From Liana's Kitchen

these aren't your usual everyday jams and jellies...instead an exciting assortment!
cabernet savingnon jelly, quince jelly, sauerkraut, navel orange marmalade...to name a few...and these really fun cookies for somewhere east of here that jack just gobbled up (after eating a score of her pickles)
it is like Christmas!

Waxed the Cheese...

today...
and we had wax everywhere!!!!
i painted it on there after making a pseudo double boiler..
it has to age for at least a month...so i figure i'll eat it on my birthday!

New Shirt!

liana and thalia came over today and left so many goodies!
one of which was this shirt! i love it!!!!
this is my very favorite style shirt ever! thank you thank you!

Out the window

this morning, we were jumping on the bed and saw daddy walk by...so the kids wanted to jump out the window of course!
nice day...and i thought all day that josh had the camera so didn't take any photos...until i found out he doesn't have it!
anywho...
i took a couple end of the day photos...

Whole half gallon

josh and i just ate a WHOLE HALF GALLON of cookies and cream icecream!
o me o my!~

The creek

kelley stopped by while we were playing and took a few photos of us near the water...esme loved the mud between her toes but isn't as intrigued for as long as jack is...
he hates to leave when i say it is time...

Rotten Log

after nap today, we went to the creek with our tools to tear apart an old log....
what fun!
it was FULL of critters....termites, beetles, cockroaches, centipedes, salamanders, ants...
when the kids get older i will invest in a microscope bc looking at this stuff under one is awe inspiring...
especially termite guts.
they have an organism that lives in their gut which is actually the thing that digests the wood...the termite itself cannot do this. infact, when baby termites are born, they have to eat the poop of mommy so they can ingest the organism that eats the wood!
if you squish a termite body on a slide and look under the microscope you can see all these little critters squirming around...
very cute.

Roof Update

check out the muddy boot!!

Fast Growing Chickens

in 3 weeks from birth these little ones will be fully feathered and able to be outside! that is crazy fast!
jack is very loving and protective with his little babies...

Cheese update

so i am presently turning it 2x a day for 4 days ...then i'll wax it and let it age for at least a month...
needless to say, i have an all new appreciation for cheese!
i think if we had a goat though...and did it in large batches i would get it down pat and it would go easier...ie faster...
i was so afraid i'd mess it up that i read and reread the instructions about 10 times while doing it...
anywho...will be fun to see how it turns out!

The big creek and the tree we crossed

Ressurection Fern

this is such an amazing plant...when it is dry, it shrivels up and when it is morning and replete with dew or after a rain, it breaks forth into green life.

Early Morning and NO RAIN!!!!

just after the sun was coming up, we bundled up and went for a walk...first we checked out the little stream just behind the house to the left of the cob....then we went down to the big creek to see all the water!
we crossed a tree and ended up in the brambles....fought our way through...dropped the camera at some point and had to trace our tracks...found a deer trail through the blackberries and came out again on the road! by this time it had warmed up considerably...now we are home eating second breakfasts at 9:30 =)
yay! i love the sunshine!

Andy and the Kids

andy was woken up this morning by 2 little munchins playing on his bed =)
jack was strollering around him singing and esme was chatting at the birds outside =)
he is so good with them...
just plays and watches them ...so sweet...
he looks like a giant next to their playhouse!
i am not sure how he folded himself to get inside their house...but they loved it =)
andy is here helping josh fix his dumptruck...he is so good to come and help him when mechanical things go south!

o the rain!

what to do?
i am running out of ideas =)
we danced to moose tunes...and old crowe medicine show
we laid on the floor under blankets....
we built a tent (which actually didn't get their attention for very long)

then we met up with david and josh at chick fil a...and the rest of athens! it was amazing how many people were there! that was fun.
and when i couldn't stand the indoors for any longer, esme and i bundled up and took a walk in the rain while josh and jack took a nap...
then we took a big bubble bath ...that was fun too =)
when everyone woke up, we all 4 went for a jog in the rain...the kids in the stroller mostly covered, it felt wonderful to move around!
anywho...lovely day...and i really didn't mind the rain much at all!
the garden LOVED it!

Step 2

then, i let it drain for a while...
and took it out of the cheesecloth to find stuff that looked certainly in the cheese genre!!!
i was so tickled!
then i rigged a press....
which fell over quite a few times and chipped one of my favorite pie dishes! alas!
anywho...
i now have to let it sit under 50 lbs for 12 hours...
which happens to be 3 am.
i really really don't want to be awake then but we'll see. =)
i took all the whey too and made some whey cheese called zeirer;;;;;something a german cheese...
more on that soon=)