Fireflies, Dangerous Cheese, and Making My Day

Great firefly photo from Bev

I've been scarce around blogland the past several days. That's mainly because a whole bunch of stuff is happening. On Thursday night, I gave my firefly talk down at the Midewin National Grasslands. This is a brand new talk for me, which meant that I spent a bunch of time early this week preparing the talk. Only after I agreed to do it did I remember that I don't actually have any firefly images. Fortunately, what I do have is some good friends in the blogosphere. Bev over at Burning Silo is a really great photographer and let me use some of her firefly images. Thanks, Bev!

Spo and I have been exchanging a couple of comments about bacteria in food- this prompted by a discussion of the suspect nature of sun tea, which never gets boiled. On Thursday night, a co-worker attended a cheesemaking class in Chicago. She's been interested ever since I brought some homemade mozzarella into work. Friday morning, she brought in a half gallon of raw cow's milk. Yay!! This is udderly new territory for me (sorry). You can't buy it here in Illinois, because as an unpasteurized dairy product, it's "unsafe." I've just spent the morning making more Camembert. Thanks, Jill!

Raw cow's milk

This is un-homogenized milk. You can see the cream floating at the top of the jar. I got an excellent separation of curds and whey. The curds seemed less fragile than the ones that I usually get from store-bought milk. Because this milk has never been pasteurized, I'm supposed to age it for a minimum of 60 days before I eat it. Otherwise, it's somehow less safe. Fine by me- that will have it ripe just about when I'm going out to New England to spend some time on Martha's Vineyard with Chilmark Girl. She wants to try some of my dangerous cheese.

Raw curds and whey. These were some of the best curds I've ever gotten.

Sometime late this week, I was told by Kathie at Sycamore Canyon blog that I make her day. she even gave me an award to that effect. I'd like to thank all the little people who made this possible. I'm also very touched that Kathie enjoys my blog so much. Thanks, Kathie!

Here are the rules of the award:

The rules for this award are:

1) Write a post with links to 5 blogs that make me think and/or make my day.

2) Acknowledge the post of the award giver (Thank you Kathie!)

3) Tell the award winners that they have won by commenting on their blogs with the news!

So who makes my day? This turns out to be hard, because so many folks' blogs make my day. If I have to do just 5, I will go with:

1. cedrorum at Mutual Causality. I really enjoy getting to chat with somebody doing ecological restoration in a different part of the country on an ecosystem that I've never even gotten to visit before. He's also a great guy and a good writer who should have a wider readership.

2. Rodger and Mark at RodgerDodger and Scuff Productions (note how I'm cleverly slipping in an extra winner here by giving the award to a couple who keep individual blogs). Rodger and Mark were some of the first folks that I became friends with entirely through blogging. I enjoy getting a glimpse into their lives and the nature that surrounds them in the Pacific Northwest. They also make great pickles and inspired me to get back into canning. And they have great musical experiences. Since I've known them they have gotten to see both the Tubes and Todd Rundgren in concert.

3. tr at From the Faraway Nearby. He showed up as a commenter on my blog just a few months ago. It's inspiring to hear tales from somebody who travels even more than I do. He's an awesome photographer and writer, has a fascinating blogroll, and even appreciates the joys of a beverage that contains bugs.

4. Homer of Homer's World. Homer's a really nice guy with a fascinating job as an archaeologist in Tucson. I enjoy hearing about his career and the city where he lives (one of my favorite spots anywhere). Plus, I secretly want to go to one of the pool parties he blogs about.

5. UrSpo of Spo Reflections. Blogging makes my day, so how can I not include the guy who got me into it? Spo and I have been friends for about a decade now, and I really enjoy much more regular contact with him through blogging.

Thanks, guys! You all make my day.