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.

KITTENS AND THE ORANGE BLOSSOM

Well last night proved to be rather eventful, for me anyway.  Two days ago we noticed that our female mummy cat Jess, was really bulging - we have known she was pregnant for quite a while now.  She was also rummaging about outside to find a suitable nest site and being over friendly with us all, she definitely didn't want to be outside and seemed to want to be near us all the time.  We helped her a couple of years ago with her first lot of kittens, she trusts us which is lovely.

Jess beginning labour.

Last night at about 10pm she went into labour.  Her nest is a basket tied to the end of on of our beds with blankets in.  We decided to bring her in this time as there are always many more complications when kittens are born outside!  When the kittens are a bit stronger they'll all go out again.  So, I placed food and water on a chair near the bed and her litter box I put in the room also, so that she didn't have to go to far for it.

Basket nest for Jess.

At 12.58AM the first kitten appeared.  A little black one, I haven't seen any white on it yet.  25 minutes later a tabby and white appeared.  Jess is a brilliant mum but she really wanted me near, she kept wanting to hold my finger and rub her face on my hand.  At about 2AM I managed to doze off finally but awoke again around 3AM to another being born, by 4AM the final one came and I snuggled down to sleep before having to get up at 7.30 this morning!

4 little bundles of fluff.  There is a tabby & white, grey stripey, dark grey & white and a little black one

Not so easy to see them but they are all there with mum somewhere.  Jess is a small adult cat and is very delicate when she walks about, but is a great mum.

I woke exhausted - I don't function well on very little sleep, so today I've felt like my head had been wrapped in cotton wool!  We raced to get J ready for school only to realise that he really wasn't well, so as I had an appointment with physio, we took him to the doc! turns out J has a chest infection.  As I've mentioned before, chest infections are extremely commonplace here usually due to the damp conditions of the island, but by the time May/June come around everyone is fine again!

So, we raced into town, picked up a prescription and then decided he should stay off school for today.  We then drove over to a friends finca, the other side of Sa Pobla, just to check on a few things for them.  When we got back in the car to go off food shopping, the car wouldn't start.   Not a peak, NO SOUND, NOTHING, NADA....... PANIC ran through me! Oh NO, I thought, please not on a day when I have so much to do and my brain is like candyfloss!  A Mallorquin farmer, doing his irrigation in the field next door, came up to the fence to ask what the problem was, I told him and he immediately said 'aaaaahhhh, es la batería'.  He was telling me the battery was kaput!  I hoped and prayed that he was right.  He said he'd be 10 minutes finishing his watering and he'd be over with a spare!  Blimey, I couldn't believe our luck, then the thought dawned on me that perhaps it wasn't the battery and that it was something a lot more serious! The car is on it's way out anyway.  The farmer came round with the battery on his moped and between him and C, fixed it in place.  FANTASTICO! It worked, he was right.  I could have grabbed hold of him and spun him round with delight, but I thought better of it,  as it would have been highly inappropriate.  So I just thanked him enormously and said we'd get it sorted this week and drop the battery back to him as soon as possible.  Talk about trust, you wouldn't get that sort of help even from a neighbour in the UK!

On the way back to the town to do the food shop, I felt calmer and less 'candyflossed' in the brain, the smell of orange blossoms around Sa Pobla is very strong at the moment.  Heaven.  At our finca, the scent is very heady but wonderful.  The vegetables are all growing, slowly but surely, and all is fine and dandy after a crazy day and night.

NEARLY BOUGHT A GOAT!

Hello to all.  The weather during the daytime seems to be improving, I am hoping it will now get better and better, not wishing to speak too soon of course.  There is still a breeze which is very springlike but it is bearable.

 So the latest is that we have been discussing getting more chickens as we'd like more eggs, we have people that would buy them so it would bring in a few more pennies each week.  ALSO.. C & I went to Sineu market on Wednesday this week - just to browse of course.  I love going to look at the animals they have to offer, always wishing we had much more room and perhaps a field or two! 

We still have to finish off the portable chicken run, for new hens etc, the cockerel (The Corsican) is still alive, most of you will be pleased to know.  We may just trade him for a more docile chap.  We saw some very lovely looking cockerels at the market, most seemed to be a Menorcan breed.

So, I was looking at the sheep, dreaming that I'd one day be the proud owner of such lovely beasties, and then I saw the goats.  The photo is of a bigger breed than I'm considering.  

A Possible new friend!! 

On the way home we chatted about the impossible task of where we would even put a goat, without the dogs getting her! We are still thinking about that one...

We have had our first barbecue this year, homemade burgers, sausages & jacket potatoes followed by marshmallows..mmmmm.

Old Abuela waiting for a tasty treat.

J toasting a marshmallow.

The safareig filling up.  Fresh water for the carp.

PLANTING BEGINS

So although it has been extremely windy over the last week, we have had some sun, which is great.  If it weren't for the wind it would feel very warm indeed.  I believe it got to about 21 here today, but with a chilly breeze.

