Hey bubblefairy, What kind of soap did you make with parsley? What is chickweed? I haven't made soap in awhile and now is probably not the time to get back to it. Our house is up for sale - a showing every couple of days it seems, sigh. I will be so happy when it's sold. I used a book, The Soapmakers Companion, wonderful recipes, everything turned out great. Well, the milk and honey soap was a bit soft. Maybe I should have let it cure longer but it was so nice and smelt good enough to eat. I made one with calendula petals from my garden so I understand where you're coming from - totally addictive, fun and everybody who received a bar of soap as a present acted as if I was a genius.

I have had a lot of experience with this tree. We ahd several growing thru the fence in Houston...or rather the fence was growing thru the middle of the tree. Yes, they are pretty, and make great shade and are fast growing. But the seed pods are curly and sharp and fall all over the ground, then the seeds fall later on...little hard black seeds, which are fun for kids to play with but then they start sprouting everywhere. They only stay on the branches for a while until that white coating is gone. Both us and our neighbors tried numerous times to chop down, burn and poison them, and finally managed to kill them I think. Not only are they invasive and pop up everywhere, but other plants tend to not do well underneath them. I have one here which I dont mind, as it is not close enough to the fence to grow into it, and there are no others growing yet, i can pull up new seedlings (and have to often from my flowerbeds) but the grass does not want to grow very good underneath it, and there are huge bare spots, and I've had a hard time finding plants that will grow in the flowerbed under it. Liriope and wandering jew seems to be doing fine so far. I've got these seeds all over the yard and am fixing to have a whole 'nother crop of them if anyone wants them. I wish they werent so crappy here. They make nice fall colors and its a nice cool shade tree.

Sylvia, they have seed pods on them now....I can send you about a million seeds in a couple of months, but if it ever gets out that you got them started in your area, they might string you up. I believe I read somewhere that the original owner of Teas Nursery in Houston is the one who brought them here and got them started. They do make a fast growing tree that has fall color....something not very plentiful around here...fall coloring. I don't think they make a very long lived tree though....maybe 30 to 40 years. Let me know if you still want some seeds and I can send you all you want in a few months. They are also a very messy tree....always dropping something....blooms, seeds, the seed pods themselves, and leaves....but if you want some seeds, I can send you all you want. I remember about 25 years ago, someone was buying the seeds....when they first drop they are white, then turn black. I think they wanted just the white ones....was going to try to find a use for them....making what, I don't know. I remember my neighbor at the time was collecting the seeds to sell.

Thanks! Most of the embeds are simple curls - I used a cheese planer and made purple and clear curls, then put 'em in the mold and poured over... The stars are out of the IKEA star icecube tray. The other embeds are just chunks. Nothing fancy, but they look pretty cool. I made honey oatmeal, lavender mint, lavender tangerine, lemon eucalyptus rosemary, sandalwood/cedarwood and a lemon soap that is really just all my mistakes chopped up and poured over. That is truly one of the coolest things about m&p - no mistake is final!