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| Quiet Mountain Night |
Hello my Friends! 😊
I hope everyone out there is happy! I've been on a high recently...maybe it's all the cheese I'm eating...maybe it's the art classes...I don't know, but I love life, despite the fact that we are dealing with some ice storms lately. Last night it sounded like the roof was being pelted mercilessly by little bullets of freezing rain...we lost power off and on; now it's snowing so those power lines are heavy with ice...I hope we don't have a repeat of the 1998 Ice Storm. We lost power for weeks back then. At least I'm more prepared now if that happens.
We had our monthly fondue night early this month! Alex and I were craving my Smoked Cheddar and Apple Cider Fondue. Delicious! I buy the smoked Cheddar but I do have plans in the future to set up a smoke house for my cheeses!
We used one of my Homemade Camemberts to make a Baked Cam. Can you read what I wrote? I'm such a sucker for anything romantic!! 💘 (Note to Laurie: I spelled out Rain Loves Alex in pastry dough!) I've mentioned several times that my cheeses never melt haven't I? I even figured out WHY my cheeses will never melt. And I got confirmation from credible sources that my cheeses will never melt without proper milk fat...and...
MY CAM MELTED! Whoda thunkit? I honestly am baffled and I can't process it lol...I'm just happy it did melt and it was delicious! Next year when I have more time, I'm going to really experiment with my cheeses to try to figure this melty thing out.
We spread all of that melty goodness on my No Knead Bread with some apricot jam and it was so tasty! The rest of the week we had leftovers, pasta dishes and stir fry's.
Is there a hobby you have that you just simply lose yourself in? I've found mine. ART. All forms, painting, drawing, charcoal, pastels, markers...I'm so ensconced in my art classes lately! I did a charcoal of Leo, our beautifully affectionate Alpha cat - we call him Big Boss Leo. He has always been a bit of a loner. Now he's always near me, I'm guessing it's because I let him taste my cheeses! He's very sweet and has a gentle nature.
But then I lose myself in blogging, cheese making, baking and cooking too. I enjoy every moment in my cozy home with my pets and Alex. Life is amazing!
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| Stella, Jack, Marlene, Pavlov, Charlie |
We taught our dogs to "take your place" - which means they all have to lie down while we prepare their meals and stay there until the bowls are down. Then, Alex or I stand behind the bowls and say "OKAY!" and they all rush to the food! This is a photo I took two years ago when we were babysitting Stella and Pavlov. We taught them to take their place too. Alex is standing by their bowls, about to say "OKAY!". Look at that eye contact! We have such good dogs!
I feed Charlie in the kitchen in the mornings because she howls with excitement when I ask her to take her place with Marlene and Jack. When she's alone, she's quiet so she doesn't wake Alex up! I just wanted to show you how lazy she's become. When I say "OKAY!" she simply crawls along the floor and eats lying down! Crazy critters...
I hope you all have a nice end to the weekend. I'll see you on Thursday for our art date, the theme is Jagged and Ice.
We do a "Look at me" command with our dogs. They are to sit and make eye contact. I don't know why some batches melt and others don't. I have the same problem. I love fondues too!!
ReplyDeleteHi Jo :) The dogs love the "take your place" time, because they know what's coming next lol...it's cool that you do the same! Yeah, the cheese...I was told not high enough milk fat, add cream to the milk. But our creams are filled with gelatin. I don't know, my brain doesn't want to know right now lol!
ReplyDeleteI really liked reading about the dogs, there's no doubt that any pet feels more secure and loved when they know the house rules! I am going back to volunteer walking of homeless dogs from the nearby rescue home, with my re-introduction this coming Friday, can't wait to see everyone and be out and about with a little doggie again. Betty
ReplyDeleteThat's a wonderful portrait of Big Boss Leo!
ReplyDeleteThanks Debra! :)
ReplyDeleteYummy looking cheese. Love your drawing of your handsome cat. Your dogs are so good and adorable.
ReplyDeleteI love the charcoal drawing you made. Thanks for telling Laurie what you "wrote" on the cheese, because I would have missed it. Cute!
ReplyDeleteI did read Rain and Alex, yummy! Your charcoal cat is amazing.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, you shouldn't have shown me cheese again.... It makes me jump up and fetch a piece from the kitchen, although my cheese does not look as good as yours. But our weather is warmer, albeit miserably grey, sorry yours is so hard just now. And I love the pic of the dogs waiting for their food, you can see them quivering in anticipation, bless them! Enjoy your Sunday. I have been out walking in the pouring rain and now it's feet-up and book time for me! Hugs, Valerie
ReplyDeletei love how you put rain loves alex on your cheese! charlie is too funny. these pets sure do entertain us don't they? leo looks so much like my beloved cat pyawacket. she lived to be 22 years old. i sure loved her. they are both russian blues, such beautiful cats. i hope your power stays on!
