milk jugs

I got new milk jugs today.  We had been keeping milk in a large plastic pitcher that did not fit well in the fridge and spilled easily because it did not seal up.  It was the best solution though because it had a large enough opening in the top to fill from the milk tank.  Myles finally found us the perfect milk pitchers....

if you look closely you can see where I wrote my name on the bottom of his cast

...what with his broken leg he has a lot of time to spend sitting around looking for things online.

These pitchers are perfect, they are glass not plastic!!!! And they have well sealing screw on lids with flip caps for pouring.  As soon as they came I quickly stamped labels on them and went to get more milk.  We can now easily keep skim and whole milk on hand (skim for me, whole for him).  I am very excited about these.  I poured in the whole raw milk from the pastic pitcher and then after some quick stovetop pasturizing and skimming I had skim milk for myself! 

Tomorrow holds a day of canning pickles!

Week Two

Today starts the second week of summer break.

It feels so good to wake up every morning just a few minutes later than during the school year and know I can spend all day doing the things I love.  I have made great progress on the first of a couple planned summer knitting projects.  I have mended fence and spent a lot of time trying to teach Charlotte to stay in the pasture.  I have never met a needier calf.  When I leave the pasture she wants to come with...not to mention that she does not get on well with the donkey.  I have spent time in the garden.  I have cooked, and cooked and cooked.

I am looking forward to more projects, more cooking, more garden and more animal time.

And teaching this guy to stay off the furniture.

A trip to the BIG farmer's market

Today we took a trip to the big farmer's market in Greensboro.  It is about an hour and 15 minutes from home.  I was already in Winston-Salem though so it was only and extra 30 minutes out of my way.  With $15 in hand I set out in pursuit of 2 things....goat cheese and peaches.

I came home with a few extra items....zucchini, squash and blackberries (And still did not spend all of my $15).  My blackberries at home are not black yet, they are still purple and green.

The cheese is amazing.  The Goat Lady Dairy is a beautiful farm not far from this farmer's market and I cannot pass up buying some of this amazing cheese when I go to this farmer's market.  This time I got roasted red pepper spreadable cheese. AMAZING!

Also note the reusable produce bags.  My mom picked  a few of these up for me and I just love them.  No more of those plastic bags that you cannot get open (honestly, how many times have you tried to pull open those long plastic bags and struggled)     Anyways you take your stuff home in those plastic bags and immediately throw them away.  These bags are my solution and they are great.

The broken leg and the list

My better half broke his leg about a month ago and that has caused some big changes in our lives.  The initial accident led to a one hour long ride in an ambulance to a hospital in the big city of Winston-Salem, NC, followed by a few hours in the emergency room and 3 days in the hospital to make sure his head and back were okay since they were bothering him quite a bit....we already knew his leg was not okay.  Head and back were deemed okay so we headed home with a soft cast and orders to keep the leg very elevated for a week then come back.

Fast forward a week later...we return to the hospital for his surgery to piece back together his leg, which led to another 3 day stay in the hospital.

I have been very busy doing the work of two people and playing nurse.  Myles is getting around better now, but cannot put weight on his leg until September and will probably not be back to riding horses again until close to the new year.

Lucky for me

SCHOOL'S OUT for the summer.

I have had two official days of summer break that have been busy and fun.  My days this summer will be filled with gardening, cooking, cleaning, barn chores, yard work, working on a new our newest animal venture (a rabbit colony), teaching riding lessons, knitting, and yoga & water aerobics classes (my treat to myself).  My sister and I are also hoping to build a chicken hoop house for broilers this summer if we can find the time.

On another note.  The preservative free diet is still in full swing and I do not really have to check labels anymore, I pretty much stick to the outer edge of the store and know what I can buy.  I have not had to buy much lately with the garden in full swing and plenty of meat in the freezer.  Store trips usually are just to pick up flour, sugar, bananas and hard cheeses.