Bulldog Review on Shave Cream

Bulldog Man here, and let me brag a bit on the Mrs.  Being an old road-dog, it’s nice to be spoiled once in a while.  I’ve got more miles on me than the International Space Station.  Sometimes I feel I’ve been around the world in 80 planes. I came back from Oregon for a work-related run and the Mrs. asked me to try out a new shave cream she wants to make for gifts.  She sold the Bulldog on this stuff.  Light and creamy, easily applied with a good brush, and it lathers nicely.  With a good sharp razor, this shave cream left my face as smooth as a Baboon’s ass, just not as colorful.  Not only do I recommend that she make some for Christmas gifts, but I want her to fill my shave kit and put a few extra in the closet for the old Bulldog.  Bulldog rating on homemade shave cream: 4 out of 4 paws, with a scratch behind the ears!!

I copied the Shave Cream recipe from and earlier post and pasted it below.

Yet another idea for Christmas gift giving, homemade Shave Cream.

I found the recipe here, borrowed the basics, and modified the recipe.

Homemade Shave Cream

¼ cup Almond Oil

3 Tablespoons Shea Butter

2 Tablespoons of Aloe Gel

2 Tablespoons of Honey

1 Tablespoon Guar Gum

2 Teaspoons baking soda

¼ cup Liquid Castille Soap

12 drops of Grapefruit Seed Extract

10 drops of Pine Essential Oil (select any oil of your choice)

10 drops of Bergamot Essential Oil (mix another oil of your choice to change the total scent)

Melt the Shea Butter in a measuring cup or a glass canning jar. Add Almond Oil, Aloe Gel, Honey, Guar Gum, baking soda, Grapefruit Seed Extract, mix well with mixer. Mix in the essential oil (s) of your choice. Place cream in a pump container or a jar (plastic or glass).

Recommendation - Redline Flashlight

Redline Flashlight by Nebo

Bulldog Man and I purchased this flashlight at our local Army Surplus store, cost $26.00.  We saw the same flashlight at the local gun show and it was going for $32.00.  Internet search shows for sale at Target for $34.99.

This flashlight comes highly recommended by Bulldog Man and me.  It has the following functions which makes it a good value, for a small flashlight.  Great for emergencies, bugging out, and everyday carry.  With the right bracket, it would make a good night light on any tactical shotgun.

Here are the “Specs”:

A single push button on the back controls:

3 way power, 220 lumens, 110 lumens, 22 lumens, or 100 percent, 50 percent and 10 percent.  It has S.O.S. and “strobe flashing”.  Heavy duty aircraft aluminum uses 3 AAA batteries, single LED.

Has a 1 to 4 zoom. 220 lumens go to 150 yards, maximum battery life 4 hours. 110 lumens go to 65 yards, maximum battery 8 hours. 22 lumens go out 30 yards, maximum battery 15 hours. S.O.S. strobe flashing 72 hours (no distance mentioned).  Magnetic base to hold flashlight in place.

Dropped by Bulldog Man on the first real day of use, with damage to the internal circuit.  Contacted company.  Instant response and friendly replacement through the mail within a week of receipt.  Despite Bulldog Man’s clumsiness, company was more than willing to ensure that he was satisfied.  Give them a try.

Bulldog Rating: 3 Out of 4 Paws

Clove Oil - Butterfly

 

I’ve stashed a few bottles of Clove Oil in my first aid kit.  After burning the inside of the roof of my mouth on hot food, I was ready to try anything to relieve the pain.  I took a cotton ball and sprinkled several drops of the Clove Oil on it.  Then (not following instructions) I placed the cotton ball directly on the burn inside my mouth and held it there for 30 seconds.  After the 30 seconds, I removed the cotton ball and felt no more burning pain on the inside of my mouth.  The instructions state if using Clove Oil as a treatment, you should dilute it with water when touching the skin or insides of your mouth.  Only use the Clove Oil straight up when applying directly to a tooth that is hurting.

*****

Yesterday, while watching the dogs play outside in the back part of the property, I came across this beautiful butterfly perched on the dirty bird bath.  I hadn’t had a chance yet clean the bird bath out, and put new water in for the birds. 

 

With the temperatures dropping into the low 20’s the late evening, early morning hours, and somewhere between 46 – 60 degrees during the day it’s strange to see a butterfly.  I’m thinking with all these drastic weather changes the poor thing is confused. 

 

How was your weekend?

Red Dawn, The Movie - Update Surgery - Thanksgiving Day Wish - Upcoming Give-Away

This afternoon Bulldog Man and I took our son to the theatre to watch Red Dawn.  The movie opened with current events occurring around the world.  Great movie to watch, but I was a little disappointed in the cinematography; it was jerky, like video clips seen in those video games.  All in all, it’s a movie worth watching.

