My Marathon Day

Today is my marathon day. I don't run, at least not since my young sport days when my coach made me run.
My marathon day today consists of a mom/farmer/cheese maker kind of crazy day. I am sure ya'll all know what those days are like!

It started at 6 am when the post office called to let me know my baby chicks had arrived. WHAT???? I knew they had shipped yesterday, but it usually take 3 days to arrive.
I had no brood box ready, no food ready, nothing.

Thankfully it was only my few pullets that had arrived and not my huge order of meat chicks. We will keep these guys inside the laundry room a few days before moving the brood box out to the barn. I ordered a mix of brown egg layers, so the kids really enjoy holding the babies and trying to guess what breed chick.


Of course my biggest project I started was taking in a mam dog and her puppies. No we are NOT keeping any of them! (Did you hear that my children???)
I am simply fostering these guys until a local rescue can get them adopted out. The puppies are 3 weeks old and will stay here until they wean. At that point the rescue will come get the pups, have them seen by the vet and then adopt them out.
The mama dog will then be spayed and adopted out. I will care for her through that entire process.

We have them situated in the basement, and although the first couple of days were quite *smelly*, they are better now.
We gave mama a bath and wiped her babies down. Yesterday we treated the babies for worms and coccidiosis . Today I am happy to say worms are being eliminated and the poo is smelling more normal. My goal is to keep them safe and healthy and to make sure they are well socialized.

The mama is a very young shepherd looking mix. She is very smart and trains easily. We are keeping her away from our other dogs for a while so she can feel like her pups are safe.

I am glad to be working with A Paw and A Prayer Rescue. Any locals interested in adopting can contact the recue. I will keep posting pictures as they grow and start moving around more.

 

Finally, I am working on laundry, dinner, school and making cheese. We are planning to take the kids to a local trampoline park later this afternoon so I am working to get everything done!

 

The boys are playing card games and I am stirring and heating milk for cheddar. It's gonna be one heck of a day, but I think I can...I think I can...I think I can!

Happy Monday Ya'll!!



Excessively Cheesey Post

When you are farming, well actually this applies to anyone who is alive and breathing, you will have your share of ups and downs. Life will hand you some pretty crappy cards and sometimes some pretty sweet ones too.
Always, always, ALWAYS try and soak up those sweet ones.

Despite the frigid cold wind that is screaming in my face "IT IS WINTER!!!!!!", I am happy for the nice warm day yesterday and also for the fabulous cheese we pulled from the cave this week.

My first cheddar since I took a class at Nature's Harmony was a cheese success!

This really made my week too because clothbound cheddar is quite labor intensive to craft, and then you must consider the affinage. This cheese was a young 3 month old. It really should age 6 months, and the next wheel will do just that.

Rose helped me flip cheeses yesterday evening and so I took some low quality cell phone pictures to share of some cheeses I am excited to try!

Of course my helper just had her bath and put on her winter gown, but she was excited to help me.
Here she is holding my Christmas Parmesan. This wheel is rubbed in olive oil every week and will need to age 12 months, hence the name. I made it in mid December and it has  a long time left for aging.

This huge wheel is a Fontina that I am rubbing with a special brine solution. I have no idea how it will taste when it is done aging 3 months, but it look great from the outside!

This is a cloth bound cheddar I just made about a week ago. It is wrapped in cheesecloth and rubbed down with lard, rendered from forested pork we raised.

This cheddar has aged just a tad longer, a mere 6 weeks so far. It has quite a bit more mold growth.

This is a smaller wheel of cheddar, but it is also clothbound. This wheel was made in November and is now just over 2 months old.

I occasionally brush them well to get some of the excess mold off.

 

I am going to remember this yummy cheese from now on and whenever I have a wheel that flops! I actually have an Alpine Tomme that is almost ready and I have high hopes that it is also delicious.

 

I have been incredibly busy working on homeschooling, de-cluttering the house, making cheese, and trying to get some sewing done.

I have been hand dying embroidery yarns and plan to get some in my Etsy shop soon!

 

Here is a sample of what I have made with these beautiful yarns. If you like to hand embroider, stay tuned! I am also sewing up a couple of bags for the shop. I also have a couple of other goodies I sewed up for my Etsy debut.

 

Everyone stay warm today! It is REALLY cold and windy here today, which will make hlding Athena for the farrier today a brutal task! Thankfully she is not my horse but Indiana's. I will remind Indy to dress warm! :-)

 

Happy Friday Ya'll!!!!

 

We are off to milk the cows!