Yogurt Bugs and Pretty Porcupine Prickles

Today was the first day the kids resumed school after their extended visiting break. It was a fun weekend full of excitement. My husband had a table at a "Gun and Horn Show" in the city nearby and the kids took turns helping him. Each of the kids have their own "investments" and "merchandise". Each spring, the boys go shed hunting and come back with spoils of deer and elk antlers which they later sell at their dad's gun show table. The Sock Fashion Expert also became an Entrepreneur this past weekend. She had the opportunity to acquire the quills off of a dead porcupine. I would have said "Ew gross!", but she had vision. She went on line, learned how to make porcupine quill jewelry and then pulled the quills off the carcass , cleaned them and made beautiful earrings, necklaces and bracelets. She put some out on the table and sold over $50 worth this weekend. She was thrilled. I was so excited and proud about her taking such initiative that I couldn't help but testify about it in church. After the service, sight unseen, she got several more orders for her jewelry. Instead of moping around complaining that there's no way to earn extra spending money around here, she proved to have vision, ingenuity and followed through! She's well on her way to the guitar she's been hoping for. After all of that excitement, it was hard to resume an ordinary school day.
Of course, not much was all that ordinary about today either. For one thing, I managed to get up at a decent time and get the kids started on devotions and school, for which I am quite pleased. I also tried my hand at making yogurt for the first time ever unsupervised. This was a quite a frightful experience for me. As you may be fully aware, I am domestically challenged. The idea of cooking up a bacterial concoction was quite alarming to me, especially with my medical background. Over the week at our moms, my sister Heather taught and supervised me as we made several batches together. By the end of the week, I had some confidence that I could really do it myself. At home, however, I was somewhat fearful. A church lady gives me raw milk from her cow every so often. I am always appreciative of it. I know that it needs to be drank quickly. Some people think raw milk is the healthiest thing ever. Others cringe and say "nay!" It's all in who you listen to I suppose. Anyway, I figured that I may as well learn to make yogurt so that I can put her milk to good use. If we're all going to consume raw milk, we may as well have the good bacteria to go along with it. And so, armed with my new thermometer and nothing but a crock pot to "breed the bugs in", I got to work. I felt quite good about this endeavor until I saw an eyelash eyeing me from the top of an odd looking film that had emerged. This was quite troubling and I thought to throw the whole thing out to the cat, but I decided to persevere. Finally after 5 hours, I scraped the film off (as my sister recommended) and put the whole thing in the refrigerator. It actually does somewhat resemble yogurt. If I can con my kids into consuming the stuff, perhaps I will invest in a yogurt maker. Yes, I know, all of you domestic women have been making yogurt since you were ten, yeah, well, I bet you never made it flavored with an eye lash, now did you? Yes, I have you all beat.
I suppose I must resume my "normal" day now. There is laundry to be done and scheming to do as well. My husband is currently walking home from the local mercantile, where he sold his latest investment project - a Toyota Truck. Hmmm....... a handsome man with some cash in his wallet. The possibilities are endless. Actually its a good thing he did since I haven't gotten any hours at the hospital this month.

Above photos include shopping with my sister, mother in law, nieces and The Sock Fashion Expert. Also Moonbeams first time feeding herself (yogurt) at my sisters house.