********

Update on our son Tank. Early this morning, we were scheduled to see the orthopedic surgeon on a follow up appointment for the work completed on our son’s hand.  The surgeon advised that Tank’s hand is healing and it’s time to remove the pins.  To remove the pins will require a live x-ray and another surgery.  The doctor also found another problem; apparently the tendon is an issue and may require additional surgery.  Right now we’re waiting for a phone call to schedule surgery for removal of pins and a MRI test.

********

 

“Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest men; but be careful that you do not take the day, and leave out the gratitude.” –E.P. Powell

Stay tuned.  After the holiday, I will be organizing another give-away. 

Thanksgiving Wish from Freebies.about.com

Canning Cranberry Orange Sauce & A Potential Christmas Gift

Cranberry Orange Sauce for Thanksgiving and any occasion that tickles your fancy.

 

Cranberry Orange Sauce

9 cups of fresh cranberries

Zest 2 oranges then cut in half and juice

4 cups sugar

4 cups water

In a pot, pour water, sugar, orange juice, and zest; stir thoroughly.  Bring to a boil (keep stirring), turn heat down to medium.  Add fresh cranberries continue stirring for approximately 12 minutes, pull off the stove.  Use a potato masher to mash up some (not all) of the cranberries.  Refrigerate if you’re going to use the same day you make them, or you can process the cranberries in pint jars, ½ inch head space for 10 minutes in a water bath.

After processing and once cooled, the cranberry sauce will solidify.

Please refer to Ball’s Canning booklet if you’re not familiar with canning procedures.

*****

Yet another idea for Christmas gift giving, homemade Shave Cream.

I found the recipe here, borrowed the basics, and modified the recipe.

Homemade Shave Cream

¼ cup Almond Oil

3 Tablespoons Shea Butter

2 Tablespoons of Aloe Gel

2 Tablespoons of Honey

1 Tablespoon Guar Gum

2 Teaspoons baking soda

¼ cup Liquid Castille Soap

12 drops of Grapefruit Seed Extract

10 drops of Pine Essential Oil (select any oil of your choice)

10 drops of Bergamot Essential Oil (mix another oil of your choice to change the total scent)

Melt the Shea Butter in a measuring cup or a glass canning jar.  Add Almond Oil, Aloe Gel, Honey, Guar Gum, baking soda, Grapefruit Seed Extract, mix well with mixer. Mix in the essential oil (s) of your choice.  Place cream in a pump container or a jar (plastic or glass).

 

 

Pic Source: menshair.about.com

New Member - Chai Tea - Pictures - Orange Rolls

We welcomed a new member to our house on Saturday.  A little girl approximately 6 pounds, and supposedly 3years of age (I doubt that, see below).

This is “Bug”. She’s very nosey inquisitive and loves her new home. Bug loves to be right next to you and under your feet, if she has her way, she’d rather be in your arms.  The reason I doubt she’s 3 years old, she wants to bite everything wood (chairs, TV stand, table), she cries if she can’t find you, and always wants your attention.  I’ve picked up toys for teething, soft dog treats and food, we’re constantly keeping her busy, and letting her know she’s okay (building her confidence).  Our other dog, Beans, adores her.

*****

 

This is the final product, now I need to place the Chai Tea
in smaller jars and dress up the jars for the holidays.

 

As explained in previous posts, Christmas this year will be all homemade gifts, and blessings from the heart.  Several members of our family enjoy Chai Tea, and go to Starbucks often.  Instead of providing gift cards to Starbucks, I’ve made the Chai Tea mix myself, and stored the tea in mason jars.    All I need to do now is pickup some beautiful Christmas material and make a topper for each Mason jar, place a name tag on each jar, and there you have it; Christmas gifts from the heart for several members of the family.

 

Chai Tea Recipe

1 cup of nonfat powdered milk

1 ¾ cups powdered non-dairy creamer

¼ cup powdered vanilla non-dairy creamer

2 ½ cups of sugar

1 ½ cups unsweetened instant tea

2 tsp. ground ginger

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground cloves

1 tsp. ground cardamom (cardamom is expensive, can substitute with ½ tsp. cinnamon and ½ tsp. nutmeg). 

Mix well, I throw all the ingredients into my food processor and blend until mixed well and not as coarse.

Place mixture into Mason jars and seal. 

When making a Chai Tea, mix 2 heaping tablespoons in a mug, pour hot water, and stir well to mix the tea mixture in with the water.

*****

Sky pictures, you’ll notice a tower standing in these pictures.  I’m at the airport, no I’m not traveling.  My husband has traveled every weekend, actually long extended weekends for the last 2 months throughout the U.S. for work.  While waiting to pick up my husband, I entertained myself with taking pictures at the airport.  Here are a few of the pictures I snapped of a changing sunset.

