Today's doings/pics

I got up early milked the goats and cow. I mixed up two batches of dough one rye/wheat and one all rye. Then I quickly ate some lentils and a glass of fresh warm milk. I hopped into the waiting truck and me and mama and Rebecca were off to her house. Hannah stayed home to take care of the household duties and do the pats and folds on the bread dough. Daddy got the clay oven going for me. I took care of my nephews while my sister Rebecca went to the dentist.

I had a lot of fun with them. Izzy is one year old now and he is trying to do everything that his older brother does. But then it's kinda funny because then Buddy sees the babyish things that Izzy does and tries to imitate them so I then will give attention to him. For example: Izzy tries to push a cushion of the couch (They were trying to make a house) and he does not have quite enough man power to do it, so he whimpers for me to help him, so I help him. Then Buddy does the same thing and imitates all the little baby antics that his younger brother does. So then I help him in the same way. Then he gives me a big smile. It is funny! The younger one trying to be big and the older trying to be little! They are the most adorable little children that I know! I love them so much. I made tortillas with Buddy. He really enjoyed rolling them out. We had them with scrambled eggs for lunch. He calls eggs "eet-eets" that is his name for chickens, you know the sound that chickens make? He does not call animals by their name. He calls them by their sound that they make. It is so cute. Cow is "moo", Pig is a sound that I do not know even how to write, he makes this sound deep in his throat and it sounds just like a pig grunting maybe like this "Roughuufgh". Horse is "eeEEEeee", cat is "Eeeeeeeew!" Dog is "wuhwa! wuhwa!" and the funny thing is the only animal that he will say the name is rabbit he says it like this "ravit". Rebecca brought me and mama home and she stayed for awhile and visited with us all. When we got home Hannah had the bread ready to be shaped and put into the baskets. I did that and looked at the fire in the oven to see when it would be ready. Then I helped the Enoch &Nathanael wash eggs for the market tomorrow we washed 15 dozen. David left early this morning to go to a class in T.C. I am sure he will be posting about that in the near future on his blog. You can get to his blog on my side bar. It was a class about holistic farming. He is going to go tomorrow on a farm tour and a cookout on one of the farms while we all are at the market selling stuff. After we got the eggs washed and my sister left with her family, I baked the bread. Then just as I was getting the bread out of the oven David came home. He had hitched a ride for there and back with one of our friends who works in T.C. so that turned out real well for him. After baking the bread, Oh and one of the reasons why I baked bread today is because last week on saturday someone at the village market asked me to baked them two loaves. And when I bake, I a bake for my family too, so I baked 9 loaves today. Ok, so after baking I heated up some soup that I made the other day and we had that with fresh bread and a salad from the garden. After that I went out and milked the goats. They were in the barn because it was raining today so Hannah brought them in there. Goats don't really like the rain, Sheep don't really mind it. We like to bring our goats into the barn when it is raining a cold and wind driven rain. After milking I strained the milk of course then I put the chevre in a cheese cloth.

I started some chevre last night, I can't have bread with no cheese if there is fresh milk around. Then I clear, rinsed, and stacked the dinner dishes. Came into the living room and read a few chapters in a Mr Tucket book to Nathanael. Loaded some pics onto blogger. Then prayed with my family. And now writing this post. and now publishing it and now Good night!

For tomorrow is another early rising day. I like market day! I look forward to it ever day of the week. I am going to bring the spinning wheel and ply the yarn that I have been working on.

Buddy

Izzy

washing "eet-eets"

rye/wheat

rye

close up of the rye

this one is going to be so yum with cheese!

I had hannah take these bread pics with the chalk board for the background because the numbers on there are my morning figures for the mix of the dough.

Good night Folks!

I hope you enjoyed this post!

stuff I have been up to...

I have been busy and I have not really had time to post anything. I don't really want to post anything.

What have I been doing?

Getting as red as a lobster, while planting corn in the field

Painting at the commons

spinning wool

Reading late into the night.

(I have read six books in the past two weeks)

Doing dishes

Doing Laundry

Moving my bedroom

Making icecream

making cheese

making dinner

making breakfast

milking the goats and cow

watering my flower seedlings

baking bread

feeding starter

won a giveaway

talking to my nephew on the phone

playing croquet with my siblings

soaking willow for baskets

reading to my brother

singing, singing,singing

resting in the joy of my Lord

for pictures go to these links

Pictures

More Pictures

kids and cheese recipes

Here is newest set of arrivals, a doe and a buck. Shwanli had them on sunday. They are so

cute! The other day I went to the barn to check up on them and I could not find the anywhere. I asked hannah if she knew were they were, she did not. We look and looked around all around the barn. Then I saw a little bit of white and this is where they were.

I got a request for the chevre recipe so here it is:

Things you need:

all words in green are links to where you can purchases the required things if you do not have them.

One gallon of raw milk freshly milked.

