Oil, rat and our cat

A less enticing day to work in the garden yesterday thanks to the less than normal climatic conditions, so a good excuse to start motoring through the remaining stacks of wood with the chainsaw..well at least I thought I would be doing so..
What we can only presume was a very thirsty rodent has found its way into the yummy lubricant and left it nearly dry. 
As the saw has only a spit or two left in its tank the wood stacks will remain for a day or two until our next shopping trip. 
What this oil will do to the creature is a mystery, can't be any good for them you'd think. And judging by the hole left in the container this animal was definitely desperate and had big teeth. 
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Before I go on some breaking news today, a new arrival in the upstairs of the old hen house, Mici our cat is now a mum...more news later...

Back home

It's good to be back after ten days away. After all the hustle and bustle it has been back down to the nitty-gritty tasks of weeding and cutting grass. Yes, it's that time of year again. The endless mowing up, down and around, pushing the ageing Briggs Stratton engine to it's limit. An estimated €4 of petrol guzzled up in a day, looking good though maybe..
Once upon a time I was simply just a photographer and didn't have worries about which weeds should go on compost, what insects vegetables do and don't like, how much manure to add to stone pointing mix and what decor will camping guests see in the tipi. Worries that I don't mind having right now when the sun shines.  


  

Project A3S

If we didn't have enough to do already, a new project to work on if we get bored over the summer at Havran. 
More news later on this...

April

Exhaustion and dirty finger nails, the traditional 1st of May potato crop is finally laid. 
April's wild transformation from knee deep snow to gloriously summertime sunny weather has kept us out of the confides of the cottage to the essential weed exterminating and precise sowing of seed for a new vegetable garden year.
I have to say I actually started writing this blog entry in April and only now on May 3rd with a little more time thanks to a morning thunderstorm that I am writing more!
Actually it is quite reassuring as I look out of the window that the garden is getting some essential rain. It also gives us both a little respite from the beautiful warm sunshine and April suntan.
Back to potatoes; Nine rows, twenty in each every foot apart, bed of ash for each and some scrumptious leaf mulch mixed in under each raked back heap, hay coverage on top. And now some more sunshine please. 
   

Job

Three weeks is a long long time in Havran. The sudden gush of several inches of snow at the beginning of the month has given way to yummy warm weather now. From snow shovels to sun cream, yippee!
But panic has spread. So much to do with no snow excuse! Lists of jobs made up during a cold evening one month earlier are being ignored as each day never want's to end with new missions to complete. 
For example it is a long standing battle we have with our mouse friends in the cellar on who should eat the apples first. We know there was a good harvest as we still have two crates to get through. But despite the Spring warmth our furry rivals haven't considered venturing further for food as yet from the evidence of the occasional nibble marks on the fruit. So a clearout was in order and a coy decision to move the un-touched fruit to our bathroom, the coldest place inside the cottage. If the mice want to continue biting their bits of apple they can find them now on the compost heap. This whole operation took an hour of the day to do it. It wasn't planned for and so it takes an hour away from what was planned. So far this week this has happened on numerous occasions. A neighbour friend gave us good advice the other day, don't expect to finish anything you have started out here in Havran. And with that we have decided to have a day off on Saturday.

Baaa

Off to our neighbour for a favour. Within two minutes of sitting down a pre-prepared plate of delicious homemade slices of apple cake and is placed within easy hand range. It's a Slovak tradition for cake to be always on hand in case of guests and it always looks as if you are first person to try any of it too. 
Coffee, conversation, four or five shot glasses of homemade are drained down and we are as happy as our neighbour's sheep. 
Time to escape before we get too settled, back home through the sun-drenched woods. Mission accomplished, favour met with approval. Unfortunate reminiscing of the A-Team tv theme until the springtime birdsong reminds us we are in the countryside, please be respectful!

Be Prepared !

The last remaining truffles from last week's chocolate weekend have been scoffed and as the snow fades we can finally move stuff back out from the 'under construction' kitchen/social/eating hub of the cottage. 
I trip over a misplaced frying pan whilst searching for a clean teaspoon and an over ripe kiwi fruit. We hate clutter in Havran! 
Springtime sunlight beckons us for more productivity outside rather than in. And now reluctantly the kitchen/social/eating hub becomes work in progress during twilight hours instead of daytime.