Puppies!!!!

This is Tessa's second litter of puppies, and they sure are adorable!
Please note: These pics were taken at six weeks, they were born Sept. 3, 2013

There were eleven born, and nine lived.

I'll introduce each of them by their color.

This, obviously, is Purple. 

I've refrained from naming them so their owners can have the pleasure.

Ain't she cute?! She loves to follow you around!

She's a very practical pup, right in the center of the others.

A good dependable medium personality, and a LOVER of attention!

This is Red, a male.

Now living in his new happily forever after home!!!

He's super sharp, very attentive, and quick. He'll be a great trainee for a work dog!

He likes attention and is very smart! :-D

This is Gold, another male.

Now living in his new happily forever after home!!!

He is very curious!!

He's one of the first to come and see what's new, and he studies every bit of it!

This is Tiel, my BIG boy.

Now living in his new happily forever after home!!!

Very fuzzy, and the largest of the litter.

He's a pretty laid-back type of guy, and will make a great companion.

This is Navy Blue, another male

Now living in his new happily forever after home!!!

Great markings! (At least, I like them!) :-)

He's kind of small, but loves to follow you around. A sweet little guy, in general.

This little girl I call Rosebud, but her color is pink.

She is a sweetheart! Probably the pup with the sweetest disposition.

She loves to cuddle!

The third and last little girl, White.

Now living in her new happily forever after home!!!

I think she's a princess in disguise!

Loves to play and be played with!

This is Camo (camouflage).

Now living in his new happily forever after home!!!

I find it rather interesting that he wound up with the camo, because he'll be a great guard dog!

Very alert and sensitive to what's around him, yet he LOVES to cuddle!

The last male pup, Brown.

Yet another sweetheart. He's so sweet, he's a big pushover!

Energetic and friendly, he will make a great companion!

Puppy pile!

I'm not the only one who got worn out trying to get pictures of everyone! :-D

How To: Make Simple Homemade Goat Cheese

When people think of making cheeses, there is often the mis-leading thought that it will take a lot of time and weird ingredients that are hard to get. Nothing could be further from the truth! True, if you want to make aged or specialty cheeses you may have to buy some rennet and cultures, but for a basic yummy cheese you only need basic ingredients practically everyone has in their kitchen!

Ingredients Needed:

2 1/2 quarts of milk

6 T of white vinegar (or 1/3 cup)

1/2 tsp of salt

1) Pour the milk in a pot and turn heat on high. If you need to leave it for any reason, turn it down until you come back.

2) Place a thermometer into the milk so you can supervise the temperature rate.

3) Prepare your things for the cheese-straining step. I use a colander placed in a large bowl with a cloth napkin or pillow-case material to strain.

4) Get your vinegar ready, because once your milk is at the correct temperature, you need to act fast.

5) Once the milk has reached 180 degrees, pour the vinegar in, turn off the heat, and allow to set for one minute.

6) You should be able to easily see the curds separating from the whey. If not, try adding some more vinegar. (Only add 1 tablespoon at a time! Too much vinegar will make the cheese rubbery.)

7) Slowly pour the curds and whey into your straining equipment.

8) Pull the opposite corners together carefully and tie, then using your string, tie tightly under the knots of cloth. This will hold it up for the dripping process.

9) Tie the top part of the string on a doorknob or cabinet, and allow to drip for about an hour. You should be able to feel if the whey has drained out. It will feel soft, but not slushy.

10) Take down and place in a bowl. It should be creamy, yet still in tiny curds.

11) Mix until small and crumbly, then add salt. For a savory cheese, add parsley (1 tsp), onion powder (1/2 tsp), and garlic powder (1/2 tsp.).

12) Mix well.

13) Shape into a ball.

14) Garnish with parsley and serve with crackers or veggies as is, or chill and serve later.

Here's a hint though, don't tell anyone it's goat cheese until after they've tried it! I don't know why, but many people have this mental block against goat cheese, so I'll make a cheese ball and bring it to parties or special events, and when people come up to ask me about it, they get the shock of their life! The most popular comment is: "I didn't realize goat cheese could taste like THAT!" :-D

New Days with the Dogs

Yesterday marks the start of a new journey for our dogs. Imagine the shock of possibly never eating dog food again? I'm sure they weren't thinking too sorrowfully about it yesterday morning when they were munching on the raw chicken leg quarters they were served.

