A Giant Mole, Wayward Skunk, and Cheese

There is never a dull moment here on the farm!

After last weekend's pig pranks we thought our problems in that department were solved - not so!  We arrived home from work on Monday to this...

Not that we are fastidious groundskeepers - far from it - but this is a bit much.  The culprit was not a giant mole; instead a good sized swine was the culprit.  Farmhands Rollie and Ardis were able to re-pen the pig (yes, only one did all that damage and more!) and put the fence back up.  We theorize that Hoover may have run into and taken down the fence that morning while out on his morning constitutional.  He had come back to the house in a rather subdued mood.  Anyway, whatever it was, there have been no further escapes since.

Safely fenced into the pumpkin patch - yep, just the one strand of eclectic fence effectively prevents them from a new bout of lawn destruction. 

Choretime is pretty early around here and it is quite dark out these days.  The first thing Kevin does is head for the shop with the dogs to get them their breakfast.  They take the opportunity to gallop happily around the farmyard, chase a cat or two and then convene again to have some kibble.  On Friday morning there was a new twist as the powerful and nauseating odor of skunk filled the shop - it was so bad that Kevin had to leave.  We concluded that Hoover must have accosted a skunk before coming in to eat.  All day at work I just dreaded coming home and having to bathe that dog.  Curiously, it wasn't him.  It wasn't Mickey, nor one of the cats, yet the shop still reeked.  This remained a mystery until Saturday morning when I discovered that an unwelcome striped presence was actually IN the shop - perhaps of settling in for the winter.  Kevin did manage to evict the trespasser without further defensive assaults and the shop doors are now kept firmly closed.

And cheese.  Remember that wine fridge the kids gave me for Christmas so that I can make aged cheeses?  It has been gathering dust in the basement.  I have made quite a few batches of chevre and some mozzarella but no aged cheese.  Now that our milk supply is on the decline, I thought I had better get it together and give it a try before it's too late.  There are many steps to this kind of cheese - do this, wait this long, do that, wait some more, etc., which is why it hasn't happened until now.  Our first aged cheese, Farmhouse Cheddar, is under way (or under whey - Ha!).  Presently it is air-drying (2-4 days) then I will wax it and then it will age in the cheese cave (aka wine fridge) for at least a month.  Worth time expense and time?  We will find out.

Be well people.