Making churn butter from fresh cows cream

  

 Me milking Hershey! *grin*

One of my most pleasure when comes to processing Hershey's milk ,is  to make fresh churn butter. 

The butter is so nutritious  naturally colored and tastes nothing like  store bought butter.

Here is a quick  way I  can show you how I make our butter.

The picture above shows the cream that I have already separated from the milk and it is very cold after couple days in the fridge

 

 Here you can see how thick the cream is.

One can make butter using a electric or manual churner.... but I will tell you this, I can taste the difference when I use my hand churn.... it is ...mmm... heavenly!

 Churning  takes time... nothing like things of now days...grin.... but it is wonderful to see the separation from the whey  and the butter been formed

 

It is done. you can see the butter already, can't you?grin

 Now I drain the whey and rinse the butter with cold water... then I add salt.

 Most of the time I press  the butter into  my butter molds. I collect these molds  as i adore the different designs... I have made some from pottery too.

But today I did not press as we were ready  to eat it!*grin*

 I hope you enjoyed it!

Beautiful skin ....naturally!

                                                  How  to slow the aging process in our  skin?

It has been  a while  that I want to write few posts about  natural health , food choices and skin care.

My entire life has been focused on eating  well , meaning, making choices that are as much as possible good for my body. I grow up in a farm land in Brazil and  pretty much all I ate came from the land. I  learned  a lot by watching my mom making good choices and later in my adult life, these were also my choices for most of the time.

when I turned 30 , I became very conscious about my skin  more than ever.... I think was the number 'thirty' that scared me a little bit,grin, but it was good for me because my habits began to change. That was 12 years ago.

I have always loved make up but  not too much that takes way the "natural " look, just enough to  bring up what I already have. One of the most important rule is  to NEVER sleep with the make up on.

When you are sleeping  , normally a long period of hours , it is important to have the right care and these are the steps that I have been doing for about 12 years now and I love how my skin looks and feels.

Morning and Night:

remove any make up . I use baby oil with cotton balls .( for the night purpose)

turn on the water in a warm setting.... start washing my face with the water only. This process allows your skin to open its porous.

I then wash my face with goats milk and emu oil soap . I sell them HERE , but you can buy online many other natural soaps that are good for your type skin.

Rinse the soap with cool water. This closes the porous.

Apply a good moisturizer cream . 

Face cream:

One does NOT have to spend a fortune on face cream. you can even make your own and keep in your fridge.  If you are not able to, choose naturally made  verses expensive brands. 

look for ingredients like ;

vitamin E--an antioxidant known as tocopherol,

Honey  , a natural cleanser and helps tight the skin,

Oils such as grape seed oil, emu oil are the top on my list

 and less than 1% of preservatives. 

Once a week  at least do a mask.  One of my favorite mask is  the egg white. That is all that takes - eggs whites.

 If  you can  buy a farm raise eggs - great  but, if is not available  one from the store is fine.

crack the egg and separate the yoke . If you have oily skin , save the yoke and use the same way  "after" the egg whites.

start by betting the whites just a little bit.
using your fingers , apply to your CLEAN face.
' do NOT' apply on your eye area.
leave it  for about 10 minutes .
You will experience something you never did before,lol, your face start to tight  as the whites dries.
Wash your face like  I said in the beginning of this post.

Apply the face cream or go to the honey process for best results.Or if you have oily skin do the same thing using the yoke only now then do the honey and finish with the cream.

Honey mask:

All you need is honey, preferable , local honey if you are able to buy otherwise, store bought is fine.

Lightly  , warm the honey  in the microwave.
Apply the honey using your fingers .Don't forget to avoid the eye area.
leave it  10 to 15 minutes.
Rinse as I described above.

 You will feel like a princess  or a queen!!!*grin*
I love how the skin feels clean and tight. the benefits are not only the one that you feel immediately but the ones that shows over the years if you maintain good habits like this with your skin.

No matter what age you are , of course I am talking about  people over 21 , ( under that age there is no need  for masks but the washing process is a good habit to have at early age)  you can start taking care of your skin.

ps. One egg white will be enough for 5 people or more . I normally do on my husband's face , mine , and some of my  girls...
This is  so silly  but I hate waste ....even an egg...LOL.... I have asked some of the teens boys  to try but the  refuses even seen their dad doing , grin.

Enjoy and  feel free to ask me questions, if any ,:)

smiles!!!

