Mesothelioma Awareness Day

And now for a little something different:

Today is Mesothelioma Awareness Day. I was contacted by a fellow blogger who is a Mesothelioma survivor and asked to spread the word about this deadly disease. Since I also have another friend who is a Mesothelioma survivor, I agreed.

In looking for a few background facts to share, I was astounded to find that the ban on asbestos-containing products was overturned just a few years after it was put in effect. Asbestos exposure is the only known cause of mesothelioma, a cancer of the lung lining.

I was also amazed that it can lay dormant for 20-50 years after a person’s first exposure, and that family and friends can be exposed to it second-hand. I am not an expert on this, so I will refer you to http://www.mesothelioma.com/  for further info; you can also read Heather’s story there (pictured above, with Lily).

And here are some interesting facts about asbestos and mesothelioma:

"Asbestos can be found in many homes, schools, commercial and industrial buildings.

China, Russia and Canada use asbestos in consumer products.

Mesothelioma is most commonly diagnosed between the ages of 50 and 70.

Many women received second-hand exposure from parents or spouses who worked closely with asbestos."

Info taken from MAD Asbestos Facts, courtesy www.mesothelioma.com.

Yak Shows Off His Science Projects

One of the great things about roadschooling is visiting family and friends. Another is the ability to have an impromptu science camp when you're visiting the home of an engineering grad. Here, Yak shows off some of his creations, built from an "Eco Toys" kit, with the supervision of his brother-in-law. (Following commentary is Yak's.)

Eco Science Toys by Green Science on Amazon

Gravity Robot

You have to have some small nuts, stick on eyes, string, can and legs that will move that you can see in the clip. Robot needs: can,stick on eyes and the legs in the clip for feet. Attach the eyes on the can and take off the tabs on the can, attach the legs on the bottom. The mover: string and small nuts. Attach the string to the hole on the legs that you can see on the clip and on the other end put on the nuts (about 20 or 25) and then tie a big enough knot so that the nuts won't fall off no matter what and there you have the gravity robot put all the nuts on the string off a end of like a table and make sure you use a flat surface. Enjoy!

Disc Racer

This is a balloon and a disc and something else. You blow up the balloon and then put it on the thing that you will put in the middle of the disc and then it will float! Not in mid air but on a flat surface. Enjoy! This is not the one that has the 2 discs and the toilet roll.

Hover Disc

Cartesian Diver

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Off-Grid in Yellowstone for a Fairytale Wedding

We just got back from a wonderful week in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. My daughter married her Prince Charming and we all did a whirlwind tour of the park and the adjacent Grand Teton National Park. We topped it off with an awesome trail ride and when we stopped at my daughter's house on the way back to California to take my dad home, I had a renewed enthusiasm for my horses, who are now enjoying life, grazing on real pasture there.

Camping in the RV in Yellowstone was an interesting experience in being off-grid. We got to test the limitations of our coach batteries, our solar panels and our refrigerator. Also, since my dad and my oldest son and his family stayed in the RV with us, we got to test our endurance! All kidding aside, it was great fun to camp out for a week with old, new and extended family.

I am excited to be able to report, in upcoming posts, on our successes with our system, as well as the bugs we need to continue working out. This was also our first attempt at towing another vehicle with the RV. We gained a new perspective by actually being the big, dumb motor home slowing everybody else down! We tried to use as many turnouts as possible, but getting going again, from a complete stop, uphill, with a tow car, is really an exercise in frustration.

For more on our adventures in Yellowstone and Grand Teton, also see upcoming posts on our sister blog, A Simple Catholic. 

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Truth Be Told - Book Review

Now that I’m finally back online, having weathered bad internet connections, crashed computers (plural!), a funeral and a wedding, I have to tell about a fantastic new historical fiction novel by a favorite author and friend, Carol Cox. Hot off the press, just in time for summer reading:

Truth Be Told, by Carol Cox

 Amelia Wagner steps off the train for her yearly visit with her father, investigative reporter and editor of the Granite Springs, Arizona “Gazette”, A.J. Wagner. What she finds is a series of seemingly unsubstantiated articles in her father’s newspaper, suggesting corruption in the Great Western Investment Company, the developers buying up much of the land around the town. Great Western sends handsome Ben Stone to spy on Amelia, but what happens next turns the tables on their land-grabbing scheme. As Ben and Amelia seek out the truth – Ben to clear Great Western and Amelia to clear her father’s name – they discover much more than lies and intrigue. Will they survive to bring the truth to light?

Once again, Carol Cox brings 1890’s Arizona to life. Set within a day’s ride of Prescott, Arizona, locals with a general knowledge of the old Peavine railway route can almost pinpoint the fictitious town of Granite Springs. Budding journalist Amelia Wagner may have some traits of Carol herself, in the way she researches her subjects. Carol loves Arizona history and has traveled all over the state researching life in the 1890’s for her various writings. For Truth be Told, she met with Sky Shipley, owner of Skyline Type Foundry in Prescott,  one of only 3 type foundries left in the United States. Sky tutored Carol in the printing and operation of  a newspaper in the late 19^th century, so that she could write with authenticity about the day to day work that went into gathering news and publishing it during that time period. I enjoyed recognizing the Hotel Burke as the present-day Hotel St. Michael in Prescott and suspected that the Eleventh Infantry Band, from nearby Fort Whipple, was the real deal. I thought the most delightful plot twist was how Amelia helped Ben to resolve his own secret crisis, without even knowing it.

