# First time soap maker looking for a honey almond oatmeal goats milk soap recipe



## Shadyduk1979 (Feb 13, 2015)

Hello all, I have decided to take up goats milk soap making since i have very bad eczema. I have found someone in VT who makes a product that works well for me but at 5 or 6 bucks a bar shipped from their etsy it gets pretty pricey pretty fast. I am trying to replicate their soaps. I use the honey almond and oatmeal and pine tar soaps they offer and since i am low on the oatmeal, i will start there.

Ingredient list is : olive oil, coconut oil, palm kernel oil, castor oil, water, goats milk, sodium lactate, natural pigments, fragrance, silk

I have all of the above except for pigments, There is oatmeal in the bar, but is not listed, i also have a good supply of raw honey on hand which i was thinking of adding. I have both almond milk, and a oatmeal milk and honey fragrance oil.

I am only looking to do small batches since it is only for me. I have 2 1.2L loaf molds.

Can anyone point me to a recipe that will help me try to replicate what i am buying?


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## shunt2011 (Feb 13, 2015)

Hello and welcome to the forum. 

First, have you made soap before?  If not I highly suggest you read the forum and learn the basics first.  Also, for your first several batches I would highly suggest you make a basic recipe with no additives as honey and milks can cause issues if not familiar with the process first.  

Pretty much any handmade soap that is lower in cleansing and is conditioning would likely work for your skin.  There are many on here who suffer from eczema and have found relief as well as improvement in their eczema.

I'm sure they will pop on and give assistance as well.

The recipe posted, looks to me like it may be pretty cleansing with both CO and PKO.  However, if it's working for your skin it's certainly doable.   

Making soap that is so much better for your skin is a lot of fun.  However, it takes some practice to learn the process.

Make sure you have a good scale as well as a stickblender as both are needed to make soap or at least a good scale.


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## Susie (Feb 13, 2015)

Hey and welcome Shadyduk1979!  

I perfectly understand wanting to make soap that does not give you eczema!  I had the same issue.  Hand made soap completely "cured" me.  I say that because it was getting away from synthetic detergents that took away the cause of the eczema.  Not because the soap was any special formula.

For a new soaper, I would strongly suggest you start with a 3-4 oil soap with no additives.  Especially no milks, silks, honey, or fragrances as each of these pose their own potential difficulties in the soap making process.

You need to go watch some soap making videos on YouTube, I suggest Soaping101.  She has a good down to earth style that is easy to understand.  

Then you need to learn to use a soap calculator for yourself.  Never trust anyone else's recipes, no matter where you got them from.  Here is a good tutorial by LunaSkye:

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=49627

Then you need to get some basic equipment:  good digital scale, stickblender, safety goggles, fluid impenetrable gloves, molds, lye safe containers(plastic with a 2 or 5 in the triangle or stainless steel), spatulas, etc. 

Then you need to understand that your soap will require 4-6 weeks cure time before it is at its best.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWnqXTqZTvU[/ame]

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYhH20vWxvc[/ame]

And here is an article by TEG about basic soapmaking equipment

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/basicequipment.html


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Feb 13, 2015)

Don't forget, it could be 80% OO, 7.5% CO, 7.5% PKO and 5% Castor - not overly cleansing, but would need a lot of a cure.  But I think you'll need to play a little to get it right


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## Dorymae (Feb 13, 2015)

There is some research you should do first - I know it is not what you want to hear but soap making can be complicated especial when adding milk or honey, or anything with a sugar content. 

Second you need to learn to use a lye calculator. It is how we determine how much lye to add to how much water. You will need gloves and eye protection when dealing with the lye and caustic soap batter. 

Third once you make the soap it will not be ready to use for about 4 weeks minimum. ( it will be safe after 1 week but a bar won't last very long- maybe a week if your lucky). Curing improves soaps lather And makes it milder. 
Actually that soap will be a Castile or Bastille  it will be softer than usual and may need a few months to cure before it is any good. 

Anyway I would use 80% olive, 14 coconut 6% caster
The palm (kernal) and the coconut do about the same things for soap, so I'd just leave out the palm.  These are the numbers you would need for the lye calculator.

Edited because I can not even add before coffee!:grin:


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## Shadyduk1979 (Feb 13, 2015)

I probably should have added that i have been reading and watching youtube over the last year or so in preparation for this. I just needed a kick to get started. I did do a basic recipe this one in fact http://www.gunsamerica.com/blog/prepping-101-make-soap/. Came out ok but the ultimate goal is to replicate what i am buying. I grew up a country boy where we made more than we ever bought, and am now doing that myself. My eczema is allergy triggered, especially with dogs but since i love dogs, i have one. 

