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.
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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.

Life....Intervenes....

Well, my posting schedule for this blog has officially been trashed! So many things happening that a regular schedule is now impossible.
The Darlin' Man has been informed that he will be deployed in August of this year to Iraq. He IS fighting it and trying to stay stateside, but it is 90% certain he will have to go.
We must take the attitude that he will be going and prepare for that likelihood.
So, our next decision is: Where do the kids and I stay or go to during said deployment?
We can stay here...no family members nearby, but the base is here with all the advantages that provides.
We can move to Vermont---where we planned to retire to anyway, and rent, lease to own or buy property/a house.Also, the Darlin' Man has family there.
We can move to some other area of the country where he or I have family near-by.
We discussed it with the kids (they are 17 and 15) to get their imput and discussed it with each other.
The consensus is that Vermont will probably be our best bet.
So, I am currently conducting a long distance real estate search in a specific area of Vermont trying to find a place for us to move to.
We have very specific parameters for each scenario:
If we lease to own or buy, the property MUST have:
10+ acres
Water (spring, drilled well already in place, year round stream/brook)
Be suitable for organic gardening and livestock raising.
No HOAs, restrictions, etc on property.

If we rent the property MUST have:
No HOAs, restrictions
Must allow pets
Have a garden space
3+ bedrooms

We may be able to buy land and just drop a mobile home or modular home on it. We'll build our dream home after the fella gets back. In the meantime (in this scenario), I can build outbuildings, get some chickens and maybe a couple of pigs

I have already identified a few properties and contacted some local Realtors in Vermont to make inquiries.
The kids have taken an interest in the areas we sowed them and are checking out local schools, local recreational activities, etc.
So, now you know why I have been absent from my blog and what I have been doing!
Our timeline on this will be VERY tight. The Darlin' Man finds out within the next week if he will be deployed (absolute 100% certainty). We are hoping for the 10% chance he'll be able to stay stateside this round, but not holding our collective breath here. This is not his first deployment, so he knows the odds.
When he finds out, all arrangements and the move will have to be completed by the second week in August!
I will try to keep up on posting here, and let my readers know if the deployment becomes set in stone. I'll be posting about the strange journey it is to find real estate long distance...how we will decide on a place (probably sight unseen---eek!) and the logistics of moving...and the move will include our preps and most likely at least one goat! (Oh, won't that be fun!?!?)