@Mossy, in fairness, I had a sick mum while growing up that I took care of, as well as my grandparents, and I worked in childcare for two decades so I have years of experience. I think you’re doing a great job. Our dads sound similar. Mine tells me he doesn’t need a lot of options, but after several times of making meals he said he wanted in the rotation, some taking upwards of 2 hours to make a large batch of, and having them sit in the freezer untouched because he changed his mind, I had him give me a definitive list of meals, and I stick to it. I’m impressed you made quark. I used to make raw butter and mesophilic yogurt, but never attempted cheese.
Regarding the fries—I was doing the same until I came across fries at Whole Foods that are cooked in tallow. Because I had so much on my plate after my mum died and a thyroid that was no longer responding to supplementation, I had to make compromises for my health, and this is one of them. They’re pricy, but frequently on sale so I stock up. My dad has a burger once a week with fries and gets roughly 3 servings per bag so even though I was making them fresh for less, the convenience has been priceless. They take 14 minutes in the air fryer to bake and my dad said that they’re not quite restaurant quality, but are much better than other frozen fries on the market that he’s had. In case this is helpful, these are the fries:
-https://www.jesseandbens.com/fries/p/tallow-sea-salt
It’s a nice location, for sure. I live in the most forested region of the country so nature is abundant here, but we got lucky with this property being only 5 minutes from a town with full amenities and 10 minutes from the city. We don’t have access to a guava orchard like you, though. Sorry for my confusion regarding your compost heaps. Hügelkultur doesn’t require digging, but I wonder if a raised garden bed like the galvanized style (Birdies brand?) would deter the cats? I live on 5.5 heavily wooded acres where fencing proved useless so until I can build my dream greenhouse (one large enough for an orchard that’s heated using passive solar—visual-light-transmitting fiberglass tanks), I grow my plants in large garden boxes on my back deck.
Ah…I see. Your dad is the foreman. My dad tried that with me and quickly regretted it. lol Unlike your dad, mine is still physically capable.