1 T. yogurt

1 drop of rennet deluded in a T of water

Very clean stainless steel pot and spoon. Thermometer* , butter muslin** ,and colander

Heat the milk to 100 degrees F.

Stir in the yogurt very well.

Add the rennet deluded in water

Stir with a gentle up and down motion for 1 min.

Let set in the pot for 12 hours

Now the milk is coagulated it should be thick almost like yogurt. If not let set a little longer.

Then take the colander and line it with the butter muslin.

tie up the corners and hang to drip out the whey for 6-7 hours. At room temperture

Remove the cheese from cloth and place in bowl. Weigh cheese then add 1% of the weight in salt. Store in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

*If you do not have a thermometer just warm the milk up to how warm it feels when it comes right out of the animal.

**. you can use a piece of muslin fabric that will fit in the colander and hang over quite a bit.

the sites that I gave the links to are the places that I get these cheese supplies. I would highly recommend getting both Thermometer and butter muslin .

Other things that you can do with milk is. Instead of adding just a drop of rennet add a 1/8 teaspoon of rennet deluded in a 1/4 cup of water.

Do the same as the recipe but it will make something more like a small cottage cheese.

Or another idea is add the same 1/8 teaspoon deluded in a 1/4 cup of water. But instead of putting the cheese into a cloth lined colander. Using a long-bladed knife,cut the coagulated milk in to vertical strips about 3/4 inch wide. Using a skimmer, cut through horizontally until you have cut it all into 3/4 inch cubes. stir gently for 5 minuets. Let stand for 10 minuets.

Ladle curd into a cloth lined colander and let drain in colander for 45 minuets.

Prepare a draining container by placing a rack inside. Then place a cutting board on top, follow by a cheese mat, then the molds. Using skimmer, fill molds with curds. Cover container and let drain for 3 hours at room temperature. Flip cheeses over in the molds and let drain at room temperature for 10 hours. Keep container covered to maintain warmth around the cheeses.

Unmold cheeses onto a clean cheese mat and replace on the rack in the draining container. Sprinkle top of each cheese with 1/4 t. salt. Cover container and let drain at room temperature for 6 hours. Turn cheeses and salt the other side. Cover container and let drain at room temperature for another 6 hours.

Transfer cheese to a clean cheese mat (traditionally a straw mat) in a ripening container. Let dry for 4 or five days at cool room temperature. Remove any collected whey from the container and flip the cheeses daily.

I also age these molded cheese in a ripening container for about 6 weeks and they get very delicious and earthy flavors. Keep flipping them and taking the whey out for 3 to 6 weeks in a 55-60 temperature dark room. After 3 or 6 weeks put the cheeses in the refrigerator. Eat them with bread and olives and that is so yummy!

Place a sprig of fresh savory on the cheese and consume immediately.

If you would like to buy cheese molds this is where I get them: Cheese Molds

For a cheese mat I use these: "Handmade Cheese Mats"

For a ripening container I use those big round cake containers. Here is a picture of the one that I use. "Cake container" it is the seventh picture down from the top.

Cheese making can be either something that you get into and spend a lot of money on supplies, or you can look around you and find things that you can use and make with your hands for cheese making. Try to recycle as much as you can and makeshift alot of your cheese making supplies and then you will save a lot but get the same kind of product.

And if you have milking animals and you are making a lot of cheese but you still can't keep up with the flow of daily milk income. Then get a pig or chickens and turn the milk into pork and eggs or grilled chicken.

I hope these recipes and ideas are helpful to you and that you make wonderful cheeses.

If you have any questions or if something doesn't make sense, just ask in a comment below.

birth announcement, my morning thoughts, and spring pictures...

Three more kids joined the herd. On sunday Hopli had triplets and they are so adorable! Two does, one white and one grayish brown with dark brown markings, and a big white buck. The buck weighed seven lb. and eight oz. The brown doe weighed five lb. and four oz., and the white doe weighed six lb. two oz. All together Shneahopli was carrying nineteen lb. and four oz. I think that would be alot to hold! They are doing very well. They already want to run and play outside. It is a little cool out this morning so I am going to wait till it warms up a little and I will bring them out in the sunshine today. I took Hopli out to get some grass this morning. It was so pretty out there. The morning sun shining on the dewy grass as she ate. I sat on a stump and sang while out there watching her. One of my favorite songs to sing in the morning is Morning Has Broken. When I sing and give thanks and praise to God, everything that seems so big and overwhelming in this life melts away and I know it no more. I think this has been the most pleasant of springs ever. It is so beautiful and nice outside. David has been getting the fields ready for planting. Lambs and kids are running all around the barnyard. Robins hoping about the garden. Busy birds finding nesting materials. Freshly wash wool drying in the sun and wind. Clothes on the line. Wild flowers in the meadow and woods. Leeks and morels sprouting up in the woods and orchard. Geese trying to set on eggs. Ducks trying finding good nesting spots. Daffy-down-dillies a blooming in the ditch along the road. Crisp frost in the morning covering the freshly plowed earth. Beautiful little pink blossoms on the peach tree. Bright green catkins on the birch trees. Golden dandelions popping up there cheery faces everywhere. Barefeet running everywhere. Buds on the lilac bush. Compost piles steaming in the morning sunlight. New leaves on the rose bush. Bright new leaves on the maples. Forsythia bushes in full bloom. Wild cherry trees clothed in white blossoms like star clusters. Bunches of new onion plants to plant in the garden. Chickens scratching everywhere. Wooded hills covered with new growth. Rivers and streams flowing down where they are directed. Lower and lower still,ever singing, giving water and life to every thing they touch. This is my Father's world! A place that He has made for His pleasure. May every thing that we say, do and think be pleasing to Him. He has made us for His good pleasure.

