Kitties in a box

Cream and Millie enjoying the simple pleasure of an empty box.

Codorus Creek overflows its banks

The storm system that blew through here on Thursday was a doosey! It rained hard all day long and then suddenly at about 4:30 in the afternoon - it just disappeared! Gray clouds blew away revealing beautiful blue skies and a beautiful clear rainbow above the valley hills. When the boys got home from school, we went to check out the damage at the creek. The water was really high. This little side pool is not usually there. That is typically dry area where the goats play. You can see the remnants of their haystack and the wood pallet they walk on.

At one point we saw a metal barrel floating downstream.
It got caught up at the bridge until a gigantic tree branch dragged it through the bridge along with it.

Millie joined us on our walk to see what was so interesting about the creek.

My First Ricotta Cheese

John and I spent the day on Saturday in a cheesemaking class taught by Ricki Carroll, aka: The Cheese Queen. We learned to make mozzarella, ricotta, farmhouse cheddar, and queso blanco. It was a great fun, and so interesting too. There were probably 60 people from age 13 to somewhere in their 70's attending this class, which was held in State College, PA; a three-hour drive for us. I've wanted to take a class from Ricki for well over a decade, so this was a really nice 40th birthday present for me!

This photo is a ricotta cheese that I made this afternoon, and I just made a chevre this evening; tomorrow I will drain it for 6-12 hours, then it'll be ready to eat!

Chicken Boy

Asa with his favorite chicken: "Ketchup"

Getting Ready for a Yard Sale

Jake finds something he hasn't seen for a long time!

Autographed Boog Powell Orioles hat! Priceless.

I've been working hard just about every day to go through all of our boxes and piles and bags of stuff. When we moved in over a year ago, we put a lot of stuff in the mill and just left it there. Most has been forgotten about. It is fun going through and rediscovering thing that bring back fond memories and other things that will be quite useful in the house now. But mostly - what we are finding is going to be sold!

Music in the Country

On Saturday, October 7, we spent the afternoon in Fawn Grove, PA listening to Sandra's orchestra celebrate the 125th year of the town. Cloudy and a bit nippy; we were happy to find that they were selling food; like pie and coffee and chocolate milk and hot dogs and cheese curls! It was a really nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon. After the show, Sandra came to spend the night in the country with us.

This Year's Halloween Costume?

George Washington.

Grammy and Granddad visited us the week of John's birthday. We had lots of fun taking them to some of our favorite places. The boys have been anxiously awaiting their chance to take Grammy to Serenity Station in Seven Valleys, as it has, according to Jake, "Grammy written all over it". We had a snack break there, Grammy picked up a few gifts, and then we walked on the rail trail a bit. We also stopped in at the local winemaker, Four Springs Winery, to sample and buy their delicious wines! It was great to see G&G again, and we hear that they will be by again at Christmastime!