Life and death in the garden/ Leben und Sterben im Garten

Fluttering, fleeting, flimsy - and broken (hurt? crippled?) butterfly

Dieser "letzte Mohikaner" hatte wohl schon ein aufregendes Leben

 Swallowtial – Schwalbenschwanz – Papilio machaon

but there was also a complete one ...
aber es gab auch einen kompletten schönen Schwalbenschwanz...

...and suddenly there was movement between the leaves
...und plötzlich bewegte sich was zwischen den Blättern

Can you see it? I have marked both with a red arrow... the butterfly at the bottom left, and up on the right...
Könnt ihr das erkennen? Ich habe beide mit einem roten Pfeil markiert... den Schmetterling unten links, und oben rechts...

Europaische Gottesanbeterin - European Mantis - Mantis religiosa

... eine Gottesanbeterin!
... a European Mantis!

Fortunately the butterflies were faster!
Zum Glück waren die Schmetterlinge dann doch schneller!

And then I saw something else special... no, it was not a colibri ;-)...
Und dann habe ich noch etwas besonderes entdeckt... nein, es war kein Kolibri ;-)...

Taubenschwänzchen - Hummingbird Hawk-moth - Macroglussum stellatarum

... sondern auch ein Schmetterling, ein Taubenschwänzchen!
...but another butterfly, a Hummingbird Hawk-moth!

Later I found this:
Spätr fand ich dan dies:

I think it might be the wings of some kind of grasshopper
Ich glaube es sind die Flügel von einer Heuschrecke

and the one responsible for this:
und die Verursacherin:

Oh, and by the way, this is not my garden.
Oh, übrigens, dies ist leider nicht mein Garten

Endlich fertig!

Endlich fertig: das Buch über Cocentaina!

Exploring Cocentaina by Susanne Vogel | Make Your Own Book

Surprise, surprise

The rain has stopped, the sun is out - and this is my view today:

SNOW on the mountains behind the castle (and also on the mountains behind me)!

You might have noticed, I have been trying to go to the paper factory during the last days. On Friday, when I passed it, the gates were open and I had a look in and a nice man came out and told me, I could come back "a partir del lunes" when they are working and they would show me around. From the outside you could see the paper sheets hanging in large sheds for drying. It looked really interesting.

So, I went down on Monday - closed because of fería.
Tuesday - rain
today, Wednesday - have a look at this:

There was a road block, but a few cars passed around. Only none was going my way, or I would have tried to get a lift....

So I will show you the photo of the paper, as I might not see more about it. Tomorrow is my last day.

The castle of Cocentaina (part II - views)

From the castle I had a great view over the town and the whole valley up to the other hill, where I am staying. On the lower end of the picture you see the traditional quarters of La Vila (left) and El Raval (right). The big square block of buildings in the middle is the textile factory Textiflok S.A.

Here I played around a bit in Picasa (which is sadly closing in a month) and circled some places. To get to my place, the orange spot, I am passing the green spot (Textiflox) and the purple spot (Cartonajes Aitana), the paper factory, which I also hope to be visiting tomorrow.

There is still so much more to tell, but I'll leave that for tomorrow.

The castle of Cocentaina (part I - general)

Now I have lost the status of "guest" with Jasmina and belong to the household, which means she jumped on the bed at sat on my chest at 7:15 this morning. We got up - what else is there to do, if there is a gentle (without claws) paw in your face? - and realised it is RAINING!
Well, it is good for the garden and definitely much needed here... and it gives me time to tell you some more about the town of Cocentaina.

The emblem of Cocentaina is the castle. It is a cube on top of a very steep rock above the town and, of course, you can see it from everywhere. Can you spot it in the photo with the sign and in the photo with the view from the road?
I thought, what a pity that I would never be able to get up there... but walking around town on Friday, I noticed a poster:

"Discover the charm of the castle in the course of history" during this weekend and especially this part:

Free transport from the palace to the foot of the castle (!!!) Limited places.

And while I was still trying to take those photos through the shop-window, the shopkeeper - a very nice muslim lady - came out: " ¡No hace falta. Llevatelo!" and she peeled off the tape and handed me the poster. Great, isn't it? Well, you might think they could have told me about this event in the tourist office?!
So, I decided to go there on Sunday.
This little bus drove us - we were only five people - through the outskirts of town and up the hill.

