The Simple Woman's Daybook

This is something I used to enjoy doing once in a while. I am going to try to keep it up a little bit in my journal and post it on here when I can. I did this one awhile ago.

The idea came from the Simple Woman blog.

For... Saturday, August 8th, 2009

Outside my window... the garden is looking wonderful, the corn is tall, the squash is blooming, the tomatoes ripening. Andrew is out there building a compost bin.

I am thinking... about how how close it is until the baby is born. The time has passed so fast, it is amazing to think about.

I am thankful for... Andrew's improved health. It is wonderful to see him up and active again. For our baby soon to be born. And for our hom, garden and animals.

From the kitchen.. comes the spicy aroma of apricot butter cooking down in the crockpot. I also made some goat cheese that is hanging to drain.

I am wearing... a green and blue plaid jumper over a green t-shirt, brown flip-flops and a ponytail.

I am creating... umm, nothing right now.

I am going... to pick some lettuce and carrots for the salad tonight.

I am reading... currently nothing, but I just finished Joel Salatin's "Everything I Want to Do is Illegal". It was very enjoyable.

I am hoping... that we get a good harvest from the garden, especially the tomatoes, potatoes, corn, and squash.

I am hearing... the washing machine in the other room and the goat crying outside becuase she is lonely.

Around the house... generally needs to be cleaned up, laundry folded, books put away, piles of stuff organized.

One of my favorite things... is sharing my life with my true love... working, laughing. dreaming together.

Our goal is to be able to sell produce off our farm in the future. This year we have a big garden mostly for ourselves, but this past week we started selling a little to the neighbor. Well actually we are trading the veggies for some hay. It is a start though and we are excited about it!

Crepes with Raspberries

For breakfast one morning we had crepes filled with goat cheese with raspberry sauce. They turned out delicious.

Happy Birthday!

There have been several birthdays in the family lately. Unfortunatly I forgot to take pictures of most of them. We celbrated with Andrew's brothers Caleb, Isaac, and Adam.. My brother Jonathan also had one recently, but we couldn't be there because California is so far away. So happy birthday to Caleb, Isaac, Adam, and Jonathan!!

Isaac's Birthday

Jam and Cheese

I made a few jars of apricot jam the other day. I have also been enjoying making easy goat cheese. All you have to do is heat a gallon of milk to 190 degrees and add 1/4 cup vinegar. When it forms curds just strain it through a colander lined with cheesecloth then hang to drain for several hours. It turns out great every time!

Apricot Jam

Draining the cheese

Fresh Goat's Milk Cheese

A Variety of Vegetables

Pickling Cucumber

A Little Watermelon

Sweet Corn

Zuchetta Trombolina Squash

Nasturtium

Turk's Cap Wnter Squash

Tomatoes

Dragon Tongue Beans

Stir-Fry for Dinner

The other evening I made a stir-fry dinner with veggies that all came from our garden. I love cooking with fresh produce from the garden. It makes it so much more fun, and colorful! We had purple string beans, red skinned carrots, striped beets, leafy bak choy, and turnips.

The colorful veggies ready for the pan.

Cosmic purple carrots.

Chioggia beets. Aren't they pretty?

The Garden

Kitchen Projects

We all had fun in the kitchen while Melissa was here too. One day we made up a batch of raspberry jam and canned it. Another day we made some mozzerella cheese. I have a few more pictures to put on of the jam making but forgot to take any of making cheese.

Trip to the River

One especially hot afternoon we took Melissa down to the river. We all got in and cooled off for awhile.
We also had fun being silly and scrubbing our feet with sand.