meet Rita

Rita is a hen whose owner decided he did not want to keep her any longer, so she has joined the flock at my farm.  She is a pretty leghorn who fit right in with my chickens - they barely noticed their new roommate.  She has a beautiful fan tail and was cuddled up to another leghorn her very first night in the hen house.

sky study #97

September 20, 2013

hot, sweet and spicy

jalapeno jam

you know you likada mozz

fresh mozzarella

cheesemongers tattoo

Note to self:  get cow, goat and sheeps head back piece, with Morton salt girl accent

sky study #96

Sunset September 17, 2013

Helen wheels

My old friend Helen from Chicago visited last week - she generously helped with the care and turning of wheels in the cheese cave

everybody Wur Fung tonight

feeling sesame

The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest

- William Blake

onion and kabocha squash

tomatoes

hot peppers

Cook's House

The cheese board at The Cook's House restaurant.  The first four golden beauties on the left are mine.

Roosty

Roosty is the alpha rooster of my flock, and a very handsome boy

He has beautiful tail feathers and a loud cock-a-doodle-doo

a lusty white

Cousin David brought me a bottle of delicious Austrian wine when he was here last week, with an equally delicious label graphic!  

Raise your glass to Sandy Buttons xoxo

orange and yellow

The big yellow squash has turned orange

Bumble bees on a sunflower

smoked

Boss Mouse smoked butter in the cold smoker

we're expecting

Blackie is broody again, so I will expect some little peeps a few weeks from now.  Blackie just hatched her first brood on Mother's Day, and wants some more.  She is sitting on 6 fertile eggs this time.

hi ho

19th century sterling silver tablespoon excavated from my garden.  I will shine it up, but I love the way it's bent

layin' large

Buffy laid one of her jumbo eggs the other day - a pointy 3+ incher

Boss Cork

My dear friend Timothy made me a cork board from collected wine corks, which serves perfectly as the cheese room bulletin board

hello little Alsolem

A blurry picture of a large bright green caterpillar making his way across the grass

He looked a lot like the caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland

Dear Nanny Cowl...

Wonder friends David & Julia with an enormous purple cauliflower from the garden

the stigma of prunes

I traded some cheese for a nice bag of Italian prune plums at the market last Saturday.  The farmer told me if he calls them "Italian plums", people buy them, but if he calls them "prune plums", sales drop.  I love them no matter what they're called and am dehydrating them into my own PRUNES.

rice man

I love the graphic on the gigantic bag of rice that I bought - look at his hat

tomatoburst

Tomato haul from the garden September 7, 2013

peter piper

a peck of jalapenos from the garden

pickled peppers

clash of the titans

Max & Cozy during their daily wrestle fest

Max delivers his flying elbow drop

hello kitty

My new hello kitty storage bin, modeled by Rudy

first pear harvest

Big box of pears - the first from my orchard.  I planted my pear tree three years ago, and finally this year, it was so heavy with fruit it almost fell over.

luscious blue

5 lbs. of organic blueberries from my friend Sandee at Ware Farm

I loved the text on the box...is there a better word than luscious?

blurry bun

Pinky the blurry little bunny ghost

Raq-a-tat-tat 2

Bestie Raquel got some more work done on her sleeve - morning glories and a portrait of her beloved Betsie

A Happy Labor Day to you!

George 'n Cozy

Cozy parks it on my parents' old friend, and Boss Mouse architect, George Emmert.  George was up working on his cabin, and is a fascinating and interesting person - it was great to see him

sleepy cousin Kelly

Cousin dog Kelly from Detroit asleep on Cozy's bed

heirloom glory

some of my heirloom harvest - nature is the most beautiful of all