(I wrote the above at 8:24 AM this morning)

Here are some pictures from today:

my nephew's flowers

planting peas

pounding in a stake

smiling sisters

Fun!

Big Smile!

This morning me and Hannah visited with Rebecca. Daddy,David and the boys had to go to a farm and pick up some bees for David. Hannah and I were going to go to the library but it was closed so we had Daddy drop us of at our sister's. We helped her plant peas and onions in her garden. It was very fun. Then Daddy came and picked up some bales of hay that my sister's husband said we could get. We visited for a little longer then we left. Went to the library and checked out some books. Last night I finished the book "The Meeting Place" by Janette Oke ,and I had to get the sequel. If you are a book worm like me then you know just how it is. When you finnish a good book and it says at the end that there is a sequel to it and that sequel is 9 miles away on a library shelf you just have to get it in the fastest possible time that you can. Then when we got there I saw that there are even more sequels to that sequel so I got three more books all in the same series. On the way home we stopped and got more hay from a neighbor. We are still feeding our animals hay as the grass is still growing.

When we came home I got the clay oven started and mixed up a batch of natural leaven dough. I had taken a little brake from baking bread on the clay oven. The reason why? Well go to this link HERE and you will see something that I made. I was so mad I could not even blog about it at the time. At least someone was able to laugh at what happened! The oven was too hot and I was getting tired as it was getting late in the evening. I put the bread in too soon and that is the result, burnt dough!. In that picture you can see Daddy in the kitchen. He is scraping off the burnt part of the other charred lump of dough.

I hope this time it turns out very well.

I am going to do chicken for dinner. So I must go and get stuff ready for that.... enjoy the spring!

stuff I did today...

I made a batch of muffins for tomorrow's breakfast

made soup for dinner

Baked bread

Here is how the kitchen looks after a week of working in it.

Compare with the pictures I posted HERE

I put a hubbard squash and some ribs in the clay oven to slow cook over night. So... that takes care of tomorrow's meal. I did do dishes today even though it looks like I did not. There are just somedays when I can do them up really fast and other days when the pile just never seems to go away! I am really getting a longing to have a time when I can make a meal for just two people. I am content where I am right now. But sometimes the longing is really there. I don't think it is at all bad to have thoughts like this. Some might say that you should have your heart set on what is right now and not to wish for what is to come. But I think it is alright to dream. And give these desires to the Lord. And delight our selves in Him. And if we delight our selves in the Lord He will give us the desires of our hearts. God is bringing me to this place of resting in Him. He will give me the desires of my heart.

...Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

1 Corinthians 2: 9-12

I want to be fill with His Spirit. Daily alive and growing in the strength of the Lord! Don't you?

Let's press on toward the Goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

I hope you all have a good night

I am tired, so I am off to bed.

Pictures

On friday I did a big cleaning of the kitchen. Here are some pictures of it all clean. Next friday I am going to take pictures of the same. No matter how messy or clean the kitchen is and post them on my blog. So we'll see how clean I can keep the kitchen in one week.

This is our sweet little doe Autumn. She is going to have her first freshening in the first or second week of april. I think she is going to have one kid. We did not want her to get bred but she jumped in the bucks pen!

Here is Shwanli. She is due in May I think she will have alot of kids.

Shwanli and Autumn

Our shetland sheep

Here is Shneahopli

she is also due in May.

Our three cows: Mocha's Heifer,Lilac and Mocha

Laundry drying in the wind and sun

what I have been up to!

I thought you all might be wondering what I have been up to!

I have been practicing improving on my bread making skills:

Reading "Little Lord Fauntleroy" to my younger brothers:

Making popcorn balls with my younger brothers:

Making fresh chunky apple sauce :

Enjoying the snow

hanging up laundry in the guests house, cabin, and kitchen.

Reading a book called " Under the Lilacs"

Trying to Keep my room tidy!

Singing

Keeping my heart open to hear the word of the Lord.

And now I am off to my sister's----

Bye-Bye!

a song that I was blessed by yesterday:

Praise You In This Storm

I was sure by now
That You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say "Amen", and it's still raining

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear Your whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I'll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
Every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when
I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry
You raised me up again
My strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I can't find You

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth