New On My Mp3

Okay, never mind the name of this music group; their songs are *awesome*!!! If you're into soundtracks, medieval style music, thriller music and basically all around awesome songs, then here's the motherload  for you. This is basically all I've been listening to for the last three days. No lyrics, just a symphony doing an incredible job at creating inspiring songs. :)

A Horse Girl

  Today I had the immense pleasure of being back in the saddle. ^_^ And not only merely being "back in the saddle" but getting to go as fast as my little mount could carry the two of us, and together we did some crazy, topsy patterns through the pasture. It was interesting, I'll say that much. My mount's name was Benton; he's a fat, short, palomino-colored boy who seems to be a Quarter Horse cross of sorts. He and I were on five days acquaintance, he hadn't been ridden in months upon months, and I hadn't been on a horse since I was seventeen. Four years ago. I won't mention the fact that my safety head gear was a camo hunting cap, 'cause that would freak my parents out. So we just won't go over that... Continue on, folks.

  So! Benton and I were up for a crazy ride! Ha. He was as good as gold *except* for one thing: the silly boy doesn't seem to remember how to turn. Once upon a time he knew that a gentle pull on the right rein meant he needed to turn right. Apparently that info got lost in his spam folder somewheres. More than once today I found myself scolding him, "Benton! That's an electric fence!! Turn you moron! TURN!!! No, don't run me into that tree! TURN!!!"

   But other than that minor glitch (hehe), it was awesome. This little guy can move fast! Riding a horse is a lot like riding a bike; once you learn, you don't forget. So I was pleased to find that I hadn't forgotten any of my riding knowledge, but could instead pretty much go on auto-pilot and simply enjoy the sensation of flying. Being on a galloping horse is such an incredible experience... I feel bad for all those who have never gotten to try it.

 And now I shall stop my chattering and let y'all scroll down and see what's next. ;)

  First we have a picture of chubby Benton himself! Isn't he CUTE!?!? He so squishy looking that you just want to hug him! That, and I'm always tempted to do something to his fuzzy little ears. ;) He's such an adorable character. Even if he does have a grudge against all canines. LOL.

  Second up is Nick. He's a coal black Standardbred gelding; a buggy horse that was trained by the Amish. He's not saddle broke though, which is a pity... He looks like he would have some amazing gaits on him! I like Nick; don't tell Benton this, but I think I like Nick the best. And it's not just because he doesn't mind dogs (although that's a plus). He's just a calm, laid-back fellow that seems wise beyond his years... That, and I have a thing for black horses. *cough, cough*

   And now, ze' crazy video of Yours Truly, riding madly around on a lovely Mississippi winter day. :) 

P.S. All that yipping and yapping you hear in the background of the video? That's Gyp going bananas over the fact that I've obviously been taken captive by an evil horse and no one will let him come rescue me. Once he saw me get off the horse he was fine! But he wasn't keen on the idea of trusting Benton with his master. 

It was crazy fun though. I'm a horse girl through and through... 

I Want One

  Being down here in Mississippi has been an absolute blast so far! Goodness, it's been so nice to be around people who talk the same way I do (i.e. say "y'all" and "Bless your heart"), have that gorgeous Southern drawl, and know what real sweet tea is. *Happy sigh* Today I got to ride one of the horses here (pictures and video coming right up!), and gloried in galloping every which way in the pasture. This girl has a need for speed, and that's the gospel truth.

 And speaking of a need for speed... I done got a crush this afternoon on my Papaw's four-wheeler. ;) Hot dawg, that thing is more fun than you can shake a stick at! I kept it at 35-40mph on my first go-'round with it, and then Papaw took over the steering and we scooted on up to 60 mph. So. Much. Fun!!

  After putting that baby away, I came to a conclusion: I want one. It's on my birthday wishlist now. ;) 

My Kind of Christmas

My Christmas was spent a bit differently from most folks... Sure, I still opened presents and had a special meal. But the highlight of the day was sitting in a deer stand; silent and motionless. Hoping and praying for a buck to cross my path and become a target. The hoped-for buck didn't appear today, but maybe tomorrow he will. It was fun though, gettin' to spend some time with my Papaw (grandpa) here in Mississippi. My kind of Christmas, really. :) 

My Papaw and I!

