life in pictures

1. Lu got baptized.  Father John allowed us to have it during teacher's mass (every week all the Mount Carmel teachers go to Mass on Thursdays after school) and it was just perfect.  Such a wonderful community celebration.  And after, we had Dona Betty make her famous pizzas, and everyone feasted on pizza and homemade fresh ice cream and cupcakes.  Welcome little Lu!

2. RASPBERRIES.  They are not something you find in Belize anywhere.  Last year we were surprised to find a Mennonite nursery selling a tropical variety, and got a couple of bushes.  This seems to be the time of year for berries.  I'm only getting a handful at a time, but I'm freezing them so maybe in a year or two I'll have enough to make some jam :)

3.  Miss M has a problem with that other baby getting a bottle when she does not.  She is also fascinated by Lu's eyelashes, which has resulted in several unfortunate eye-poking encounters.  

4. Don't worry, Lu's fine. Those eyelashes are pretty tempting though.

5.  Morning view, with guinea hen

6. This is some kind of toucannette (Daniel told me but I am horrible with bird names). This pair apparently loves papaya, and spent several mornings devouring the fruit which was conveniently located just a few feet from my window.  They are just glorious to watch.  

7. Bonus toucan shot.  Isn't he a gorgeous fellow?

linking up with Jen for 7 quick takes today.

dairy-ing

Our goats are producing a ton of milk this year.  Last year we had enough to drink and for the Babe's bottle, but this year we are getting 2 1/2 liters a day.  Thats a lot of milk. It's a rather fantastic problem to have.

  I finally  made some good batches of chevre, which I had tried multiple times in the past with no luck.  This year, I watched a very zen cheese-making video on youtube, and then made my first batch.  It was SO easy once I learned the proper technique.  I find myself saying that a lot about making things from scratch.

This is how you make cheese:  warm milk, add culture and rennet, let sit for 12 hours.  Drain whey, let drip in cheesecloth for 8 hours.  Done.  Told you it was easy.

This house is stuffed full of baby things.  I needed a way to hang the cheese to drip, and this mobile was handy, so....

I'm also making 2 or more batches of yogurt a week, and I still have extra milk.  So I'll be branching out to frozen yogurt, custard, yogurt muffins...  anything I can think of. 

fresh yogurt.  We add  jam for flavor

chevre

I'm kinda surprised at how much I like cheese-making, I guess it was always  a mystery, and figuring it out has been quite satisfying.  Eating the cheese is even more satisfying :)

This one has developed a deep love for yogurt.  Besides the eating part, she also likes to use it as a belly rub and hair conditioner.  Yum.