Cheeeeese.

I've been busy and/or lazy the last week or so. I have the does on a daily milking schedule. I started out taking them out of the nursery stall for two or three hours, then increased it by an hour or so each day.. I already posted our first day's milk. Yesterday they reached 10 hours (that is as long as i plan to keep them apart before I milk them) and I got enough milk to fill a 2 liter bottle. Wheee!!!!!!

So, this past weekend I made a batch of chevre cheese. I used a kit I got from New England Cheesemaking Supply. Super easy. Get milk to temp, mix in culture, let sit overnight, dump into cheese cloth and hang over night to drip out whey, done. And DELICIOUS. Like a rich tangy cream cheese. I spiced some up with a salt free garlic and herb mix and Tsu went totally nuts over it. YAY!

I have also been saving our store bought milk each time we have leer in a jug when it hits the sell by date I bag it, tag it and stuff it in the freezer. I bought a gallon of whole milk on sale, mixed it in with the frozen stuff and used this recipe to make some Farmer's cheese. I added a tad bit of salt, froze some to make chip dip with later, mixed some garlic and chives in some to use on potatoes or sandwiches and left some plain.

*drool*

SOOO delicious. For a cheese lover like me this is pure bliss!

Anyway, after tonight's milking I will have enough milk to make my first batch of mozzarella. I can't wait. I'm so excited. And if I screw it up, I will have enough milk to try again in two days!!!

It's scary... an 80's music explosion.

It's scary how much I love this song. Sometimes I frighten myself. But it always gives me a delightful pick-me-up and reminds me to keep my chin up.



Plus the clothes and the hair styles make me SQUUEEEEE with delight.

And since we are on an 80's kick here.... one of my favorite songs by one of my favorites bands from the 80's. It's one of their lesser known songs but one of my favorites.



Well, speaking of lesser known songs by 80's bands that I love more than their better known stuff... have some Culture Club. This may be my favorite song of theirs ever, and I was a hardcore (lol) Culture Club fan back in the day.



Why not make everyone certain I have lost my mind by posting one of my favorite songs of all time. Do they have a Rock band or Guitar Hero game in an 80's version? If not.... THEY SHOULD.



And finally, in keeping with my "I think the best songs they ever did were under appreciated..." theme... one of my favorite 80's songs by madonna.

Why did I wake up at 3:30 am?

I'd really like to know.

here it is, not even close to the crack of dawn, my alarm set for 5am, and yet I sit here, wide awake. I've walked the house, checked on the dogs and cats, leaned my head out the door to listen for anything abnormal with the outside animals and everything seems to be calm and quiet. Aside from being bitter cold again, everything seems to be fine, except that I am awake.

*sigh*

I tried to go back to sleep. I am exhausted. But no luck. So I gave up.

At the end of december I cut down from 3 pots of coffee a day to two cups of half caff coffee and a Coke Zero a day. The thought was that this should improve my ability to sleep, cut back on my anxiety issues, sooth my restless legs, and be easier on my stomach.

Now, granted, since then we have had some seriously stressful things happen (what a crappy time to decide to break my only addiction, lol) but honestly, everything that cutting back on the coffee was supposed to improve is worse. I sleep a lot more, but it is mostly during the day 20 minutes at a time. I can't seem to stay awake during the day, or at night... but I can't stay asleep either.

My anxiety is through the roof but that could just be because Tsu lost his job, Tiff is struggling through some issues, my dog is getting older, and I am trying to find homes for two of my three horses. Oh, not to mention all the health issues and extra tests and only having insurance until the end of april.

And my restless legs are just as restless, if not more so, as ever.

*yawn*

Great, it's almost time for me to HAVE to be up, and NOW I feel like I could fall back to sleep. Delightful.

We have a busy day ahead, Tsu has to go to the unemployment office, we have to hit the farm store for animal dewormer, price chest freezers, pick up some rubbermaid totes so I can organize the front room.... I'm exhausted just thinking about it.