A nice Christmas present. Our neighbour had broken away these chalk stones because he was
afraid that sooner or later they would fall on his (future) house.
He had no destination for the stones and was all too glad to give
them to us. We were glad too of course, there are some impressive
boulders among them. Some weeks later a bulldozer would put the
stones on a nice row on our terrain. Perhaps my neighbour didn't
have a clear idea about our intentions with the debris and decided
to put them as a kind of boundary between our terrains.
Our plan is to get in touch with the bulldozer man
and place the stones, half-sunk into the soil, on 'strategic' places
of esthetic and ecological interest.
Our friend Bert inspecting the
'loot'. 23 Dec 12:34
Looking south-east. 27 Jan 2007 13:33
Looking east. The glove in the
centre gives an idea of the size of the stones 27 Jan 2007 13:29
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These winterweeks I had
been busy constructing a bird
feeder and some nest boxes for owls. The box here on the left
is intended for Strixaluco(Tawny Owl), an owl whose
characteristic call we can hear almost every night. The one in the
middle is thought for Otus scops (European Scops
Owl) the smallest owl around.
Placing the bird feeder was no problem but hanging the owl boxes
was quite an enterprise. They are heavy and big and must hang as
high as possible with the opening facing south.
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Made of pinewood and painted with linseed oil. 17 Dec
Looking north-east. The bird feeder is fixed on
an almond tree trunk. 25 Dec 11:26
The Scops Owl box finally hung by undersigned
high up in a
Quercusfagineatree. 25 Dec 10:52
An impression on 27 Jan 2007
13:38, taken from the wood, and looking north-west. On the highest
terrace of the terrain still some frozen snow.
Another job to be done was
the pruning of the almond trees. I had bought a good frame saw and
together with my friend Bert we attacked the almond
trees
taking as an example the beautiful orchard specimen around us. The
almond trees on the terrain had not been pruned for many years and
this made the task not easier. The final result is not too bad and
with time they will hopefully acquire a better look.
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An almond orchard in the vicinity. 19 Nov 2006 16:10
After the pruning, looking east. 25 Dec 11:27
More aggressive was our
intervention against a whole row of brambles. On the right is the
place where our house is projected and we prefer an open view and
the possibility to see as
much of the terrain and the wood as possible. This meant the
sacrifice of a complete hedge of brambles in the centre. A clear
conflict with ecological values as a bramble hedge attracts and
shelters much wildlife. But bramble hedges are not exactly a rarity
in this region and we our going to install new hedges on the
boundary of the terrain. The disappearance of the brambles here will
also stimulate the growth of less invasive species (present are
already Crateagusmonogyna,
Ligustrumvulgaris,
Rosacanina, Lonicera species,
Jasminumfruticans,
Juniperuscommunisand Juniperusoxycedrus).
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Looking west. Most of the
brambles taken away giving a more spacious effect. 25 Dec 11:29
We made some excursions in the vicinity and this final photograph
gives a good impression
of a chalk grassland when regularly grazed by sheep. It's almost
like a lawn with less species partly because of the enriching of the
soil by the sheep droppings. Nevertheless a striking landscape with
the old olive trees.
Near an abandoned village, at 2 km from the
terrain. 25 Dec 13:40
