The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence...

This is what Pepita must have thought...

This morning when we were feeding the donkeys, only Oskar and Viola were there. I heard I-ah somewhere down in the paddock and finally went there: The two old ladies Burra and Pepita were standing next to a fence, then I realised Pepita had gotten her head stuck in the fence! Burra stayed to keep her company.
We had to fetch some tools - in the end a screwdriver worked - and we loosened the planks and freed the poor old donkey.
You never imagine the things animals can get themselves into! (and that on the last day!)

Fotos

Heute zeige ich euch mal ein paar mehr Fotos... außerdem habe ich dieses Programm gefunden und musste mal ein bisschen spielen.
Hier noch ganz real die vier Esel:

von links nach rechts: Pepita, Oskar, Viola, Burra

die Hunde als Kühlschrankbilder:

und diese Flechten sahen sowieso schon nach moderner Kunst aus

also warum nicht in einen Goldrahmen...

... oder in einer Kunstgalerie:

Viecher und Bücher/ Beasts and Books

Viecher und Bücher - so könnte man auch mein Leben überschreiben. Jetzt ist es aber wieder besonders aktuell, denn wir sind z. Zt. mal wieder in Portugal zum Tiere hüten (hier die letzten posts dazu) - während Anna aus Seattle sich um Moritz und Leoni kümmert.
Beasts and books - this could also be the headline about my life. But at the moment even more so, because we are again animal-sitting in Portugal (here is a link to my former posts) while Anna from Seattle is taking care of Moritz and Leoni.

Die Hunde Pancho und Sinsa, die Katzen Fluffy und Mimi kenne ich noch von den letzten Malen, das Pferd Golosa ist jetzt leider alleine, dafür sind zu den alten Eselinnen Burra und Pepita noch die jüngeren Viola und Oskar hinzugekommen. Fotos werden nachgeliefert...

Pancho and Sinsa the dogs, Fluffy and Mimi the cats were already here the last times, the horse Golosa is now alone, but the old donkeys Burra and Pepita now have two younger companions: Viola and Oskar. Photos will follow...

Aber Fotos von anderen Viechern, die ich heute gesehen habe, kann ich liefern.... na ja, nicht ganz scharf ... Bewohner dieser Ruine:

But I can show photos of some other beasts I have seen today... they are not perfect, but I am still quite proud... inhabitants of this ruin:

Rhinolophus spec.

Die Große Hufeisennase - wobei groß auch eher relativ ist mit ca. 8 cm Körperlänge
The Greater Horseshoe Bat - great is rather relative with about 8 cm body length
Nachtrag: Nach hitziger Diskussion in der Fledermaus-Gruppe von facebook könnte es jetzt jede von den vier vorkommenden Rhinolophus-Arten sein....

Und Bücher? The Island of lost Maps habe ich gerade ausgelesen und jetzt suche ich mir was neues....
And what about books? I just finished The Island of lost Maps and now I 'll find myself something new...

Books, books, books...

Here I am not only gifted with a marvellous nature, but also have a heap of books at my disposal - and since I sorted them when I was here last time, I even know what is there!

There are two shelves going around the staircase. This picture doesn't really show the amount; the lower rows are stacked from both sides and there is another bookshelf in the other corner of the room.
I have just looked in my book collector programme at what I read here, and decided the New Year is a good time for a review of last year's books. I have hardly read anything at home, but a lot on my animal-sits.

