Sunday, 29th
Yawwwwwwwwwwwn. We woke up lazy and late by our and definitely later than the hosts standards. While G made a bee line to the washroom, I went downstairs to an empty house. Literally, no signs of the dogs, the cat (did I mention earlier, about the cat) or David and Ann must have been busy selling soaps at the fair. Well this country was quite funny, like Alvira (the lady selling jewelery) mentioned. She was mentioning if you carry a baby and a dog together with you. People are bound to comment, what a lovely dog, totally ignoring the baby or return to the baby later. ha ha.
We figured David must be walking the dogs, so we decided to have our breakfast of juice, toast, eggs and tea. In between our lazy breakfast David came back and left for his workplace, promising to return quickly after finishing his work.
David came back in an hour while we loitered around the house and streets and smiling vaguely at people. I was quite excited that we would be making soaps today and I am sure the eagerness/happiness was written in large bold letters. G and I also suspect David were grinning on my childish behaviour. Well it was my first experience and they were quite pro. So you can imagine.
So finally we started getting all the ingredients together (we were making lavender and frankincense soaps) on the worktable @ kitchen. Coconut oil, Shea butter, Olive oil, Palm oil, lavender and frankincense incense, anola seeds (for coloring) and pure distilled water.
After wearing aprons and rubber gloves, we put out exact (and I mean exact) quantities after weighing in scales together in a saucepan and on the stove for it to melt. In the meantime we also measured the olive oil required (very generous amount, for a smooth texture), and put the anola seeds in boiling water.
Once the oils were cooled to the correct temperature, we added the olive oil, the color and the incence together and mixed vigorously in smooth strokes so everything mixed in properly. Once satisfied with the outcome, David brought in wooden trays (made by him) in which he poured the soap mixture. Then we went in the shed where he had a specially created wooden insulated box (again created by him), he put the wooden trays to cool down. And this ladies and gentleman was the first batch of soaps created by yours truly.
G made an excellent batch of cinnamon and cedar wood (I think I have a piece of it somewhere still) in a similar fashion. I will write to Ann and David for the exact recipes and post it here soon.
We took a break from all the fragrance and the activities and decided to have lunch. As we sipped beer and had the fish casserole we discussed Indian politics and Hindu mythology.
Post our lunch break we resumed to making six batches of lemongrass soaps.
Ann took a ride from another participant home. We left David and Ann to catch up on the day. While G and I cleaned the kitchen dry, and set the tables for dinner at 7pm, David magically produced the dinner. It seems while he was instructing us on methods of soap making, he had fixed the dinner. Simply amazing couple.
David had made excellent roast potatoes and a meat stew which we polished off with beer. The moon was shining bright and we set some candles to set the mood.
We exchanged more notes on lifestyles, cultures (how children stay with their parents even after marriage!!, was quite a shock for them) food habits, their daughters wedding in Istanbul and a lovely grandson named Ozaan (wandering poet).
The next day we were travelling to Edinburgh. The fringe festival was on, and we thought ourselves lucky to be there.
We proceeded upstairs to sleep. As we opened the door to our room, we both jumped half a meter high and screamed. There was a pair of green eyes shining in the moonlight. We realised it was the cat curled up on my bed. Finally after G and I shoving each other and shooing the cat from the room after great difficulty we locked the room and slept, excited about the next day.
Yawwwwwwwwwwwn. We woke up lazy and late by our and definitely later than the hosts standards. While G made a bee line to the washroom, I went downstairs to an empty house. Literally, no signs of the dogs, the cat (did I mention earlier, about the cat) or David and Ann must have been busy selling soaps at the fair. Well this country was quite funny, like Alvira (the lady selling jewelery) mentioned. She was mentioning if you carry a baby and a dog together with you. People are bound to comment, what a lovely dog, totally ignoring the baby or return to the baby later. ha ha.
We figured David must be walking the dogs, so we decided to have our breakfast of juice, toast, eggs and tea. In between our lazy breakfast David came back and left for his workplace, promising to return quickly after finishing his work.
David came back in an hour while we loitered around the house and streets and smiling vaguely at people. I was quite excited that we would be making soaps today and I am sure the eagerness/happiness was written in large bold letters. G and I also suspect David were grinning on my childish behaviour. Well it was my first experience and they were quite pro. So you can imagine.
So finally we started getting all the ingredients together (we were making lavender and frankincense soaps) on the worktable @ kitchen. Coconut oil, Shea butter, Olive oil, Palm oil, lavender and frankincense incense, anola seeds (for coloring) and pure distilled water.
After wearing aprons and rubber gloves, we put out exact (and I mean exact) quantities after weighing in scales together in a saucepan and on the stove for it to melt. In the meantime we also measured the olive oil required (very generous amount, for a smooth texture), and put the anola seeds in boiling water.
Once the oils were cooled to the correct temperature, we added the olive oil, the color and the incence together and mixed vigorously in smooth strokes so everything mixed in properly. Once satisfied with the outcome, David brought in wooden trays (made by him) in which he poured the soap mixture. Then we went in the shed where he had a specially created wooden insulated box (again created by him), he put the wooden trays to cool down. And this ladies and gentleman was the first batch of soaps created by yours truly.
G made an excellent batch of cinnamon and cedar wood (I think I have a piece of it somewhere still) in a similar fashion. I will write to Ann and David for the exact recipes and post it here soon.
We took a break from all the fragrance and the activities and decided to have lunch. As we sipped beer and had the fish casserole we discussed Indian politics and Hindu mythology.
Post our lunch break we resumed to making six batches of lemongrass soaps.
Ann took a ride from another participant home. We left David and Ann to catch up on the day. While G and I cleaned the kitchen dry, and set the tables for dinner at 7pm, David magically produced the dinner. It seems while he was instructing us on methods of soap making, he had fixed the dinner. Simply amazing couple.
David had made excellent roast potatoes and a meat stew which we polished off with beer. The moon was shining bright and we set some candles to set the mood.
We exchanged more notes on lifestyles, cultures (how children stay with their parents even after marriage!!, was quite a shock for them) food habits, their daughters wedding in Istanbul and a lovely grandson named Ozaan (wandering poet).
The next day we were travelling to Edinburgh. The fringe festival was on, and we thought ourselves lucky to be there.
We proceeded upstairs to sleep. As we opened the door to our room, we both jumped half a meter high and screamed. There was a pair of green eyes shining in the moonlight. We realised it was the cat curled up on my bed. Finally after G and I shoving each other and shooing the cat from the room after great difficulty we locked the room and slept, excited about the next day.
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