Here we are in the middle of September already.  We've been busy the last couple weeks trying to get things ready for winter.  We got all the hay in last month or so, daughter cleaned up the carport and has been putting summer type things in the sheds for dry safe keeping.  We will not be using them until next summer.

Now that she has most everything put away we will begin bringing in our wood supply.  We've got two cord out in the field next to our house that's been there since early this spring.  It was already dried but this summer was so warm it will be dry and perfect for winter burning.  With our wonderful forced air furnace the house is usually warm enough, unless we have a power outage, or it is windy.  Then that wood stove sure feels good.  Its mostly just a safety measure these days but every once in a while its nice to feel that wood heat on my backside.

Its been so hot the chickens actually stopped laying for a few weeks.  Since the weather has cooled from the 90's down to the 60's and 70's they have started back up again.  Good thing for them!  I was about to start eating them.  We've been oiling their eggs for storage.  The claim is they are storeable for around a year or more.  We shall see.  Haven't tried one yet and its been only around two months.  But since they are 'fresh' eggs (not store bought) and still have the bloom on them they should be pretty good.

I've just started blending some more fiber for my sister's friend.  She gave her friend some alpaca yarn quite a while ago.  But the friend ran out so I'm trying my best to blend and spin this to match the old yarn.  Sure hope it comes out right.  I found a picture of the old blended fiber but not the yarn itself.  Darn.

My fiber area is always pretty messy, but I love it.  There's always something fun and interesting to do or going on.  And I know just where everything is.

Here's Bella trying to help me.  She (and all the animals) love the smell of the fiber.  Its all been washed and cleaned so I don't know what there is that's so interesting.

The baby blanket I had been weaving for my niece was a hit with her.  Here's a picture of it that I didn't want to post until after her baby shower.  It was fun and went fairly fast.  Now I'm ready to start another project as soon as I get this yarn spun up.












Almost forgot, I have been making goat cheese.  Just finished the third batch this week.  The first two were a firmer cheese by letting it hang longer.  This one only hung around four hours and is the consistency of cream cheese, just a tiny bit firmer.  We eat it with crackers, on toast ... any way we can get it.  It is really delicious!

The first one hung for 24 hours, the second one about 20 hours, both by mistake.  I just looked at the clock wrong the first time and forgot about it the second time.  But they all turned out very tasty.

I don't use rennet or any additives except spices.  I did learn not to salt it until I poured off the whey though.  First two times all the salt went out with the whey and the cheese still needed more salt.  The whey is very nutritious, the dogs and chickens love it.  We haven't tried it with the kitties or goats yet.  I have a friend who uses it in baking but I'm going to have to find a good recipe.  It actually tastes pretty good just by itself, surprisingly.