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 THEN THERE WAS ONE...

Today has been extremely hot.  37 degrees C in the shade and about 40+ in the sun.  The dogs have managed to survive it, just about, the cats did what they do best and slept all day but I am sad that one of my hens didn't cope!  We now only have one hen, so I need to get some more quickly.  I am certain it was the heat that killed her and nothing else.  The other girl was ok, although panting a little.  I am going to have to keep a close eye on her tomorrow as it will be another scorcher!  I have decided that I might plant a tree in the coop, so that next year they have extra shade!  I am going to spend a bit of time tonight researching 'things to do for hot hens'!

The only girl left! I am sure she will be lonely till we pick up some more!

I have given the plants an extra watering tonight also.  Even though I was told by a local farmer only to do it every other day, but all the plants looked very dry and thirsty.

The corn is coming along, and in the afternoons now gives some extra shade in the coop for our remaining hen.  

THE CORN  - AS HIGH AS THE CHICKEN COOP NOW!

Well, that's it for now really.  We have a busy week coming up as we have guests arriving, but I expect I will put them to work in the vegetable plot at some point.  At least our pool is functioning well this year!

Keep cool and carry on..

CATCH UP!

It's been months since the last post.  This is mainly due to 'LIFE' and not having any time to sit down and blog.  I hope I haven't lost you all!  

Anyway, where to begin? I have no idea, so I will start with things that have happened and it will be in no particular order.

The Corsican (our cockerel) is no longer with us.  It came to a point where I felt too scared to go into the coop, so a friend from Buger (next village along) helped me dispatch him.  He was a beautiful fellow to look at (the cockerel, not my friend) but not nice and it meant J could not go into the coop to collect eggs etc.

The Corsican and his two dames

So, sadly we also a hen down.  C found her dead in the corner of the coop one morning in June.  I had found her struggling and lethargic on day and it turned out that she had a 'jelly egg' that was stuck in her bottom, so I had to remove it.  I guess she became egg-bound and died from not being able to push the eggs out - quite a common thing in hens apparently.  She was a good looking girl and one of the bravest hens, so I was sad about that.

We have had kittens galore!  After Jess had her four, Pipla a pretty white puss-cat had her first babies.  She only had two thankfully.  All are thriving well and living outside again.  They were living in a box in my room but I had terrible allergies so they had to go out.

Over the last couple of weeks, a local farmer we know came round to take a look at how our veggies were coming along.  He threw his hands in the air and said something in Mallorquin, claiming, no wonder our plants were dying and not thriving, we were watering them completely wrongly!

Oh!

He then whizzed off and came back with a special triangular tool (have no idea what they are called) and began digging trenches beside all the peppers, sweetcorn, tomatoes etc etc.  He dug up all the cauliflowers and cabbages as they were no good.  He said another couple of days and we would have lost the lot!

So now we are watering differently and the growth in just the last week and a bit is amazing.  Now we know for next time!!  Also irrigating the crops this way means you only need to water every two days (unless its really hot and dry).

Irrigation troughs

Irrigating tomatoes (the plants on the right have gone - they were no good)

Maize, it has grown at least another foot or more since last week! incredible plant

Irrigating the peppers, they are coming along better now, they were suffering a bit in this photo.

Samuel Sprat, the black cat, watching the water trickle away.

I am now very excited at the prospect of growing better vegetables in the future.  Everything is looking so much better for the moment.

So cat news..apart from kittens all over the place, Samuel Sprat (as seen in the photo above) is one of my favourite cats.  He always wants lots of love and affection, cuddles and back strokes, a bit tricky when you are trying to garden and not tread on him under your feet!  Anyway, he has been ousted from the back garden area.  All the cats seem to be living in the back garden most of the time, Adolf has ousted Samuel but still seems to be ok with him being in the territory.  So, Samuel is living in the vegetable plot, and sneaks round to get food and water when he can! Also, Old Abuela (grandma cat) is in hiding from Adolf.  For some reason they don't get along and he keeps trying to get her to move on, although she did win a fight the other day. Perhaps its a cats way of moving rivals and oldies out of the pack to make way for the younger generations! Who knows, I'm not an expert, but the balance of power is ever changing.

Our pool is slowly up and running.  It's almost ready.  It had a leak and so we had to work out 'where?'.  Once found our landlord came and patched it up.  He has also fixed the filter, so I am hoping we will have a lovely pool to plunge into for the rest of this summer.  

Much more to write about but that is it for today.  Need to get on with errands.

Enjoy!