Pressing Issue

There's a bumper crop of apples (8 varieties: Gala, Braeburn, Yellow Delicious, Red Delicious, Granny Smith, Macoun, Cortland & Fuji) out in the orchard this year. It's more than we can eat or even store, so Grandpa bought a crusher and a press this week. We took time out from pumpkin season preparations today and made cider with some friends. Considering the time it took five adults and three kids to collect a bushel of windfall apples and then cut, crush, press and strain them, the two gallon yield doesn't sound like a lot -- but boy is it good!



Cutting





Crushing




Pressing -- the end result!

Layla and Melanie

Today we welcomed Layla and Melanie, two Lamancha goats (which are easy to spot, because they look like they have no ears), to Rainbow Hill. G chose their names because they mean "night" and "darkness" respectively. They are still babies really and are skittish about their new home. Melanie in particular is letting her displeasure be known -- loudly! Once pumpkin customers start showing up and feeding them, they will probably warm up to being here.

Melanie

Layla and Melanie

sEggsess!

Our first pullet egg

Frosh Pics

Her favorite (taken on a wooden choo choo behind a local coffee shop)

Mine (taken at our local indy bookstore)

Fall Preview

Eggsceptional

We put in 50 laying hens this week. Originally we were going to just have 25, but in view of the salmonella scare, Grandpa thought that people might be looking for alternative egg sources. In two to three weeks, we should be getting eggs; by mid-autumn, we could have 14 dozen eggs a week! Dan and some friends fenced in some yard today so we can let the hens out during the day. By late afternoon I heard a hawk nearby, but since there was no ruckus, I don't think it went after them. Let's hope the hawk, the owls, the fox, the raccoons and other assorted predators stay away!

Time Marches On

Jackson Lake 2006

Jackson Lake 2010

Colter Bay, Grand Teton National Park

Devil's Tower, Wyoming

On our way to Devil's Tower, skirting between two storms

Leigh Creek, Wyoming

Leigh Creek Campground is in a canyon that a gentleman at the Buffalo Visitor Center claimed is as beautiful as any canyon in the US. He may be right. Our site was right on the creek -- the kids had a blast turning blue swimming in the snowmelt-cold water.

Geo Girl

Yellowstone sits on the caldera of a supervolcano. As G will happily tell you, there is still a lot going on underneath the park. Bear sightings notwithstanding, this trip we spent more time focusing on the geological aspects of the park because of her interest in geology/plate tectonics/volcanoes.

At Old Faithful

With a US Geological Survey geologist

At Riverside Geyser

Green Shirt Brigade

When we've traveled with others in the past, we always try to get a group shot at places we visit. This trip, Dan had the brainwave that we should all be dressed alike, so he came up with shocking lime green shirts for everyone. We have pictures of the seven of us at various landmarks across South Dakota and Wyoming. Part of the fun was the creative ways we had to set the camera up to use the autotimer. Here's a sample:


Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD

Ranch Store, on the frontier of the Badlands

Leigh Creek Campground, WY

Grand Teton National Park, WY

Post It!

We've been really busy, so I've been lax about posting pictures. I am going to try to throw a bunch of them up, with narration/explanation to follow after school starts. (HA!)

Me at my favorite place in Yellowstone -- West Thumb, where the hot springs and geysers sit on the lake

Cry Wolf

There is currently a wolf pack traveling near Colter Bay in the Tetons. We heard them one night (and also heard coyotes on two other nights -- once really close by), but didn't see them. As we were cruising through the Hayden Valley in Yellowstone for the third time in a week, however, G spotted something moving in the trees near a bison herd. It was some sort of canid, stalking along the edge of the herd, sticking to brushy areas. It was really well camouflaged, so I can't believe she saw it in the first place. At the next stop we asked a ranger if it was a wolf or coyote. He couldn't tell from our small digital screen, but told us it could be either -- but if it was bigger than a collie, it was most likely a wolf.

Is it bigger than a collie?

Wiley, whatever it is ...

Bear Aware

We stayed at Colter Bay in Grand Teton National Park. Since we stayed there three years ago, the park has installed bear boxes at all sites and has instituted a "Bear Aware" campaign. There was a black bear sow with two cubs and a cinnamon-colored black bear mornings in the area, but we never got up early enough to see them. However, during our trips up into Yellowstone, we were fortunate to see both a grizzly and a black bear. Both times the "Rule of Thumb" applied -- if you can't see the bear when you hold out your thumb on your outstretched arm, you aren't too close.

The grizzly we saw off the road near Canyon Village (per a ranger we met, an area not known for bear sightings, let alone grizzlies). The identifying hump on the back is quite prominent

A young black bear was ambling on the hill at Tower

Home Again, Home Again

We just got back from two weeks in South Dakota/the Black Hills and Wyoming/the Grand Tetons. (For 10 of those days we had no Internet access. I will never do that again, because people don't seem to believe you when you say you will have no access, and continue to send you emails!) It turned out to be more of a trip than a vacation, but overall that was OK. As I sort through the 100+ emails and the 100 pounds of laundry, I will post some of the 1,411 photos we took while we were out there.



G & me in the Badlands

Pod People

The latest addition to the RAV-4, for the Great Western Excursion 2010

Kalahari

Three days of fun in the Dells

Another Celebration

I got to celebrate my 50th yet again in PA, with our friends Marianne and Dennis. They had an amazingly beautiful,delicious cake and dinner for us. This Milestone Birthday business is great -- I may have to do it every year!

Parting Shot

This picture, which my mom had taken for a "Nana and me" frame that she has, is the place holder for our traditional "parting shot" (picture of G and my mom & dad right before we leave). My camera battery went dead that morning, so the photos were taken with my dad's camera, and we haven't gotten them yet.
(P.S. G found out this week that her braces are coming off a few months early -- August 25!)

7.11 Update: I'm adding this picture from Marianne because now everyone is posted!