Even though we used to live outside of town, living on a farm is quite different. I must admit, I am not a huge fan of any crawling or slithering thing. I am constantly checking myself, my hubby and kids for bites, especially tick bites. It's as if they are ten times bigger here! Besides ticks, we have all kinds of critter visitors like spiders, scorpions, weird looking crickets, etc. My youngest enjoys playing with "whatever these are" even though they "scream" at him! Apparently they don't bite and are not harmful. Either way, I don't touch them!
One night, without me knowing, my youngest decided to take his friend to bed with him. I assume the little friend was more than happy as it did not make any noise. At this point, I think I should tell you, that my youngest still SLEEPS IN MY BED!!!!! I woke up with "Mr whatever" crawling over my face and there we were, in the middle of the night, screaming at each other! Needless to say, I m desperately trying to get my youngest out of my bed and 1 extra chore has been added to my check list before bed time.
We are in the process of building a deli. Once built, we will be able to do everything from there like processing the milk, making butter, cream cheese, jams and jellies, sauces ect. At the moment I do all of this outside. The Lapa from where I'm working is beautiful. I have a beautiful view and I get to enjoy some much needed peace and quiet twice a day. I especially enjoy the uninterrupted praise, worship and prayer time in the morning since my kids are still asleep when I start processing the milk.
What a beautiful setting to work in! Unfortunately, it has it's "farm life" hazards and now I start my prayers at home and on my walk down there I do something more like spiritual warfare and I find myself praying louder and louder while I'm there, my singing sounds like I'm cold, I'm doing strange "dances" and I'm rushing rushing my work to get out. My prayer, or should I say warfare goes something like this: " Even when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me ~ I will walk amongst scorpions and snakes and crush them! No harm will come to me!"
Here's the reason for my "strange behavior":
This one I know, it's a puff adder. Extremely venomous and deadly. Apparently this is a big one, more than 1 meter long. It's an aggressive snake and it will bite for no reason (from what I understand). So, we found this one there in the lapa. If you look at the photo, there by the entrance underneath the bbq. Oh my! No, I did not find it (thank you Lord), my husband and farm worker found it. They put up a fight to get it out. My husband got wacked in the face with broom so hard that his face was bleeding. The farm worker panicked and misjudged where my husband was and when he tried to hit the snake with the broom, well, needless to say, he missed! LOL. I will eventually overcome the fear but I'll stick to lots of praying and warfare for now!
Here's some more info on this scary snake:
Behavior:
The Puff Adder is an aggressive snake and is known to attack with little warning. It gets its name from the way it inflates itself and hisses when threatened. Consider the hissing sound of a Puff Adder as a warning.
It senses the vibrations of footsteps but instead of scurrying away, it uses its camouflage to stay hidden. If you surprise a Puff Adder by treading on it, the snake will feel the need to defend itself so watch where you walk.
The Puff Adder has one of the fastest strikes out of all snakes and should be respected by all those who come in contact with it. Always remember that snakes are more afraid of you so be kind and respect their environment.
Puff Adder Venom
Puff Adder venom is cytotoxic. This can cause swelling, pain, blisters and tissue damage. Seek medical attention as quickly as possible. This venomous snake has large hinged front fangs that are capable of a painful bite and deep venom penetration. Death from a Puff Adder bite is rare and mostly occur from a secondary infection or poor medical care.
Puff Adder Diet
Puff Adders eat rodents, sometimes birds and even other snakes.
Field Notes
The Puff Adder is responsible for more bites and fatalities in Africa than any other snake due to its habit of not moving away from approaching footsteps, instead blowing out air as a warning, hence the name.
Source: https://www.krugerpark.co.za/africa_puff-adder.html
Anyway, besides making butter, I also learned to make my own cream cheese. Here's how:
- Mix 4 cups cream and 4 cups milk (or just cream)
- Bring to a boil over medium heat. Please remember, unlike me, that milk boils over fast!
- Once your milk reaches a slow boil, add 5 tablespoons white vinegar
- Gently mix in the vinegar and once the mixture curdles, remove from heat and strain
- Once all the watery whey (yellow greenish color) is removed, add salt and seasoning (to your taste) and put in a blender. I add two or 3 tablespoons cream just to get it nice and smooth and refrigerate. Easy peasy!
Well then, please pray for me! and thank you for reading :)