the story of Casa Azul

And then there were three…

July 23, 2012 Jackie Comments 3 comments

We bought our chickens almost two years ago for a couple of euros each. We decided that three would be enough but got four because we were sure that they wouldn’t all make it. Since then four healthy chickens have given us 1750 eggs and, of course, we’ve become a little attached to our galinhas (as did my Dad!). We’ve also got used to their clucking after they’ve laid an egg and turned a deaf ear to their complaining from the bramble bushes when it’s been too hot. But yesterday afternoon one of them was making a right racket – not usual at all. She was in the connecting field to the one where their house is and calmed down a bit when I came out; I didn’t worry too much that I could only see three. But when she carried on squawking after I left we decided something was up. Richard went into the field and sadly, under the brambles, he found a headless chicken. No wonder there was so much noise, she hadn’t wanted to pass her sister to get back home. We now noticed the feathers everywhere and I hoped she’d been attacked quickly.

This morning the remaining three were rather reticent to leave their caged run let alone go into the next door field, something they usually do first thing. What to do? We decided that the third field, empty now except for a house and run because the ‘roasties’ had all been dispatched, would be the perfect option. It doesn’t connect to the exterior stone wall, it’s a little nearer the house, and the olive tree gives good shade. So that was all cleaned and re-strawed and the hens found themselves a new home.

So what was it? Not a fox, it would have killed all four and there would’ve been more carnage. Richard reckons an Egyptian mongoose (we’ve seen them here) or some kind of weasel. No doubt it’ll be back for a second helping of hen head but right now they’re locked away (with much complaining) and will be earlier in the day now until, I hope, the enemy gives up. RIP Pecky!

A plum job

July 8, 2012 richard Comments 2 comments

I’ve been away for a couple of weeks and can’t quite believe the change to the garden. Despite Jackie telling me the weather has been ordinary and un-summer-like to say the least (Jackie’s last post, ‘Here comes the summer’ seems to have been a false dawn), we have still had very little rain and so the garden, especially the grass, is looking very parched. However, the lavender, oleander and roses are thriving, so it’s great to have some colour.

Jackie has also been extremely busy coping with the annual glut of plums. This time the red ones were first and so we have plenty of plum crumble, plum cordial, plum vodka and plum jam. However, that’s just one red plum tree. Now the yellow plums are coming on stream, which will be shortly followed by the green plums and greengages.

Talking of fruit trees, after a few barren years we will finally get some apples.

Things are moving fast in the veg plot. We have had our first tomatoes, corn on the cobs and courgettes and as I type, Jackie is busy making green tomato chutney – horror of horrors we have exhausted last year’s stock of all types of chutney.

On the livestock front, the pigs are doing well – they love the excess plums, and are fattening up nicely, I dispatched the last of the roasties yesterday and I can hear the bees busy about their work. The hens are also fine, despite the fact that Jackie recently caught Betty with one of them in her mouth! It was rather shaken but resumed egg laying duty the following day. I suppose that will teach her for flying out of the chicken run. Meanwhile, the dogs are taking it easy. Enjoying the cool weather while it lasts. Betty looking like ‘butter wouldn’t melt’. If only…

Here comes the summer!

June 25, 2012 Jackie Comments 4 comments

Walking into the courtyard the heat hits you and there’s no relief to be found under our shelter – it’s reading 35C in the shade. The hens have disappeared deep into the brambles (you can just hear the occasional moaning cluck), the roasties are inside their hut with their beaks permanently resting in their drinking water (which has been put inside for the mo) and the dogs are not even bothering me for a run; they have collapsed on the tiled floor, legs akimbo and slightly snoring. Our bees like drinking from the pond’s edge (careful where you stand while looking for the frog!) and there are now bricks in the dogs’ outside bowl as mice and shrew keep drowning in it overnight. The wild birds are also grateful for the pond and start their morning with a splash.

And the pigs? Well, they love their mid-afternoon bathing session:

Meanwhile the raspberries are giving us a bumper harvest, a perfect afternoon for making ice cream!

Tiles 2

June 18, 2012 richard Comments 1 comment

Way back in March we picked up a pile of old tiles (azulejos). We used some of them around the tree we put in the courtyard (see Tiles) but we had plenty left. In the traditional Portuguese style we decided to cover a wall, or at least part of it behind the orange tree in the courtyard.

Brick Barbeque Building

June 11, 2012 richard Comments 4 comments

Everyone round these parts has a brick barbeque. And they are all identical. Only problem is that we think they are very ugly and also very expensive. As can be seen below. PS the bricks are actually fake so it looks even worse in the flesh.

Solution? Build one myself! Jackie is already in position to direct operations.

I’m ready! Where are the pork chops?

Done! Meanwhile the rest of the gang are resting up…

A walk on the wild side

June 5, 2012 Jackie Comments 0 Comment

Continuing our flower theme I have added a load of photos taken on a recent walk. I had wanted to take a snap of every flower we came across but it proved too time-consuming a task so these are most but by no means all. Richard wanted me to label each one – ha to that! They can be found on this page wild flowers, but here’s a woodcock orchid to give you a taster…

Blooming

June 3, 2012 richard Comments 2 comments

End of May, beginning of June is the most colourful time of year at Casa Azul. The flowers are having a last hurrah before the heat of the summer kills everything. Strangely enough roses are really popular round these parts and everyone seems to have at least one in their garden. We are no different and they look great at the moment.

We have also been cultivating some wonderful bright yellow flowers – I believe they are called dandelions. Here they are in all their glory before they were strimmed to death.