The best i can hope for is to manage it. The soap i made i really only use when i am not having a outbreak. When i do, i use the pine tar or oatmeal. If it gets really bad i use a witch hazel soap. 

I do also have a scale and all the other fun stuff save for the immersion  blender i see so often. I tend to prefer to do as much as possible by hand. Split my own wood, work my dough by hand etc


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## kchaystack (Feb 13, 2015)

I will point out that it is usually considered bad form to copy a soap maker's formula.  Use the idea as a base, but you really should come up with your own recipe.  Who knows, maybe you will get to the point that you want to sell - and you would not want someone coming along and copying your product!

But welcome to the forums, these are a great bunch of people.  I have had a blast since I started a month ago!


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## dixiedragon (Feb 13, 2015)

I would try something like:
10% coconut
15% palm kernel
80% olive

Honey - one tablespoon per pound of oils (PPO).

Here is how I make honey milk soap.

I used canned milk, because a lot of the water has been removed. I take the amount of water recommended by the lye calculator, and I use 50% of that as water to dissolve my lye. I use the other 50% as canned milk. I melt my oils. When both lye and oils are 90 degrees, add you honey and canned milk to the oils. Blend with your stick blender, then slowly pour in the lye water, continuing to blend. When you reach trace (that's when the soap as thin pudding consistency and you can leave a trace on top of the soap), pour into your molds. (make sure your molds are prepared in advance.) Honey and milk soap can be tricky, so put your mold on an old towel so if you have a soap volcano it will spill on the towel.

ETA: 75% olive. Math is hard.


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## snappyllama (Feb 13, 2015)

Great advice you've been given here. I'll chirp in. You want a stick blender. Hand stirring might take hours. Hours of stirring. Or you can take advantage of modern techniques and do the same thing in minutes. Unless you're Amish and eschewing machines (and if so... get off the computer... naughty person!), get a stick blender. 

Welcome to the forum.


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## Susie (Feb 13, 2015)

Sorry about that, I assumed you were a first time soap maker due to the thread title.  I like to knead by bread by hand also, but when I tried to make soap the first time, it took me over 2 hours of stirring, and still did not get trace.  I just poured at emulsification.  I would never do without a stick blender now.


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## Shadyduk1979 (Feb 13, 2015)

I realize that, all i have to go on is the ingredients though. I could never sell though. My wife's best friend sells now using melt and pour. I would have to be a major jerk to sell at the same places she does. 

I can not believe  how fast all of you have responded. Thank you so much!





kchaystack said:


> I will point out that it is usually considered bad form to copy a soap maker's formula.  Use the idea as a base, but you really should come up with your own recipe.  Who knows, maybe you will get to the point that you want to sell - and you would not want someone coming along and copying your product!
> 
> But welcome to the forums, these are a great bunch of people.  I have had a blast since I started a month ago!


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## Shadyduk1979 (Feb 13, 2015)

snappyllama said:


> Great advice you've been given here. I'll chirp in. You want a stick blender. Hand stirring might take hours. Hours of stirring. Or you can take advantage of modern techniques and do the same thing in minutes. Unless you're Amish and eschewing machines (and if so... get off the computer... naughty person!), get a stick blender.
> 
> Welcome to the forum.


my wife seems to think thats where i get this whole must do everything by hand thing. I grew up just outside of amish country lol


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## cmzaha (Feb 13, 2015)

kchaystack said:


> I will point out that it is usually considered bad form to copy a soap maker's formula. Use the idea as a base, but you really should come up with your own recipe. Who knows, maybe you will get to the point that you want to sell - and you would not want someone coming along and copying your product!
> 
> But welcome to the forums, these are a great bunch of people. I have had a blast since I started a month ago!


Sorry I do not entirely agree with this. Most of us started out with a recipe from someone or from a book and many of us share recipes. 
I have extreme allergy related eczema and I find anything salt, including going to the beach which I do not do since I sold my boat so now I use salt bars. Trouble is there are a bit harder to make but if you would like one to try one let me know. Even handmade soap is not for everyone, as much as many like to think. I actually had a customer ask me if it is possible the unfragranced no color soap could possibly bother her. Told her yep and she was completely surprised and informed me no soap seller had ever told her honestly that maybe she could not use handmade lye soap. I have areas including my face that I cannot use any type of soap and hav eto use cetaphil for cleansing. Anyhoo that was a bit off topic and here is a link for a site that has some wonderful tried and true recipes, but as everyone stated it is best to run the recipe through a lye calculator. Although I have run many of their recipes through soapcalc and they are right on. www.millersoap.com

Next week I will be packaging and sending out some test soapies I made and it you want to try anthing let me know.


