Local Honey Buzz

I am very happy to announce that Seattle Sundries is now using honey (and soon beeswax) produced by neighborhood bees and gathered by the Ballard Bee Company..."Keeping the Bee in Ballard."

The very friendly and accommodating owners of Ballard Bee Co. (Corky Luster and Karen Percelle) place hives all around Ballard, which means the honey collected is a true reflection of our neighborhood and the " diverse plants that thrive in our local gardens and parks." They supply select local restaurants and grocers with the raw honey that they harvest.

The city of Seattle allows a maximum of four hives per lot in city limits, so Ballard Bee Co. has set up "hosting" relationships with neighborhood residents who are willing to have hives placed on their property, and be maintained by BBC. I'm considering getting on the waiting list for hives to be placed at our house. BBC also rents hives and does consultation work for folks interested in learning beekeeping themselves. It's awesome!

To read more about the Ballard Bee Company, visit their website and read the interview done on MyBallard.com. Good stuff!!

photo courtesy of the Ballard Bee Co. website

Meet Your Maker, Part II

Me, part deux…

When we first moved to Seattle, I started waiting tables at an Indian restaurant and going to school for my master’s degree in teaching. My future mister tried a couple different career paths, eventually settling into a financial field. We lived in the Fremont neighborhood “the center of the universe” and got a puppy named Molly.


I finished graduate school and quickly got an ESL teaching job. I was frequently mistaken for a middle school student in the halls at school. I’m about the same size as most of the students, and apparently I looked pretty young (I hated getting carded then…now it makes my day). I loved my job and the young immigrants that I got to work with. They were (still are, in fact) interesting, industrious and engaging. I often feel a pull back to the classroom that I may follow at some point, or maybe I’ll just travel the world to visit the places they all came from.


But I was busy. We had one, then two, then three little chunky-cheeked babies. I gardened, made soap, sewed slip covers, made baby food and changed diapers. I decorated one house, then another. We finally landed in a part of Seattle that we just love: Ballard. It reminds me in some ways of the small town where I grew up, but is still very much a part of the city. I also like that it has the only Nordic Heritage Museum in the United States. My son’s soccer team chant a few years ago was “Lutefisk, lutefisk, lefse, lefse! We’re the Ballard Vikings! Ya, Ya Betcha!” Priceless.

My older kids have started school and we now spend lots of time in 4-H, music lessons, hockey and soccer. I am one of the founding members of Elliott Bay Pipe Band and do my best not to embarrass my banditos. It helps that I have 28 years of piping experience to fall back on. I try to grow lots of berries and vegetables, sew things, and learn something new whenever I can. I try to be faithful and mindful of the earth and the trees and the creatures around us, like my parents always have been. I try to be careful about what we consume and what we throw away. I try to do, more than I talk. I also try to stretch a penny as far as it will go (Granny Gretha) and wash out our Ziplock bags many times before they get thrown away (Grandma Evie). Stewardship takes many forms.

So that’s me, for now. I have big plans for the future. I have not gone back to teaching or learned how to knit yet, because I am budgeting my time in the event that I become the overlord of a vast soapmaking empire. We’ll see what happens.

Ballard Art Walk

This Saturday evening, February 13th, is Ballard's monthly Art Walk. It's a great event and will be a fun night on the town just before Valentine's Day. Seattle Sundries will be the featured artist at Venue this month. If you've never been, you should make a point of stopping by to check out their terriffic selection of art and creations from local makers. My soap has been available at Venue since last fall, so I have the pleasure if stopping by there on a regular basis. It's in a great location in Old Ballard, right near the intersection of Ballard Ave. and 22nd St.

There's so much to see and do in Ballard these days! The streets are packed with pedestrians out strolling, munching, sipping and browsing their way through the neighborhood. I love all of the activity and the festive vibe. Grab your honey, pet your dog, get a babysitter and come out for a night on the town!!

Highland Fling Soap

I thought I'd use this blog also as a place to give more information and background on some of the soaps I make, ingredients that I use and projects I've been working on:

One of the first kinds of soap I started making (in the early 90s) was a GREAT smelling bar made with honey, oatmeal and beeswax. The beeswax is added because honey makes the soap really soft and hard to get out of the molds. Beeswax firms it up and contributes to its color and natural scent. The soap is a beautiful amber with little flecks of ground oatmeal (which I use a coffee grinder purchased at Value Village to make). I made and loved this soap for a number of years before I decided to start a soap business.

When I needed a label and a theme for it, something Scottish seemed like an obvious choice. I have strong associations with honey, oatmeal and Scotland...and bagpiping, of course. I've played the bagpipes for the past 27 years and am a founding member of the Elliott Bay Pipe Band here in Seattle (since 1992). The bagpiper on the label was a tribute to those long-time friends in the piping world. After a name change or two, I have finally settled on "Highland Fling Soap." Check it out!