HennyPenny's random thoughts. New set of goals!

[Farmfresh]

Where did you get your lard? If it is pure it will not smell bacon-ie. You may need to clean your supply again to purify it some more.

You basically boil a little salted water and add the lard to it to melt. Stir it well. When the pot cools the clean lard will solidify at the top of the pot and the impurities will be at the bottom in the water. The refrigerator helps to speed the process.

As far as curing I would not let it dry too long before grating it - then I would let it cure grated for the 3 - 4 weeks. This should also help with the smell. Even with a bacon scent, it should be OK after you add the soda and borax and not make your clothes smell like bacon. If you still detect a scent that you do not appreciate I would add a few drops of essential oil. You could also try grating a lemon peel up completely and then place the gratings in a cheese cloth and press it for oils or even cook the "scent bag" with the water making a lemony tea then make the soap out of that water. Or make another scent tea to use. (Maybe lavender or other good smelling herb)

You laundry soap recipe must be for a small batch. My liquid detergent recipe calls for 2 cups grated soap, 2 cups borax, 2 cups washing soda and 5 gallons of water.

 

[hennypenny9]

I bought the package of lard at the grocery store. I just assumed that the smell was normal. Next time I'll bother the butcher in the meat section. Do I just ask for pork fat? And yeah, my batch is smaller, but it's just me so I don't need a five gallon batch lol!

Is still too humid! 90% is unacceptable. When I turned on the AC in my car, my glasses fogged up. My feet stick on the linoleum. I'm having horrid flashbacks to my time in Japan. Loved the country, hated the humidity!

 

[big brown horse]

Just a few more days of this heat and then it breaks. Hang in there henny, I too am suffering with no air conditioner in the house.

Please tell me this isn't normal, this 90 degree heat!

Thank God this state is full of deep, cold lakes to hang out in... Yesterday my daughter and her bff were up to our necks all day in the lake. It was so cold my ears ached when I got out.

My daughter told me later that one of the kids on the shore called me "that lady on the innertube". We got a kick out of that, but I was stung by that work "lady"...who me?!

 

[hennypenny9]

It's like a sauna in here. And the tiny pathetic breeze is WET. I can't wait for this to go away. I can barely breath.

On a positive note, someone on SS mentioned a 70s show called Good Neighbors. It's available to watch instantly on my computer through Netflix. I'm only on the second episode, and it cracks me up! It's everything amusing about going self sufficient. The nosy neighbors, the mishaps, the gratification. I love it. Although their goat that they got, that they supposedly milked, I think is a boy.

 

[hennypenny9]

Hate. Hot. Weather.

This is so not normal. (BBH, serious, it's so NOT NORMAL. I'd move if it was!)

Seattle is in for an unusually long and oppressive heat wave this week, with peak temperatures on Wednesday that could break Seattle's all-time record of 100 degrees.

"In short, we are about to enter an historic heat wave for our region," Clifford Mass, a University of Washington atmospheric sciences professor, wrote on his blog. "One day, your grandchildren will ask you... did you really experience the temperatures of July 29th, 2009?"

The National Weather Service is forecasting a high temperature of 99 degrees for Wednesday, beating the 95 degree record for the day and just one degree away from Seattle's overall record. The UW is forecasting triple-digit temperatures.

Temperatures reached 94 degrees Monday, according to the weather service, and are expected to break 90 degrees until Friday.

Multiday heat waves are rare in Seattle, where marine air usually moves in and dramatically cools things off, according to the weather service. The last five-day stretch was in 1981.

Giant pockets of low pressure air are anchored over Hudson Bay and western California, keeping stagnant, hot air stationed over Western Washington.

"There's no end in sight right now," said Johnny Burg.

Temperatures are expected to stay in the eighties until next Monday.

SEATTLE

In Western Washington, where air conditioning is a rare luxury at home, people were cringing at a National Weather Service forecast calling for record high temperatures through Thursday.

Meteorologist Jay Albrecht said Wednesday would be the real scorcher, with winds expected to bring hot air down from the Cascades. The weather service has issued a heat advisory for Western Washington through Thursday, with temperatures running about 20 degrees higher than average. Forecasters say the heat wave could cause some health problems.

People in Eastern Washington also were sweating, with temperatures expected to go as high as 100 on the east side of the Cascades by midweek.

Seattle Tacoma International Airport could reach 100 degrees Wednesday, which would tie the all-time record set July 16, 1941, in downtown Seattle and tied July 20, 1994, at the airport. Temperature records have been kept at the airport since 1948, and were kept in downtown Seattle between 1890 and 1972.

Thursday is not expected to be much cooler. The average high for Seattle in late July is 76 or 77.

"We do get into the 90s a couple times a year on average. To have four days in a row is rare," Albrecht said.

Conditions could ease a bit by the weekend.

The weather service has issued an air stagnation advisory for Western Washington through Thursday for a combination of heat, humidity and only light breezes to disperse pollution.

"You add all that together and end up with heat stress problems," even for people without existing health problems, Albrecht said. "You don't want to be taking a jog in the heat of the day."

The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency expected poor air quality possibly until the weekend in the Cascade foothills of King and Pierce counties.

Forecasters also were advising of high heat in southwest Washington and parts of Eastern Washington, especially the Yakima Valley and lower Columbia Basin, where temperatures may break 100.

 

[Farmfresh]

Henny
You need to swing on by my house for a few days of TYPICAL Midwest summer.

After that you will be able to SAIL through your little North Western summer!

 

[hennypenny9]

Farmfresh- I like the rain, I like boring tepid weather. I would move away from here -to Alaska if need be!- to get away from 90+ degree weather! I hope you like your summers, but I'll pass if it's worse than my "little" summer!

 

[big brown horse]

Oh, henny I'm dieing from the heat along with you!

Had to skip my walk and just stayed in the lake all afternoon.

I just took a cold shower and drenched my tee shirt, now I'm going to sit in the dark in front of my fan. Have to make a cold dinner, heck I'm not even hungry I'm so hot!

 

[Farmfresh]

What! You don't like 105 heat indexes and 80 percent humidity! Oh Henny what can I do with you!

 

[hennypenny9]

Explain how this makes sense... It was 81 an hour ago, and NOW IT'S 87! What. Why???

And oh, humidity. We usually have high humidity, but a low dew point, so it does not feel sticky and uncomfortable. The east coast averages a much higher dew point. For example, now ours is 65, and the temp is 87. Miami is a similar temp, 88, but the dew point is 77. So it must be terrible there. But lately we have been having a higher dew point, as the news articles pointed out.

In the United States the most humid cities, strictly in terms of relative humidity, are Forks and Olympia, Washington.[3] This fact may come as a surprise to many, as the climate in this region rarely exhibits the discomfort usually associated with high humidity. Dew points are typically much lower on the West Coast than on the East. Because high dew points play a more significant role than relative humidity in the discomfort created during humid days, the air in these western cities usually does not feel "humid."

All that being said, I really usually like it here. I grew up here. I think it's hysterical when a major city (Seattle) shuts down for 2" of snow.

Farmfresh- I know, I'm beyond hope! I'd be a puddle on the floor in that climate! I was nearly when I visited Japan, which was both hot, and humid. And then our guide was like "okay, now we WALK."