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## kchaystack (Feb 13, 2015)

cmzaha said:


> Sorry I do not entirely agree with this. Most of us started out with a recipe from someone or from a book and many of us share recipes.



Using a recipe from a site that is intended to teach you how to soap, or a formula that is freely given to try is very different than trying to copy a soap being made by someone to sell.

I think part of learning to soap is trying different things and figuring out what works for you.  Who knows, you might make something you like better.


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## Susie (Feb 13, 2015)

I think we all started with OPR(other people's recipes).  The key here is that we did not sell them claiming them as our own.  Only when you get started selling do most people take offense if you use their recipe.  And rightly so!


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## The Efficacious Gentleman (Feb 13, 2015)

While I appreciate the whole "do it all by hand" thing, get a stick blender - unless you are REALLY doing everything by hand (did you make your mixing bowl by hand?), leaving this one thing out will make soaping such a pain.


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## shunt2011 (Feb 13, 2015)

kchaystack said:


> I will point out that it is usually considered bad form to copy a soap maker's formula. Use the idea as a base, but you really should come up with your own recipe. Who knows, maybe you will get to the point that you want to sell - and you would not want someone coming along and copying your product!
> 
> But welcome to the forums, these are a great bunch of people. I have had a blast since I started a month ago!


 
I agree with Carolyn and Susie.

I don't think it's bad form if someone is putting it out there. I imagine many have probably tried it. I think if someone is sharing it they don't have a problem if someone else makes it. Others have posted recipes on this forum and I'm sure many have tried them. Especially a beginner. And he's not selling it no biggie either. Once he gets his feet wet he will likely try to come up with his own recipes. 

I'm with the others on the stickblender though.  My first time it took 3 hours to get to a light trace and I almost didn't make soap again.


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## Dorymae (Feb 13, 2015)

I agree there is a world of difference in using a recipe freely given to you and asking for a recipe that has been tried and tested. I think many people don't mind giving you a basic recipe that makes decent soap, but most won't give you their prize recipe that is their best seller.


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## dixiedragon (Feb 13, 2015)

If your wife's best friend sells M&P, she may know some CP soapers. It sounds like you don't necessarily want to take this up as a hobby, more like just make some soap for your own personal use. I'm a hobbyist and I LOVE having people over who are interested in making soap! So you may find somebody who'd be willing to have you over to their home or come to your home and let you use their equipment and ingredients for free, or for a small amount of $. I had over 2 friends and we made soap and lip balm. One of them handed me a $20 as a thank you (I tried to give it back but she wouldn't take it.) That $20 MORE than covered the cost of ingredients and materials for me, but they would have spent far more than $20 in order to get ingredients, equipment, etc.


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## dixiedragon (Feb 13, 2015)

shunt2011 said:


> I agree with Carolyn and Susie.
> 
> I don't think it's bad form if someone is putting it out there. I imagine many have probably tried it. I think if someone is sharing it they don't have a problem if someone else makes it. Others have posted recipes on this forum and I'm sure many have tried them. Especially a beginner. And he's not selling it no biggie either. Once he gets his feet wet he will likely try to come up with his own recipes.
> 
> I'm with the others on the stickblender though. My first time it took 3 hours to get to a light trace and I almost didn't make soap again.


 
He's coming up with his own recipe now. Sure, he's got this soaper's list of ingredients, but a list of ingreidents isn't a recipe. And I'm sure you'd find LOTS of soap being sold with a very similar list of ingredients.


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## Shadyduk1979 (Feb 13, 2015)

The Efficacious Gentleman said:


> While I appreciate the whole "do it all by hand" thing, get a stick blender - unless you are REALLY doing everything by hand (did you make your mixing bowl by hand?), leaving this one thing out will make soaping such a pain.


 i actually have a few hand formed mixing bowls, but that was done out of necessity not just because lol. I needed a bowl, stores did not have what i needed but i had stainless sheet. Not a big deal. 



dixiedragon said:


> If your wife's best friend sells M&P, she may know some CP soapers. It sounds like you don't necessarily want to take this up as a hobby, more like just make some soap for your own personal use. I'm a hobbyist and I LOVE having people over who are interested in making soap! So you may find somebody who'd be willing to have you over to their home or come to your home and let you use their equipment and ingredients for free, or for a small amount of $. I had over 2 friends and we made soap and lip balm. One of them handed me a $20 as a thank you (I tried to give it back but she wouldn't take it.) That $20 MORE than covered the cost of ingredients and materials for me, but they would have spent far more than $20 in order to get ingredients, equipment, etc.


