Well it has been a few days since I last posted so today I am going to talk about our ancestors again. First of all I just finished talking to my mother on the phone, I usually phone her to pick her brain (smile). Today I asked her how her mother made Lye Soap, since it was very popular back then. My mother told me that my grandmother used to buy the Lye already in tins or cans, and she melted the fat from the slaughtered hogs and made her lye soap, she had to let it harden and my mother said it was a very strong soap. Now I found an article regarding lye soap online and some exerts from the article said Lard was saved from the hog kill which usually took place at the time of the first hard frost in the fall. Lye was made from the ashes taken from the wood stoves, they would pour water over the ashes and siphon the liquid lye (so my grandmother took the easier way by buying it already done). To make the soap Lye and Lard were mixed together on an open fire and stirred for hours with a wooden spoon or stick , it was said that when the spoon or stick stuck straight up the soap was ready. Then the soap was put in a metal pan and allowed to dry and harden which sometimes took from 2 weeks to a month. Lye soap was used for everything from bathing to laundry to cleaning.
So now I am going to make a little story about Lye soap and my mother to give to my grandaughter to add to her Adventure Book that I have created for her.
On another note, I would like to add that I am adding the Cocagne New Brunswick Cemetery to my webpage, it will have the names of the person, either the parents or the spouse and the date of death. some dates are not available at the moment but as I get them I shall add them. If you find a name with the spouse and you need the parent's name , contact me and I may have their names also.
http://www.acadian-roots.com
have a great day
Aline