After a severe drought in the area with nearby towns under mandatory rationing of water and local country folk displaced because of dry wells we *finally* got rain! As autonomous as we believe ourselves to be in the 21st century, I am reminded just how dependent upon God we really are- with even the most basic, essential requirements of life. You don't get these reminders, you don't learn (or relearn) these lessons when everything is going along just perfectly. In fact, it is pretty easy to think you are pretty awesome and that it wasn't God that was blessing, but you that were working. I got this! Look at my garden! I am an awesome gardener! Look at my flowers! I make things beautiful! I did all of this! HA. We can be thankful for the bad and hard in our life because it opens our eyes to the tremendous good in our lives that we had forgotten to notice. And, most importantly, where it came from.
I've never enjoyed rain so much. The children have never enjoyed the rain so much. After the storm, I walked around the back of the house and saw just about every storage container we have around here filled with water. Andrew had been talking a lot about the Great Depression and the dust bowl and I guess he was a little bit nervous! He wanted all that water bottled up and saved. Funny farm boy.
Last week I did quite a bit of
We harvested our garlic and it looks great. Andrew counted exactly 148 heads. We'll see how far that gets us. It has been wonderful to have fresh garlic again. And herbs! I made some garlic dill the other day (above)- it was so beautiful! And I made tzaziki sauce one night and had a souvlaki bar for dinner. Using my homemade feta. Oh.my.word. All this goodness!
I made my first batch of feta a couple months ago. It has to ripen for at least 6 weeks (and up to a year). I was excited about the fact that it was a cheese that could store for a while but nervous about whether or not it would actually be good. Well, when I opened up that gallon jar- we ate the whole thing in just a few short weeks. Several pounds of feta! I have since made two more batches. I would make more but I don't have enough glass gallon jars to spare. It's a shame though. I would have a whole fridge of the stuff if I could. And while we are on the subject of cheese- can you see my dutch tile backsplash behind that draining cheese in the picture above? Matt did that for me last year and I never really showed it off. I love it. If you look closely, right behind the bag of cheese is the cheesemaker tile with the mother and daughter cutting and stirring curds...one of my favorites. I've been collecting these tiles since I was a teenager. Who knew I would one day be a cheesemaker myself? Now, if only I could get myself a cheese press I could make some cheddar. And Gouda! ;-)
6 comments:
BEAUTIFUL pics, as always!! We have just recently moved across the country and now live in the desert. I do miss a good rain.
If you haven't seen it, Corin at marble mount homestead (she has a beautiful blog too!) has a tutorial on how to make a cheese press.
Yes, we do so easily forget that we are not the authors of our lives and the beauty around us.
Keep up the good work!
Jamie
We have a major drought going on right now in Central New York and my flowers are nothing by dried up stems. :-( We've been praying for rain. LOVE, love, love the tiles!
I tried my hand at mozzarella cheese one day since I had success with your queso blanca cheese recipe. Apparently, store bought, pasteurized milk is NOT the way to go with cheese making! Will try again one day when I get some raw milk.
Love your pictures!
You always have such beautiful pics, I just love them. Is that the only fridge/freezer your large family has? Your meals always look so yummy. How do you come up with such great meal ideas? I at times grow so weary of all the dinner prep and the cleanup, at least the children can help now!
Swoon. My heart is fainting, woman. These photos! And the baby girl in the buggy!!! :D Love it!!! Your running in the rain photos reminded me of Sarah, Plain and Tall and I just love a good, clean fridge too! Lots of weekend love to you.
keeping you in my thoughts and prayers always dear friend and so happy to hear of your rain! Itsounds and looks like your all doing so well.
happy summer!
Jamie- thank you for the suggestion! I may just be able to get Matt to replicate that press! That would be awesome!
Jenn- Thanks for your kind words! No- we have two chest freezers in addition to the fridge one. I hate the electricity bill but it allows me to preserve garden goodness and buy bulk meat, freeze cheese, etc. You are not alone on the weariness- particularly the cleanup ;-)- it is something we all face at different times. (Usually around 6:30pm nightly, for me. hehehe) But it is a great work we are doing, and great works are almost always exhausting. I am a terrible by-the-seat-of-my-pants fixer of food and it is something I really hate about myself. I want to get better about it but never seem to try hard enough to actually accomplish it. Fridays are always pizza night (one of the most intensive meals I make yet somehow, in knowing when it is coming, it is also comforting.) Everything else, I look around and see what I have got in cupboards or spilling out of the gardens and, usually, what is the fastest thing I can make since I procrastinated and Matt will be home from work within the hour. ;-) Enlightening, no?!? ;-)
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