She actually does not. We are talking about getting together once i have it down and doing a batch together. The soap thing has really brought the two of us closer which is nice. I used to just spend time with her husband, now i feel like i cheated myself by not getting to know her better. 

I want to say i won't take it up as a hobby, but who knows. If i can make my own soap, maybe shampoo as well i will be a pretty happy camper. But as with any skill i am always willing to teach people.


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## Susie (Feb 13, 2015)

I am going to warn you now that soap making is the most addictive hobby I have ever seen.  You think you are just going to make this one batch every few months, and that's it.  Then you see a suggestion for _this_ oil, or _that_ wonderful recipe, not to mention _those_ additives.  And OH, you can make LAUNDRY SOAP, SHAVING SOAP, AND SHAMPOO! Then it is just too late...you are a soaper.


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## Shadyduk1979 (Feb 13, 2015)

Susie said:


> I am going to warn you now that soap making is the most addictive hobby I have ever seen.  You think you are just going to make this one batch every few months, and that's it.  Then you see a suggestion for _this_ oil, or _that_ wonderful recipe, not to mention _those_ additives.  And OH, you can make LAUNDRY SOAP, SHAVING SOAP, AND SHAMPOO! Then it is just too late...you are a soaper.



It does fit me to do all of that. I prefer to do as much as possible on my own. I would much rather build/make than buy. i don't have many thing that i haven't either build from scratch or repaired. Machines are easy, provide my own heat with fallen trees, make my own booze, grow our food... etc


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## Susie (Feb 13, 2015)

You are a soaper already.  You just did not know it yet.  Welcome to the addiction!


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## Dahila (Feb 13, 2015)

Shadyduk1979 said:


> It does fit me to do all of that. I prefer to do as much as possible on my own. I would much rather build/make than buy. i don't have many thing that i haven't either build from scratch or repaired. Machines are easy, provide my own heat with fallen trees, make my own booze, grow our food... etc


 
yeah :-D I wanted to make salve and I ended up making everything from scratch,  I do bake my own bread from scratch with sourdough starter.  I make my own yogurt and kefir, then soaps even one liquid soap thanks to Irishlass and Susie)

I bet a lot of people like me are on this forum; people who can make their own clothes and furniture.   This kind of people tend to group  

welcome to the forum and say hello to your new addiction.  I agree with Susie wholeheartly.

Please, do not mind my accent and style of writing, English is my second language,


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## Sislea (Feb 13, 2015)

I'm a newbie as well......I actually started making my own laundry soap when I for some crazy reason in my adult life developed Dermatographic urticaria aka skin writing disorder AKA dermographism. Did it help...heck no but it felt good making laundry soap and knowing my families clothes are being cleaned with my own special sweat and hard labor  No really, it was nothing but it got me "itching" to make our bar soap considering I am not the only one in my household with some form of skin problems. So here I am :clap:


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## reinbeau (Feb 13, 2015)

kchaystack said:


> I will point out that it is usually considered bad form to copy a soap maker's formula.  Use the idea as a base, but you really should come up with your own recipe.  Who knows, maybe you will get to the point that you want to sell - and you would not want someone coming along and copying your product!
> 
> But welcome to the forums, these are a great bunch of people.  I have had a blast since I started a month ago!


Umm - if someone publishes their recipe as a tutorial there is absolutely nothing wrong with using it.  You need to learn what you're doing before you can branch out into your own recipe territory.  That's why people post recipes, so others can learn and then grow.

To the OP, I created a New Soaper blog post, I hope you find something in it of use to you.


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## ClaraSuds (Feb 13, 2015)

> but when I tried to make soap the first time, it took me over 2 hours of stirring, and still did not get trace.  I just poured at emulsification.  I would never do without a stick blender now.



I do without a stick blender all the time. You don't have to stand there and stir. I just stir for about 5 mins to get all the oil mixed with the lye, pop a lid on it and go do something else for a couple of hours. Return, stir again for a few mins and repeat until light trace. Sure it does take hours to trace but it doesn't need you standing over it the whole time either. I do soaping on busy days, 10mins to get everything in the pot together. Occassional stirring, maybe about 30mins in total, in 5 min lots to check on progress. 6hrs later pour it into a mold. Easy! The big advantage for me is I never have to worry about oil temps and overheating, by the time it reaches trace its room temp. 