• Paul Theroux: The Pillars of Hercules ***A journalist travels around the Mediterranean
• Chris Stewart: Driving Over Lemons - An optimist in Andalucía **** Ex-Genesis drummer buys a farm in the Alpujarras  - a patch of mountain studded with olive, almond and lemon groves, sited on the wrong side of a river, with no access road, water supply or electricity. 
• Karel Capek: War with the Newts *****!!! Satirical science-fiction written in 1936, how a race of intelligent newts dominate the world
• Alan Bennett: The Uncommon Reader **** The Queen discovers the joys of reading
• Michael Allin: Zarafa: A Giraffe's True Story ***** In 1826 the viceroy of Egypt presents a giraffe as present to the French king Charles X. It is shipped down the Nile, across the mediterranean and then lead walking from Marseille to Paris
• Matthew Flinders: A biographical tribute to the memory of Trim **** The story of a brave, seafaring cat who, in the company of Matthew Flinders, circumnavigated the globe in the years 1799-1804
• Daniel Glattauer: Gut gegen Nordwind ***** intelligente Liebesgeschichte in schönen Worten
• David Safier: Mieses Karma ** leichte, dämliche Unterhaltung
• Daniel Glattauer: Alle Sieben Wellen ***** Ach, wie schade: sie werden sich nicht mehr schreiben, weil sie jetzt reden können...
• Mary H. Kingsley: Travels in West Africa ***** The adventures of a Victorian lady, who travelled in West Africa in 1893 and describes it in wry English humor
• Carlos Ruiz Zafón: Der Schatten des Windes ***** read again
• Jonas Jonasson: Der Hundertjährige, der aus dem Fenster stieg und verschwand *****  irrwitzige Lebensgeschichte eines eigensinnigen Mannes, der sich zwar nicht für Politik interessiert, aber trotzdem irgendwie immer in die großen historischen Ereignisse des 20. Jahrhunderts verwickelt war
• Tony Hawks: Round Ireland With a Fridge *** Nice to read, but since he was covered by a radio series, that reported his travels daily, it wasn't really hitchiking any more.
• Daniel Brühl: Ein Tag in Barcelona **** Man erfährt über Daniel Brühl mindestens genauso viel wie über Barcelona. Beide sympathisch. Gut geschrieben von einem Spanien-Korrespondent der SZ
• Boris Meyn: Totenwall ***** Seine historischen Hamburg-Krimis sind immer faszinierend, diesmal Immobilienspekulation um 1910
• Eric Newby: The Last Grain Race ***** Sailed around the world in 1938 on 4-mast barque Moshulu, via Cape of Good Hope to Australia, via Cape Hoorn back.
• Edmund De Waal: The Hare With Amber Eyes ***** he traces a heritage of 264 netsuke through his family.

Happy New Year 2013

With those Chinese bats of good luck I wish you all a happy New Year 2013 - may all your wishes come true - and may you only wish for those wishes that are worth to come true! ;-)

Frost and Fire - Rime and Rhyme

Yesterday morning it was really cold, when I went for my morning walk and there was frozen dew - I had to look up the word: rime - on the ground.

A very poetic word, I find, that matches the delicacy of this ice.

In the evening we had the fire going and a line from a poem sprang to mind:

Ah, distinctly I remember 
it was in the bleak December, 
And each separate dying ember 
wrought its ghost upon the floor.....

Dear readers, this time I won´t tell you where it is from, I think you all know, or? tell me... 

And here is a proof of our cosy evenings - and the first time, that the two cat-enemies are quietly together in one room!

A normal day

Meanwhile we have established a routine, so I can tell you about my days here.
(I have my watch still on Spanish time, which is one hour ahead of Portuguese time)

• 8:50 wake up - don´t stir or make noises, unless you are really awake and willing to get up. Otherwise there will be a very excited dog hopping up and down and barking, trying to climb into bed, which invariably rises the other dog downstairs - more barking.
• leave the door to the bathroom open, don´t be shy to have Pancho watching you; it´s better than having him scratch at the door.
• 9:00 go downstairs, fall over the other dog Sinsa, which is very pleased to see you, and wants to have a cuddle, while you are trying to get your boots on.
• Fluffy, the cat, comes and asks for food. Put her little dish on the bench next to you and take care, that Pancho doesn´t get his nose into it. It is easier to leave the dish on the table.

• With Pancho dancing all around you, fasten the lead to his collar and out the door. Sinsa runs ahead, barking, Pancho tries to follow and nearly strangles himself in the intent. 
• (Yesterday morning I found Spots, the salamander with the few yellow spots, in the dog dish, unable to get out. No idea why he wanted to get in there in the first place.)
• The little morning round goes down the driveway, up the slope, out the gate, over the stone wall and on the walking track back home. I am relieved to see the reason for the walk being fulfilled and equally happy, that I don´t have to carry plastic bags with me to collect the deposits. Afterwards Pancho usually leaps a few steps further and then starts scratching vigorously; earth flies in all directions (like in my face), but hardly ever hits the heap.
• 9:30 back home; Walter has prepared the breakfast. And I even get freshly squeezed orange juice!
• Mimi, the little tiger-cat comes and asks for food. I put her dish on the stairs in the other corner of the house, since the two cats don´t like each other.
• 10:00 time to feed the horse and donkeys. Remember to bring the goodies, that I saved for them: I am dividing the bio-garbage into things for the compost and things for the animals. This morning they got potato peels from making the potato salad yesterday. Golosa is very careful to pick up food from my hand, but Burra, the old donkey, does not notice the difference between food and fingers. My left index finger is still swollen and blue...
• Walter helps me filling the buckets with straw and carrying them to the paddock. I have already posted some photos a few days ago.
• 11:00 free time for blogging or writing for my tile book - Walter does the washing up
• 13:30 depending on what we are having, start preparing lunch. If we have left-overs from the day before ( I usually cook a two-day meal), I can start half an hour later. Today is easy too: fried salmon with potato salad, which is already prepared.
• 15:00 Walter has siesta; I go with the dogs again. This time in the other direction, over the jumping stones and up this walking track. Bring the camera, make photos of trees, lichens, mosses, mushrooms etc.

