wooops....

I don't want to count how many days have passed since my last post. I am pretty sure that my math skills would be put to the test. There have been some very cool developments in my cooking adventures. The first is that we did purchase the perfect house that Jerry talked about in a post from January 2010. He mentioned a large kitchen and dining room. We have that now. He didn't mention land for a garden, but we were fortunate enough to find our kitchen surrounded by 23 acres. We have done nothing to the interior of the house save painting the dining room. We have spent all of our time outside. We have a lovely garden inspired by the gardens we saw in England during our trip there to celebrate John's graduation from VCU. We built 25 4'X4' raised beds that are surrounded by ornamental beds on the the sides and corners. It is truly beautiful. It is also productive. Last summer we dined on fresh tomatoes, lettuces, okra, eggplant, peppers of every variety, but very little squash. We learned that humid weather introduces the black rot. Squash doesn't like black rot. In the fall, we purchased and planted more fruit trees. In addition to the large apple that was already here, we have added three varieties of figs, more apples, peaches, pear and plum trees. We have also planted a bed of blueberries and elder berries. Jerry and I are not afraid of a challenge. We decided that we wanted a vineyard and in the course of four days, we put one in. It isn't finished (we need to take cutting from our plants to finish off the rows), but it is a lot of fun. We planted four varieties of grapes (5 plants each) and three types of blackberries (five plants each). When they have matured, each of the grape vines will produce a gallon of wine. I can't wait to see how that turns out. Last year we also had chickens and I did love the fresh eggs. Hurricane Irene blew through and left us without power for nine days and so the cooking was limited. The eggs were a blessing, but I am not fond of chickens. We had the miserable luck to have mean chickens last year. Come October, we were happy to give them away and I swore I would never have them again. We presently have 11 chickens. They are sweet and docile (no more attacks and escape attempts when I go to collect eggs). We also have three goats and are in the process of purchasing at least one more milk goat. I love cheese and making cheese is a lot of fun. It seemed to make sense to milk my own goats instead of spending a fortune on goat milk. Maggie is the mamma goat and Molly and Max are her twins. Max is going to get "fixed" soon and they will both be weaned so that I can have the milk. Jerry built a milking stand the other night and I am gathering and ordering all my cheese ingredients and equipment. I don't know where this is going. One minute I am thinking that I need more milk and the next I am a bit afraid that I will be making cheese 24/7. That panic increased this past when when I returned from a visit with my former students. Jerry called me into the office to show me something on his computer. Three things actually. Sheza Sweetheart, WD Caroline, and a year old little bull that we are going to name Super Studley were in their glory. We are finally going to start our Longhorn herd. They are enormous animals and are all registered. They will be beautiful in our pasture. Now, I have to decide if I am going to milk them...8 gallons a day per cow seems like a lot, but you never know when you are going to kick up cheese production and want even more than that. Well, that is all for now. I have dough for 8 loaves of bread in the kitchen that need my attention. I am making fresh baguettes to go with the shrimp and grits that we will be enjoying tonight. I hope the rain holds off and that some cool air arrives so that there is also ample front porch sitting time with some very dear people tonight. Have a great day and, for heaven's sake, eat something yummy!