August 2019 Summer Memory Challenge Entries

[newbie]

Please post your entries here with a story about your memory.

Sorry I'm late. Traveling and had no working USB port and crappy Wi-fi, and then no battery.

Please do NOT post comments here, only entries! Comments can still be made on the challenge thread.

 

[dibbles]

He was tall and tan. He had big brown eyes and wavy hair and my 16-year-old self was absolutely smitten. I couldn’t drive yet, but he could and had a canary yellow T-Bird convertible. Seriously, what more could a girl want. That summer was blissful and care free, and most days were spent hanging out at the pool. I remember running home so I wouldn’t be late for dinner and get myself grounded. I remember my dad insisting I put zinc oxide on my nose because it was so badly sunburned. I remember wiping the zinc oxide off when I was out of sight. I remember braving a jump off the high dive and the force of the water pushing my swim suit top up. I remember sitting with my girlfriends and watching ‘him’ but pretending not to. I remember French fries and Orange Crush soda. I remember putting baby oil on to get a better tan because it was before we knew better.

But this memory isn’t really about all that silly stuff. It’s about my mom. You see, every day as I was leaving, I would tell her in my most casual, off-hand voice that I was going to the pool to ‘see who all was there’. After a few weeks of this, one day when I got home my mom asked, “so, was Who All there?” After all these years, I still find that pretty funny and is one of my favorite memories of her. I miss her.

The soap is canary yellow for the car, turquoise for the color of the pool, and white for – take your pick – the zinc oxide or my, to this day, favorite white swim suit. It is scented with Caribbean Coconut (WSP) because coconut to me smells like summer.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Sitting on a Dock of the Bay

In 2001, we had the good fortune to travel as a family to a small town on the west coast of France. My former husband had been invited to perform at a regional music festival and it was an opportunity we simply could not pass up. The town sits just a little southwest of Bordeaux, on the shore of Arcachon Bay, which is one of the world’s most famous areas for oyster aquaculture. That was reason enough for me to go! Our time there was filled with music, friends and good meals. Oysters were plentiful, of course, and we also drank plenty of really good wine. I admired the Arcachonnaise architecture and shopped in lovely little shops for small gifts to take home.

As wonderful as it all was, my favorite memory of the trip is a day I spent with my son taking a long beach walk to a neighboring town for lunch and a chance to explore the working waterfront. It was the summer of his 11th birthday. He was at that age when children are getting old enough to interpret the happenings of the world around them, but are still young enough to do so with the innocence of a child. It was a day for me to see the world fresh through his eyes. It was a perfect day in the summer sun, with a sea breeze and no cares in the world. We spent part of our time “sitting on a dock of the bay, watching the tide roll away” and the sailboats sail by. This soap is my way of capturing that memory.

ETA: This soap was made with a 60% lard recipe working at RT, with Nuture Aromatherapy FO to help speed trace a bit. I made three batches - one for the embeds, one for the bottom 1/3 of the soap, and a final batch for the top 2/3 of the soap. The batter for the embeds was poured two days before I made the soap and carved the night before construction day. I tried to pour a flat layer of soap for the mast, but that didn’t work, so I ended up using a brown mica pencil line. I think having the mast adds a lot to the soap. I considered different ways to support the embeds in the batter, but in the end, I let the batter do the job and kept my fingers crossed. The micas are from Nuture.

 

[msunnerstood]

My Summer Memory Inspiration was the Barn Kittens born in our Shed early this summer. I have incorporated all the colors of the kittens, Orange and white, Black and Caramel and just Orange. The little bit of Red signifies the place they were born (The Shed Is red)

 

[MarnieSoapien]

Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, every summer I was minutes away from strawberry, raspberry and blueberry farms. There was never a shortage of fresh berries. But my favorite has always been blackberries. I would pick loads of fresh wild blackberries and using a cobbler recipe that has been handed down for generations in my family, make blackberry cobbler. And the best way to eat blackberry cobbler is with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

 

[glendam]

My summer memory takes me to the beaches in El Salvador, with their dark sand that stretches for miles. Collecting seashells was a favorite past time there. I was selective and only picked the ones I liked the most. Funny enough, eventually several others would join in the seashell collecting, and later we would use them to decorate a sand castle. I would bring some home, and that would be the “souvenir” of our day at the beach. I would save some in a special rock collection box I kept, some I would turn into jewelry. I actually made the seashell mold for the embeds, with shells I had collected from a beach. The fragrance Exotic coconut from Crafters choice, is providing the discoloration to brown, and a blend of ground oatmeal, coffee grounds and cornmeal provide the sand effect.

 

[amd]

Just a reminder:

 

[newbie]

Sorry sorry sorry for my lateness. I can't do anything like setting up the survey from my ancient phone. It's up now and passwords sent.

