Willkommen!

Wie schön, dass ihr mein Sammelsurium gefunden habt!
Über Rückmeldungen würde ich mich freuen
- als Kommentar oder an: strick_else(at)yahoo.de
Danke

Sonntag, 30. Juni 2013

"Hast du nicht genug Taschen??"

Klare Antwort: "Nein, nie!"

Ich weiss nicht, ob ich euch diese Tasche schon mal gezeigt hatte. Ich habe sie schon vor ein paar Jahren aus Platzsets und Moosgummi gemacht:










Die Idee mit dem Moosgummi könnt ihr getrost vergessen, es hat den Belastungstest nicht bestanden! Aber die Platzsets waren noch wie neu! Also habe ich die Seiten aufgetrennt (ist übrigens Bootsmannsnaht mit scubidoo-Bändern) und mir ein neues Band für Seiten und Boden aus plarn gehäkelt. Und hier also meine neue Sommer-Lieblingstasche!




Sonntag, 23. Juni 2013

Mitbringsel

Da Martin sich ohne Abschied einfach so aus dem Staub gemacht hat, habe ich wieder Zeit für Anderes. Und ich hoffe und denke, dass er selbst am besten wußte, dass er nun alleine klarkommt...

So kann ich heute zeigen, was ich alles für meine diversen Sammlungen von meinen letzten Ausflügen mitgebracht habe:

Sherryglas, erbettelt in einer Kneipe in Jerez
Paprikadose gekauft in einem kleinen Supermarkt in Cádiz
Münze geprägt in Córdoba
Münze geprägt in El Torcal
und so sieht ein Prägemaschine aus...

Samstag, 8. Juni 2013

Meet Martin!

Yesterday I went back to Antequera by train - laden with 8 cement tiles! (more on this later) - and of course, Martin!
Martin is a young Crag Martin (Felsenschwalbe, Ptyonoprogne rupestris), that I found on Tuesday near the river Hozgarganta.


He is recognizable by the white spots on the tail. As you might imagine, I just couldn´t step over him and say: " The next cat/ rat/ snake etc. will take care of you". So I put him in my camera bag and brought him home. Since then I was continuously hunting insects!
Fortunately the chinese shop had a butterfly net and tweezers, and there were empty water bottles in the house. Do you remember my grasshopper hunting for the swifts? (here)
I had to realize though that the grasshopper season has only just started, and there were not many around. Oh, those hitherto unknown joys of finding fresh dog-shit with flies on it or - even better: fresh horse droppings! One scoop with the net brought me about twenty flies, and I could come back ten minutes later for the next scoop. Once they had dried out though, the flies were not interested in them any more...
So I invented a fly trap!


An empty water bottle with some fresh - irresistibly smelling - cat shit! The flies went in and then didn't find the way out. Every hour would bring me about 3 to 5 flies. I then held another bottle over the opening, flies would fly up into that one - close it and into the freezer, while the trap could be placed again!
Martin, like the swifts, had to be force-fed, and I gave him about 10-15 little insects every 1 1/2 to 2 hours from sunset to sundown - around one hundred per day! So, of course, the fly trap didn't yield enough, but it helped. During the rest of the day, I was mainly around hunting insects.
I kept Martin in a big pottery jar in my apartment - a cat-free zone.

He never made a sound, but once I managed to get a fly into his beak, swallowed readily and seemed to like it. When he had enough, he would spit the insect out.

Yesterday I had to leave Jimena and had to bring him on the train to Antequera. I chose the camera bag as means of transportation again and had a box of insects with me, thinking of maybe locking me in the toilet during the 2 1/2 hour train ride to feed him.
Not long after we had started the ride, I heard a vague noise - quite in tune with the rumble of the train. It got stronger and I took the camera bag, opened it carefully - and saw a screaming bird with a wide open beak! I couldn't believe my eyes!!!
So I took the insect box out and started feeding...

I documented the progress in my note-book and so can inform you, that 25 minutes after leaving Jimena  (16.35) he had already devoured 13 flies! By 17.45 my box was empty - gone were another 15 insects, 3 of which were rather big grasshoppers!
At home I had at least some old mealworms - and the pet shop had crickets!
Now he has a new "nest", likes to sit on the rim and gives a tweet every 15 min or so... then I rush and shove a cricket down his throat - the bigger ones I have to cut in two.


I just bought the last box of crickets from the pet shop and hope it lasts over the weekend - together with what I might catch!

Donnerstag, 6. Juni 2013

Coming home

Tomorrow evening I'll be back home. There's a lot to tell!

Norman Rockwell: Returning from Camp

Montag, 3. Juni 2013

Finally: The cats!

Now I will finally introduce you to my "bosses":


DIDA is the boss of the lot. She is the one that comes to my room to tell me, that its time for breakfast. And every day she argues with me, telling me: but Mummy used to give me more than that! And I invariably reply: no, look what Mummy wrote on the list! ...Ok, have some little bits more...

Next on the feeding list is Moritz - no WHISKY.


He was a bit shy the first days, but now he sometimes even honours me with his presence in the same room... - like last night, when he tried to squeeze into my camera-bag:


SIMBA is the king of the patios and the garden, a real lion:


HUZZY is not seen unless there is food! And then I have to lock her on the balcony, until all the other dishes are empty.


Finally there is little CHUCHU. The newest addition to the "family". As a former street-cat, she is able to defend herself against Simba, but has also found out, that close to me she will not be harmed.