Everything. (I don't want to think up a title right now, so this is what you get)

 I miss having a camera. I so, so badly miss having one. I keep having these moments of wanting to share a moment with y'all; wanting to share the beauty of the countryside here in MO... Like the gorgeous snowfall that we had (which is now gone) or the stunning sunsets/moon rises that we have a clear view of, the awesome folks I'm staying with, or even Ellie's (cow) funny half of an ear (no idea what happened to the missing half; frostbite, maybe???). And then I remember that I have no camera! Aargh! I'm gonna' have to do something about this soon; we just gotta' keep prayin', folks. Sooner or later this girl will have a camera again. I just hope that it's "sooner" rather than "later". 

  I've been here for fifteen days now; it feels like it's been a month already! But I think it's safe to say that I'm finally settled here. I've settled into a routine, know how things are done, and I'm comfortable with everyone here. Even Penny, the boss cow, has gotten used to me and will let her milk down for me! I didn't think that cow would EVER decide accept me as the new milker... She would be a pill and hold her milk back so that no matter how hard I tried, I could only get a quart out of her. Yesterday morning was the first time that she let her milk down all the way, and I had her milked out beautifully before too long. 

  Of course, right when I feel I'm finally settled, I find myself leaving for a week! LOL. I'm headed down to Mississippi to spend Christmas with family, which I'm uber excited for! But then there's still that little bit that wonders if I'll have to "re-settle" when I come back. I doubt it, but then, I'm a rather strange character... Anything is possible. 

 On a note of randomness, has anyone else here gone to see The Hobbit 2 in theaters!?!?!?! I went on Monday with two friends, and *LOVED* the movie! ^_^ And the popcorn; that stuff was pretty darn good too. Although, I will admit that I covered my eyes during almost the entire scene with the giant spiders (to the amusement of my companions on either side of me). I can handle many things in life, but spiders are not one of them. And most definitely not giant ones. Nope, not me. Tauriel was okay, but I didn't care for her too much; I suppose I like her about as much as Arwen (which isn't much. Let's go back to the Hobbits and Dwarves!). Aaaaaand Kili was as cute awesome as ever. I really hope they don't kill him off in the third movie... But I have my suspicions. I'm gonna' bawl my eyeballs out if they do.

  Today's been a fairly slow day; I did morning barn chores, hacked brush away from the beehives, made lunch... Then hung out at the neighboring family's house for a couple hours. Truth be told, I have a cold right now. A whopping good one, at that! Sore throat, cough, runny nose... The whole shebang. I had it coming though, seeing as the 17 year old lad (yeah, yeah, I keep forgetting to ask him if I can publicly share his name) got the bug on Sunday, and then he shared his popcorn during the movie on Monday (it was theater popcorn! I wasn't about to turn down an offer like that!). It was good popcorn though... Worth this abominable cold.

  So while my daily routine is fairly settled, I'm still trying to get back into my writing groove! I was doing so well before I left, and now... Not so much. Sigh. It's coming back though; the more I get settled here, the more brain space I have to get back into the state of perpetually obsessing about what to write next. 

 And now I suppose I should run and find some tissues... Colds are such a high maintenance thing to deal with.

 It was good popcorn though. ;) 

Snow Day!

  I. Am. Sore.

  Like, Ridiculously sore. 

  Like, I-can-hardly-raise-my-arms kind of sore. 

  No, I did not get into a fight. 'Nor did a cow trample me. And no, I didn't not get clipped by a moving vehicle. 

  Reason behind the soreness? I played in the snow yesterday. For almost 9 hours. Yep, you read that right. Snow. Nine hours.

