Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Changing Directions

I happened to read today's post by KS Milkmaid this afternoon, and could totally relate to her entry. Today has been "one of those days." I thought we had pretty much gotten over all the sickness in our house last week, but the onslaught was renewed yesterday when our youngest developed another bout with the flu. Needless to say, there are many days when planning goes out the window.

After an almost sleepless night (David and I watched the movement of the moon through the windows in our living room area) I spent the morning utilizing the cream we skimmed from raw milk on Sunday to make butter and buttermilk. I figured I'd better do something with it, as I had left it on the table yesterday to warm it up before attempting the process (and never got it done), and was afraid it would spoil if I waited much longer. So, in between trying to keep David comfortable, doing laundry, making lunch and various other items I worked on the butter.

I don't know how my Grandma ever did it; my Mom has related stories of how she had to keep house for my Grandpa and their 6 children, wash milk bottles (they had a dairy and delivered milk), tend her garden and chickens (she sold them on the milk route, and that was what she had for her household income), do sewing and mending, and keep her sanity -- with no running water or sewer in the house. And sometimes I feel sorry for myself! I wish I would have known Grandma better, but we were offspring of the youngest child in the family and I had 26 first cousins that were all eager for her attention. She was just too busy surviving to be able to spend much time with each one of us. I guess I remember her more in the later years after Grandpa and Grandma moved off the farm and into a tiny little house. I wish I could go back to those days and ask her how she did it.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good To see your blog Lynn.

I just looked a Peter Macdonalds blog and HAD to coment on that one.

Jonathan sure did a good job as far as the technical aspect goes.
I guess they got a kick out of it.I did too.

I wrote such a long coment to PeterMs blog I am way past my bed time.

Hope tonight is beter for you and David.

Gp B

Anonymous said...

Lynn: Thanks for the link. Ohh there is nothing like soured butter. If you run out of time let the cream lightly sour and make butter anyway. It is really good. Do you dairy or is this some milk you bought?

Lynn Bartlett said...

Hi Christina, we are hoping to have a cow or 2 in the future, but for now we have found another source for raw milk. And what a treat it is! Thanks for the tip about using soured cream; I was worried that after all that work I would lose it!

Benjamin said...

Hi Lynn,
I know the feeling you talk about. When I was back on the farm, everything would always add up (gardening, weeding, haying, hauling water, mowing etc), and then just when you didn't think you had time for anything else, you'd open the fridge and realize you needed to make a huge batch of cheese to empty 13 gallons of milk from the racks so there would be room for the night's milking. Sometimes I would feel like I wasn't ever going to catch up and at those times I realized I needed to back up some and remember that living simply should not be so complicated and should be enjoyed. LOL
We didn't like sour butter, so I'll be curious to see if you do. :) I always made 9-13lbs of butter at a time, so know how time consuming it is! (I used to have 3+ gallons of cream before I would make it). How are you making it? I am realizing that the little conveniences (blenders!) sure do make simple living a lot more livable LOL. I found that making lists of things to do daily, weekly, monthly etc helped a lot. Once I got into the routine it was much easier to remember things. And then sometimes for sanity sake, you just dump those 13 gallons of milk into the pig's dish and watch them happily grunt and snort it into pork. :)
Love,
Heather

Christine said...

I wonder how you do all you do!! It's hard to realize all we're accomplishing while we're doing it..its much easier to look at another and be impressed with their long list of tasks that got done!!

Alex Warn said...

There are certainly a few things that you should consider while choosing the supplements: LNG Active Male Enhancement

Alex Warn said...

One such product is BioCarb which contains the patented substance Polymax. This prevents significant reduction (upto 66%) of calorie absorption through these starchy foods. Eliz Keto

Alex Warn said...

Light exercises like Tai Chi or yoga can help compliment a quick weight loss campaign like no other! Keto Jolt

Alex Warn said...

The dieting protocol is divided into four phases and is very important the patient adheres to the protocol to achieve success on the HCG diet plan. Wonder Full Keto