51°f/10.5°C, clear.
Have you ever had a day when you just felt like you were treading water, or even going backwards when trying to move forward?
That was today. A bad night's sleep, not because of my knee, but my shoulder and arm that wants to go numb and get all tingly and buzzy several times during the night. So aggravating! Larry has a similar issue, and was diagnosed last week with carpal tunnel and an entrapped nerve, so he's heading to surgery soon. After my knee surgery, though, I don't think I want to try that road.
So a bad night, followed by a sluggish morning. I had meant to spend the day painting a dresser and working in the flowerbeds, but what did I do? I spent hours listing stuff on ebay! Which needed to be done, but wasn't on my list for today. How does that even happen? Clueless.
However, there was a fun moment in there. We had some milk that was beginning to spoil. I didn’t want to waste it, so I decided to try cheese making. Mother Google came to my aid, and within an hour I had a nice bit of cheese. The first photo above shows the milk after heating up to just under 200°f, and adding lemon juice. The curd formed immediately.
I put the curd into some cheesecloth and hung it up to drip. I left it for about an hour.
My only mistake was waiting to add my seasonings (salt, pepper, and caraway seeds) until after all the whey had dripped out. The remaining cheese was surprisingly dry and firm, and crumbly. I worked in the seasonings anyway, then put my cheese on a plate, added a lot of weight to press it down, and came out with a nice firm bit in the center. We sliced it up and had it with crackers. What a delightful, surprise snack! I will use the crumbles in salad, and it used the whey to cook pasta for dinner---using up the last of the spaghetti sauce I made earlier this week. So anyway, that was pretty cool, and ii will definitely do it again. Very tasty!
I finally got to painting, but not the dresser, and only after we ended up doing more repairs on a cabinet that has plagued us for the past 3 months. It will never be right, and will most likely end up for display use. Ah well, better than pitching it into the bonfire as we were both tempted to do!
And then? I spent another hour or so piddling in the workroom, trying to organize Larry's mess. He is the opposite of me when it comes to tools and work area. I want my stuff organized, he doesn't care. I made a lot of headway, but to keep it reasonably straight I will have to add this organizing to my regular to-do list. Since I'm the one that the mess makes crazy, I guess that's only fair.
The evening, though, was lovely. Larry had a similar day to mine, never quite getting to what he wanted to do. But he built a nice fire in the firepit, and we spent the last hours of daylight on the patio with the dogs and the cat. And looking back over the day, it really wasn't so bad. We made progress, just not on the things we thought we were going to do.
And those ebay listings? Three sales already, and an offer of $350 for one of those Blenko glass pieces I listed. A nice profit on my $75 investment. So in the end, it was time well spent.
Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.
Sorry you had such a bad nicht. I woke felt 20 times ,too. Wow on the cheese!
ReplyDeleteSounds familiar. Ingo lives in total chaos, I am the opposite.
You are such a positive person, it´s a joy to read! Have a great day!
It all sounds very good to me, Sue, an industrious and productive day. I'm sorry about your painful night, lack of sleep tends to colour the day rather, but it ended on a very good note. Excellent!
ReplyDeleteAfter you knee problems, I totally understand you hesitation for surgery for carpal tunnel. However, a cautionary tale. My father-in-law needed surgery for it years ago. However, he hesitated until he didn't have feeling in his fingertips any more. He had the surgery, but it didn't work because too much damage had already been done.
ReplyDeleteBed can be a little but painful. I take a Celebrex and two Tylenol Arthritis before bed.
ReplyDelete...always dwell on the positive.
ReplyDeleteYou get a lot done in a day!
ReplyDeleteMaking cheese! Something I've never tried. You should at least get your arm checked out. It may not be the same problem as Larry's.
ReplyDeleteOh Sue, I think we all have those days! Had to laugh about the tools. Rick's laundry room is much the same. I have no control (I don't live there!) but whenever I do laundry it makes me crazy. I told him when I move in, I'm doing a reorganize!
ReplyDeleteI have the same problem with my shoulder and arm I use a pillow to support it and that really helps me sleep. You had a busy day, great on the ebay sales!!
ReplyDeleteAll considered your day turned out not too badly and you ended it with sitting by your fire pit. I wish we could have a fire pit but there are by laws that forbid it.
ReplyDeleteI find your do-it-yourself cheese so interesting!!
Hey, a 'bad' day that was pretty productive. So sorry about the pain at night. I had carpal tunnel surgery in both hands and am very glad I did as it has improved the mobility of my fingers a whole lot. But it was a minor snip with local freezing, and no pain afterward.
ReplyDeleteYou need my husband. His tools are so organized that the hanging ones have a drawing of which tool goes where. And I confess to snarling at my daughter if she does not put the mixing bowls back in the exact right order.
It sounds like an industrious day despite a sleepless night. Your cheese is motivating me to try it again. I made cheese years ago and got out of the habit.
ReplyDeleteOh yes. I have those days. I challenge you to find someone who doesn't. I dehydrated 5 lbs of potatoes, a cookie sheet of tomatoes, zucchini and green beans. I pulled out my peas and helped Tim with the siding.
ReplyDeleteTranquility.
ReplyDeleteWho knew you could make cheese in an hour? And I’ve been buying Cheddar aged for five years!
ReplyDelete