Cheese and things..

The cheese - the mighty Brie - has sat uncovered in one of the wine fridges at about 14-15 degrees Celsius for the past ten days. She (I think a cheese should probably be a she, don't you?) started life as a very soft 2.2 kg, and in the drying stage (not necessarily a technical term) has dropped a full kilo.

Our (hopefully) beautiful cheese is now weighing in at 1.24 kg, and smells just like it should (I think). There is a good dusting of mould over its surface, and the rind is firm with a little give. It isn't as well covered in mould as I thought it might be, but it has had the full ten days suggested in the recipe. It is now wrapped to mature for the next couple of weeks before we cut into what we hope will be a creamy molten centered mass of cheesy goodness. Either that, or I head straight back to the drawing board.

The Brie just before wrapping... very different from the original! (see previous blog)

MacK... our dear boy has rapidly moved on from his tentative two step shuffle. He now walks pretty much everywhere, and has two main modes of movement. There is the arms-out-in-front 'zombie walk', and the arms-in-the-air 'orangutan' walk. Both highly effective, and give him the balance he needs.

 MacK has taken to sitting in his toybox. Not that he will fit for long!

He is very strong, and regularly proves it, to our consternation. Last night, he was playing in one of 'his' drawers in the kitchen, and lifted out a rather heavy pottery quiche dish and went all Greek on it. There won't be any invitations for quiche for the next while... While sitting on the lawn the other day, he was playing with the petanque set. He reached in, and pulled out a ball in each hand. We ere amazed, as the balls are not light at all. The funny bit came when he stood up and started carrying one of the balls around. He was fine while the ball was in front, but when he tried to carry it in one hand, his equilibrium went out the window. As he lifted his right foot off the ground, the extra weight of the ball in his right hand caused him to topple straight over. Very funny! 

Random rainy afternoon thoughts

Its the day after St. Paddy's, and the tropical world is gloomy and wet. I wish I had managed to mow the lawns last weekend... at the time I thought we were going to have a fine week, and the plan was to mow one afternoon...

Plans of mice and men, etc!

Yesterday we had to go into town, and heard a funny sound coming from the back seat. We turned around to see MacK doing his very best fake snoring impersonation. It was hilarious - but it worked. After a couple of minutes, he was fast asleep. Just wish he would try it at home...

Hello Ladies...!

Last week, Jane had MacK over at the school she works at, and was sitting at the front of reception. One of the students who has downs syndrome came up and started talking to Jane and MacK. When Jane explained that MacK wouldn't respond because he couldn't yet talk, the student immediately started signing as he was speaking. Incredibly thoughtful, and rather insightful too.

I attended a cheese making workshop earlier in the year, and now the the weather is starting to cool a little, I decided the time had come to give it a crack myself. So, yesterday I turned 7 litres of jersey best and 1400mls of cream into a triple cream brie. Or at least the beginnings of a triple cream brie. I now have to let it mature for 2-3 weeks before we can taste it. It would be really nice to have a healthy dose of beginner's luck with this one! After sitting in the basket all night, draining the whey away (sorry, couldn't help it!), the cheese weighs in at a hefty 2.1 kg. Not sure what further weight loss we might expect, but it is a mighty big cheese.

The lemon is the only thing I had close to hand to provide a little size perspective/comparison

 

 MacK and I getting ready for international Pirates' Day... Aaargh!

We also bottled a batch of home brew today. This was the last of the 'extract' brews for me. From now on it is all about all grain, proper beer brewing.

MacK helping me with the brewing. I have to say, it is never too young to learn how to help, and the skills learned are definitely valuable!

MacK - He Walks!

MacK is now into his eleventh month, and has taken his first steps. He still finds it easier (and faster) to crawl everywhere, but he has taken that next leap into life. It is absolutely fascinating to watch him at the moment. His fine motor skills are coming along in leaps and bounds, and he is really starting to communicate with us.

We watch him thinking and making conscious decisions about his actions, and then carrying them out. It is fascinating to watch him try and open a cupboard that we have (temporarily) blocked shut. He is slowly working out what we have done to close it, and then tries to do what he needs to do to go where he wants. Brilliant!

He loves to watch whatever is happening in the kitchen, and is happy just watching from his high chair. Outside of that, I am getting quite good at one armed cooking. Can do most things except chop. But then again, I should probably hold either the baby or a knife. Not both!

As we haven’t posted photos of him for a while, see below for a collection of our favourite pics of how he likes to spend his days!

