INTO 2015 WITH A BANG!

Well, another year, HAPPY 2015 EVERYONE.  
It has been a bit of time since writing.  

This winter has been particularly cold (unlike last year).  We haven't had any snow down on the ground in Sa Pobla, although I know there has been some in other parts of the island.  The mountains had LOADS of snow dumped on them, and the chill winds blow freezing air off them down to our town! brrrrrrrrrrr!!

PUIG DE MASANELLA (Mallorca's second highest mountain)

Puig de Masanella (Puig means 'hill' in Catalan - although technically this is a mountain!)

Puig de Masanella

These photos were taken from near our finca in Sa Pobla.  A beautiful sight on a cold but glorious sunny day.  

On to the animals... The hens are all grown up and laying well.  Our cockerel is growing enormous but luckily is still friendly.  I haven't heard him crow very well yet, but I have heard him trying, which seems to be a strange mix of a gurgle/strangling sound and a yodle!  The dogs are fine except Ruffa Roo seems rather sick today - no food for him tonight and we will see how he is in the morning.

We still have no vegetables growing, we will see what the next few weeks brings.
  
Hope to post again very soon.

GOOD RIDDANCE TO DECEMBER 2014 - BRING ON THE NEW YEAR 2015.

December 2014 was a particularly AWFUL month.  After C being away from us for 10 months he arrived home just before J's birthday at the end of November.  C was very thin!  During December we had to cope with my aunt having a heart attack and surgery (which she is recovering well from - a positive thing), then C was diagnosed with cancer - such a shock!  To top off the month a close farming friend died (only 40 years old), he will be very sadly missed by us all.

The medical profession jumped into gear very quickly here and C has now completed the first chemo cycle! extremely nasty stuff.  Second round - 9th of January - HAPPY NEW YEAR!  We are fighting it and hope to bash the hell out of it, we are raising funds to keep us going day to day and medically - isn't life bizarre!

So, to the finca.   Finally the cold has come and the trees have lost their leaves, some of the vines and fig trees (and I dare say other plants) began growing new bright green leaves as November was particularly warm!  Snow covered the peak of Puig Major (the tallest mountain in Mallorca, standing at 1,445m in the Serra de Tramuntana mountain range) for the last couple of days but Sa Pobla hasn't had any so far.  It isn't usual for us to get any, we lie in the Pla (plains) which are flat and the damp often hangs upon us like a soggy blanket in the winter! it's heaven when the sun comes out, like today - bright, sunny and cold, but crisp not damp.

Sunrise over the fields

The hens are doing great.  We now have 7 whizzing about the coop with a young cockerel who is enormous already.  His wing feathers sick out at angles! I need to check them and make sure they aren't deformed! He has only one long tail feather, I am hoping he will grow more.  So far, he is a lot more tame than our last one!! Long may that last.  Eggs are plentiful, even in the colder weather which is wonderful.

The dogs are great, Rex is getting much older and seems rather like an old bloke, but then suddenly bursts into a run across the yard barking warnings to the cats to get out of the way of the car.  Ruffa (our boxer) always looks to Rex for guidance and often doesn't bark until he sees one of us or Rex says it's ok to do so. 

We still have no veggies in the vegetable plot.  It is more than ready to receive but unfortunately there is no time for the moment.  I would love some broccoli/carrots etc etc in there.  We will just have to wait.

All the cats that live outside seem to be fairing well.  Several of them have had colds, but have got over them quite quickly.  Puss (who lives indoors - much to the horror of C) also now has a cold, but he is snuggled up near the fire at the moment, so he'll probably recover quite quickly.  We have had to put him back on kitten food as his stomach is so sensitive, adult cat food seems to upset him horribly!! No details required!

Well, as soon as I have any recent pictures to post I will put them up.

A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL.  FELIZ AÑO NUEVO

UNPREDICTABLE MARCH

Not much to report at the moment.  The weather is very unpredictable with it being about 18 degrees one moment and the following day only about 12 or less.  Apparently we are expecting more snow on the mountains and I have reports from Puerto Alcudia of snow falling yesterday! yikes. The sun is out here in Sa Pobla for the moment, but there is quite a lot of cloud about.  