 

 

*****

Have you ever had a craving for something and just didn’t feel like running to a store to get the product?  Well, I had a craving last night for orange rolls and decided to make them.  To make it easier on my hands (because they hurt due to arthritis pain), I feed all the ingredients into my bread machine and selected option 8 on the machine.  Selecting this option, the bread machine will mix, knead, and rise, for me automatically.  Once done, I rolled out the dough on to my countertop and spread out the orange filling over the dough.  Then roll the dough up like a cake roll, cut dough into rolls and place them in a greased glass container for baking.  Here is a picture of the end result.  My dough recipe was found here, great blog site to follow.   As for the filling and glaze recipe, you can find them here.

*****

 

On a cold day there is nothing better than a hot bowl of soup and homemade biscuits.   The soup of the day; vegetable ground beef, topped with Parmigiano Reggiano.

Soups and stews are amazing foods to warm the stomach and soul when cold outside, and it’s good for the body J

Veteran's Day

                       God Bless Our Veteran's, Thank You For Fighting For America's Freedoms.


Source: YouTube/Army Veteran 101st

Signs of Winter

The last two days feels Old Man Winter has decided to visit this part of Oklahoma. I have snapped a few pictures of the changes we are seeing.  Everything is changing; the grass is no longer green, the leaves and flowers on the trees are turning yellow and brown.  Some trees are showing signs of dying.  Will we have the harsh winter as predicted this year, or will it be warm?  Mother Nature may just surprise us.  Sunday we’re supposed to have rain and the potential of snow. 

Have you seen a dramatic change in the last couple of days?

BLOG BACK-UP BLOG RECOMMENDATION

Blogger friends, if you want to back-up your blog, please go here for detailed instructions. Mike Yukon at the Living Prepared blog, has outlined detailed instructions on how to back-up your blog.

My recommendation; if you’re looking for a great blog to follow or use as a reference, while working toward becoming self reliant, creating a homestead, or just trying to prepare check this blog out. 

Recommendation

I have followed Paratus Familia Blog since creating my blog on January 18, 2012.  Enola Gay, of Paratus Familia is a conservative, independent, self reliant homesteader, who lives off the grid and shares her stories on country living, children, faith, family, preparedness, government, women’s roles, socio-political commentaries and recipes. 

My recommendation; if you’re looking for a great blog to follow or use as a reference, while working toward becoming self reliant, or creating a homestead, check this blog out.  

Check out this awesome gear I recently purchased from the Paratus Familia Blog. 

We ordered 1 T-Shirt and 4 Badges

 If you’re looking to purchase their gear, click here.

Join - Welcome - Thank You

I wanted to take this opportunity to welcome Michele from Mystic Mud. Thank you for joining my blog.  Mystic Mud is a fabulous blog, with an amazing family attempting to lead a self sustaining life. Hey Blogger friends, check out this blog, you won’t be disappointed. Glad to have you following my blog, please sit back and enjoy the ride.

Pic Source: index.mthai.com

Join - Welcome - Thank You

 

I wanted to take this opportunity to welcome at Mamma Bear at Challenged Survival and JohnnyBGood at THE SIMPLE LIFE Thank you for joining my blog. Hey Blogger friends, check out these blogs, you won’t be disappointed. Glad to have you following my blog, please sit back and enjoy the ride.

Pic Source: izismile.com

Potato Soup and Oatmeal Bread (Good Stuff)

I was in a hurry, and not sure what to make for lunch before Bulldog Man came home for lunch.  I decided to make potato soup with the last 4 potatoes I had left in the cabinet.  I cleaned the potatoes, chopped them up and placed the potatoes in a pot of chicken broth.  Then I added 4 cups of water, 1 carrot, 1 celery stock, ¼ of chopped onion, pepper, and salt (to taste).  After all the vegetables were cooked, I added 1 can of evaporated milk.  Stirred well and brought the temperature of the burner down to simmer until ready to serve.  For toppings on top of the soup, I fried up bacon and pulled out the shredded mild cheddar.  There you have it folks, potato soup (yes, I know I forgot the chives as a topper).  Not really, lol…..I just didn’t have chives in the house.

If you like a thick broth use cornstarch or flour to thicken

 

After reading a post on Country Living in the Ozarks on oatmeal bread, I had to make some.  The post and recipe is here.  The bread is great, and the recipe gets a thumbs-up from Bulldog Man. 

 

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Here is yet another example of how some in our society treat Veterans returning home.  This story makes my stomach turn.  I don’t care who you are, these soldiers coming home or traveling through areas within the United States have fought and served for YOUR FREEDOM. Show them the RESPECT they’ve earned and deserve.