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

WINTER GLOOM

Well, another delay in writing the blog, mainly due to winter illnesses brought on by wood-smoke, mould and a lot of damp!  Mallorca in the winter (mainly February) is never the best place to be, especially if you live in the country.  

The past week has seen a couple of marmalade cakes being devoured, along with cheese & curry savoury biscuits.
The weather has been very on/off, with breaks of sun -which has been quite warm during the day, but also a lot of gloomy cloud, which quite frankly is darn depressing.  HOWEVER... this week we are going to go to the farm down the road to pick up some new plants to pop into the veggie plot.  This should cheer things up a little.

C is outside chopping up the last of our logs so that they will actually fit in the wood burner.  We need to order another load as soon as possible.

We still have loads of oranges and mandarins on the trees and they also need collecting and large batches of marmalade need to be made by C.

All animals at the finca seem to be happy at the moment.  Adolf appears to have recovered and even has some fur growing back around his neck.  We also have another couple of cats that seem to be creeping around, both black, so we will see if they become more friendly or not!

The turkey pen is being cleaned up and we are going to rebuild the turkey house to make it bigger.  No rush though as we don't need to get more turkey's till about July.

The olives are almost ready to pickle but just need a little more time in brine.

Tomorrow I have a trip to Palma, then back to Sa Pobla in time to teach some art and get messy with papier mache!

MOURNING IN THE MORNING

This morning we found sadly that Hilda (AKA Hermasetas or Humphrina) had died in the night.  We suspected there was a problem but before we could deduce what the problem was she passed away.  She was made as comfortable as possible before we went to bed but it was in vain.  

Hilda on a better day..

So we will not be eating her as we have no idea why she died.  I feel quite sad about it as I began to get quite attached to her.  She was a sensitive soul.  We will not get more turkeys until July or August - so we have SPACE for something else perhaps?? hold that thought.

The rain is relentless here in Sa Pobla, everything is sopping wet, which for the fields isn't a bad thing as November and December were very dry months.  It is also very cold and there is now snow on the mountains.

View of snow capped mountains from Campanet

So today Ruffa went to the vet to have his ears looked at, he's got terrible itches in them and it's been driving him bonkers.  He apparently has a fungus in there - yuk but now we have some drops for him, I am hoping it will ease his insane scratching.

C & I have stocked up on straw and sawdust bedding for the chickens and I will be cleaning them out tomorrow morning.  I am also hoping to get the turkey pen thoroughly cleaned out and sprayed with disinfectant before anything else goes in there.  We are also trying to finish off a smaller hen cage, so that when we go to pick up some new ones we can keep them separate from the rest of the flock, just for a few weeks, in case they are carrying any diseases!  Our girls are laying quite well, but since the snow appeared on the mountains they have slowed down! 

Looking forward to more marmalade tomorrow morning, C said he was planning on making some, along with a marmalade cake, lemon cake and a pear and ginger cake.

Tonight there was a lovely sunset and I caught it's reflection  on some big clouds with the moon.  

Winter trees 18:00hrs

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!

We have had several weeks wondering why Humphrey the turkey seemed smaller and less developed than Spock, we have now decided that HE is actually a SHE!

So, we will continue to monitor this new situation and see if she lays any eggs.  Although I suspect it is a bit cold for her now and perhaps they only lay in the warmer months.  I will have to do some extra reading on this behaviour.

 Spock on the left, Humphrey (now Humphrina) on the right.

Spock displaying his white plumage.