  Oregon doesn't get a whole lot of snow. Or at least the part that I'm from, doesn't get much. We might get a couple inches and it sticks around for a day or two, but I've always wanted to experience a good, deep snow. I've always wanted to make a BIG snowman that didn't take up every snowflake on the property, and right along with the territory of making a snowman, I wanted to have a grand snowball fight, go sledding, make a bunch of snow angels... You know, the classic stuff that people do with snow! But there was never enough snow in Oregon to do that. 

  Yesterday morning dawned here in Missouri and what do you suppose I saw outside my window? SNOW!! It was only 7am, and already there was eight inches, and still more piling up. Praise the Lord that it's Saturday!! I got to skip chores and go straight to playing in the snow! Now, to be honest, I did suit up and head to the barn, and had every intention to stick to routine and help with the milking. Honest to goodness. I was right there in the barn and had just put Penny in the stanchion. Then the resident seventeen year old lad (brother to the wife of my host family) showed up with sleds. Sigh. A girl can only be so mature for so long. At the sight of sleds, I was relieved of my barn duties and I felt like a little kid as I almost rocketed out of the barn. IT'S A SNOW DAY!!!! I even got to ride in the sled as the two of us (plus Gyp) headed down to the hilly driveway. 

  What followed was probably one of the funnest, most glorious days I've had in a long time. We had snowball fights, made snow angels, we sledded down the driveway over and over, and we built TWO snowmen. One was a proper snowman, and the other was a comical looking snow-dalek. Yeah, we made a dalek. So for the record, I had no idea what a dalek was two weeks ago. My hosts have been introducing me to the 'Dr. Who' shows, and it's becoming a good way to spend our evenings. LOL. So yes... I'm learning about farming and Dr. Who all at once. David Tennant is awesome. ;) I'm so glad to find out that I'm not the only human being with such dramatic facial expressions. Hehehe

  We finished up our afternoon with a round of what is called the "tracking game", and then a loooooong game of 'Capture the flag'. The tracking game is basically a warped version of 'hide and seek'. One person runs helter skelter through the 40 acres of land before hiding, and then after about fifteen minutes everyone else has to track that person down through the snow. It can get challenging if the runner decides to be sneaky and hide their tracks. I always feel like Aragorn when I play this. 

  I was zonked by the time Capture The Flag ended, but thankfully so was everyone else. So we all took a two hour break and waited for the sun do go down and the place to get dark. What were we planning on doing once all light was gone? Why, sledding in the dark, down a huge hill, of course! I have to admit that the idea of sledding at night at never occurred to me... But I was game for it! Uphill and downhill we trudged to get to said epic hill, and oh was the long walk worth it. It was big, long, and boy howdy did you get some speed going!! The snow lit the night up just enough that you could see about three feet in front of you while sledding down, but no more than that. A couple of us (code for "me and the seventeen year old") had to attempt snowboarding our way down the hill on the small, flat sleds; it would have worked fabulously, except for the fact that you eventually got up so much speed that your feet slipped forward on the slick plastic and the sled would flip. I ended up in the snow three times before finally admitting defeat. I could keep my balance beautifully, and even steer the silly thing! But you really need a proper snowboard for that trick; somethin' that you can strap your feet to. I now want to learn snowboarding. ;) 

  By the time we were done, everyone was ready to crash and burn with a movie. So we all sledded our way home, looking like a flock of giant penguins going down a country road. Pretty much everyone stayed down at the main house to watch 'Dr. Who', while the seventeen year old (good heavens, I need to ask permission to use names on here!) and I trekked up to his house to watch 'White House Down' and eat entirely too much popcorn.

  So today I am sore. Ridiculously sore. But it was worth it. Oh boy was it worth it...

 And I promise I'm learning about farming stuff. Pinky promise. But sometimes you just gotta' have a snow day. 

Makin' Monterey

The thermometer still reads 92 degrees Fahrenheit, so I'm content to leave the scene and find something to keep me busy. Thirty minutes later, the thermometer still reads the same. Ninety-Two degrees. This is both good and bad. Good, because it means I don't have to do anything. Bad, because it should really be two degrees lower.

  I'm watching a pot.

