This country living has changed me from a shopaholic to a farmaholic.

Pinterest pins from me were cute jackets for the Fall,  and places to travel to, and how to make cute hair bows.

Now it’s all about chickens, compost ,and homemade fare from what I can forage.

My last browse found a one step butter recipe , in a canning jar , from heavy whipping cream.  But it could never work, could it?

Not one to let a chance go by , I picked up a pint of heavy whipping cream from the local store ( this is called double cream in the UK ) ,  I poured into a quart canning jar, put the lid on it, and shook it for about 25 minutes.  My arms were aching and I did allow the kids to take a turn  (  a little concerned as the jar was made of glass )

At the 25 minute mark, as if by magic, I kid you not, the cream had separated into butter  and buttermilk !!  There was no warning just a sloshing sound from the jar.

I drained off the buttermilk and added a small sprinkle of salt to the butter ,  shook for another moment and it was done ! 

Bloody marvelous !  Freshest, most delicious butter I have ever tasted.

I should not have doubted.  I am glad I tried , and succeeded.

I can now add ‘butter maker’ to my repertoire 🐮😃

We moved into our 1950s farmhouse style home about one month ago. We are still living out of boxes, exploring, decorating and generally fixing the place up. It’s going to take a long time to make it the way we would like.

It is a 2 1/2 acre property with multiple fruit trees, and I have blogged before about my home made pomegranate syrup. Still enjoying it in prosecco by the way!

This morning I grabbed another bucket of pomegranates my trusty wooden spoon and set about de seeding them.

It’s a messy business getting juice from this fruit ,so I decided to sit outside on my back steps underneath a huge pine tree in the shade.  The two dogs came out with me and went off to explore.

A rooster was crowing ,  and all I could hear over the tap tapping of my wooden spoon was… Nothing !

I sat and enjoyed a quiet hour  whilst realising that we had made a very good decision in our move to this home.

Our previous home was a four bedroom,  three bathroom tract home in a cul-de-sac.  Everyone was busy with school and sports, the kids played in the backyard or in our luxurious pool.  Seemed like everyone was in a rush.  The neighbours would come home from work or school and immediately drive  into the garage and shut the door.  No apparent time to stop and say hello.

Three homes looked over into our yard,  so that left very little for privacy (  or chance of skinny-dipping!! )  There were four homes in our cul-de-sac and although I knew the first names of all of my neighbors, I was never in their homes in the eight years that I lived there .  They had been in mine though!

You might be getting the impression I did not enjoy modern home living .  I felt the pressure to keep my house pristine ,  be the model neighbor ,  wash my car on a Sunday like everybody else and have my children dressed immaculately whilst sipping organic fruit juice.

Moving here has been a release from all of that.  My kids can make as much noise as they want, ride their bikes until sundown, climb trees and get as dirty as they like.   Because our home is older I don’t feel it has to be perfect, it has to be lived in , and loved.

No one is looking in in our yard, and I have the privacy I yearned.

I am looking forward to planning and planting a vegetable garden in the spring ,and to getting a few chickens for eggs. I’d like to plant a few more trees ( apple, cherry and avocado).

By no means am I Ina Garten or the Pioneer Woman ,  but I am embracing nature and loving my surroundings.

Country living was only 2 miles away , but we found it. ❤️

Every year the stores are crammed full of costumes from early September onwards. Halloween is coming! I’d personally prefer to be out of triple digits and my bathing suit before thinking about dressing in nylon , but the kids love it.

One year we dressed the two little boys as Tweedle dee and Tweedle dum , but changed the suffix to a variation of their names as no one wanted to be the ‘dumb one’ . Freckles painted on their noses and padding around their bellies with each wearing a helicopter hat. They were the talk of the neighborhood!

Next they had a little sister,  and one went as the big bad wolf and she as little red riding hood  ( she was terrified and turned the color of her cape screaming as the mask went on ) Poor choice on my behalf

This year we have a threesome , three little kids that I want to theme together somehow. To know me is to know I love a theme.

Over dinner we discussed it,  and talked the oldest out of most of his ideas ( which would have cost a fortune)

We decided on a short list which includes (2 male and 1 female for some) :

•Mario , Luigi and Princess Peach

•Wendy, Peter Pan and Captain Hook

•Three blind mice

•Three musketeers

•Three little pigs

•Woody, Jessie and Buzz

•Darth, Luke and Leia

Now to poll the vote and hit the craft stores  , thrift stores and my Halloween boxes in storage. Although……those store ready made costumes are mighty tempting…..!

Boo.