ReplyDeleteYour charcoal of Leo is spot on. You are growing rapidly in you art work. I read your dough message right away. Very sweet. As usual your food photos made me hungry lol. Your dogs are so well behaved/trained.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, love the dogs. I always wondered do you have a full time/part-time job, outside of your blogging? Or are you retired? I just always wondered if you have to drive into town and commute to do work?
ReplyDeleteAll the puppies waiting for food is so cute. Lucy pirouettes all around the kitchen until I put her dish down for her. I told David I need to go buy her some pink and white tulle and make her a tutu. I hope you don't lose power. That is the only thing that scares me about winter.
ReplyDeleteEverything looks so cozy! I love how you wrote on your bread with other bread. 😊
ReplyDeleteI adore cheese. I am a vegetarian and it is cheese (and some other dairy) which stops me going down the vegan route.
ReplyDeleteCheese and home made bread? Bliss.
Love your furs too. Sadly Jazz (our resident cat) believes his place is everywhere, and could not be controlled as your pooches are.
PMG the baked camembert ... it looks so good !!! Yes I am craving cheese ... a lot ... lol but that aside ... it does look delicious and it must have been such a treat. I love the picture of Charly laying down while she eats.
ReplyDeleteOur dogs have to sit and wait for their food as well and they all donvery well, besides Shep whonis part border colie. He has ants in his pants, literally. He tries so hard to sit still but his but wiggles with his wagging tail ...its like he is doing some kind of dance...food dance I guess...lol
Oh my Rain! That melted cheese is beautiful. And the writing on the pastry shell is too cute. It's no wonder that you love art so. It appears you are really a natural at it. The dogs are amazing. And well trained. And Charlie is too funny. :)
ReplyDeleteYUMMY!
ReplyDeletehow sweet to write phrase on pastry dear Rain ,you dough your love within and i can see how compelling it looking :)))
ReplyDeleteloved the Leo's painting ,you draw it beautifully ,he looks commanding and serious guy lol
your food is splendid as always ,make me feel hungry already :) it is so important for pets to learn discipline i know it because mom had cat back then and she was nice follower ,she would obey all except on thing she would sleep on mom's bed when mom was slept inspite of forbidding :)
i am so happy that you are enjoying you indoor days dear Rain :) so do i
rains here since two days so no power mostly ,kids at home as roads to school are muddy due to constant rain
wishing you more happiness
hugs!
delicious cheese dishes, oh how I would like to bite in there !!!
ReplyDeleteYour cat picture is fascinating, because the eyes are drawn really expressively.
Nice to watch your winter landscape and your dog gang in the snow.
I wish you a nice week, Elke
Rain,
ReplyDeleteI hope y'all don't loss power too often or for too long. That's horrible being without electricity. Your foods look fabulous and I did notice that you spelled out Rain loves Alex. It's pretty and sweet. Your cat sketch in charcoal looks great. I admit I have a difficult time drawing cats. I need to practice on this subject more. Keep warm and have fun with your art classes. I do understand that happiness you're feeling. It's great when your passion fills you like that, isn't it? Have a wonderful week, my friend!
It is easy to see that you lose yourself in your hobbies. Your are a wonderful artist and cook and cheese maker...and dog trainer. :)
ReplyDeleteLooks delicious, Rain.
ReplyDeleteYou have encouraged me. I made cheese for the first time in months this weekend.
Rain, the charcoal of Leo is fantastic! The cheeses and breads look pretty good too. :)
ReplyDeleteI tell my goatie girls to "find your spot" when it's time to feed them. They each know where they're supposed to go and they'll go stand there (with only minor pushing and shoving). Then they wait patiently while I clip their collars to their station. This is the only way I can make sure everyone gets their fair share!
Both for children and pets, house rules are important! I did enjoy all of your gorgeous pet photographs.
ReplyDeleteYour cheese looks amazing and how nice that you spelt out Rain loves Alex :)
Hope the week and the weather is being kind to you.
All the best Jan
That last photo is hilarious! What a character. And you and Alex are dog whisperers! LOL I so enjoy your blog posts. They always make me smile.
ReplyDeleteThe photo of the dogs making eye contact with Alex is hysterical! Your cheese looks wonderful, and I'm glad that it melted. I keep saying it, Rain, and it's true: You have real artistic talent!
ReplyDeleteas a cheese lover myself, it's hard not to drool over the keyboard when reading your posts, Rain, and seeing the wonderful cheeses. The fondoe looked wonderful until I came upon the melted cam. we are expecting a wintry mix this weekend and already have wine and (store bought) cheese so I might have to bake some bread for our own part. I really liked your message on the cam. Nice that the pets know to wait for dinner until told to go.
ReplyDeleteSo glad your cheese melted and so happy you are so happy! Love the pics of your awesome canine family.
