Butter Makes Everything Better

Today I made my first batch of butter. I picked up some heavy cream at the local diary, then I literally just whipped it up!

I have made whip cream before, and for butter you just keep whipping until all of the sudden the whipped cream looking stuff turns to chunks with what appears to be water but is actually butter milk!
Next you have to wash the butter to get all the butter milk out of it (the butter milk is what makes butter turn rancid quicker). This step requires a bit of muscle, as your mixture is the texture of firm butter and you have to mix in ice water and mush it around, rinse and repeat. You continue this process until the ice water drains off clear. I used my mixer for the first several washes then used a spatula to really mush it around.

For my final step I added just a bit of salt and stirred again. And Voila...BUTTER!!!


I pressed it into my old butter container and put it in the freezer till we use up what is in the fridge. I ordered a butter bell from a friend who does pottery, so when that comes in I'll put it in there!

...and I was going for subtle....

I have PINK hair... yeah I know... totally crazy...right?

Here's the story! Last week at the lake Alison and I saw a girl with the cutest hair.. black with blue under layer and blue bangs... WAY cute! So yesterday we decided to do it too.

At Sally's we got the bleach kit and picke out our color, Alison chose blue, and I chose a deep red because it looked more subtle (ha ha) than all the other colors.

It was kinda like de-ja-voo bleaching Allison's hair. Years ago she used to go platinum blond and I would always bleach it for her... Now here we are (almost 31 and not yet 30) bleaching and going for crazy hair color like we are 17 again!

When we finished and I saw the color of mine I almost freaked out...almost.... everyone said they liked it (including Jim, Seth, and the kids) and Allison LOVED it -- recommending that I keep it for a day and if I still was not sure about it we could change it later.


Allison's turned out just how we were planning (though it took an extra session of blue dye). In the end I think we both would have been completely happy if we could have traded hair.


It is the next day, and it is growing on me. It is definitely wild and bold, but it is kinda fun and crazy for the summer.

It seems that I am making a tradition of doing something completely out of character for myself each summer. Last year it was a nose piercing, this year pink hair, next year...who knows!!

Learned: It is kinda fun to do something out of the ordinary, and hair (for me) is a great choice because I know I can always change it.

Something Old

I have had this old sewing machine since my grandma moved out of her house a few years ago. I love it and have wanted to put it in the house somewhere, but we have a small house that is overcrowded already. AND I wanted to find the perfect spot for it. Needless to say it has since sat in my garage..., buried under boxes of books, sitting dejected behind many other forgotten treasures.

Alas yesterday was a special day, the day it found the beginning of its purpose...

I unearthed it from is lowly spot in the garage, and hauled (it is quite heavy...)it into the house. Then disassembled the tangled web that was the computer/phone/modem/wireless router, cleaned the disgusting accumulation of dust from every surface in that corner, as well as ever surface of the sewing machine, and tossed the old computer desk making room for the antique sewing machine...

I dreaded reconnecting all the wires, sure that I would mess up and not be able to use the phone or Internet... amazingly I did it!
I am not sure if this will be the final placement of this piece of furniture or not, but I am so happy to finally have it in the house where I can enjoy its design and sentimental value.

Learned: Sometimes you just need to DO it and not worry about it being perfect.

Dead in the Family

Reading the newest book in the Sookie Stackhouse series was a lot of fun. It was a quick read that I enjoyed over the weekend at the cabin. I was so taken away by the story that I didn't even notice the amount of sun I was getting on only one side of my face... OOPS!

This story finds Sookie on the mend after the Fae found and tortured her in the last book. Trouble still persists for Eric (Sookie's love flame) after the hostile take over of his state by the Nevada vampires, and he is concerned for himself, his faithful employees, and of course Sookie. After consenting to let the Shreveport Wolf pack hunt on her land during one of the full moons, a fresh body is found buried in Sookies back yard and Sookie finds herself in typical trouble. Someone is trying to frame her, or frame the wolf pack (who happen to be seeking societial freedom), or possibly discredit Eric in preparation for a take over of their own. To make matters worse for Sookie, strange fae have been tracked through her woods, and at the worst time Eric, has a visitor who only adds to his current troubles.

Learned: Once again I was well entertained, though this one seemed to take a bit longer to get into the action, I enjoyed the story on the way.. I give it a 3...

Girlie Grown Up

We came to another milestone today... Madison shaved her legs for the first time... Several of her friends already shave their legs (or wax them), and I remember that being a big thing I got to do when I started middle school.

She picked out her own razor and shaving cream and we indulged in a mini lesson during some quality mom-daughter time.




Of course (as with anything concerning Madison) I am only sharing this with her permission to do so...

Learned: I really expected this milestone to be a lot more difficult for me, but it was actually kinda fun!

Yogurt and Fruit Sauces

My family LOVES yogurt, and Allison made some home made yogurt the other day. I thought it sounded really easy and at least worth a try. So last night I started the LONG process of making yogurt. It was super easy and it turned out pretty good for the first attempt. The whole process takes about 14 hours and about 13 hours and 55 minutes of that time is waiting... to bring milk up to temperature, to bring milk back down to temperature, then allowing yogurt to metamorphosis.

I followed Allison's recipe(scroll down once you open page), but I used skim milk and fat free Greek yogurt. I was a bit worried it wouldn't turn out because of that but it didn't seem to matter. I also put the crock pot with yogurt mix inside a cooler with some of our water bottles filled with HOT tap water then stuffed the open spaces with towels. I drained mine for about an hour (which is way less than what she recommended...) and dumped the whey before I actually saw the consistency of the yogurt. I wish I would have kept it to mix some back in, as minr is pretty thick.



For the fruit sauces I just put the fruit and a little sugar in a sauce pan and cooked on medium till it was a little soupy. For the Blueberry sauce I took half of this soupy stuff and blended it then returned it back to the batch. I blended all of the cherry batch because I only cut the cherries in half. If I were to do a larger batch of cherry sauce I might invest in a cherry pitter, that took a while to do by hand.

Learned: It was a great process to go through, and one that I may continue... at least until I go back to work...

Horse Camp

Madison and Emma have gone to Camp Redcloud Adventure Camps for the past two years, this year they decided to go to the Horse Camp they offer. They had a full week of learning how to care for, saddle, ride, trot, canter, and everything else that goes with horse riding. They even took their horses on an over night camping trip where they had to pack the saddle bags with all the gear and food need for them and their horses, and sleep out under the stars.

When we picked up the girls from the horse camp they did a horse show to demonstrate all they had learned about riding. Madison got a Welsh pony, who was new to the herd and quite ornery. They played several games that showed us how they learned to mount, dismount, trot, lead, turn, and some other stuff that I don't know what its called. They played Red Light Green Light that showcased their ability to start and stop their horses. They played a game where they had to fill a cup with water and go to the other end of the arena and fill a container to overflowing; this game showcased their ability to maneuver their horses. Madison's horse was afraid of the cups and took off across the arena, Madison did a good job of getting her horse, named Jericho, to calm down. They also bobbed for apples, they would ride to the other end dismount bob for the apple then feed it to their horse, or take two bites. Madison's horse wouldn't eat the apple and she couldn't bite it with her braces so the counselor ate it.

When the show was over the girls took the horses into the barn and took the saddle off and away, took off the bridles and led the horses out to the pasture.


Learned: It was impressive how much they learned during the week about the care of horses and riding technique.