OLD CATS, NEW CATS AND OTHERS

It has been sometime since my last post, due in part to the craziness of life and also living here in Mallorca.

There are so many things to write about and catch up on that I am sure I won't remember them all, but here we go..

Our cat population increased to 11 in total.  Adolf, if you remember him from previous posts, has managed to see-off Samuel Sprat, which I am very sad about, Samuel was a very loving pusscat and he'll be missed around here, especially in the vegetable plot where he took up refuge, but perhaps he'll come back one day and challenge the moustache off Adolf.  Our lovely old Abuela (grandmother) cat has also been seen-off by the same culprit.  Again, another one that will be missed.  Where she has gone, I have no idea, there is no sign of her.  The two tiny kittens that never seemed to grow stayed very tiny and never really flourished.  They were constantly skinny and bony and even though they ate and drank without any problem it seems there was an underlying fault in their biology.  The little brown and white one passed away the other day and the black and white is wrapped in a blanket in the kitchen as we speak, I don't think he'll make the night.  All really sad, but you kind of get used to living with the ferals' and dealing with life and death as it gets thrown at you.

This week, we had two new additions to the cat clan, both kittens, probably about 5-6 months old, they were bothering a local farmer, so we bought them home.  However, they seemed quite happy for a few days and even fitted in well with the rest of the cat clan, but suddenly they disappeared yesterday.  They may return, unless they belong to someone nearby.

We managed to get two more hens to keep our solo one company.  They are all doing well and laying abundantly.  Don't ask me their names as I can never remember, something like Bertha, Dorothy and Gloria - who knows.  But they are happy and enjoy corn and mixed greens as treats.

The vegetable plot is now ready for rotovating, once done I will lay a layer of compost or dung over the top and leave it to settle for about 15 days, then it will get churned in and then I can begin planting again.

The weather has definitely changed.  We now awake feeling cold, time to get the duvets and heated blankets out of hiding.

The dogs are both great, the pool is now covered, the trees have produced an abundance of figs/pears and oranges this year, amazing.  Next fruits are the olives, which are already growing.  I also need to prune back the vines and the various overgrown fruit trees, but that will wait till its a little colder.

So just to say that we managed to grow tomatoes, aubergines, corn, chillies and other peppers and swiss chard.  All did fairly well considering I didn't water them all as much as I should have! I know for next time.

Pebre Bord - Tap de corti peppers.  These, when they turn red, are picked and hung in the sun to dry, when dried they are ground into a paprika powder and used in the making of sobresada sausage.

The two new girls.

Protected grapes.  The birds didn't get them this year.

Corn

Resting wherever they like! (Mittens)

Some harvest, including a 5 litre bottle of great olive oil from a local farmer.

AND MAY BEGINS..

All has been rather hectic of late, with the arrival of new kittens came some rather horrid weather and more illness and creaky backs!  So all gardening was put on hold and concentrating on getting well again became the order of the last couple of weeks.

The kittens are doing great.  They are twice the size they were, at least, and are now showing distinct patterned markings, lovely.  They all have their eyes open and are crawling about all over the place.  As the weather warms they will all be moved outside and hopefully this time they will thrive better.

The cockerel is still in the coop! He is still enjoying attacking us as we go in and so his days are definitely numbered.  We have no more animals at the moment apart from the two dogs.

So the veggies are all coming along well now that the rains have stopped for a moment.  We covered all the young plants with 5 litre plastic water bottles (we don't have a greenhouse here) and they have fared better than the last lot.  I have also managed to find, after enormous searching, some special pepper plants native to Mallorca called Tap de Corti.  Here is a link with a little info on them:

Slow Food Foundation - Tap de Corti Pebre bord.


I bought half a tray of about 50 plants and C planted them in this morning.

51 Tap de Corti pepper plants now in

So May brings us to a lush green garden.  The fig trees are in leaf again as are all the trees and bushes.  The winter jasmine is dying back  and the blossoms have dropped off the citrus trees.  The bougainvillea is in bloom with bright magenta flowers and the fruits are beginning to grow.  The Mallorquin Apricots are coming along as well as the nispera.  I am hoping the pear trees will fruit ok, as I did prune them hard during the winter, they were such a mess!

Of course, with the wonderful green lushness around the island, everyone is battling with weeds. Many people spray them but we do it all by hand if we can! It's a mammoth task but we prefer not to use chemicals if we can help it.

The vines are in leaf now also but I need to do a little research on how to keep the fruit from being destroyed by wasps/flies and other horrid nasties, someone mentioned paper bags!! Must look into that.

The number of cyclists on the island has increased a gazzillion-fold! and the IronMan 70.3 is on the 11th May in Alcudia, so everyone is in training for that - except me!

Pink blossoms April 2013 Sa Pobla, near the Albufera

Mallorcan Apricots

THE FIG TREE IN FULL LEAF AGAIN..

TOO MANY WEEDS - ARRRGGHHH!

GRAPE VINE IN LEAF AND ALREADY PRODUCING SMALL NUBS OF GRAPES.

SHOCKING MAGENTA BOUGAINVILLEA

TWO VARIETIES OF TOMATOES FOR THE SUMMER, YUMMY.

CABBAGES, CAULIFLOWERS, SWISS CHARD AND AUBERGINES (OUT OF THE PIC)

ANYONE WANT TO SWAP HIM FOR A MORE DOCILE CHARACTER?? THE ATTACKER TRYING TO LOOK SUBMISSIVE! DON'T BE FOOLED.

THE ROSE BUSHES ARE IN BLOOM - WONDERFUL.