  For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 
                                                                                                                                    Jeremiah 29:11

It is a wonderful farm life!!!:)

It is a wonderful life....

I must say a "blessed life"!!!*grin*

Indeed, God has always blessed me with way more that I ever expected. I get lost in my thoughts to think that I am the 'daughter of the king'...wow... what a magnificent thing to meditate upon... what a privilege!!*grin*

I was up early, I mean REALLY early this morning. my sister ordered a large quantity of Goats milk soap about 2 weeks ago and because I was busy with a miniature show, I kept leaving for afterward until last night I got a call from her :(!

The soaps were ready at the soap room , but I need to re-mill and add scents. A job that take few hours. The children will later on cut , wrap and add labels .. all requires a bit of time.

I also planned to make a nice breakfast, after all today is Saturday. This is a day that we don't have school and the children after their chorus are able to spend their free time doing what ever they want.*grin*

i can not tell you in words what spring means to me. i am often thanking my Heavenly father for all His blessing upon me and my family , however the animals are a big part of my life too.
I specially remember to thank for each one of them this time of the year . New life is coming almost daily.

Three days ago , our chiauau gave birth to 3 healthy puppies. Momma and puppies are doing great. Hershey gave birth to a calf that we named Penelope, just couple weeks ago . kittens were born... and TODAY as the sunrise, I spotted a baby lamb... a brand new baby lamb , born last night..ohhh.... what can i say? *smiles*

Sheep are very fussy about their babies so I walked to the pasture but kept a good distance . In few days perhaps i can get some better pictures.

One time, years ago, i went to pet a baby lamb and the momma did not want him back. i cried tears of regrets and after almost all day she decided to take him back. I learned my lesson.

I know it has been a long time since I did a post . Sorry about that!
I hope you enjoy our farm pictures!
lovingly~

work in progress...

Hi there~

It has been awhile since i posted any painting work and the reason is because i have not done much at all. If you visit my miniature blog you will see that i have been so very busy, happy busy!!*grin*

As much as i love to draw , i wonder if I had to take a long term job or book deal, if I truly would be as happy as I think I would... only because I LOVE to sculpt and make miniatures too.
Anyways... I thought to post few work that is in progress for "some day".
This is a complete story and i have done the dummy book and all the sketches are done as well. there are 18 illustrations and not all are done but i thought to share some here... maybe i should add the story too...
You also will see that i added 2 pictures of the same but with different saturation... which one you like best? thank you in advance for your input.... i am curious you know... grin
sometimes one i "stare" my own work, it is hard to make decisions...sigh.

well... I will leave you know but with the news that I am working on a new illustration BUT this is different ... it has to do with my miniatures.... i hope i can post soon...

Full Moon

It has been a while since I post, no? So sorry... I don't mean to ignore my little spot here is just that I am living a life exactly how my profile says...grin. I am into "many' forms of arts right now and I love them all.

However, my desires to illustrate does not go way... I can't ignore it either. Sometimes I am sad that I like to draw so much and sometimes I am so very happy. I get sad because I feel "alone" in a way because after sending work to publishers and hearing "nothing" or refusals , I question my self and I feel as if I am wasting time. Time is important because my time is "not" mine.
Then , I sit and draw and as I paint my little people and animals start to take form and certain 'life' that "I" see and feel it. I smile. Yes, I smile and I feel good inside.

I have been waiting to do something like my title but a little different. it was more like a mind challenge. I wanted to have 2 girls , same atmosphere, and the owl ... but flying this time.... ohhh how I love owls.!!!!grin

Here at the farm, I love to sit at our covered area during Autumn evenings and talk to my husband while sipping in a hot cocoa. many times , we stay quite listening the animals in the woods and now and then , a special sound.... an owl!*grin*

anyways.... bid adieu , hopefully not for long....smiles~

Sophie & Ally

My eldest daughter, Sthefanie, is due with her first child ( that means that I will be a Gramma!!!*grin*) next month. She has chosen to name her expecting baby " Alissa Sophia". I made a little girl and named her Sophie and her little companion ,a baby lamb - Ally!

This little animation is my first one and I know is not great but I think is sweet, don't you agree?grin

You can see the illustration HERE!

Homeless Child

Christmas is always in my mind.... can you tell?*grin*

This sweet little girl is homeless and she is playing the flute for pennies....

Ps. This was the first time that I used watercolour glitter paint..... how fun.... one can see it well even on a print..... the snowflakes...grin.