 

[Sally Soles]

Sitting on a Dock of the Bay

In 2001, we had the good fortune to travel as a family to a small town on the west coast of France. My former husband had been invited to perform at a regional music festival and it was an opportunity we simply could not pass up. The town sits just a little southwest of Bordeaux, on the shore of Arcachon Bay, which is one of the world’s most famous areas for oyster aquaculture. That was reason enough for me to go! Our time there was filled with music, friends and good meals. Oysters were plentiful, of course, and we also drank plenty of really good wine. I admired the Arcachonnaise architecture and shopped in lovely little shops for small gifts to take home.

As wonderful as it all was, my favorite memory of the trip is a day I spent with my son taking a long beach walk to a neighboring town for lunch and a chance to explore the working waterfront. It was the summer of his 11th birthday. He was at that age when children are getting old enough to interpret the happenings of the world around them, but are still young enough to do so with the innocence of a child. It was a day for me to see the world fresh through his eyes. It was a perfect day in the summer sun, with a sea breeze and no cares in the world. We spent part of our time “sitting on a dock of the bay, watching the tide roll away” and the sailboats sail by. This soap is my way of capturing that memory.

ETA: This soap was made with a 60% lard recipe working at RT, with Nuture Aromatherapy FO to help speed trace a bit. I made three batches - one for the embeds, one for the bottom 1/3 of the soap, and a final batch for the top 2/3 of the soap. The batter for the embeds was poured two days before I made the soap and carved the night before construction day. I tried to pour a flat layer of soap for the mast, but that didn’t work, so I ended up using a brown mica pencil line. I think having the mast adds a lot to the soap. I considered different ways to support the embeds in the batter, but in the end, I let the batter do the job and kept my fingers crossed. The micas are from Nuture.

View attachment 41121

Wonderful soap and wonderful story---thank you for sharing and inspiring

 

[Sally Soles]

He was tall and tan. He had big brown eyes and wavy hair and my 16-year-old self was absolutely smitten. I couldn’t drive yet, but he could and had a canary yellow T-Bird convertible. Seriously, what more could a girl want. That summer was blissful and care free, and most days were spent hanging out at the pool. I remember running home so I wouldn’t be late for dinner and get myself grounded. I remember my dad insisting I put zinc oxide on my nose because it was so badly sunburned. I remember wiping the zinc oxide off when I was out of sight. I remember braving a jump off the high dive and the force of the water pushing my swim suit top up. I remember sitting with my girlfriends and watching ‘him’ but pretending not to. I remember French fries and Orange Crush soda. I remember putting baby oil on to get a better tan because it was before we knew better.

But this memory isn’t really about all that silly stuff. It’s about my mom. You see, every day as I was leaving, I would tell her in my most casual, off-hand voice that I was going to the pool to ‘see who all was there’. After a few weeks of this, one day when I got home my mom asked, “so, was Who All there?” After all these years, I still find that pretty funny and is one of my favorite memories of her. I miss her.

The soap is canary yellow for the car, turquoise for the color of the pool, and white for – take your pick – the zinc oxide or my, to this day, favorite white swim suit. It is scented with Caribbean Coconut (WSP) because coconut to me smells like summer.
View attachment 41117

This made me tear up. Just beautiful. Thanks for sharing and jogging some memories and feelings of my own.

 

[newbie]

Winners of this month's challenge are:

First place- Mobjack Bay!
Second- Dibbles!
Third- Msunnerstood!

Congratulations and thanks to all who participated.

 

[dibbles]

Thanks for the challenge @newbie and for the walk down the memory lane of summers past.

 

[Elf1.123]

He was tall and tan. He had big brown eyes and wavy hair and my 16-year-old self was absolutely smitten. I couldn’t drive yet, but he could and had a canary yellow T-Bird convertible. Seriously, what more could a girl want. That summer was blissful and care free, and most days were spent hanging out at the pool. I remember running home so I wouldn’t be late for dinner and get myself grounded. I remember my dad insisting I put zinc oxide on my nose because it was so badly sunburned. I remember wiping the zinc oxide off when I was out of sight. I remember braving a jump off the high dive and the force of the water pushing my swim suit top up. I remember sitting with my girlfriends and watching ‘him’ but pretending not to. I remember French fries and Orange Crush soda. I remember putting baby oil on to get a better tan because it was before we knew better.

But this memory isn’t really about all that silly stuff. It’s about my mom. You see, every day as I was leaving, I would tell her in my most casual, off-hand voice that I was going to the pool to ‘see who all was there’. After a few weeks of this, one day when I got home my mom asked, “so, was Who All there?” After all these years, I still find that pretty funny and is one of my favorite memories of her. I miss her.

The soap is canary yellow for the car, turquoise for the color of the pool, and white for – take your pick – the zinc oxide or my, to this day, favorite white swim suit. It is scented with Caribbean Coconut (WSP) because coconut to me smells like summer.
View attachment 41117

What a lovely memory and a lovely soap