Carol Cox specializes in romantic Christian historical fiction, set in our beloved Arizona. In addition to traveling to areas of the state where she places her settings and delving into local history and characters, Carol also draws on her own experience, as an Arizona native and wife of an ordained Southern Baptist minister.

Truth Be Told is available in paperback or ebook format from Baker Publishing, $14.99. Also available from Amazon and other distributors.

Many thanks to Carol Cox and Bethany House Publishers (parent company of Baker Publishing) for providing me with a free review copy of this book. As always, looking forward to your next one!

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Around the Homestead: Soap On The Road

Homestead Barn Hop #155

Around the Homestead: Soap On The Road

Soap On The Road

Cut bars in front of the MeToo

 My first batch of soap on the road did not go entirely smoothly. I opted for castille soap, made with distilled water, as I had left my stores of goat and jersey cow milk back at home base, in the freezer. Soap is traditionally made in the fall, when the weather is cooler, but not yet freezing. This being January in Colorado, even with the sun out at mid-day, the highs were only in the 30's. At least there wasn't any wind.

Yak inspecting the soap

I set up my table outside and laid out my supplies. After melting my oils on the RV stove, I brought them outside while I mixed the lye and water. Lots of fumes in that process - don't want that in the RV! Next I poured the lye-water solution into the oils to saponify - or neutralize - the lye, while changing the composition of the oils into the familiar creaminess of soap. I stirred and stirred and stirred some more. When the soap started to trace, or thicken, I poured it into my prepared soap mold. All was well, until...dinner was ready. The grandparents eat early. This is where the trouble began. I didn't want to move the soap before it set, but I didn't want to move it in the dark, even more. So I quickly set up a place for it in the trailer. The tricky part was to move the 4 ft. long soap mold while the soap was still liquidy. It spilled...I thought it was lost. I scooped up what I could off the clean vinyl tablecloth and gave up on the rest. 

You can see some of the crumbles here

   Upon inspecting the mess the next day, I discovered that I hadn't lost as much soap as I thought and I did get a good 15 bars out of this batch. A few more were lost due to the crumbly texture when I unmolded and cut it. That was thanks to Jack Frost. The soap set, or hardened, too quickly in the cold temperatures, resulting in a more crumbly texture. 

These bars cracked when I cut them

Now this is NOT great-great-grandma's lye soap! It does need to cure for 3-5 weeks to finish neutralizing the lye and hardening the oils, but after fully curing it will NOT take the paint off the barn! This pure, unscented castille soap will gently cleanse a baby's bottom, better than that big-name brand named after an elephant's tusk. After curing, my 15 good  bars seemed to shape up quite nicely and my testing with the ones that didn't cut properly went perfectly well. 

Curing on racks in the MeToo

Mrs. D's Pure, Unscented Castillle Soap is available in the Homestead Store or on Etsy. Right now I'm repouring lip butters. I added too much coconut oil to my last batch and they're too soft. Looking forward to a nice day to make some Jasmine Rose Goat Milk Soap. Can't wait!

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Gladius The Show - Review

Two enormous Belgian horses. One large gladiator, with a sandaled foot planted firmly on the back of each. Delicate beings, gracefully performing handstands and other acrobatics on the backs of horses. Chariot races. An elegant goddess, dancing flawlessly with a handsome white Andalusian stallion. "Gladius - The Show" is a breathtaking ballet on horseback.

Yak admiring Director Erik Martonovich and one of the Belgian beauties

Written, produced and performed by Big Horse Productions, based in Las Vegas, Nevada, the most inspiring part of "Gladius" is not just the show, but the fact that the performers have financed the entire production themselves, along with crowd-funding from Kick Starter and some generous private donors. No big corporations with bottom lines, here. Just grass-roots performers, giving audiences their hearts, depending on grass-roots funding. 

Speaking of bottom lines, "Gladius" performers will host a 'Hoofprints' clinic in each city they play. Children from boys and girls clubs will be invited to participate in outreach sessions including warm-ups, stretching, group games, equestrian vaulting (acrobatics on horseback) and aerial circus arts. I don't have details at the moment, but for further info, the email contact is monk_e_monnya@yahoo.com.  

Head Horse Trainer and "goddess" Laura Amandis

I don't normally go to shows with scantily clad actors. My daughter purchased the tickets because we were going to the Rocky Mountain Horse Expo in Denver and she assured me that the horses would be fantastic. They were. The thing that stole my heart, was watching how willingly they responded to suggestions from their handlers. Not commands, not demands. One could clearly see that these horses and their people were a team. The most stunning and beautiful example of this is Laura Amandis' dance with her white Andalusian. At the mere movement of her hand, or the softest suggestion from the lunge whip (which never, by the way, touched the horse), the stallion moved precisely into position, his elegant, curling tail sweeping nearly to the ground, his long mane flowing with his every movement. Even his final bow was executed on the slightest cue from his trainer.

Did I mention the fire? Juggling, spinning and spouting, there is even fire being swallowed. I am not familiar with the art of fire manipulation, so I was dutifully awestruck, watching. I also noticed that the horses weren't the least bit concerned about it. Now that's some trust, which only comes from long hours of devoted training.

The show did not end when the lights came up. Afterwards, we were invited to the barn to meet the horses and acrobats. It was exciting to see the 18 hand, 2,000 pound belgians close up. Toddlers in arms reached out to touch their soft noses, while the horses stood patiently, apparently enjoying the attention.

My horse-crazy family loved Gladius - The Show. We give it all thumbs up. For more info on locations, dates and tickets see their Facebook page, or website.

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