a number of things

Cheesemaking 101

         

I have always been fascinated with the idea of making cheese myself.  Could it be done?  And with five kids helping?!!  A while back (during a fleeting momentary burst of self confidence) I ordered the mozzarella & ricotta kit from the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company, and today we thought we would give it a try.

         

To our complete astonishment, it worked!  I don't know why we were so surprised when people have been making cheese with much less precise and technical equipment for thousands of years, but we were. :-)

        

Naturally, we had to make cheese pizza for lunch and top it with our very own mozzarella!  Our cheesy success spurred an internet search for more cheese history and facts and turned up some really neat sites. Yum! 

    

Do You Use Online Coupons?

Frankly, I never have much... until recently.  My dad, who does web design and affiliate marketing for a living, just launched an online coupon site.  His goal with this site is to offer only current (not expired), legitimate coupons with as little hype as possible.

Since this is his first try at such a site, he is looking for any and all feedback he can get from those who frequent these types of sites and use online coupons.  Soooo, if you have got a minute, he would be ever so grateful if you would hop on over to Now Coupons and leave some good ol' honest feedback via the "Contact Us" page.

Thanks! 

 

"These are my wormy friends..."

            

"...They are all girls..."

            

"...Oooooo, they are so cute!"

            

"I am going to take them into the house."

Nope.  I don't think so.

Marie is my nearly constant companion when I am digging in the dirt.  She has this thing for earthworms and loves to carry one around and show it things in the yard like the swing set and picnic table.  The sun is shining beautifully for the first time in many rainy days, so we are out in the mud soaking it up and working on the gardens.

Hope you are having a sunny day wherever you are!

 

A Very Small Farm

"As it is I could manage, at least through hard times.  Even if that is an illusion, it is not an abstract one; the bees have laid up ample stores for themselves, the pantry and cellar are filled, the winter wood is stacked, the hens laying, the cow fresh, and the fallow garden ready for spring planting.  The basic economy of my peasant farm works so well I sometimes think of it as a little universe in which everything is fixed in orbit as if for an eternity."

~ A Very Small Farm by William Paul Winchester

I am thoroughly enjoying this book.  A peaceful read at the end of busy days.

                  

So Much Going On

         

It's January, but it seems we are as busy as we were last month!  Most of the business seems to be revolving around getting the new garden area ready for the early spring (mid February down here) planting.  We have always had gardens (where ever we lived...even rentals) and we both grew up gardening (in Chip's case, farming), but this is the largest area we have yet attempted. My uncle came and tilled the 4,000+ square foot space for us today, but we will probably only plant about half of it this year while allowing a series of cover crops and green manures to enrich the other half for us.  For the planting section, I have been ordering seeds (mostly heirloom or open pollinated) from places like Territorial and Johnny's.

To go along with the gardening endeavor, the kids and I are starting a spring botany unit based on Rebecca's fabulous ideas.  I am looking so forward to this and so are the kids!  We will be using many of the same books Rebecca suggests along with several that we already had.  I'll try to put up a sidebar list of them soon.

         

All fall and winter I have been a regular visitor to my favorite local thrift store, and I'm pretty pleased with the results.  Among my many finds are the little things pictured above.  Aren't those boot sweet!  They are little girl's size 9 (one size up from what Marie is in now) and are like new, except for needing new laces.  I can't wait to put them on Marie along with a little prairie dress and snap a few pictures for later drawing inspiration.  They were all of 50 cents! 

Also pictured is a glass restaurant sugar server that now holds cotton balls in the girl's bathroom, vintage aqua-handled utensils (for drawing, again) and a sweet little pitcher to be used for a vase.

         

I'm also still plugging along on the quilt project with the (hopefully) manageable goal of trying to do one row a week.  As of now the top is almost half way done, sooooo  we'll see how it goes! ;-)