Butter Making

It is another beautiful day here.  I went out to help process Jewel's milk and to stroll the yard.  DH was right, I need  to mow and not just the leaves.

First thing in the Milk Parlor was to skim yesterday's cream off.  I had strained the milk into my old faithful large McCoy crock.  That makes skimming so much easier.  Her cream is so thick and heavy, I have  to scrape it off the spoon into a jar.  This made day two of skimming so I have a quart of heavy cream and that is the limit my food processor can handle without overflow.

It took less than 5 minutes for butter to arrive.



I strained it through a double layer of cheesecloth and then began the washing which is just running cold water over it and squeezing until the water stays almost clear.  Then I salt it.



I ended up with over a pound of butter.  Notice how much yellower it is than 'store' butter?  That is Jersey milk for you.


We may start milking her daily.  We are leaving the baby on her 24/7 so we are sure she is getting all she wants and we are too.

Strolling pictures:

A few daffodils are blooming:



and the Korean Boxwood by the back door is blooming and getting fragrant.  I wish I could describe the scent, but I can't  come up with a word.  I notice some say English boxwood smells like cat p***. Well mine certainly doesn't.  I suspect not everyone would like it; it is not a flowery scent at all.



I finally got my lonely rhubarb plant  heavily manured.   

Note:  New Header Pictures The flock of turkeys has been spending time in the west lots.   This is the first time I have caught the tom displaying his tail feathers.  I counted over 20 and quit since they were spread over two fields and in several groups.

May 7, 2013

Another very foggy morning. 50° - highs 70°

Watered plants under lights. I need to re-pot some, especially the tiny lavenders.

Plans: Work outside today weeding beds and pulling dead shrub by lr window.

What actually got done (usually very different from plans!)

I mixed up 2gallons of herbicide (generic Roundup product). I don't like using them but this year the weeds have simply overwhelmed me.

Sprayed most of it. Then decided to get the 25 gallon sprayer out and spray the part of the garden that is completely covered with a short grass that has already set seeds. It is almost impossible to till.

We hooked the garden cart to the ATV (my towing mower is still in the shop) and got it to the garden when a tie rod dropped off the left front wheel. This made it impossible to steer. I had DH drive it straight forward off the garden plot. I went ahead and sprayed by picking up the sprayer (I just mixed 5 gallons so it wasn't too heavy) and moving it forward when I ran out of hose....then I had to go back the get the battery. I did get it done but am slightly sore this morning.

The only way we could get the ATV out of the garden was to remove a cattle panel that was tied to t-posts for beans; then pull the t-posts. He would drive a few feet and I would manually turn the left front wheel. We got it out......hooked up the trailer and was able to drive the ATV on. That meant a trip to Bolivar to leave it for repairs. The poor thing is 10 years old and has been used daily since we bought it. I hope it is fixable.

While down there we checked on the mower......next week hopefully. They are having trouble getting some pulley wheels off.

Then we stopped by the License Bureau and got the taxes and paper work taken care of on the new truck.

I know we should get a new ATV, but this is not the year for more equipment purchases! There also looms the possibility that they can't repair the mower....the newer mower does not have a hitch on it.

I think one could be welded on it. I definitely need something for the garden cart and sprayers. Machinery …......something always needing attention.

I have loaded the sprayer on the kids old wagon but it isn't long enough for the battery......I need a long piece of plywood to make that work. 

Last Saturday was baking bread day again. I made DH's white and my whole wheat. Also made pizza.

Gardening Pictures

The first iris of the year is from our neighbor so I call it the Lisenby Iris:

This is the first year in a very long time that the snow ball bush hasn't been covered with black aphids. I kept watching to spray and so far haven't needed to:

 
It is still in the green phase, soon to be white.

Does anyone else but me have gardening mysteries?  I thought I just had one rhubarb plant I grew in a pot last year and finally put in the new herb bed last fall.  I thought  it was Chipman's Canada Red.....I remember dividing it and putting some small pieces in the bed too.  Well this spring the largest piece jumped up and grew but it is more green than red or pink, a real disappointment.  A few days later I see tiny little leaves coming up along the edge of the bed.  I was sure it was rhubarb..and it is  and it is red as can be!  

This is the green one:

I still think the stems aren't large enough to pull this year.

and here is the red one:

I will never figure this one out unless I possibly blogged about  it.....probably didn't use the label feature though.  I must remember to do that. I am just going to enjoy that I have a red one!

I had too many chives to put all in the herb bed so I planted them at the base of the rose in the cistern planter.

 Birds

The orioles are still here and I think I saw an Orchard Oriole late yesterday afternoon but haven't seen it yet this morning.

The oriole is feasting on grape jelly for breakfast as I type.