You can buy it HERE

* ps. you can view this enlarged at my store.

Farm Parade & Deep Thoughts

Watercolor & Pencil
( Click on picture to enlarge)

I had an idea of making a parade for while but I confess that the coming of 4th of july had brought back the idea to my mind. I have 2 other farm parades in the making.... one is a Christmas Parade and the other is a Fun Fall Parade but I think because this took me a while to draw and paint , I want to rest a bit before I go back to the others.*smiles*

This was my first time painting a tractor. Because my illustrations are vintage style, I wanted a tractor that would fit the period of mid 1900's so the FARMALL is what I decided to add.

I will be listing on my etsy sometime soon but first I want to frame one and see how it looks.

I was thrilled to find a company that makes barn woods frames. Mostly of my oil paintings are framed in those but the man that used to make it for me was a seller on Ebay and he no longer makes them due to an accident while working, I know, poor guy!

I have been thinking to frame with a white frame also , just to give a different look and more modern for those that likes it that way... we shall see... right now , I custom frame some and as soon they are ready I will post.

I also have an exciting news. I was invited to do an exhibition in August. It is for a book club . It is not anything big at all and honestly if was , I wouldn't do it as I don't feel ready for something like that. I was surprise to be approach in interest on this because lately I have been thinking that perhaps I should not illustrate at all. Why? Well, perhaps some artists like me can relate... or perhaps is just me..sigh.

This is why:

For as far as I can remember I have always wanted to be an illustrator for children's book. When I was a child at any time I read I would look at the pictures and let "it" tell me the story. I would them *dream* about it for while. As an adult , it is not much different.*grin*

I take the children to the library every week. They have a summer program now and all my children were piled up with books . The person that checked us out handle me a paper to enter on the drawing and I laugh when I couldn't as I took a long look in what I had and saw that I did not get one single *adult section * book, grin.... yes , things has not changed.

Now back to my thoughts ... I am struggling with directions to go. I realize that in this industry , there are few different ways that an illustrate can go. One is to pursue children's book illustrations by submitting promotion cards, portfolio or even looking for an agent. This is such a difficult road to go and I personally know a handful of artist that have been doing this for a long time and never got a book deal. I recently found one artist that I can not say her name as she does not know me, but reading her blog, I was shocked to know that she has been trying for over 10 years and nothing. This person is A*M*A*Z*I*N*G..... her work makes me dream and I can see her illustrations on so many books and yet , she is still waiting!

Then one can be I like to call - A commercial illustrator. This is something that I recently found out about it. Etsy has a LOT of artist that are exploring this path with LOTS of success. For that , when one is creating is not just making a "picture or illustration" but rather "picturing" where this will go , mostly focusing on licensing. There are lot licensing companies out there that looks for specify art work, for ex: children's plates set.... Wall stickers... fabric.... just to name few.

Now is the question.... What should I do? okay, for those that will say...'follow your heart', I am starting to think that is NOT a good idea.*sad grin*

I HAVE been following my heart and I have not found sales for me. As much as I love to illustrate what ever comes to my mind , I truly need to make some income with that. I have set my sculpting aside to devote my time mostly on this and it is frustrating not to see monetary results, mostly because I start to fell selfish and that I am letting my family down.


I have been praying about it and I am willing to try something new but again, my style is what is and that is what I know and how it comes to me because is part of my life , but the vision can be change and that is what I am hoping for.

This year I decided to make a portfolio and bravery start the road of sending out to publisher. I know it can happen or not and honestly, I don't want to be sitting , waiting and hoping that some one will say yes. the reason is because creating illustration is now a natural thing for me and it comes and "calls" me to get it done. It is a joy ,a pleasure and a blessing that only artist like me can truly understand and relate so I don't have an option to "stop",grin, BUT I can be commercial mean while.

I don't even know how to do this is practical way.... I began to think that perhaps I need to strength my outlines a bit and maybe even add a little of photoshop . I am not sure.

okay, I hope this did not come out as rumblings in a bad way because I honestly can tell you that I am SO grateful to the Lord and so thankful that God has blessed me with my gifts and the portion that HE has for me. I want to be content with my lot and if means just to make silly little illustrations then let it be but I then need to learn my limits and priorities- I struggle with that!*grin*

I was not planning to write this post and as I am re-reading it , I was tempt to delete it but thinking again, perhaps God used me to help someone that are facing similar struggles.