The last bit of the way we had to walk.

The castle dates from the end of the 13th century and is built in military Gothic style over ruins of a moorish building. It has two floors: on the first floor is a courtyard, a chapel and a storeroom, on the second floor were the living quarters with different rooms and bigger windows.

From the rooftop you have a great view over the whole area. I will write a new post about it after lunch.

Holidays

No, the title is not about the holidays I am having here, but about festive days that suddenly "leap up" and catch you by surprise.
Today I wandered down to the paper factory - closed. Then I decided to take the bus to Alcoy. When I came into Cocentaina, I saw closed shops and boys playing on the street... So I asked an old man: "Si, hoy es un dia festivo, la feria de fallas de Valencia, y fiesta de San Jose - y aqui parece un desierto." Yes, here it's like a desert. And I wandered up again. The weather is cloudy and cool, which made the walking easier. The egret was not home, but I did see a griffon vulture. Sorry, the photo is not so good.

Now I have time to do a bit of house- and computer"work".
The other fiesta, of which I only saw the rests, must have been the Festa dels Nanos on the wednesday when I arrived.

The little guide about Cocentaina says it's on the third wednesday of lent. We saw some fireworks and wondered what it is about. It is mainly celebrated in the old moorish quarter of El Raval.
Those owls certainly were part of the decoration. Aren't they sweet? I have to try to make one - it's an egg carton!

Finally, I will give you a nice quotation from the guide-leaflet: "Its (Cocentainas) population of 11.000 inhabitants, enjoys holidays and celebrations almost all year round, culminating in April with celebration of the Virgen del Milagro and in the middle of August with the traditional festival of Moros y Cristianos in honour of San Hipólito, declared of national tourist interest. The importance of the Fira de Tots Sants should also be emphasized. It has been celebrated since 1346, attracting numerous visitors, in early November."

Cocentaina

By the way, I am not the first one coming from Granada to Cocentaina:
In september of 1304 moorish troops from Granada came and raided and burnt the city and

in december of 1653 six nuns from the convent of Saint Anton in Granada arrived and founded the convent  "La Mare de Deu del Miracle".
I will not give you a day-to-day account of my adventures, but rather pick some events and spice them up with some history (mainly taken from spanish wikipedia).

But first I want to show you, where I am: This is the view from my road towards Cocentaina.

On the way, I took some photos of "roadside botany"...

and "roadside zoology"...

 - I spare you the photo of the dead snake; I will still have to identify it...

Going further down, you'll cross the motorway N 340 and later the "river" Serpis. I have to go there again and try to take a good picture of the Little Egret (Egretta garzetta), which is usually there, but not used to people walking. And you pass the old paper factory Cartonajes Aitana. But I will leave this also for another day.

Then you finally reach the town of Cocentaina.

Tomorrow I'll show you some more of the town...

Travelling and arriving in Cocentaina

Wed, 14th of march was the travelling day. I left Granada at 10 and after stops in Guadix, Baza, Velez-Rubio (lunch), Puerto Lumbreras, Lorca, Murcia, Elche, arrived in Alicante at 16.30 - on time! But imagine having to go all the way from Malaga to Barcelona!
I was picked up by the owners servants of the cat and I don't remember how long it took to get to their place, because we talked all the time. I already felt at home then. But of course, the idea was to stay there, while they were gone.

 The next day, when we drove down to the village to get my shopping for a week, I was not feeling quite so sure. It was is a rather long way, all downhill. So, coming back, of course all uphill. But - you, my regular readers, might remember - I think I need more exercise. During this stay I won't have to worry about this. Tomorrow morning I have to remember to take a photo where you can see the village. Now it's against the sun.

Here, I may introduce you to Jasmina. She is only fur, about half the size of Kasimir and a real little princess. I think she knows, I am here just for her; but I am also a guest and must be treated well. So, in the morning, she will wait until she realises I am awake, and only then jump on the bed and ask for her breakfast. And after my breakfast, it's time for the first brushing. She gets really excited about it, I wish I would have another hand for taking a photo. When I come back in the afternoon, she comes in as well and tells me, where she was and how many burdocks there where, and could she please have another brushing...