 I love to help in the kitchen. Maybe I will cook like my Daddy?

 

Dad always needs help in the shed. But its always safety first!

 Mummy tells the best jokes.... apparently better than Dad's?

 Working out is important. Me and Dad use kettlebells

 Mealtimes are a lot of fun

 A little messy though...

 Just making sure that Dad has his mirrors set right for his ride to work

 

Watching sport is serious business. Here we are at the Basketball.

 Shopping with Mum

 And looking after Uncle D's special Bear

As you can see, I have very busy days. I have a lot of fun, and am learning stuff all the time. At the end of the day, I do sleep well, but like to wake up a couple of times during the night to check on things. Mum is really good and gets up with me. I sometimes then have a sleep with Mum and Dad to look after them while they sleep...

The Farm -Autumn 2012 update

For those that are following our journey (and are as fascinated as we are by it…) things move at a slow pace as ever. The really good news from this week is that the farm (all of it) stayed above the water line during the recent floods. Rosnay managed to harvest their white wine grapes before the rain started, and from all indications, the jury will be out on the red.

If you have seen the previous house concept plan, and worked out how far your bed might be from the wine cellar when you come to visit, put those thoughts on hold. Having put the plans out to all and sundry for comment, we have had a couple of revisions. Essentially it looks as though we might be able to reduce our overall floor space yet achieve a better flow. We will also be able to manage our construction process a little better.

We are also starting to build up our collection for the farm. We have our first animals… After Jane’s pig for Christmas (her Caregift to an impoverished woman in a developing nation), we now also have a horse and a goat. See Beluga, and Giavatto (and ten points for anybody who can correctly guess both references!)

In addition to the old hospital doors from RMC Duntroon, we now have some recycled glass. The panels we have got are triple glazed, and big enough that we will probably design the north side of the house around them. We are planning on ferreting away all sorts of bits and pieces as we find them so that the building shock is minimised when we finally get there.

Hopefully that might be a little sooner after my career interview… We are (as ever) hopeful of a posting to Canberra next year that will free us up for regular visits to the farm, and a start on the development. We look forward to turning the first sod, and sharing the journey with you. If I think about it hard enough, I can almost taste the first slice of a properly air cured farm (ours) raised Berkshire pig prosciutto… and my mouth waters!

Our 'Mastercard' artwork!

Anyone who knows either Jane or I will appreciate our love of wine – and also our preference for quality over quantity! To that end, we have long collected corks from wines that we have enjoyed, and built up a sizeable collection. Given that when we build the house, we’re planning to include a cellar, we came up with an artwork to suit the room, and to display the corks.

We call it our ‘Mastercard’ art, because of the following breakdown:

·            Safety glass front $0.00 (recycled)

·           Backing board $3.00

·            Fabric $16.00

·           Rough sawn oak timber $38.00

·            Filling… $Far too much!!!

It is good fun creating art though! Not sure if we will ever get it completely finished before the screw cap takes over, but we will give it a shot.

Whilst we are on booze (kind of), I have also extended my repertoire in other areas. I first started home brewing in New Zealand a looong time ago and only ever worked out of a kit. Since taking up the hobby again (no longer being prepared to pay the asking price for boutique beers), I progressed from a kit to a partial extract. That means that I still use a can, but also add grains and hops for extra flavour. Recently, I have gone the whole hog, and have created a ‘proper’ beer. I walked in with a bag of barley, and started from scratch. Jane asked why I had chicken feed in the house…

The process is surprisingly easy, and I particularly enjoy how it is possible to manipulate the finished product with an understanding of the process. My first beer is a Celtic style red ale, that has definite chocolate style undertones. Lovely!

I have also taken Jane’s Grandmother’s ginger beer recipe and had a crack at that too. It is certainly better than my two previous ginger beer efforts, and is really rather good. I might add a little more ginger to it next time to give it a bit more bite, but other than that am happy with the result.

Not to suggest that I have an unhealthy interest in intoxicating beverages, but I am also intrigued by the thought of making farmhouse cider or scrumpy when we eventually get to the farm (and trees grow…). I love the thought of having our own ‘scratter’ and cider press, and being able to experiment with what we grow. I may draw the line at growing great big mutton chop sideburns and walking around saying things like “oohar… This be top coyder”, and “Oi moight loike a wee spot o’ coider wif moi breakfast on dis foine mornin”… Actually, that last bit would probably make me sound a little more like a pirate than a Cornish cider-man, but I am sure you get the picture!