Fall, Squampkins, Bikers and Broken Bridges

October.

Things are winding down toward winter. Time to do some garden tidying and the like. Trees to fell, firewood to get in, Turkeys to slaughter…no hang about, scratch that last. No Turkeys. Not this year anyway. 
It was decided that the first tree to get a chop would be the big Leylandi out front, so it got lowered by about a third. Ness had the ‘fun’ task of scaling it and hacking away.  

                                
This all went well and we then cut down two more of our diseased pines. Fraser cut and loaded the last of the brash.  

       

Down at the new pond the blue flowering wossnames had rather taken over, so they got replaced with Irises for next year.

We also had a shot at sealing up a leak or two in the reservoir up on the top terrace....still leaks. on to plan 'B'...whatever that is.









Friend Steve from the Algarve biked his way up to stay for a few days and make the most of the last good biking weather. Great to see him and he was on good form

Portugal has a financial crisis (like everyone else) but we also have a bridge crisis. Hundreds of bridges across the country that were built (badly) over the past 30 years or so have been condemned. The upshot for us is that, as we are between two rivers we meet bridgeworks across both of them no matter our direction of travel......BORRRRINGGG!

Crossing can take as much as 20 minutes if you time it wrongly.




















But we discovered that the little dog shaped water-filled barriers that they use these days to set out detours are brilliantly named.
Look closely...

CLASSIC!

Back in the garden Sylvi managed to grow a kind of hybrid butternut/pumpkin that grew out of the compost. We have called it a Squampkin...tastes great!


















New bugs appeared everywhere this month, hundreds of them which apparently are a pest which eat the pine nuts. We find them all over the place and when you squash them they smell strongly of peardrops....weird!

Our resident praying mantis has created her perfect nest on a sheet of insulation in our utility room/toolshed.. When they tiny mantis babies come out in the spring they are about 5mm long and perfect. Looking forward to seeing them next year.
This is the door of the utility room. This photo is specially for all Sylvi's  friends and students who know where this sign came from. Lest we forget...........

One problem darkening our doorsteps literally is the ruin next to our garden which, after 15 years of neglect is now so overgrown with brambles that it is a real fire hazard. The person who owns it is a nightmare...that is another story. Currently trying to get her to clear the lot. She has offered to sell us the ruin underneath for 1000 euros. That made us laugh out loud! Now waiting to see if she is going to do anything about it. If not ? Well we have another cunning plan 'B'!!!!!!!!!!!!

So the clocks went back but the Scraps and Bugsy don't care! Early morning wake ups in the pitch black .......We think the idea of quitting with summertime daylight saving is a bloody good idea. At least psychologically for us if not for our beloved canines.

Sunspot activity sadly didn't give us the spectacular auroras that have been seen around the globe but it did do us some great sunset skies.