Morning Light

Two gray kitties are checking this morning's egg collection for rodents. As there were no mice, just eggs, Tom contented himself with eating the hay.

My tulips in the light make me feel happy.

And I Shall Call Him "Cheddar"

Here's my first hard cheese from Penny's milk.

It's a farmhouse cheddar that's supposed to be a rather simple cheese to make, but it was hard for me to focus and get all the steps right because:
1. I'm not good at following directions, and have a short attention span.
2. It's been a long time since I made a hard cheese and practice makes perfect.

I made it three days ago and waxed it today. It will be ready to eat in one month.

Today I'm making a stirred curd cheddar which takes one more month to ripen, but I like the recipe better.
I didn't lose as much milk into the whey with the more complex recipe.

I need to make a Parmesan next because we use a lot of it, but I fear the aging process of an unwaxed cheese, which has to be aged at high humidity for a long time.
My plan is to use a cooler with some water in the bottom and a rack to keep the cheese on.

If my brining and aging is satisfactory, I will boastfully post for you to see the process.

Got Cats?

So many cats at Providence Farm!

They are worth their weight in gold because of their rat killing and their entertainment value.

Here, Gooseberry keeps toasty on top of Sirius and Blizzard.

Laura's Famous Quiche

Laura's farm job is caring for laying hens.

She bought 16 Golden Comet pullets in September, and they've all survived and thrived to become excellent egg producers.
They earn her enough cash from egg sales to cover the price of their feed, and she also has a dozen eggs a day or more at her disposal.

Here's one of the many dinner quiches we've enjoyed so far, absolutely delicious with Penny's cream, vegetables, cheese, and some ham.

Our neighbor to whom she gave a piece even put a picture of it on facebook.
Laura's on her way to becoming a famous chef.

Kitten Slings

"Somebody wrapped you up and ditched you." Becky said to Gooseberry, a small sleeping lump in a bathrobe on the couch.
"Hmm, three guesses about whom that somebody may have been." I grinned.

Katie wears kitten in slings, like attachment parents or African tribal ladies.
Then when she's distracted, she sets the whole "kitten caboodle" down wherever she happens to be.
Providence Farm is littered with encapsulated baby cats.

Blizzard Preparation

We're under a winter weather advisory already for Snowmaggedon, which is slated to hit us on Wednesday.
Knowing that the power could go out, leaving us without t.v. or other electrical entertainment, we stocked up on kittens.

Actually the kitty's owners had called the dog warden to come pick her up and euthanize her because their older cat had been cornering her and beating her up, resulting in abscesses all over the sweet little kitty.
The dog warden asked the vet to try to find a home for her since she truly is a sweetheart.
As Providence had ordained, I had taken a goat fecal sample to our vet to have it tested this morning, and Katie and I came home with "Blizzard."

The whole thing was supposed to be hilarious because I had hidden her in my jacket and plopped her into Laura's room without saying anything to the big girls. Laura went soon afterward to get a school book but thought the black cat on her bed was Sirius with shaved patches on his arms somehow.

The incident turned out to be more confusing than surprising in the end.

I realize that to the untrained eye both black cats look alike in the photos. I will describe them:
Sirius and Tom politely lined up to meet the new girl
Blizzard in Kate's arms.
Blizzard.
Blizzard being followed and sniffed for the first of many times over the next week.

Happy 15th Birthday, Laura!

Laura and I went to a tea shop then clothes shopping to celebrate her birthday.

We often get snow around March 1st down here and were hoping for flurries, but alas.
Maybe next week we can have a major east coast snowstorm as a belated birthday gift from nature to Laura.