Forays into the world of cheesemaking

In my ever expanding quest to become as self sufficient as possible I decided to give cheese-making a shot.  My first cheese was a soft goats milk and double cream cheese, made with vegetarian rennet, and it wasn't too shabby. It was soft, white and slightly salty, everything it should be, but it was lacking something, it needed to have a contrasting texture and some sharpness. 

The perfect thing to do, in my opinion, is to roll the cheese into a cylinder shape, then roll it in pinhead oatmeal. The pinhead oatmeal gives it a nice rough texture, and serve it on oatcakes with a little bit of fresh lemon squeezed over the top. 

The countryside is beautiful right now, but they are building a house next door, so that detracts from the glorious nature outside. The garden is partly Scots Pine forest so we have lots of excellent animals scurrying around in the trees.  Up in the north of Scotland we're quite lucky to still only have red squirrels, none of these nasty grey invaders from the New World.  In the garden we have quite a few, they sit on the bird feeder and race around the branches, quick as lightning, just a ginger blur against the trunk of the tree. They're cuter than grey squirrels with their fluffier tails and tufty ears, however the cats also love them, so we have a super soaker to warn the cats off if they get too close. 

We also have lots of rooks, but I think they have moved on for the summer, they're very pretty birds, but incredibly loud too, always shouting at each other, and wake you up at 4am.

There are also lots of deer about, red and roe deer. I swear I saw a White Stag a few weeks ago, a rare white red stag. They are supposed to herald a great change in the lives of those who see them, though I'm still waiting for it. 

Pheasants are my favourite though. They're so dim. Up here I think a lot of them are the lucky escapees of the intensive farming for shooting trade. They raise them like battery hens, which is shocking for battery hens, but even worse for game birds who can fly very fast and long distances. They raise them in shocking conditions then release them so people who generally can't shoot can then kill them, often not on the first attempt, meaning they need to be bludgeoned to death. Not nice at all.  http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/millions-of-pheasants-subjected-to-cruelty-698455.html

We have lovely pheasants round here, with no one to bother them. We did have a nest, but the foxes got it before they hatched. Sad, but the fox has to eat too! They also think that you can't see them if they can't see you. Therefore they hide their heads behind plant pots, shrubs, long grass etc leaving the rest (and most noticeable) parts of their bodies exposed. They strut along like kings, but they are very handsome. There are loads of them round here, and it's wonderful.