• 16:00 back home. Walter has prepared tea - and there is the good Christmas cake, that Eva gave us! More free time until
• 17:30, when its time to feed the horse and donkeys. Eva told me, where they could be in their paddocks, but they are always standing at the gate/ creek, waiting for me.
• 18:30 short round with the dogs again.
• 19:00 dog feeding time. They get dry food with some liquid - gravy or flavoured water. Yesterday I even gave them some chicken bones! Well, it was Christmas!
• Walter gets the fire in the living room going. He is switching around in the TV, I bring a book. There are so many books, that I would like to read - you can see my actual choice in the bars on the right-hand side. At the moment it is: Eric Newby:  The Last Grain Race. The author sailed in 1938 on the 4-mast barque Moshulu around the world.
• Quiet evening with Fluffy on the lap, Pancho on the sofa, Sinsa at our feet. 
• 0:00 tiptoe upstairs, try not to disturb the dogs, but in vain. Sinsa wakes up and takes her duty as watch-dog seriously, so starts barking. Pancho follows upstairs.

Instead of Christmas illumination...

.... the Portuguese Fire Salamander! :-))

in latin: Salamandra salamandra gallaica - this subspecies is recognizable by the red blotches in the yellow spots; see this article.
Doesn´t especially the one below look really poisonous? I certainly would not want to have a bite...

As you can see, every one of them has a different pattern; so I could start naming them :-)
I found them under a wet blanket in a shed; they had gotten in by falling over the threshold and then could not get out again. Now I built them a "bridge" with a piece of wood...

animal-sitting in Portugal again

Over the X-mas holidays we are taking care of the house and animals in Portugal, where I was in summer. Without Kasimir *sniff* we could leave both and have a relaxing time.

It started with a stay in Sevilla; I saw an interesting exhibition of old photographs; in the evening we went to the cinema and watched Life of Pi. I had read the book in German (Schiffbruch mit Tiger) and just had to see the film. This cinema always brings films in version original, and whatever you see there, is good. Also this film is very recommendable!

Afterwards we made a tour round Triana to find out, whether all the pubs, that we remembered, still existed - not so recommendable ;-)

The next day we took the bus to Badajoz - three hours on winding roads, with stops in lots of little village, all with long romantic names like: Sta. Olalla del Cala, Fregenal de la Sierra, Jerez de los Caballeros, Valle de Matamoros etc. 

Eva picked us up from the bus station, then it was another hour to their place.

We are caring for two dogs, two cats, a horse and two donkeys.
The cats are the easiest: they only come to tell you, that the dish is empty or that they want a cuddle. Other than that, they are self reliant.
Not so the dogs, especially Pancho, who has to be kept on the lead and needs at least two walks per day.

Early morning sun on the village of Marvão

Sinsa, a calf-sized dog, can run without a lead and barks our way free - at least so it seems.
Then there is a horse and two donkeys to care for. The pony, that I knew from my first stay, had died. Last time there was only one donkey, which stayed with the neighbours. They have to be fed in the morning and evening.

The donkey´s paddock is at the other side of a creek - and since they don´t want to cross it...

... I have to do it:

Finally: Feierabend! - we call it a day

Warum??? / Why???

eins meiner schönsten Korkeichen-Bilder

After all those nice pictures of this beautiful landscape, I now have to show you a frightening video:

Nachdem ich jetzt so lange über dies fantastische Landschaft geschwärmt habe, muss ich euch jetzt ein beängstigendes Video zeigen:

Very close to where I stayed land was bought and fenced in with this high security fence. This area is a NATURE RESERVE, meaning that only traditional use is allowed. This certainly does not include the use of a > 2 m high fence, which is so tight, that no animal can get through - wild boar, gennet, otter etc.
After a bit of searching, I found this article about a private mountain bike club, which is so private that even those bike-enthusiasts don't know how to get in.
Do you really believe this is about mountain-biking???

Ganz in der Nähe von "meiner" Familie wurde Land aufgekauft und mit diesem Hochsicherheitszaun umgeben. Hier handelt es sich um einen NATURPARK, in dem nur traditionelle Nutzung erlaubt ist! Dazu gehört auf jeden Fall kein über 2m hoher Zaun, der so dicht ist, dass keines der  hier vorkommenden Wildtiere mehr durchkommt - Wildschwein, Ginsterkatze, Fischotter... oder sollte es womöglich mal einen Iberischen Luchs geben....