May HE bless you with direction and true contentment that can ONLY comes from Jesus Christ.

Summer and gardens...

This time of the year I like to take time and enjoy the work that we did over the past few months around our farm. It is with a true sense of satisfaction and gratidute that I thank the Lord Jesus for blessing me and my family with so much more than I ever dream . I know I don't deserve anything and it is only because God is gracious that I am and have all that He has trusted in me.

Happy 4th of July!!!

I wish you a happy and safe holiday weekend!!!*grin*

Christmas in July!

Watercolor

ALMOST JULY ...

I did this illustration in Feb 2011. Christmas seems never to leave my mind and heart....grin.
This is our kitchen.
Hope you like it!!

Summer is time for fishing!

Summer is time for fishing....

At least here at our farm!!!!!!!*grin*

I hope you are enjoying your summer no matter where you are!!!

You can buy a print here!

what is on my desk!

Like any other work that I do, I have lots of materials that I use when I am creating. When I first started to paint with watercolors , I used the very inexpensive watercolors. There were few reasons for that: One was for the fact that I was not sure what was the difference from paint cakes and paint in tubes, and the other was -price.
I guess I did learn that we get what we pay for it . I will make a confession and tell you that only *very * recently that I finally spent the time, in learning about the difference, and the money... should I say ..LOTS(!) and bought a hand full of paints.
I bought some very fine artists color - Winsor & Newton series 3 and 4 and some Grumbacher as well.
Wow! what a difference. I am having so much fun with these new paints. i also bought some iridescent watercolor paint and they are beautiful for details too.
I then decided that I need to make a color chart. I have made couple but as much as they are helpful to me, I realise that I truly should make more for reference. the concept is one that I knew from glazing pottery as I find very helpful and I still don't understand why I didn't do this before.

Next are my watercolor pencils. LOVE them! Of course I use brushes too. I have lots of them, as a matter of fact, my birthday is next month and my children knows that this is my number one item in their list of present for me!:-)

I use plastic pallets. I don't care for porcelain. It works well for me and is washable.




BUT my favorite one is my handmade pallet from a acrylic board that I stop my husband from throwing in the garbage. I use this as a portable table specially when I want to paint outside by the pond or sitting any where under a tree or by the pastures. I have a place for my water cup in which was a special Christmas gift from a dear friend that is 86 years old.*grin*


On the bottom left of the picture above you cab see a circle and it was made to fit her cup. ( forgot the place in when took the picture, dahhh)


I love this Because is unique and attach the paper so tight avoiding the curliness when its wet. also all the paint is near and so the water--- perfect!*grin*





Next to my work is normally my models.... oh am I blessed?!!!* big smiles*


My children are focus in my life and art. when I draw I use LOTS of old pictures of when they were toddlers , as I love the details of the natural gestures specially fingers and toes but faces... faces are very important too.

I like to draw a little older children too . My sweet Becca is often called to pose for me. As you see I took 3 pictures of her and choose one. I want to make a faerie under a mushroom in a raining day.





I doddle my first idea and I like it. I use a very fine mechanical pencil and draw straight into the watercolor paper. If one day I buy a good light box, I will then work on my sketches but for now as I don't have one, I work so light on the watercolor paper that when I erase my mistakes I don't ruin the paper. If I try to copy eye to eye from my sketch I always end up loosing something like an expression.. and I hate that. I will then start my project already not liking it sigh so a while ago i decide to only sketch the idea , like the one above and then work on my lines and final drawing direct on the WC paper.ugh! I hope I made sense with my broken English!






I spent a good time thinking and thinking while I was feeding the chickens. I then walked thought the pastures back home ( my barns where the chickens lives is in the other side of the pastures) I got back to my picture and prayed . I prayed as I was walking too. I always ask God to work thought my hands and to show me what to do and to help me improve.





I then felt ready and start drawing. to my completely surprise , my little faerie became more like a princess. I start out with a crown but later I removed because the children told me that she look like Thumbelina. The large frog was drawn appears in my mind . I made him into a "prince to be".

I the background also start to come to me... this is when I get excited. I have a vision!




I see that my pictures are not good. I was not checking the light source when I took them and some were taking at mid night anyways.

I called Becca to see and she made a "face"- she hates frogs... in all animals , she is scare of them!

I then promised her that I would make him very lovely and not freighting at all!*grin*

ps. clicking on each picture , will enlarge it and you can view it better!

I will post my finished piece next time!*grin*