2011 is almost at it's end.  We have so much to be thankful for, and so much to look forward to.  The older I get, the more amazed I am at how quickly time flys by.  Wasn't it February just a few months ago?  How did summer come and go so quickly?   How did Caelum get taller than me? How did Ruby and Olivia become such big girls? 
I called Marci a few days ago to establish (in my mind) how old the kids are.  I STILL can't get it straight ...  I think the kids are MUCH younger than they are.  I am not sure how time slips away as it seems to do.  I still see Emilia as a 4 year old.  Shelby and Josef are still very small.  Caelum ... not nearly 13 .... Ruby and Olivia are still babies.  Lily, is still the baby she was the last time I held her.  Abi ... holy cow, she can't be 16 .... she is still that little girl I met when she was 3.  OK, enough of this .... on to today!
I really wish the kids were here with us as we end the year. They are young enough to ring in the new year ..... Me, I think it is close enough now.  Happy new year.  Off to bed I go!

New Adventures in cheese making

I have wanted to learn crafts like cheese making for years.  Along my journey I have learned things like soapmaking, butter making, bread making etc.  All of these things I have learned on my own.  This summer I met someone who raises his own cows and I started buying milk from him.   We formed a friendship and talked a lot about cheese making.   He has been wonderful and blesses me with a lot of milk to play with. 
My first attempts at cheese making made me realize I needed a mentor.  I had no idea what I was doing wrong, but I ruined gallons and gallons of raw milk.  Finally a couple of weeks ago I was successful ... and my cheese turned out the way it was supposed to.  I think I finally understood some things I just didn't "get" before.  I have made 4 batches of hard cheese that seem to have turned out.  I was OK with the soft cheese ... it was easy and I "got it", but now I "get" the hard cheese!!!  Yippee!!!  I am so excited for the cheese to age and I am able to taste the fruits of my labors!  (I am still looking for a mentor)

Remember the nursery story about little miss muffet?  Curds and whey are exactly what I am working toward here.  In this photo the curds have formed are are waiting for me to cut them and get started with the cheese making



Here the curds have been cut into small chunks.  They still have a lot of the liquid in them so they will have to be pressed to get the liquid out of them

The curds have been placed in the mold in a cheese cloth.  I am pressing them with 50 pounds of weight.  I have to figure out how to place the weights better so I am not putting so many pieces on the board.
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And this is the final product.  Well, it is the cheese waiting to be aged.  I wish you could see the labels on the back two blocks.  Olivia wrote them for me.  I love reading her little girl printing.  She is so talented.  After they have formed a hard rind and dried out a bit they are waxed and left to age.  Hard cheese needs to age from a month or two up to years depending on the type of cheese.  I can't wait to try some of this stuff!!!!

There is a lot more to cheese making, but I am not trying to teach, only to share my new found hobby.  Most people have lots of questions, my best answer come help me make some.  That will likely answer a lot of questions.

I am so in love with my life.  I must say I would never be where I am without Phil to push me.  I was SO afraid to take this plunge and buy Pooh Acres.  What if I loose my job?  What if we can't make the payments?  What if the house in Omaha doesn't sell?  Guess what.  Phil lost his job 20 months ago, and we didn't sell the house in Omaha, and we have still managed to make the payments on this place.  I think it went ment to be!
On the weekends I love waking up to the roosters crowing .... During the week I have to rush and get ready for work, so I don't get to enjoy this time.  I went out this morning to let them out, and they were all so excited to get out and scratch.  Phil made a door into the lower garden so they are able to get in there and scratch and poop to their hearts content. 
Today I am going to start a new "adventure".  I have been wanting to make cheese for a long time, but the cost is prohivitive, and I didn't have time during the summer.  This summer I made friends with two guys who have a couple a cows.  I have been buying milk from them since we got out new  (and much cooler) refigerator.  I am not a milk drinker, but I love the by products.  Brad (the owner of the cows) is very supporative of my learning efforts and gives me a lot more milk than I pay for.  I have experimented with cottage cheese, keifer and a few simple cheeses. 
I told Phil I was going to build a cheese press this weekend.  I have the plans, I know what I need.  Yesterday he bought all of the componets and started putting it together for me.  We still have a few "bugs" to work out, but not many. 
I bought a gallon of milk on Thursday and Brad gave me 3 more.  I brought it into into the house a little while ago to skim the cream off (for butter) and then ........ I am off on my first big cheese making adventure.  Who knows, Pooh Acres could be a cheese adventure in a few years!!!

Hang the underwear in the middle

Every since I was a kid I was taught to hang your clothing around your unmentionables. You did not want a passerby or neighbor looking at them. When I was little we lived at then end of a 2 mile driveway so if someone came to see us, they were there to see US. I understand that hobo’s did come up to the house from the railroad tracks from time to time, so maybe that is why mom was so specific about it. When we moved “to town” we were still on an acreage with very few neighbors, but there was a road close to the house. I have always stuck to the same rule; strangers don’t need to see your underwear. Phil didn’t do a lot of laundry before he became unemployed 19 months ago. He has been doing the laundry a lot more lately, and it is funny to see that I have taught him that same paranoia.




I enjoy hanging my laundry out. Not for the energy saving reason (although that plays into it) but for the reality check. When I come home I leave the city and the craziness behind. I hang our clothing out for God to kiss and make smell wonderful. I love Saturday nights when I get clean sheets. I wash my mattress pad way to often just so I get that wonderful smell. Why would you use a dryer if you had the choice?



