Barnhart Acres Update

Here's what's new around our little wanna-be "homestead."  After much deliberation, I finally made the jump and started buying raw milk from a farmer nearby.  So far I am very please, although my homemade dairy products that I have been wanting to get my hands on some fresh cream in order to try have only had limited success thus far.  

Here is the first batch of cream that I separated...

...and was only able to get this little pad of butter out of all of that.  I haven't figured out my problem yet, but every time I use a mixer of any sort I haven't been able to make either whipped cream or butter.  It just turns into this weird half butter half cream cheese looking stuff that's no good for anything.  I was finally able to get this butter by going low tech and just shaking the cream by hand in a mason jar.  I think maybe I'm getting too much milk in with the cream when I separate it, so I'm going to experiment with some changes to my method.  I'll keep you posted...

We also had 2 unexpected additions to our flock.  Two weekends ago, Justin asked me if I wanted to go check out the garden stuff at Orscheln's (Come to find out on the way there he only suggested that because there's a tackle shop next door.  At the bottom of this post I'll share a little story about Dallas trying to trick me into going to Tractor Supply so he could get a sucker.  The apple doesn't fall far form the tree).  Anyway, when we got there they had Easter Egger chicks....guess Justin's strategy backfired.  So we brought home 2 of them.  I have to say it's WAY easier to raise 2 chicks than 15!

So far the hens don't seem to care one way or the other about the chicks.  My Buff Orpington is broody right now, so we tried to convince her that she had hatched them, but it was a no-go.  So the chicks are convinced that all of us are their moms.  It was so cute to watch them in the yard.  They'd follow right behind whichever one of us was closest to them and when we'd crouch down they'd find a nice hiding spot under our legs.  They're really cute and sweet, although I'm ready for them to be old enough to live outside.  I got home from work yesterday, and the black one was walking around my kitchen .

A conversation with Dallas:

(Let me preface this by saying that recently we went to Tractor Supply for something.  They have big suckers by the checkout that the boys wanted.  They didn't get any on that trip, which is what precipitated this story.)

Me: "Dallas, get your shoes on.  We have to go to the bank."

Dallas: "Ugh, I hate the bank."

Me: "Well if you're good they have suckers there."

Dallas: "Mom, don't you need to have 2 bags of chicken food?"

Me: "No, why?"

Dallas: "Because then if you run out of chicken food in one bag you could just go to the garage and get food out of the other bag so you won't run out."

Me: "Do you just want to go to Tractor Supply for some reason?" (The suckers dawned on me AFTER I asked that.)

Dallas: (With his "Justin" grin) "They have better suckers there, Mom."

Needless to say, Justin was very proud (and we DID go to Tractor Supply and get the better suckers.  What can I say, I always fall for the Barney charm)!