Hoorahh, we have started planting finally.  C has toiled hard in the vegetable plot, preparing the beds, and we now have cabbages, cauliflowers, two different types of peppers (small and large - the farmer didn't know their names), swiss chard - we're giving this another go, it all got eaten and died last time.  We also have salad and cooking tomatoes in, Romaine and Iceburg lettuces and.......oh yes, aubergines and one watermelon plant.  Melon plants take up an enormous amount of space, so I said I only wanted one this year, it is like a giant triffid that crawls along the ground! AARRRGGHHH.  

The tomatoes.  We will make a proper frame for them when they get a little bigger.











Cabbages, Cauliflowers and two types of lettuces.

Two types of peppers.  We are waiting for a third type to plant, should be ready  next weekend!

Our parsley has got out of hand! There is loads of it.  I am going to have to try to dry it I think, otherwise it will go to waste!

The pear trees, I pruned fairly vigorously earlier in the winter, are blossoming, I am so pleased, I thought one of them was dead as it was choked by a giant climbing weed! But no, it has blossom, yipeee.

Pear blossom

The quince bush I pruned so heavily earlier in the winter, I seriously didn't think would come back, but it has leaves on it and has returned to the land of the living once more.

The nispera pears are growing and the orange blossom is out once more, the smell is so amazing, it's fantastic.  On a walk this afternoon with the dog, I could smell it on the wind, (the orange blossom, not the dog!) heavenly.

SUN, SEEDS & BLOSSOMS

The weather seems to be getting a little warmer now, which is great.  I think the clocks change this weekend and it's Easter.  Today we saw temperatures of around 22 here in Sa Pobla, a wind has got up now which is still a little chilly but really the weather is lovely.

We still haven't planted in any more plants but we are hoping to catch the farmer over the next few days so we can begin.  The plots are ready and the chickens have been out of their pen to pick at the insects for us.

The winter jasmine is blossoming and smells heavenly, the other blossoms out are the irises, hawthorn and the orange blossom is beginning again.

Winter Jasmine in bloom.  Very heady scent.

Iris in bloom

I have now planted a few seedlings.  Touch sensitive mimosa for kids to amuse themselves with, some Helichrysum (dried flowers) and some hollyhocks, we'll see what happens.  As we didn't have any suitable bags of soil we sieved some so I could plant the delicate seeds in it.  The soil here is generally very stony and rough.

J sieving soil

An old Mallorcan garden sieve

Helichrysum seeds planted.  Hope they take!

Touch sensitive Mimosa seeds - a couple have already begun to peep through!

The rooster is treading on very thin ice, and he was nearly dispatched with on Wednesday morning.  Unfortunately we were a little preoccupied with errands so he's been let off the hook briefly.  We cannot keep him now, he is attacking us too much, so he has to go.  He will make a good sunday roast or a good soup.

A couple of pictures below to show you the scenery on a stroll out today.

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.

MOULDY OLIVES!

The olives went mouldy!  I'm fed up about that really.  We completely forgot about them due to so many other things going on.  When I lifted the lid of the olive bin to see what was waiting for me...there was  a load of mould! yuk. So we dumped them on the big pile ready to burn at the front of the property.

The weather has been terrible recently, one minute we've got snow on the mountains, the next minute it's 18 degrees! no wonder so many people here have bugs/flu/coughs/colds etc. Here are a few pictures from last week, I went out to see how everything had fared due to having a frost.  We don't get many frosts normally.

Frosty lettuces were the order of the day!

The severely pruned quince bush was covered in ice.  This is because when we have frost the farmers keep their water sprinkler systems on all night to stop the crops from dying.  The quince tree got attacked from the potato field.

The orange trees also got hit by the sprinklers!  We had icicles!

Icicles

This is our nispera tree.  It produces small fruits similar to a pear but with big stones inside.  Not my favourite but many people here love them.

 View towards the snow capped mountains.

Whilst talking with one of our local farmers (rice producers), he stated that rice husks were great for the chicken coop, especially when it is wet and muddy!  So he said we can help ourselves whenever we want to.  We got a sack full, he already had prepared for us and I went about sprinkling them all around the the coop.

Sack of rice dry rice husks.

Close up of husks.

Husks sprinkled onto the muddy earth.  When it rains it is not so nice in the coop, but a little straw did the trick before, now we have husks.

 Me at work in the chicken coop.

Still on the subject of chickens... Our cockerel has now attacked C! This time he cut C's shin - it's darn painful when he does that let me tell you.  So C came swearing and cursing into the house stating that the cockerel was skating on thin ice! Soon for the pot.  He's a beautiful creature to look at, but he likes to attack anyone that goes into the coop, we need a more friendly one I think!

I have made more lemon curd.  The first lot was so good, I'd completely forgotten how good it could be.  It went down a storm at our chief taster's home in the town, so as long as there are lemons, I will make lemon curd.

No new plants are in at the moment, mainly because the weather has not been the best for planting.  So I am hoping in the next week or so we can get some new lettuces/cabbages/cauliflowers etc in.  

To finish todays post here are a couple of pics from a very wet day last week!

A small bird nest found in the old farmers garage next to the finca.

C and J walking across the Albufera, Sa Pobla.  A very wet day indeed.

Rain clouds across the fields.  Albufera, Sa Pobla.