  A pot of cheese curds, to be precise. I started this batch earlier in the day, starting with frozen milk. Working over the steady, purring heat of a wood powered cook stove (these are popular here), I warmed the milk up, added a culture, gave the milk time to ripen, added some rennet, let the milk solidify, then I cut the curds into rice-sized pieces, and now it's ripening a wee bit more. Thus the waiting now. It needs to sit for 40 minutes (and I'm having a momentary panic attack right at this moment; what time did I start this round of waiting!?!?!? Ack! Hang on, gotta' run and see what time it is...).

************

 Okay. Panic attack is over. I'm such a great cheesemaker... *much sarcasm* I ran and checked the time, curds, gave the pot a stir, checked the temp on it, and now I'm back here. Now, where was I? Right, the curds need to sit quietly for 40 minutes, and stay at 90 degrees. Right now it's at 91F. We dropped a digit. :) In thirty minutes I'll put the pot back on the woodstove and get everything warmed up to 120F in a thirty minute period. If I warm it too fast then the cheese will be rubbery. Too slow, and it won't set right. This is my first time, so it'll be interesting to see how I do. When all that is done, then I'll press the cheese in a mold, and store it. In thirty days it will be ready to eat and will be a Monterey Jack. Good heavens, I'm making a for-real Monterey Jack cheese!?!? Will wonders never cease? Tomorrow I'll make a Parmesan too! Looking forward to it. :) The milk comes directly from the Jersey cows here at the farm, who are named Ellie and Penny. Yep, only two lactating girls this winter. The third was just sold. The other bovines around here are Onyx, who is a Jersey/beef cross steer who will be going into the freezer in just a couple weeks (looking forward to that!!), and then two ADORABLE Jersey/Belted Galloway bull calves (Ellie and Penny's babies). These calves are the cutest things I have *ever* seen. Seriously. No kidding. I'm gonna' have to steal a camera, er, ahem, borrow a camera from someone just so I can take some pictures of these darlings and show y'all. They're fat, fuzzy (uber fuzzy), and look like Oreo cookies that moo. And did I mention that they're fat and fuzzy? Oh gosh they're cute... I want to hug them so stinkin' bad. 

Besides the Monterey Jack that's in the works, there's also some homemade yogurt that's culturing on the counter, and freshly made butter that's just been put in the freezer. I'm a tiny bit proud of myself; I made a proper batch of butter, all by myself! And yeah, it turned out to be ridonkulously easy (brownie points if you know what movie that word is from). Last time I tried it, which was back in Oregon, I did something wrong... And every time you heated that butter up, it turned right back into milk! It was weird. After that attempt, I never did try again. But now I know what I'm doing! Aha! I'm going to start up a batch of kefir soon, too. Lots and lots of dairy products around here, that's for sure!

I'm slowly getting the hang of things around here... Still making mistakes though. LOL. And while my hands are getting used to milking, the cows are still not getting used to me. Penny stubbornly held her milk back this morning, and wouldn't let down until the wife (hmm, she needs a title, or code name. I'll have to think about that) took over. Cows. Picky creatures. Hehehe. Oh its been glorious to be working around dairy cows again. If we could just get our act together though, things would be fabulous. I need to get used to them, and they need to get used to me. I will however, admit that I am really missing my milking machine. I'll hand milk for the time that I'm here, but I could never do this long term. I love my machine too much. I miss its humming noise, the speed that it works, and the routine of washing the equipment. Ah well... Hand milking will suffice for now. 

 Making the Jack cheese will be the end of my work day today... Since it's cold and snowy outside, we're only doing 3-4 hours of work each day (yeah, it's really rough! These people work ya' hard! LOL.). Not sure what I'll do once I'm done with the cheese. Read? Write? Go bug the extended family? Hmm. Part of me wishes that I had longer work days, but then the other part of me doesn't mind that I'm not out in the cold for very long. 

  Anywho, the clock says 1:49pm, so that's my cue. I need to go get those cheese curds warming up to 120F now!