One of the easiest milk soaps I ever did was 100% olive oil, a water discount and coconut milk added after emulsion. Could probably add oats at that time too. Never tried it with cow or goats milk but I can't imagine it would be much different.


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## BubblesnBears (Feb 13, 2015)

Forum has just eaten my rather lengthy reply...this one will be a bit shorter 

I find the easiest way to add milk is to pre-freeze fresh milk and use (by weight, not volume) a 50:50 to 75:25 mix of frozen milk to water. I'd also (personally - not sure what others here think?) ever use more than 2-3 tbsp (that's an aussie tbsp = 20ml) of honey per 1kg or so of oils - especially in combination with milk as it's a good recipe for superheating and if you're really "lucky" (as I found out my first time making a milk & honey soap) a pretty spectacular soap volcano :mrgreen:

Laura


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## OliveOil2 (Feb 13, 2015)

I made my first batch without a stick blender, it took a crazy amount of time. I use a stick blender now, but some batches need less blending than others. I think the difference is that I learned what to watch for in the texture and thickness of a batch.
 I much prefer using the 50/50 split method for adding milk, especially for someone starting out. You could even stir in less milk than 50% on your first milk batch, using water for the difference. Honey is a heater, and also has to be well incorporated, or you will have dark spots.


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## jules92207 (Feb 13, 2015)

A lot of great advice here, have you checked out soapcalc yet? I'm happy to share some recipes I like, I don't mind, but you will need to learn how to input it into soapcalc.

I tend to like this percentage:
Olive oil 40%
Palm oil 25%
Avocado oil 10%
Almond oil 10%
coconut oil 10%
Castor oil 5%

I use full milk in milk soaps and freeze them into cubes. When you mix in the lye you will want to stir longer than you think you need to make sure your lye is fully dissolved. Watch some videos on milk soap making, soap queen's really helped me figure out the lye thing. Before that I had to throw away batches with lye crystals in them.

I also add baby oatmeal and honey melted in a little hot water added at trace, if you feel like exploring options.

Welcome to the addiction!


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## Shadyduk1979 (Feb 14, 2015)

Dahila said:


> yeah :-D I wanted to make salve and I ended up making everything from scratch,  I do bake my own bread from scratch with sourdough starter.  I make my own yogurt and kefir, then soaps even one liquid soap thanks to Irishlass and Susie)
> 
> I bet a lot of people like me are on this forum; people who can make their own clothes and furniture.   This kind of people tend to group
> 
> ...


Sounds like i already fit in here lol. When i was growing up being able to be self sufficient was a necessity, not a choice. We were not well off and lived well off the beaten path. Town i grew up in was all postal routes, not streets. I think i grew up like most peoples grandparents did. My peers cannot grasp this for the most part(i am 30). I will run out in a few and grab a blender. We did our valentine's day stuff  yesterday to beat the crowds, so today i can do a run. With yet another foot of snow arriving tonight on top of the 8 we already have i think we might lose power so i want to get my bread, booze and soap done today so if the power goes out, i can just relax.


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## reinbeau (Feb 14, 2015)

Shadyduk1979 said:


> <snip..>With yet another foot of snow arriving tonight on top of the 8 we already have i think we might lose power so i want to get my bread, booze and soap done today so if the power goes out, i can just relax.


Side jaunt, but howdy, neighbor - well, sorta.  You only have 8"?  We have a solid 40" snowpack and are expecting another foot here on the South Shore/Hanson area!


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## Shadyduk1979 (Feb 14, 2015)

reinbeau said:


> Side jaunt, but howdy, neighbor - well, sorta.  You only have 8"?  We have a solid 40" snowpack and are expecting another foot here on the South Shore/Hanson area!



8 feet in total snow here near Worcester. About 5 feet of snowpack in the yard.


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## reinbeau (Feb 14, 2015)

Ah, now that's more like it


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## Dahila (Feb 14, 2015)

I have a foot of snow on my car, still snowing.........


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## BubblesnBears (Feb 15, 2015)

^ wanna swap? I was stuck outside at a family get together today...nearly 40°C in the shade :shock:


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## Shadyduk1979 (Feb 15, 2015)

BubblesnBears said:


> ^ wanna swap? I was stuck outside at a family get together today...nearly 40°C in the shade :shock:



Thats toasty... can't imagine watching v8 supercars in that heat


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## Sislea (Feb 15, 2015)

I want to see some snow! Our weather men are being funny. They claim we will have some possibly Tuesday!! :clap:


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