Yes…it’s been a long time since my last post. Since then, some of my plans have changed. I’m not going to be able to do a full-month apprenticeship in May. The reason for this is that I had to find a full-time job; I just wasn’t able to build up my consulting clientele enough to match where we were pre-layoff. This fulltime job does not, unfortunately, come with one month’s worth of paid vacation time. I suppose that a sabbatical or leave-of-absence is a possibility sometime down the road, but not within the timeframe I was originally thinking about.

Still, I don’t think this is all bad news. The job, obviously, will help pay the bills. More importantly, we’ll be able to put money away towards a property purchase. We still very much need to create a plan, but stability and income now will only help in the long run.

That said, I do want the opportunity to experience the cheese lifestyle, as it were, before making any sort of meaningful monetary commitment. I still believe that a full immersion is the best way to accomplish this.

While I’m working, I think I need to stay focused on the cheese if I’m going to make it a reality. To that end, I’m going to enter into a phase of serious research. This means frequent trips to the library, maybe some magazine subscriptions, talking to current cheesemakers and dairy farmers, etc.

My plan is to post back here frequently with what I’ve learned. If anyone wants to be alerted when I make updates, let me know.

And, yes, I do realize this is the second time I’ve talked about starting research.