Most people may think we are a little extreme or bizarre, but after spending almost $100 a month on a special dog food that our dog with sensitive stomach could handle, the realization that feeding our dogs all raw would only cost $50 a month was the final push to take the step.

We have been having difficulties with our dogs being too skinny for a while, and when Sage began to have stomach problems, we knew something needed to change. The vet switched the dogs over to a more meat-based food, which was also a LOT more expensive.

I began to do research on an all raw diet for the dogs, and I soon came to the conclusion that it would probably be the best move I ever made for our pups. It took a lot of research and a small amount of common sense to tell me that dogs were indeed created to be carnivorous, and feeding it grain and veggie stuffed dog food could do a lot of long-term damage to their systems.

As always, I had thought feeding our dogs all raw would be too expensive. But after a little more research and calculation it became clear it was more within our means than the dog food we were buying. It felt very good to watch our dogs eating stuff that I knew God created their bodies to eat. I'm looking forward to seeing positive results from this change.

This has really opened my eyes into looking at what is really good for our critters, and I'm starting to look more into feeding natural diets to the rest of our critters as well. I don't know if anything will come of it, but at least I'm having fun doing the research!

Veggies to Plant in May in Louisiana

I know that I missed putting this list up last month, but hopefully I'll be able to keep up from now on.

Collards

Cucuzzi

Eggplant

Hot Pepper

Luffa

Mirliton

Okra

Peanut

Pumpkin

Southern Peas

Squash

Sweet Potato (slips)

Heat-tolerant Tomatoes (Start seed for transplants)*

Cantaloupe

Watermelon

*A few heat-tolerant heirloom tomato varieties are:

Arkansas Traveler

Costoluto Genovese

Green Zebra

Quarter Century

Sioux

Super Sioux

Some Progress, Some Harvest!

I was not able to plant the garden I dreamed of this year, and I did not get to do much in the garden this spring. I had some health issues, as well as a hectic schedule and as a result, not a lot got done. We were able to plant some corn and beans, as well as some tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumber, and cantaloupe. We had to use one of our garden spaces for goat, thus were not able to plant as much this year.

This is the swiss chard, lettuce, and garlic. 

Garlic is a first for us this year, and I can't wait to see how it turns out! We were blessed with some cloves by a neighbor who has had the same garlic passed down for generations in his family. It's so lovely to get a heritage along with a seed!

As you can see, we are beginning to get some little tomatoes. I am very excited about them!

It never ceases to amaze me how the Lord can take one tiny seed, and grow it to become a large plant producing pounds of fruit! It kind of reminds me of our faith. When we first come to Christ, our faith is so small, and seemingly so insignificant. But God takes that seed of faith, as tiny as it may be, and carefully cultivates it to become a growing, thriving plant producing wonderful fruit for His glory!

And, for those of you who tease me about all veggies and no flowers, here is proof that I've planted flowers in my garden! I admit that the purpose was to help deter pests from my vegetables, but they are flowers none-the-less! I'm sorry, but unless it serves some profitable purpose, it probably will not end up in my garden! 

Here is a glimpse of some of the fruits of our labors. Our strawberries did pretty pitifully this year compared to the ones we planted last year, but we are getting some berries, so we are thankful for that!

My trial-run of growing carrots was a success! We were so excited to harvest the crisp-smelling roots. Believe me, I had help to pull them up! To the girls, pulling up carrots was as much fun as digging potatoes!

"And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation; And sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase." ( Psalm 107:36-37 )

Little Critters That Make Farm Life Interesting

I fell way behind on my posting due to being super busy and sick, so there may be a couple posts in the next few days as I try to catch up.

I find a big part of being in the country is not only about what happens with what we plant and raise, but also what happens in nature around us. We had a couple interesting visitors in the past couple months, and I thought I'd share them with you.

This little guy decided to pay us a visit, and wound up becoming an educational part of our day. I thought he might like to say "Hi!" It's not every day your average turtle gets the limelight of the internet!

"It's a bird!" "It's a plane!" "It's a..."

BAT!

Actually, Christopher and I weren't sure what it was, the way it was croaking, but sure enough, we got to have a good, close view of it. I brought it to the house, and voila! Another opportunity to show off one of God's marvelous creatures to the kids. They weren't as impressed with the bat as Mr. Turtle, though. :-D Take a good look at those teeth, and you may agree with them!