Wenn man ein bisschen recherchiert, findet man einen Artikel über einen privaten mountain-bike Club, der so privat ist, dass auch die bike-enthusiaten, die dort kommentieren nicht wissen, wie man reinkommt.

Glaubt ihr wirklich, hier geht es um mountain-biking???

noch mehr Viehzeug: ein paar interessante Insekten

Mittlerweile habe ich es geschafft, einige Insekten zu identifizieren:

Die saß plötzlich auf meiner Kamera:

 

Kleinen Fangschrecke - European Dwarf Mantis - Ameles spallanzania

Und hier krabbelte was auf meinem Rücken - ob sie dabei das Bein verloren hat?

Mittelmeer-Stabschrecke - Bacillus rossius

An dieses Wesen musste ich mich allerdings anschleichen - was für ein Name :)

Fadenhaft - Thread-winged lacewing - Nemoptra bipennis

Und diese Kleinlibellen sind noch unbestimmt, aber trotzdem schön:

mehr Viecher - Reptilien und Amphibien in Serra de São Mamede

Jetzt wollte ich in einem schönen post alles gesehenes Viehzeug vorstellen ... aber ich habe Schwierigkeiten mit der Bestimmung *seufz*grummel*

Der hundsgewöhnliche Wasserfrosch hat sich in mehrere Arten aufgespalten und noch dazu seinen Gattungsnamen geändert; aber da es auf der Iberischen Halbinsel nur einen gibt:

Hier also der Iberische Wasserfrosch - Pelophylax perezi

Auch die Erdkröte war noch leicht zu erkennen, mittlerweile spricht man vom Bufo bufo-Komplex:

An Reptilien habe ich die Europäische Sumpfschildkröte - Emys orbicularis gesehen:

(Schön, dass ich jetzt schon beide hier vorkommenden Sumpfschildkrötenarten fotografiert habe; hier nochmal zum Vergleich die Maurische Bachschildkröte - Mauremys leprosa aus Fuente de Piedra:)

Der Algerische Sandläufer - Psammodromus algirus läuft nicht nur über algerischen Sand sondern auch über portugiesischen Stein:

Und dieses kleine Echschen hat sich bis jetzt einer Bestimmung verweigert:

Dies ist mein persönliches Highlight: die Vipernatter - Natrix maura

An der runden Pupille deutlich als ungiftige Natter zu erkennen; der Name Vipernatter weist angeblich auf ihre Ähnlichkeit zu Kreuzottern wegen der Rückenzeichnung hin. Weils so schön ist, gleich noch mal ein Foto mit interessanter Spiegelung:

Viehzeug - was sonst?!

Am Samstag bin ich von meinem "wildlife-Abenteuer" zurückgekommen und will euch endlich ein paar Fotos zeigen:

mein Bett (bevor ich es zerwühlt habe)

Blick aus dem Fenster

ein Teil meiner "Familie": Fluffy, Pancho, Sinsa

Mimi gehört natürlich auch dazu...

... und Golosa und der freche kleine Olli

DAS nenne ich Cat-sitting! :-))

Cork Oaks and Golden Orioles

Doesn't it sound poetic? This is the essence of my stay here.
All around here are cork oaks, impressive trees with big gnarled branches.

Here they don't grow in a plantation like olive trees, but in a mixed forest with other oaks, chestnuts, olives, some undergrowth like blackberries, grapevines, honeysuckle and lots of other plants I didn't recognise or don't remember. The WWF says: "Cork oak forests support one of the highest levels of biodiversity among forest habitats, as well as the highest diversity of plants found anywhere in the world."
So it is not surprising that I saw quite a lot of birds (even though with two dogs taking phots was nearly impossible). The highlights for me were the Azure-winged Magpie and especially the Golden Oriole. Usually you only hear the song, as the bird likes to sit in the leafyist top of the tree. But the one I saw, while walking with the dogs, sat very visibly and very yellow on an outer branch.... only by the time I had untangled the camara-strap from the dog-leash - it was gone!
On Saturday I could also watch (and takes photos of) the stripping of cork from the trees. From a group of four men two had tomahawk-shaped axes. They hacked into the tree - well of course they had to know how deep as to only cut the cork and not hurt the tree. Then big chunks of cork could be broken loose.

Unfortunately our communication was quite limited, but I managed to find out, that the tree are stripped every nine years and only the good parts are used for wine stoppers. The "naked" tree trunk has a vividly orange colour.

For the survival of the tree it is only possible to use about a third of its bark.
There is a saying: " Plant eucalyptus for yourself, olive trees for your children and cork oaks for your grandchildren."