I watch several soap makers, artists and crafters on YouTube because there is always more to learn and I enjoy seeing how others go about things. I have seen many useful and inspirational videos and there is one artist that just blew me away with her incredible talent! Grace takes soap artistry to the highest level I have ever seen. Her creations are both beautiful and beneficial. She creates soap that hides a story within as well as presenting beauty on the surface. The way that she makes this happen is unique! I was so impressed by her artistry that I contacted her to tell her how much I admired her, and..she sent me a present! I am so grateful and dragonish about these soaps! Use them, you say? Use them? Oh no. No No. I must hoard them. I must touch them and sniff them and admire their beauty! (For as long as I can hold out!) The smell is divine, the feel of them in my hands is weighty and clean. The beauty is matchless. But the Shea & silk is calling to my skin. My skin is saying Oh just once, just a little lather, just wet the back a bit and have a quick little bath.. I cannot resign myself to the inevitable washing away! The soaps below are two of her incredible designs. Please, click the picture and visit her website. I guarantee that you will find delights there! When I do break down and use the Monarch, I will post pictures of the transormation. But..do not expect this to be soon. I am ordering a special display box for these beauties! Visit Grace's You Tube channel to learn more: youtu.be/wBxnf-6-IBU

What a long struggle it has been to get things made right in our home again! I can say happily that cleaning is under way. The giant air scrubber is doing it's thing in the living room and two incredible ladies worked like berserkers for the past two days to HEPA vac and wipe everything free of mortar dust.  Thank you Servpro East! We are actually not afraid to be in our own bedrooms tonight. How long were we in that gross yet pet friendly motel? Nine days? Yes, it was gross but it wasn't full of silica dust and the air conditioner worked so very well. A bedbug rumor sent us madly out into a tent in our backyard, and then a hoard of disgruntled spiders sent us out of the tent last night. Luckily, things were OK inside the house, although I will not feel truly good about it until I see an air sample result that proves it. No, I did not get any good spider pictures. We were too busy being horrified and trying to shake out our blankets. I think the spiders were protesting the mortar dust that coated their webs. They were probably right in the line of fire from the blowing box fan!  (Grungy fan pic below, and this is what you never want anyone to do to your yard or your neighbor's yard) The rabbits and oldest daughter stayed with my aunt and missed the sweaty tent experience. There just was not enough room for us all, and although Izzy did not seem interested in the bunnies while we were stuck in the smelly hotelly, bunnies in a tiny tent may have brought out the beast.

A huge cloud of ground mortar composed of 50 to 75% silica sand (which became microcrystalline and invisble dangerous silica particulates when ground) was released into our atmosphere without regard to the environment. Good contractors use removal tools with dust catching equipment attached so this does not happen. To grind without the proper dust control is a huge OSHA violation, but OSHA does not protect bystanders and home residents, only workers. These contractors unleashed the cloud with only a box fan in a window to mitigate dust dispersal, and that is NOT good. We had no choice but to flee until professional cleaners can come in and scrub the place and our air! The soap making tools are stuck in the no go zone! The thing that happened in our living room is quite similar to an operation called tuck pointing. Visit the CDC and OSHA to discover the dangers and the best ways of protecting yourself, should you ever need a similar operation done to your home, or if you want to do such work yourself. Some dust is way more than dirty. Some dust kills! Here is a link to get you started: www.silica-safe.org/know-the-hazard/why-is-silica-hazardous