items of interest

I've been coming across all sorts of wild and wonderful things to share over the past couple of days. First up: for my upcoming birthday, Adam bought me this stunning ring from esdesign's Etsy shop. (Also where the photo is from.) (I know, I know, these things should be kept secret - but he needed to know the size and if I liked this one or another one more.) Birch bark pattern, I'm Birch Bark Soap... brilliant.

Next up is this Kitchen Counter Compost Chute - brilliant! Although I agree that some kind of cover would be an improvement. Think of all of the dropped bits of peelings you would keep off of the floor next to the compost bin.

And take a look at this terrific resource for eating seasonally. If you've ever seen the More-with-Less cookbooks, this is from the same folks. Simply in Season is definitely worth checking out - there are recipes as well as an index of foods and plenty of information on each of them in the fruit and vegetable guide.

There's a freezing rain warning on for tonight, so I'm hoping for a snow (or ice, I guess) day tomorrow. If that dream comes true, I plan on rebatching some soaps and maybe making a new batch or two as well, using a crazy-daisy new soaping technique I just learned about through PixieLee's Soap Forum. When I'm not snuggled up with P, of course. It's called the heat transfer method, and you use the heat generated by the lye mixture to melt your solid oils. I'm eager to try it, as it could potentially save a significant amount of time.