I took the cumin seed gouda up to AK with me.
Bro swears my cheese gives him a bad case of the screaming shits and wouldnt touch it but dad loved it.
I forgot to take it with me when we visited my step sis, so dad will probably scoff the lot.ne'mind
The first one I made with the press got visited by sandflies, I didnt think too much of that at the time but it got worms so thats now chook food.
I decided that we needed a better storage system and part of that will be to wax them, so I'm now waiting for the wax to arrive.

The other day I found the chook dome completely out of the garden and sitting up right in the parking area.
It felt quite strange to be sitting in the truck looking at this thinking 'what is wrong with this picture?'
At first I thought it was a late april fools joke cos it was sitting the right way up complete with sailcover on.
Then when I got out of the truck and was buffeted about by the wind I realised that was the culprit.
We never used to have winds like this, well not unless there was a nasty wet storm,so I'm not sure what to do about this.
The girls were understandably, very skittish and 3 of them would not go back in the dome and today they are still out.

One of the bantams had gone broody, so I had gone off to collect some Austrolorp eggs for her to sit on.
After this fright she wasnt sitting in the nest box but running around with the others.
I wasnt sure if she would sit on them but put them in the Guinea pig cage we got, caught her and popped her in the run to see if she would go into the nestbox and stay there.
So far so good.

Today the spca brought around a cat trap so we could get rid of a mum cat and 3 kittens that decided to live in our back yard.
I hadnt realised that they were even there until puppies' dad mentioned them.
They can not stay, two is plenty.

I keep looking at the neck feathers of the 2 new 'girls' and I am sure they are long and pointy and not round like the hens are but they are not trying to crow or act like randy roosters so I really dont know.
Be good if the were quiet boys.

I have been trying to find out how to make milk vinegar.
A friend told me that their grandmother used to make it and she thought it was with the whey.
Not much luck so far on my search, infact on the net I keep getting - 'how to make plastic with milk'- do we need any more of this stuff or would it be biodegradeable?
Havent tried it yet and not sure that I will.
Instead I sprinkled the last lot of whey with bread yeast to see what would happen.
Hubby's away working this week so I wont be made to throw it out.
At least it isnt stinking which must be a ggod sign- not sure about the wrinkly crust on the top tho.

The wheat I broadcast over a couple of beds in the back mandala is growing.
It would be helpful if I could be sure that this was in fact wheat and not just grass but I guess I wont know until it starts producing heads.

I've been spending abit of time helping a friend with their new web page.
Thats the online communtiy webpage called wazzub.
If anybody tried to signup with just typing in the details I gave in general chat, it wont work, during this prelauch time you have to have an invite code,so, if anyone wants it, PM me with your email address.
I like the idea that they are willing to share the profits with the users and that they are actively trying to help out charity organisations with this as well.
When I first heard about, my first thought was- do we really need another facebook/twitter/ whatever, but after hearing more I hope it works.
Be nice to show corporations that you can still make money and share surpluses.
Its probably going to have glitches when it firsts starts up, but I guess that only to be expected with something new.

Havent been able to get much house painting done.
Still need to get the second coat to on, but I learnt very quickly (without hurting myself) not to stand up ladder when its windy.
I thought I would be okay painting the side that wasnt getting the wind directly, but then the wind changed direction didnt it-you never saw a girl scurry down a ladder after her hat so fast.

The green egg eggplants are doing fantastically.
After a slow start we are now getting quite afew each week.
The skins are still alittle on the tough side.
The black eggplant is growing but doesnt seem to be able to hold its fruit.

I have been using the chokos in stirfries- I was watching a Korean foodie on the food channel and took note of how he was using them.(ah, yes, I do occasionally watch tv)
So far my choko repertoire consists of-
stirfry, sliced and steamed then laid on rich creamy cheese sauce ,in with chutneys, grated up to help bulk up apple pie (it takes on the flavour of the apple) and of course, after being dried out for afew weeks in the laundry basket-chopped up and added to soups and stews.
So there you go big M, they can be cooked in a palatable manner.

We still are not buying fruit and vege and I am very proud of that-could probably be eating more fruit tho.
The girls are starting to drop feathers all over the place- even before their dome flew away without them, so its not from shock.
Egg numbers are down to around 3-4 a day and it would be helpful if I could get the scaredy-cats back where they belong because I hear them cackling but have only found the egg somebody laid in the laundry tub hanging on the compost bins.