ReplyDeleteThanks Anesha :) The cheese dishes are so good! And yes, we do have good dogs!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Gigi :) I'm glad you caught my love note! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Laurie :) We've had a wild winter too, but we've had more rain than you have. I think our rain is your snow. I don't mind because this time last year the shoveling had defeated me already! Meal time is definitely something in this house lol! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Christine :)
ReplyDeleteOh Valerie lol...ALWAYS expect some kind of cheese on my blog posts! :) The dogs are so cute...even after all of this time, it still makes me giggle when Alex says "OKAY!!" and they bolt! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Joyce :) Oh yes, we've been told Leo is a Russian Blue, Alex got him from a shelter in 2010 as a kitten. He's such a sweetie. Pyawacket is a great name!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Marsha :) I'm practicing non-stop it seems with the art! It's just so much fun, and very rewarding to have my pieces turn out how I want them too!
ReplyDeleteThanks Nancy :) Well, I make no secret of it, I burned out in 2003 from a job at a trading firm. It was hell for about 10 years, really bad. My doc fought for me and I was put on permanent disability. I have lasting effects from that burnout (depression, anxiety and ptsd) so working is something that isn't possible for me unless it was stacking books in a library overnight. I'm lucky to have had such a wonderful doctor. I guess you could say I'm retired with prejudice. :) Just getting in the car on a sunny day now causes panic in me sometimes, so commuting could never happen. I try to live a normal life, but most days I'm functional only 2/3's of the day. I get emotionally exhausted really quickly and I'm trying my best to manage it and keep a positive outlook. :)
ReplyDeleteLOL Leanna! A pink tutu how funny! I don't mind losing power but for me it's the heat. I've become quite the little prepper actually. I have lots of water to drink, wash and use for the toilets (we have a sump pump so if the electricity goes, so does the water). I have plenty of candles, we have an emergency box in the car that we can hook up to the battery to charge our phones and I have a pantry full of food we can eat without cooking. But we do have a few fondue pots that we can use to heat up any food we need. Heat though...we have a fireplace, but it doesn't heat the place up at all, it's mostly for atmosphere.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Sandi :)
ReplyDeleteHi Elephant's Child :) I'm a total cheesaholic and no, wouldn't give it up, though I did go vegan for one year, but that was to do an elimination diet for digestive issues. Vegan cheese doesn't cut it for me!! Alex actually taught our three cats to "take your place" too! But they only sit for a split second before we put the dishes down in front of them!!
ReplyDeleteLOL Sis, that's funny about Shep! Sometimes we tease the dogs and say "Oh..." and all of their bums lift up a little, it's so cute! Yes, the cheese was a huge treat! I'm sure you can't wait for some good milk to make some!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Becki :) I do love art, and I guess I've been a closet artist my entire life, but only discovered it a few years ago!
ReplyDeleteIndeed Stefanie!! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Baili :) Leo is definitely a serious guy, he's the big boss. When he walks, you can hear his feet stomping along the ground lol...we have given up trying to get the pets off our bed, they love to be on soft places, and they love being wherever we are! I hope your weather gets better, losing power isn't fun!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Elke :) You're too late, the cheese is all gone lol! I need to start making more!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Cathy :) I was just saying that to Alex, that my cats are so difficult for me! I've done three cats in charcoal so far, the lions, the lynx and Leo. LLL lol. I have a really hard time with them! I need to practice more, it's a challenge for sure! I do love the art, it's really completed my life! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Henny :) I'm very much enjoying life these days, and our pets are so wonderful, training them and enjoying their company is so easy! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks TB :) I'm so happy you made cheese!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Leigh :) I think that is very cool that you trained your goats to "find your spot"!!! I'd love to see a video of that!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jan :) It's true, house rules make life a lot easier with all of the pets!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Martha :)) Charlie is so darn lazy...when I saw her do that for the first time, I could only shake my head in wonder lol! She has it too good hee hee! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Louise :) I know, that photo is hilarious...did you notice all the ears are up too? :) They are on high alert!! Thanks so much for your support with my art!! :) xx
ReplyDeleteThanks Dorothy :) I hope you enjoyed melted cheese on bread with your wine!! If I could live off that I would lol! The cam...I can't describe how delicious that was, we ate it FAST!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Sam :) The canines are my heart! :) I'm so happy about the melty cheese, but again, so confused as to why one melts and the other doesn't!
ReplyDeleteNice job on that cat! The cheese looks so delicious and it appears since you made the post above this one that you kept yoiur power...and that's a good thing...and a wrap~! enjoy the coming weekend.
ReplyDeleteoh..and you sound so excited with your love of art in all its' forms. i'm like you I love it and spend lots of time looking at art on the internet and really once i get motivated then i'm focused again on my own. I sure understand your enthusiasm.
Thanks Sandy :) I do love all aspects of art and I'm so happy I took the step to taking some classes, that in itself is motivating me though I think I'm spending too much on art supplies right now, lol...I'm like a kid in a candy store!
ReplyDeleteStop making me so hungry! LOL! So cute with what you did with the pastry dough! Love your cat art piece!!! That is so cute with how your dogs eat! LOL! Big Hugs!
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