HOPA!

My cheese-making continues...I found a simple recipe for making feta cheese from goats milk, so I decided to try it. I am supposed to let it cure in the brine for a week to 4 weeks, but I tasted it before brining and after it had been in the brine for 24 hours.
Marvelous!
The flavor wasn't quite developed, but it had a wonderful texture and was not falling apart or dissolving in the brine (both signs of a bad batch).
I am planning a Greek feast next weekend as I think the flavor should be developed by then.
**********************************
Mothers Day went well...I heard from most of my herd, lol! The Darlin' Man got called into work rather abruptly this morning and had to work all day and overnight as well. *pout* So, I decided to not cook the dinner I had planned and the Girl and I made tacos and chicken strips. The Boy is spending tonight with a friend and going in from there to school in the morning.
**********************************
Right now I am waging a war against the cutest little mice you ever saw. We have these adorable little desert mice out here that look like they came straight out of a Disney movie. Wee things with soft gray fur, bright black eyes and tiny ears.In a Disney movie they would be soooo cute. On my kitchen counter...not so much. The Darlin' Man picked up a dozen mouse traps for me and I have been baiting them with various food items to lure the small creatures to a swift and merciful death. Best bait so far....peanut butter + Nutella. They will line up for it, practically fighting one another to get in the trap! Last night I caught two mice in the same trap at the same time. I guess a midnight meal for two seemed romantic at the time.
The mice migrated over here from a neighbors home. That house had been condemned and the residents evicted and when they left, the mice decided to wander through the neighborhood to find a new place. We, and the other neighbors, have all been battling them for the past month. Because we have dogs, I chose not to go with poison. Also, if the mice die behind a wall or in the duct-work, the smell would be horrendous!
*********************************
Well, the real estate search goes on. So far, three properties look promising. All within the same school district, much to the kids relief. Near a lot of recreational areas for fishing, swimming, skiing in winter, etc.
For my purposes, the properties are also near a couple of touristy areas where I could sell my quilts and baskets, etc. during the tourist season. All three properties are at least 10 acres, so there would be ample room to garden, raise livestock, etc. We also have one of the Darlin' Mans relatives who lives in Vermont looking locally. Unfortunately, they live in a yuppie-ish gated community with an HOA and a lot of restrictions and they seem to think that's the best type of property to get! EEK! Sorry, but we don't have, nor do we want to spend a quarter of a million dollars on a "McMansion"! Not our style at all. I think we have been able to finally get through to them what we want, though.
*********************************
Still no word on deployment. Still waiting and waiting and waiting...while the paperwork slowly wanders through the military snarl. The Darlin' Man has a sit down meeting scheduled this week, so we are kinda hoping we'll get a definitive answer then. That way we'll know whether to push forward on our moving plans, or whether we can settle here for a while longer. Either way, we have to be prepared.

Back to the grind...

Well, my birthday was quite nice. I did have some friends take me out for cake and ice cream...YAY!!!
But today, back to the grind.

My plans for today include doing a complete inventory of my food preps.
I have my pantry, I also have food in my room (that's what I use for my bed frame!)

I SHOULD inventory every month.

I generally get it done about every 4 months.
If I had a bunch of kids at home and a spouse here, I would HAVE to inventory every month.
Since it is just me right now, I am sorta lax about it.

Today is also the day I put out vermin traps and poisons.
Yes, mice, rats and roaches, all of which are found in abundance in the region I live.
It is warm here and damp (most of the time), the city sewer system has the distressing habit of getting flooded with alarming regularity--which means rats abandon it and search for drier digs.

Because a couple of my tenants have been ill, I am also sanitizing the house top to bottom..a good idea for every household during flu season. (See my posts on making disinfectant)
So, busy day here!