Eggs-citement

30 July 2020

Hurrah!  Our new chickens have produced their first egg.

Only one of the six chickens has grown a full wattle and comb, so we are reasonably certain it is her - Chalky, the big white.  She even laid it in the nesting box, to make collection easy.  Well done and thank you, Chalky.

Pond improvement

29-30 July 2020

We have developed a three-part strategy for improving the water quality in the pond.  Because we have far too many fish - a big mistake, putting in four goldfish! - the plants are not coping with the nutrients in the water and we get string algae forming.  Our strategies are: an airstone, some good bacteria 'balls', and Dave with his fishing net.

 The airstone pump.  It is entirely solar powered by this little panel.  The pump is hidden below the panel and sends air down the tube to bubble oxygen in the depths. 

 The pump runs 24 hours so we have a constant gentle bubbling which has significantly improved water quality.  We also got some 'torex' balls, like little white golf balls, which have disappeared into the murk, but we think they are also helping.  They encourage the bacteria which transform fish waste into plant-available nutrients.

The air pump is breaking up the algae in the deep areas and bringing it to the surface, where the third part of the strategy comes into play: Dave with his kiddy fishing net, scooping it up and dumping it on the garden beds nearby.

 The banana tree we planted seems to be very happy, putting out new leaves very busily and producing a couple of suckers at the roots.

 Elsewhere, some turmeric we put in and forgot all about is springing up in various places around the garden.  It must like this heat.

 This year we have three decent watermelons.  Here are two of them, nearly ready for picking.

A view of the terraced beds up the south slope.  A bit overgrown, but the maize crop looks good, the kale is unstoppable, and we have sunflowers coming - one is already out if you look closely at the back.  We are seed-saving parsley, celery and radish too.

The Rustic Arch - first instalment

26 July 2020

Way back in March, in the week before lockdown, we ordered some garden fencing and a rustic arch to frame the new path and prettify the paved area outside the kitchen.  The goods were received by the woodyard, but before they could be delivered to us we had lockdown, the immediate effect of which was that no deliveries were allowed to be made to private addresses, only businesses.  Not a tragedy, we'd just have to wait.  There followed a combination of circumstances where deliveries were offered on the only days we couldn't accept them, with the end result that fence materials and flat-packed arch finally turned up in late July.

In a rush of early evening enthusiasm, we had a go at starting the arch construction.  It is so hot, though, and the ground is so hard, that we worked very slowly and only managed to get two post-holders into the ground.  We'll probably wait until this 40o heatwave calms down a little before we try to do any more.

 The delivered items: large fence panels (to go behind the shed to keep back the brambles from the old battery boxes, so Dave can easily get to them for maintenance); one side of the arch;fence posts and holders lying on the ground; and in the distance, a couple of picket fence panels that will go along the path to separate and define the firewood management area on the right.

 The first post-holder half way in.  A sacrificial piece of wood is used to hammer the spike into unyielding ground full of rocks and gravel.  

 From another angle - hard to see in the shadow, but both posts are in, although the second one twisted a bit so we'll have a struggle to get the arch legs into them.  A job for another day!  In the little round log-edged bed is the bougainvillea we bought when we expected the arch to be delivered in spring.  In the end we had to plant it to keep it alive, so now we are building the arch to it, rather than the other way round.

The top of the rustic arch - hopefully it'll look quite nice when installed.

Missions of Mercy

21 - 29 July 2020

We just heard that one of our friends is very ill, but can't get a proper diagnosis.  He's in a lot of pain, but both their cars are off the road, and he can't sit on a scooter for any distance.  We offered to run them about, in quest of a medical solution, so in the last week, we have taken two trips to Preveza for abortive MRI scan appointments, and four or five trips to Lefkas GP and hospital for blood tests and results.  The house and garden have therefore been neglected, but the upside has been that we've spent a lot of time waiting in the car, in the blissful aircon (solar powered in our home-charged electric car), rather than sweltering at home in the current heatwave temperatures.

A few developments around the house:

 The wasp nest under the Solarium roof is developing well - busy busy.

 While we were away sailing, Lin looked after the garden and failed to neglect the bougainvillea the way we usually do.  As a result it has put out its best-ever display of flowers.

We finally remembered to pick up the barbeque tray and grilles for our outdoor kitchen.  These have been hand-crafted to exact measurements by Stainless Phil - they were rather more expensive than we bargained for, but will last several lifetimes, so that's okay.

Pond Polarities

17-20 July 2020

We are variously happy and sad about the pond, depending on the level of green scum growing in it at any one time.  All the new plants are in, but the water quality remains poor, and visibility has reduced a lot.  We've made some on-line orders and are awaiting the arrival of some de-toxing balls and an aerating pump, but meanwhile, the water is green and murky.