No new planting as yet, perhaps in another week.  We had our first cauliflower yesterday for lunch - delicious although it was a bit small.  

The hens are still laying, which is great and I am supplementing their feed with blended veggie cut offs, stale Weetabix and a few oats, they seem to love it mixed up with their corn.

I'm happy to report that the rice husks are proving a godsend on the ground and so far neither the hens or us have any problems with the dust from it.

There are many spring flowers out on the island now and it is very beautiful.  Almond blossoms, large headed daisies in whites and yellows and the poppies are out now also - lovely.  

A stroll across the Albufera

View down one of the lanes on the Albufera national park.

On a walk in Puerto Alcudia

The irises coming out.

Our first cauliflower this year.  Small but perfect - yummy.

Puerto Alcudia, lovely sunny March morning

The cats all snuggled up from the chill.  Adolf, Samuel Sprat and Pipla.

EXTREME WIND

The past week has been a little busy - hence no posts!

We have had a wonderful week of bright sunny weather and the temperature during the day even reached a balmy 20 degrees C around Wednesday.  Lovely.  But now, alas, the weather has turned again and we have very cold, strong winds.  Apparently there should be snow on the mountains again this weekend, but it is so dark and cloudy over them, that I haven't been able to see.

We have had a little rain but nothing major yet.  All the cats have been sheltering from the winds.  Living here, amongst the fields, we are a little exposed and all the trees almost bend in half! brrrrrr.  One of the tall palms at the front of the house has lost some of it's branches in the night! They were strewn about the yard when I got up this morning.  Glad no-one was standing under those!

C has been very busy cooking all sorts of lovely things.  He experimented making cheese and curry savoury biscuits, which I have to say didn't last long, really good.  He has also made a pear and ginger loaf, again delicious. It's great having a husband that enjoys cooking - yummy.

Curry and cheese savoury biscuits.  Taste a bit like cheese straws but with a curry spice zing.  Delicious.

C has managed to prune most of the palms and disposed of the branches/leaves on the big fire heap at the front of the property.  It will need setting alight again soon.  

We have all be struck down with nasty colds/coughs so things have slowed a little, but we keep plodding on.  Adolf the cat that has a very nasty wound on his neck, has wriggled his way back into the cat family outside. I am keeping an eye on him to make sure he doesn't suffer any more fight wounds for a while.

The hens are still laying, although we are now averaging about 1 per day! not much but at least it's something.  We will have to resort to more supermarket eggs!

Stay tuned......

CORREFOC DE SA POBLA & OLIVES

Last night went well, although this year was quite different to last.  Not quite as exciting but still good fun.  J got extremely tired but managed to see it through.  Here are a few pictures before we get back to the farming side of things..

In full swing, devils, demons, fire crackers, fireworks, dragons

The drumming devils before the fire run.

Ok, so back to the olives, I managed to get hold of a big plastic tub with a strong sealable lid.  I need to put a hole in the bottom, put in my olives (the second batch) and add a lot of salt.  About a quarter of the weight of the olives in salt should do it.  This is a dry cure method for them, we thought we would try both and see which taste better when done.  The dry cure method takes about 3 weeks and you need to top up with salt regularly, liquid from the olives drips out of the bottom of the tub (where the hole is) and this is the bitterness being removed.  Once done you can then pickle or what ever you want to do with them.

The hens DID actually lay yesterday, two eggs.  Today so far only one and it looks like it's been pecked, although it hasn't gone right through.

More Sant Antoni celebrations over the week, so more photos to come, interspersed with more agricultural things from the finca.  

The weather here is finally cooling down, which is good, because many plants (and humans) are suffering from viruses, bacterias etc.  We need some cold weather to kill them all.  Apparently we are due for snow on the mountains, there was certainly a very chilly wind this morning, another good reason why I like Sant Antoni, there is always a bonfire in the road somewhere to keep you warm.