I have been working on making some money from Pooh Acres. I put the word out on the meat chickens, and had the sold in an hour. I made some harbanaro jelly and took samples to work. I sold all of that, and I am thinking about making one last batch from the end of the peppers. I have honey at my desk and sell a few jars every week. People tease me about someday being self sufficient. That would be wonderful if it would someday happen.



I came home tonight to find one of the chickens had an impacted egg (at least that is what I was told last time it happened). The last time I followed all the advice and “nursed” the chicken for a week giving her medicine and doing things that I never want to do to a chicken again. She was miserable and died anyway. I didn’t want to do that with this chicken. I told Phil I was going to butcher her tonight, she was slotted to be butchered this fall anyway. I am always sad to see one of our girls die, but I feel so good about providing our own food. She will be a great pot of chicken and dumplings tomorrow!

The journey continues

I never wanted to raise the fast growing chickens we have now. I had read enough about them to know they didn't really have a life. When they are day old chickens the look like a "normal" chicken but that soon changes. This chicken is intended to eat and sleep. Our chickens are 7 weeks old and are larger than the 14 week old chickens we butchered earlier this year. I feel so bad for them because they don't want to move. They are happy to simply sit and eat. We have an appointment to butcher next Saturday and I am hoping they will last that long. One we looked at this evening is having a difficult time walking, not that they WANT to walk much. There is a possibility some of them will actually break a leg before next weekend because they have grown so quickly.
This is not a way for any creature to live. I feel joy when I listen to my layers. I feel wonder when I see a chicken sitting on her eggs to hatch them. When I work in the garden I listen to the happy clucking of the hens, or the excited bragging when one of them has just laid an egg. This is normal and good.
The meat from these chickens is fantastic. Phil likes it because one chicken will fill an entire platter. Our heritage chickens tasted fantastic, but were kind of skinny!
I think we took on to much this year. We started spring with 125 new birds and now another 50 plus all the layer hens. We have not had a summer. Next year, I think we will downsize some. (But people LOVE the eggs).
Enough ranting for tonight. Off to bed I go.

Tribute to Pinky

We started our chicken journey last spring when I found 2 leghorns on Craigslist for sale. We drove over to Carter Lake Iowa and met the family they were living with at that time. We fell in love with the chickens and the family. We named one Pinky because she had somehow gotten pink hair dye on her from the “mom” who had bright pink hair. The other was Whitey, because she obviously was white.
Our chicken journey went kind of crazy from there. These two small chickens became the core of our flock. We could always pick them out and they came to us by name. We also added another favorite, Red our Rhode Island Red who came just a bit later. Last winter all of the chickens got sick with a cold. We lost quite a few of them, including Whitey and Red.
A few days ago Phil called me at work and said Pinky was acting strange. She didn’t come to him and just didn’t look good. Yesterday we went to put the chickens to bed before the storm hit and Phil found Pinky lying beside one of the sheds dead. We always said she would live here until her time was over, we didn’t realize it would be so soon. She hasn’t laid an egg for quite some time but that didn’t really matter. We love all of the animals here on Pooh Acres. I know they are supposed to be livestock but they are Gods creatures first and foremost. I am thankful she lived a good and peaceful life and I am thankful she spent the last year with us.

Chickens and stuff

Oh my, what a night! While I was still at work a thunder storm warning was issued. I went out to the parking lot to close the window on the car and the sky was blue with a few puffs of clouds. Absolutely beautiful!!! By the time I left for home the sky looked kind of funny but it was still nice out. Not long after I got home the clouds rolled in and the sky opened up. We were able to get the chickens into the run just before the downpour. The rain didn’t last long but we stayed in. A while ago it started raining A LOT! The wind was blowing the rain into the windows in the front of the house and in the back at the same time!! I went outside to see why there was so much noise …. We had hail the size of quarters falling! I am concerned about the roof on the house and the cars! The weather in the Midwest is so DRASTIC! I wonder what the gardens are going to look like in the light of day. We are still under a thunder storm/tornado warning but I think the worst is over.
We got new chickens 2 weeks ago (today!) We decided to get the fast growing “broilers” that are ready in 7 or 8 weeks. I am already not happy raising these chickens. When we had the heritage chickens … they were chickens. They played and raced around their brooder. These chickens just kind of sit there. We saw a few of them chest bumping and playing but for the most part they don’t. I feel bad raising these chickens. This doesn’t seem natural or right. It feels like killing a fish in fish bowl! They have no chance. Our heritage chickens had fun. They ran and played and enjoyed life. I guess I shouldn’t over think it …. but I live with these animals and I want to make them as happy and comfortable as possible.
I harvested the rest of the sweet corn a few days ago. I was so sad to find out that the deer had eaten most of corn in the upper garden. They ate part of every ear in that patch. It is OK …. I am willing to share part of my harvest with the wildlife. Thankfully they haven’t found the blackberries and grapes.
I can’t believe how large the blackberries are. Some of them are twice the size of a quarter. They are so sweet and wonderful Yummm. We have grapes for the first time this year as well. I STILL don’t have them staked so they are laying on the ground and rotting. Hopefully I will be able to get them staked soon. Apparently the are not eating grapes …. But juice grapes. I don’t think I will make wine … but maybe jelly.