Twittle

Our first sounds of twitter this year, that is from the bird variety, springtime fast approaching. The layer of snow that is left is just the soft icing of a cake. 
The relief that the winter fuel stockpile has not descended too far, the "too many jumpers on is never enough" method has worked again this winter. Not that we have been that mean with burning wood, it's just we have learn't what is enough, which goes a long way towards any philosophy here. 
That can be difficult for some people out here to comprehend. "I am a foreigner so I should be able to spend more" still unfortunately sticks. But as there is no gadget interest for either of us and only manure mixture for the wall or some pumpkin delicatessary we are becoming a boring couple to talk to! 
Rant over! I've just opened the matured marrow wine, taste is dry, very dry, distinctive.. well I like it anyway. Jana is sticking  to the liking of her sweeter apple, slightly fizzed up wine. Pumpkin eating season is slowing down as surplus gooey chunks add to the compost pile. Start getting twitchy to plant something in the garden. Then the new season will really begin. 

Pumpkin crisis

The epidemic of pumpkin and squash growth from last year's garden is now showing it's full effect.
Having noticed mold growth on the skins of these previously orange vegetables we are slightly concerned on how we can consume our quantity before they make delicious compost. As the insides are still firm we can carry on making pumpkin soups, bakes, mash, bread-crumbed and curry style dishes. But even with our best read knowledge of pumpkin storage in the cellar, we fear a loosing battle to the deteriorating yuck on the skins and by springtime this plight will be confined to the history pages of Havran Cottage.

What a boar!

For us it was like finding the yeti. Chasing in the footsteps of a creature we rarely see but do occasionally hear in the woodlands. Whilst fiddling to find a camera it is left to Harik, our smaller dog, braver and dafter than myself to scamper up to face what he probably had not witnessed before. Nose to nose until the shiny, glistening teeth from the boar smiled back, it became all to apparent to Harik to retreat and let our friend trot on towards the safety of the trees. Harik more than happy to show a little sign of wet relief (and not the only one!). 
After finally capturing a sharp enough picture we left the boar to wander out of view on it's bid for survival. Walking back to the cottage we  joked about our courage. Yet this was only a young and small pig compared to the type we see on the back of the hunter's truck. In years to come when we retell of what we saw our's will probably be exaggerated to that size too.