 However, we do have some wonderful dragonflies that are now frequent visitors, in addition to our spectacular Emperors, we also have this blue with black abdomen and wing bases.

 Quite a few of these with pinky-red body and wings

 Dave, engaged in de-scumming the pond with a fishing net.

 An all-pale blue dragonfly - a recent new arrival

Murky water and a plethora of baby goldfish.  Far more than the pond eco-system can support.

Chicken run

16-17 July 2020

With the weather still a little cloudy - but no rain, worse luck - we did another long-delayed job.  Our new chickens, who are not yet full grown, need to get out into the 'long run' from time to time to stretch their legs.

 When we originally put up the fence around the long run I had wanted a proper gate, but it didn't happen, and then we never got round to it.  All it needed was a fence post lashed to the uprights and a construction of decking wood, wire and hinges, and there it was - done at last.

First foray into a larger world for the chickens

A bit of Garden Prep

15 July 2020

On Wednesday the day was overcast, with threatened thunderstorms.  This is rare in July, and gave us a great opportunity to do a little work in the garden.  I had been wanting to prepare some ground for our embryonic Forest Garden, using the pond liner offcuts as mulch.

 As the ground slopes, I thought we could build swale-paths on contour.  These involve digging out a slight ditch, and filling it with woodchip.  The ditch will collect rainwater and help it infiltrate the ground, while the woodchip reduces compaction of the soil when it is walked upon. 

At this stage, all I needed to do was use my A-frame level-finder and lay out a rope along the contour.

 I then put down cardboard along the line of the future path, weighted down with sticks and stones.

 I made three pathways to be, and then started filling in with pond liner.

The finished area, cut round a Linden, Peach and Robinia tree, as well as a couple of shrubs.  Hopefully in Feb or March next year, when we lift the mulch, we'll find less grass and weeds than otherwise, and by then we'll have the area designed, with seeds and plants ready to go in.  The mulch materials can then be moved to the next patch - and so on.  It's a slow process, but anything too big becomes rapidly overwhelming, and the weeds just move back in.

Haiku Surprise

5 July 2020

Sometime in May I saw an opportunity to enter a competition for writing Haiku (a japanese form of  poetry with three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables per line).  I am fascinated by the tightness of focus this structure requires so I thought I'd enter.  The entry fee went to the Oxfam Coronavirus Emergency Appeal, so it was in a good cause.  The theme was 'Lockdown'.

 This was my entry, together with the photo that inspired it.

Much to my amazement, I heard that I had been included among the 131 shortlisted entries.  Such a nice surprise to get while we were out sailing.

Running Away to Sea

3 - 10 July 2020

The delayed tourist season started on 1st July with selected countries, but not including the UK, who were put back to the 15th.  We thought this was a wonderful opportunity to go sailing round the islands before the rush.  We talked to our nice friends at Nisos and chartered a yacht for a week.

 We set off on a Friday and the first couple of days before the weekend charterers arrived were blissfully empty of other vessels.  It must have been like this for sailors in the 80s before it all got so popular.

 We took multicoloured provisions from home - kale quiche and sauerkraut - our anti-scurvy diet!

 Our most favourite place in the whole world - One Yacht Bay.  Just us, turquoise waters and a regular evening procession of goats to watch.  Blissful.

 Plenty of fish in the sea

 Usually one of the most popular ports in the Ionian - Kioni, where you can never get on the quay!

 Me at sea

 Dave chilling on the boat in Sivota, with guitar to hand

 A hitchhiker we picked up in Sivota and didn't notice till half way to Kastos - poor thing was hanging on to the top of the outboard engine, braced against the wind as we headed up to the village.  In the bustle of mooring up I didn't see if it made it safely ashore, but I hope it did, and wasn't too traumatised by the experience.

 All peaceful and lovely in Kastos harbour.

Our last night under the stars - we couldn't think of anywhere better to be than where we started, back in our favourite bay, this time with wine.

Picking and Planting

End of June to 2nd July

The apricot harvest is finally in.  The poor laden tree is dropping windfalls, most of which are usable.  Lovely to have a glut from one of our fruit trees - finally!

 A basket of goodies: fresh peas and a fine haul of apricots.

 Coming home on the bikes in the dark one evening, we noticed some furtive movement and just managed to see this little creature, about the size of a large coin.  It seems at least one of our tadpoles made it to adult-toad-hood.

 These are three new Hostas from the Marathon nursery.  They will tolerate shade and have edible leaves (they are members of the same family as plantain).  We put them under our best Robinia tree, and will see how they get on.

 Also from Marathon: two relatives of ginger, although I'm not quite sure which is which.  The tall one at the front may be the Galangel, and in the background is a shorter one which should be Cardamom.

I painted this picture of an Allium flower for my brother who had requested it.