Making and doing around the farm...

Just a few things I've been doing the past week.

I made some fresh plantain salve. It'd been awhile since I'd made any. And I'll be heading back to the farmers market this Saturday. So I thought I better have fresh stuff to take. I need more jars. I still have some in the pot. I made a dozen. So I'll get a few more boxes, because I have calendula salve to make too.

Yesterday, I made feta cheese. I am getting well over a half gallon of milk from Freja each day and we can't drink it fast enough. So I decided to make some feta. I love making feta. Then I marinade it in olive oil with garlic and herbs. SO good! This will be ready Saturday. Already have some sold.

This is the calendula petals infusing in olive oil. I really like this salve. I've been using it on my face the past few months and I like the results. Better than plantain. Calendula takes care of the dryness. And it's a lot gentler to use in sensitive places. Great for babies too.

I am almost finished with my Sunburst Granny square bed spread. I'll take a pic when I'm all done. I take it with me to Mrs. T's, on my days to stay with her. I have made most of it at her house. And some more at the eye doctor with my mom. And in the motel when I went to the fiber show in Townsend. So it's been around.

I have a lot of the cotton yarn left, so I decided to try to make a blouse for myself. I started yesterday. Maybe by the time I'm finished, I'll have lost more weight and can wear it. I really have no idea how to make a blouse. Just guessing at it. It'll probably be like a tank top. And very colorful!

Speaking of weight, a friend was asking me about my weight loss journey the other day. She said I should blog about it. I told her I sort of do here. But not enough. So I might just start another blog, dedicated to this new way of eating and living. Will have to think more about it though.

So here is my favorite salad. I went to 2 farmers markets Saturday. I got some fresh salad greens, romaine lettuce and spinach from one farm. Then some really nice looking beets with pretty greens. So mixed all those up with the beet greens. Then I add dried cranberries, chopped walnuts and either Gorgonzola or Blue cheese. I love Superberry fruit vinaigrette, but the store where I shop didn't have any. I got a raspberry instead. Pretty good, but too sweet for me. So this is either my lunch or dinner several times a week. I love it. Very filling too.

I need to take my new bike back to the store where I bought it. I went for a ride a few days ago and it was torture! It took forever to get up a little hill and I was exhausted. When I got home, I aired up the tires, thinking they might have been low. Then decided to check the brakes. My friend who I ride with, said last time we rode that she kept hearing my bike scraping, like the back brake pads were rubbing the rim. Well, it is. Very tightly too. No wonder it's so darn hard to ride! And I should have lost 15 pounds.

And this mess. Oh my. I don't know if I'll just have to cut it. But I was spinning, or have been spinning, this very fine Merino roving I had bought. For hours. And it broke a few times. I would always find the end. But not this time. It is nowhere to be found. I posted on the fiber art forum for help. So I tried tape, a toothbrush and a vacuum. Nothing. Someone else suggested some Tequila, which I would have drank if I'd had some. Or poured it over this and lit it on fire. VERY frustrating for sure! Has this happened to anyone else? What do you do?

I don't know if anyone else watched the Duggers on TLC. But it was one of my favorite shows. I am so bummed right now about what's happened. And the fact that it happened over 12 years ago makes it even worse. Because to me, it's in the past, Why bring up the past? They got counseling and went to the police, although a few years after the fact. But still did. I just hate that anyone in the public eye is subject to all kinds of  talk and gossip and people making assumptions about them. Like Paula Deen last year for something she said 30 something years ago. Good grief already! I am not condoning child molestation at all. It is bad. But he was 15 for crying out loud! And he got help. So did his family. Anyway, enough of this. I'm just upset about the whole thing and what people are saying about them. Just makes it worse for people who are trying to live right and be good people.

I hope you all have a wonderful day. Memorial day. Makes me think of all the men and women who fought and gave their lives for us to have the freedom we have today. Thank you all so much!