Mt. St. Helens - October

   

Spirit Lake

 

Trail to Bear Pass

 

 

Norway Pass

 

Meta Lake

 

 

 

  

Snoozing doe - look close, right in the middle of the photo

 

Lucky holder of one (of 14) Margaret muzzleloader tags

 

The closest we came to elk...

Fresh elk scrape

 I spotted the one and only elk of our trip, over one mile away. Unfortunately it's not in the photo, as it crossed over the pass too quickly.

 

Dad

Mt. St. Helens - August

 

 

Mountain toads.

 

Look close - a mountain goat.

Our Newest Bovine

 

"Norman" is a Normande-Jersey bull calf, born May 29.  Pretty cute!

I'll be posting more photos from Hawaii as time allows.

Hawaiian Hawks

There are very few native birds left in Hawaii anymore (at least on this island) - mainly due to the introduction of more aggressive birds species, mongoose, dogs, and cats, as well as loss of habitat.  

Lucky for us though, the farm is home to a pair of Hawaiian hawks, an endangered species that only breeds on this island.  Their numbers are estimated at 2000-3000.   

This pair has nested in one of the mac nut trees every spring for several years; they raise one chick per year.  There are two color phases - you can see both in the photos.

But the most noticeable feature is the sounds they make - I think they sound like eagles on helium! 

 (gnawing on a turkey leg)

 (remains of Mrs. Turkey in the background)

The Newest Cheese

I've been having a lot of fun in the cheese making room lately - at 55 gallons per day, there's finally enough milk for experimentation.  Dick and I decided that I should attempt to create a mold-ripened goat cheese, maybe a camembert or a French-style goat cheese.  Mauna Kea Mist was my happy first experiment - a chevre pyramid bloomed with Penicillium and Geotricum molds, aged just 10 days.
I was shocked at how they turned out!  Pretty close to perfect - dense and creamy in the middle, a bit gooey under the rind, tangy and mushroomy and a bit spicy - I hope all my "experiments" turn out this good!

The curd was scooped into pyramid molds, then drained overnight.

 

 

 The pyramids were salted, then transferred to the aging fridge.

 

Less than a week later, the cheeses began to "bloom".

And after 10 days of aging, we broke into the first one.

Wish you could taste it!