Keeping busy & a funny.

Well yesterday DH started cutting our hay for the first time this year! He only got a few times around the field, when a belt broke, so we had to go get another one...which effectively filled up the rest of the afternoon, and he didn't get back to cutting hay till this morning. It's all down now, so hopefully tomorrow he can start baling it. Then the hard part starts...picking them up out of the field and getting them into the barn. That's when I get to help...and yes I love having the hay for our animals, but no I can't say I enjoy the process of actually getting it. LOL *sigh* Oh well it's worth it, since we have animals. As always, there are more photos on flicker, which you can get to by clicking on the photo of the cat at the top of the left column! :)

The breakdown yesterday was aggravating, but actually it turned out to be a good thing...because it gave us a couple laughs, that we wouldn't have had...and you know how much I LOVE to laugh! It had been a little to serious around here over the weekend, so the laugh loosened us up, and brought the sunshine back...figuratively speaking of course, since it has been here for several days. (Yippee for several days of no rain!!! Thank you Yahweh!!) :)

Funny:

About that funny...this time it wasn't ME!! *grin* We stopped by wally to get a few things, since we were fairly close to it, and splurged on something I almost never buy anymore. We got some glazed doughnuts. DH's Mom had a bakery when he was little so he was addicted to those little balls of carbs...but over the years we've managed to cut down on the buying of them to just a few times a year. I'm not for sure, but this is probably only the first or 2nd time this year. Anyway...when we left the store, we each had one for an afternoon snack, and then naturally had to stop at a convenience store to get something to wash it down with. DH goes in to get it, and I stay in the car...so didn't actually see it happen, but he told me about it when he got back out to the car.

When he came out, he grinned, and sheepishly started telling me how he embarrassed himself. He got the drinks, and walked up to the register, and stood waiting for the checker to finish with the guy ahead of him. He licked his lips, and felt some glaze from the doughnut, so (not thinking) he put his tongue out the side of his mouth, trying to see how far it went over onto his cheek...normally I'd lift my hand, if I discovered I had something on my face...but like I said, he wasn't thinking about where he was. *giggle* He then noticed that the checker was looking at him strangely, so he stopped, but not before she got the idea that he was a little odd...or ummm... worse. *snicker* After she finished with the man ahead of DH, she had another checker come and she left, and went into the back...it may have just been bad timing, but he got the distinct impression that she didn't want to be there with him. ROFL

Poor Man, I guess finally getting a doughnut must have blown his mind or something, because he is usually a little more refined than that. He said she probably thought he was a pervert or something, when all he was wanting to do, was enjoy ALL of the doughnut, including that, that was stuck on his face. *giggle*

Needless to say I had a good laugh at his expense, and was thankful that this time it wasn't ME who had done something embarrassing when we were out and about. I think neither of us should be allowed off the farm at this rate! *snicker*

Cherries:
Printable Recipe

When we got home, a friend stopped by with three gallon buckets of cherries! Yes, I know, I thought I was done with cherries, but when they get dropped into our lap, what can you do. I cleaned them and sorted them, while DH put the belt on and then we ran up to the neighbor's house and used their pitter on them, so I could can them for pies. The neighbor lady told me how she cans cherries for pies, since I'd never done it before...and since it sounded way easier than what I'd read about, I did it her way...we will see when I use them how it worked out.

She said she does it the easy way...I think she said her Mom told her how, but maybe it was a friend, I can't remember that part. Anyway, she said instead of making a syrup to go on them, she puts the cherries in a qt jar, puts the sugar in the jar adds water if it's needed and then the lid and ring. She then shakes them up so the sugar is mixed real good, and puts them in the canner and cans them. I asked how much sugar and almost had a cow...but I guess they are sour cherries...so it's not REALLY surprising. I didn't add any water, as they seemed to be quite juicy, but added a cup of sugar. She also said when I am ready to use them, I heat them on the stove, add a half cup sugar with a 1/4 cup of cornstarch or flour to thicken it.

Sorry, I just wanted to get how to do it down, for my future reference. :) I'm so glad I asked her how she did hers...cause I really didn't want to make a syrup, after all it was getting late and I wanted to be able to go to bed sometime that night. LOL I got them into the canner, then grabbed my laptop and sat in the kitchen catching up on e-mails while it did it's thing. That is the biggest reason I wanted a laptop...cause canning season is SO boring, if I don't have something to do while the canner is going. *giggle* I love canning, just don't love the waiting so much.

Cheese:

While DH was out finishing cutting the hay today, I decided to use the milk we had for cheese, instead of sending it out for the hay field. I wanted to try a new Mozzarella recipe I'd found...because the last one was just to tangy, it was good for pizza, but we didn't really enjoy eating it for a snack...and we do like having cheese for snacks. I used this one here (same blog I got my cottage cheese recipe from) and DH informed me that it's the BEST I've ever made! :)) I have to agree with him...it was easy to do, and didn't take all that long really, although probably more than 30 min...but then I'm slow...and it was my first time. LOL

I didn't do the microwave method, I heated the whey up and used that to heat the cheese up. I do wish I could get my hands toughened up though, cause even though I had on extra heavy rubber gloves, that whey gets HOT and my hands were red for a while, after I was finished. I had to get a bowl of cool water to plunge my hands into every little bit, so I could cool them off and go back to pulling the cheese. It's sure worth it though, cause ohhhhh it's SO good! I'm not sure I'll have enough left for pizza at the rate it's being eaten...unless I make pizza tomorrow. *giggle*

I've got to go have a talk with Daisy, and tell her to get a move on with having that baby...cause we REALLY need more milk, so I can make more cheese and still have some for the hay field and other plants. I did go over and see her when I was done weeding my beets this evening, and her bag sure looks like it's getting a lot bigger, so maybe she is getting close...she will have to hurry to have it by the 4th of July though, which is when DH said (last month) he thought she would have it by...not that he's been to good this year at predicting. Usually he is better at it. LOL

Anyway, guess that's enough rambling on about different things...I should have posted the funny yesterday, so this was a shorter post, but I ran out of time. Hope everyone is having a great week! Thankfully it's not quite as hot here this week...still gets up in the 80's, but that's better than the 90's or hotter! Praise God for the break in the rain!! :)