At your convenience

I was convinced I saw wobbly clouds last night reflected by the moonlight whilst on my way to the outside convenience (we prefer the fresh air when we are perched and the view is better too).
I may have been tired and I promise there was no alcohol or drugs involved but the clouds wobbled in front of the moon. I have even tried to find any information regarding this phenomenon but so far nothing has related.
Obviously Jana thought I was crazy which is understandable in this instance and her conclusion suggested I had pushed the lawn mower for far too many hours that day (over excitement to cut some grass after a productive visit to the hardware shop and two fixed front wheels!).
Our outside loo does have a great view though whether night or day. The privacy allows the door to be left open as you watch the countryside view.
The early morning or at dusk it isn't uncommon to see a deer munching in the fields. There are plentiful of birds all day, usually oblivious to what you are doing. And you face the sun setting on a clear summer's evening. The only issue with all of this is that you may spend longer sat there than anticipated.
As for the wobbly clouds, it is a full moon tonight and I will be taking another trip outside later.  
  

Strawberry fields

Summer heat and bugs munching on the garden produce. 
Constant source of irritation picking off stripy hard shelled beetles from the potato crop leaves and squashing their little heads as a yellowy orange paste squirts out. Even worse to exterminate are the pre-shelled babies and over-fed teenagers with their slimy exteriors.
On the contrary the strawberry transplanting from last year has given us a scrumptious quantity this time round. Having almost got tired of eating so many, jam making was back on the agenda. A rich, flavoursome, dark-coloured mixture which will only be used for emergency special treats in the darkest months of the winter.
And as temperatures swell so do the weeds. Less work can be done without a dripping perspiration requiring a bucket to collect the precious drops of lost energy. Controlling the jungle garden a lost task until the heat drops. We love our poppy collection though.
With thunderstorms back on the horizon it is not a good time to have two broken front wheels on the mower. A trip to a hardware shop and then some pretense to think I can fix it. Otherwise there is the broken handled scythe to relive my nightmares from the first year at Havran..
  

Here comes the summer

Here comes the summer, well up until a few days ago it couldn't be said. Gloomy people were predicting more of the same washout weather we've just had which is not much good for our onions. But thankfully at the moment it seems they can eat their words as we wake to rays of sunshine with only the regular dew on the grass sparkling my attention to any dampness. We need this to persist now after the last couple of weeks of stormy downpours.
It's been quite a baptism to life for the kittens up in the old hen-house. The constant cracks of thunder and strobe-lightening affect bursting through the small glass panel on the roof above their nesting, quite a frighting occasion for all of us. 
Unfortunately one of Mici's little babies has not made it. Constantly it had struggled to feed and never was able to gain any of the growth that the other two had managed. This countryside has a habit of showing how beautiful the nature can be but also how cruel or rough it plays too. RIP little one. 

Happy birth day

3 kittens later and Mici is on the prowl once more. Funny thing was we were not sure she was pregnant until hearing her distressing meows called out on her birth day.
We had thought she was getting a little bulky around the hips that we had put down to her increased appetite for all things canned. 
And to see another cat within sight of Havran cottage is considerably rare and so the pleasant surprise of hearing the higher pitched kitten voices from the upper reaches of the hen house was a lovely treat to brighten up the disappointingly dark skies overhead. The rainbow was an added bonus to the day.
And now Mici (newly nicknamed 'Posh spice' thanks to her incredible slimline recovery from pregnancy) is claiming her authority once again with her newly formed support.    
At the same time we have chicks hatched in a hole in our cottage wall chirping constantly to grab the attention of mother blue tit. The timing could not be better for the arrivals in the hen house!

   

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. 
**
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...