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Homemade Soap

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soap, rosemary, goats milk soap, Mothers Day, Handmade gifts

Rose Bushes.

I cannot remember how many I have purchased over the years –

either as an adult or as a younger child with the help  of my Daddy.

Pink ones, red ones, old-fashioned ones.

Small ones, large ones, fully in-bloom ones. 

And always in correlation with the same holiday.

Mother’s Day.

soap, rosemary, goats milk soap, Mothers Day, Handmade gifts

I would gleefully add a a pretty bow around the pot and present it to

my dear Mama.  

Happy Mother’s Day.

Mama would “ooooh” and “aaahh” and go on and on about

how much she loved it.  

And I would already start formulating in my mind,

 
what color rose bush I would buy for her the next year.  

soap, rosemary, goats milk soap, Mothers Day, Handmade gifts

My Mama would plant the new rose bush with all the others, and

sometimes there would be two of them to plant if my sister had

also given one, too.

‘Cause Mama loved rose bushes.  You could see it on her face every

year when we gave them to her.

soap, rosemary, goats milk soap, Mothers Day, Handmade gifts

Now anyone who loves roses and has rose bushes in their garden,

knows without a doubt, they require a lot of work.

A LOT of work. 

Pruning and de-bugging and fertilizing.  They are as much work as a

newborn baby in some ways. Their gentle beauty comes with a price.

Mama took care of her roses, because they had been gifts from her daughters.

soap, rosemary, goats milk soap, Mothers Day, Handmade gifts

Year after year, her rose garden grew. 

Mother’s Day after Mother’s Day.  

Rose bush after rose bush.

In my later adult years, as I walked up to Mama and Daddy’s house –

I noticed several large containers of Daylilies.  Daylilies?  

What was Mama doing with Daylilies?  I mean, roses were her thing.  

She loved her rose garden.  

She loved working in her rose garden and caring for them.

soap, rosemary, goats milk soap, Mothers Day, Handmade gifts

“Mama, where did the Daylilies come from?”

“I bought them at the garden center today.  Aren’t they pretty?”

(Well, yes, they were pretty but…)

“What are you going to do with them?”

“Dad made me a new flower bed to plant them in.”

soap, rosemary, goats milk soap, Mothers Day, Handmade gifts

“Oh… a new flower bed?”  I asked, a little perplexed.

“Yes, behind the koi pond.”

“That will be pretty.  I like day lilies.”  

I still didn’t quite understand why she wanted a new bed, with

more work and care and gardening time involved, especially when she

loved her roses so much.

“They will be easy to take care of.  They pretty much take care of themselves.

 I’ve always loved Daylilies.”

And that is when it started making sense to me…

soap, rosemary, goats milk soap, Mothers Day, Handmade gifts

Tending the roses was hard work.  Time consuming and sometimes

“thorny” painful work.

We lived on a large farm, and Mama worked just as hard as my Daddy.  

And at the end of the day, after the work in the fields were done –

she still had to cook and clean and take care of her children.

… and her roses.  Lots and lots of roses.  

All of which she had not ever asked for, or purchased herself for that matter.

Roses which had been gifted to her by two daughter’s

(and sometimes a son) who were so happy to be giving their

beloved Mama something she loved – that we did not stop long

enough to ask her if she actually did love them.

soap, rosemary, goats milk soap, Mothers Day, Handmade gifts

Mama spent all that time –  countless hours throughout the years –

taking care of roses, not so much because she loved the act of gardening

and caring for thorny bushes – but because she did not have the

heart to tell her daughters and her son that Daylilies were

her favorite flowers.

She could not let the rose bushes just die and fade away…

we would be heart broken.

And in that moment of awareness, I looked over at the Daylilies

and said…”where is a spade?”

“Why?” Mama asked.

“I want to help you start your new daylily bed.”

…and she smiled.
  

soap, rosemary, goats milk soap, Mothers Day, Handmade gifts

You know what I bought my Mama that year for Mother’s Day?

Nope, not roses.  Not even Daylilies.

I bought her some new pink gardening gloves, a matching pink

garden spade and various gardening tools… and a gift card to Lowe’s.

 So she could buy Daylilies or Geraniums or Daisies…

or whatever her heart desired.

Mama is almost 80 now, and her health doesn’t allow her to

do much gardening any more.  The roses have been replaced

with easier-to-care-for bulbs and flowers that do not require much work.

I learned a valuable lesson about gift giving in general.

 Don’t give a gift to someone just because
 
it makes you happy.  Because you do not have
 
to deal with the gift after it has been given.
 
soap, rosemary, goats milk soap, Mothers Day, Handmade gifts
 

So now…I give my Mama a little something homemade –

made from love and from the heart.

‘Cause Mama says when you are her age, you already have

everything in life you both want and need.

When Mama said that to me recently, I hugged her tight and

kissed her still-smooth cheek and said…

“Mama, this almost 50-year old woman has everything she could possibly

ever want or need, too.”

 
soap, rosemary, goats milk soap, Mothers Day, Handmade gifts
 
If you want to give your own Mama something which does not have thorns,
 
here is the oh-so-easy directions to my
 
Rosemary-Citrus Goats Milk Soap
 
1) Purchase the goats milk base from a local craft store.
 
I found mine at Michael’s.
 
It’s also where I bought the bottle of Citrus Oil and the plastic soap molds.
 
soap, rosemary, goats milk soap, Mothers Day, Handmade gifts
 
2) Chop fresh rosemary.
 
I left mine medium-course because I wanted to be able to
see the rosemary.
 
3) Grate some orange rind.
I used two small oranges.
 
4) Place the goats milk base in a bowl.
 
*(use a bowl you don’t mind throwing away.)
 
Melt in the microwave until all the base is completely liquified.
 
 I did this in 30 second increments, stirring each time.
 
5) Add chopped rosemary.  
 
I added a little and stirred, added more and stirred – until I got
 
the look I wanted.
 
There is no recipe, just use as little or as
much as you want.
 
6) Add the fresh grated orange peel.
 
Then, add some of the citrus oil.
 
I wasn’t sure how much to use, so I used two droppers full.
 
7) Pour melted soap base into the molds.
 
8) Allow to harden then carefully pop out of the molds. 
 
I suppose, if you really wanted to…
 
you could adapt this recipe and add some rose petals.  
 
But, I would suggest you leave out the thorns.  😀
soap, rosemary, goats milk soap, Mothers Day, Handmade gifts

 

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Comments

  9. Krista Low says

    What a fabulous post! And such a sweet message. I know I am guilty of purchasing gifts that I would like over what I think the receiver may want. This is a great reminder. Thank you. I love this soap recipe. What a perfect pampering for Mother’s day, and something homemade. Love it! Thanks so much for sharing this. Krista @ A Handful of Everything

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  26. April says

    I absolutely love the story as well as the little lesson at the end. I totally agree and love to give gifts I KNOW the person will use. The home made soap recipe is awesome too! Thank you.

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  27. Tracey says

    How could I make this soap with actual goat’s milk? Also,I am absolutely touched by your story. You should either be writing a book of short vignettes or submitting your stories for publication.

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