The long hot summer is great for lavender though and we have plenty of it. We had a bit of a worry with piggy number one recently – she had a nasty abscess on her neck. When it burst it was even worse. I’ll spare you the details. I had to rub in some cream and attempt to keep it relatively clean which wasn’t the easiest of things to do but it seems to have healed remarkably quickly. Apparently they are quite common but I don’t fancy nursing the pigs through any more.

On the roastie front, the last lot have met their maker and we’ve already had the first for supper. Needless to say it was really delicious. I look forward to the rest of them. We don’t hang about though. No sooner had one lot been dispatched than we got another lot. They’ll be ready in a couple of months.

Making things

May 28, 2012 Jackie Comments 3 comments

Unlike Richard I have been rather slack at updating the blog so this is a summary of what I’ve been busy doing since the new year apart from veg patch stuff (another post for that). Well, in short, I’ve been making things. January saw in the orange season and so marmalade was first up, and therefore orange marmalade cake, along with orange liqueur, orange and mascarpone tart and of course freshly squeezed juice.

Next came the lemons and limes. The oranges were from our own trees but the lemons were taken from others. We stopped at one house with an over laden tree and asked if we could have some. Two full buckets of lemons meant searching for ideas. There were the lemon equivalents of what I made with the oranges plus lemon curd, lemon cordial, and, best of all, lemon meringue pie. The curd was also used to make a Lancashire version of Bakewell tart. The few limes from our own tree were turned into lemon and lime marmalade. The remaining lemons were cut up into slices and put in the freezer.

I cut the willow down completely and sat in the sun (we had a very hot winter) making another basket, this time using olive branches and redwood cuttings too. It was a year since my last attempt and so it felt like starting over again. It looked quite colourful when finished but I still can’t get the shape I want. I had been meaning to have another go but the willow branches have now all dried brown and been thrown away.

While my sister was here we made some more soap. The first batch was made only with our olive oil which we felt was a little slimy, and didn’t lather. So this time we made some with coconut oil and that was brilliant, except perhaps a touch too soft. I’ve recently experimented with other oils and so far (it’s still drying) it seems much harder – fingers crossed for the perfect bar! I also used water coloured with beetroot, it was deep pink initially but this practically disappeared when mixed with the caustic soda. However, the bars do have a lovely orange tinge to them now.

It was three years since the asparagus was planted so great celebration in being able to have our first spears. As the crowns came from my father it seemed only right to give some to him but the hot weather meant the 4 weeks of eating them would be over before he visited. So I preserved a jar of them in olive oil and rosemary having grilled the spears. It worked very well, and since then the artichoke hearts have been preserved too.

But now the roads and riverbanks are lined with elders in full bloom which means one thing: making elderflower cordial. I love it so much I’ve made 7 bottles of it, and one has already gone. Wanting to make the most of this fragrant of flowers I’ve also decided to have another go making wine. The quince effort wasn’t bad for a first time go but it was too sweet so I’m hoping this time for a better result. And am determined to make elderberry wine too, watch this space.

The most exciting thing that I’ve been making though is ice-cream! Richard bought me an ice-cream maker and it’s been great fun making up recipes – not with our own produce yet but I’m sure I’ll be an expert once the raspberries, blackcurrants, plums etc are all out. I’ve made mango, strawberry and, best of all, banana ice-cream. The latest attempt was with the elderflower cordial, it was nice but the lemon juice was too overpowering so will change the ratio of that for the next batch.

Along with the baking it’s been a busy time in the kitchen then. But I haven’t been the only one making things. Richard has made the table and benches and his next big project will be to make a barbecue stand in the courtyard. But now he’s just made a cup of tea…

It’s been a month..

May 21, 2012 richard Comments 0 Comment

…since my last confession post. Plenty has happened in that time. We’ve had lots of rain followed by a bit of sun and then more recently, even more rain. This has been excellent for the garden. Fortunately the rain stopped long enough for me to attack the undergrowth. Two days of strimming later the grass was back to a more manageable level and we could actually see some of the new plants and trees we had put in. Plenty of flowers are now in bloom including the roses and the poppies which are appearing out of the cracks in the threshing square.

Of course the pigs love the wet weather and are thriving.

Only downside is that they are much keener on the expensive pig food rather than the cheaper vegetable peelings. Those pork chops may turn out quite expensive in the end. Meanwhile the roasties are doing very well. So well in fact that they are already living on borrowed time.

The veggie patch is also doing well. The asparagus has been and gone, we’ve dug up the onions and the garlic, and had some cauliflowers in addition to some rhubarb. The potatoes will be ready soon.

After an intensive course in animal husbandry for Jackie’s dad (practice in feeding and watering the hens and pigs), we (me, Jackie and the hairy ones) managed to leave the house for a few days and headed off to the Algarve where the hairy ones learned to swim in the sea.

Of course by the time we got back, more sun and rain had done its work leaving us with even more things to do in the garden…

Proper rain and pigs

April 21, 2012 richard Comments 13 comments

Two big events recently. We’ve finally got the pigs and it’s started raining (and still not stopped!). Pigs first. The bloke from the pig farm came round in his truck and said take your pick:

Between him, Luis our next door neighbour, and us, we decided on two little red heads. Or to be more technical, two Durocs. The pig farmer reckoned they would be the best as they are good for keeping outdoors and are delicious! Wikipedia wrongly stated that they are originally from USA – they are actually from Spain/Portugal and we hope that wikipedia also got it wrong when it said they tend to be one of the most aggressive of all the swine breeds!

Here they are settled into their new home. Received wisdom says it is better to restrict their movement to their hut first and then let them out into the bigger field in a few days.

And the rain has finally come. After almost two weeks of continuous drizzle, it is starting to get a bit tiresome (that’s why we don’t live in the British Isles) however we are fortified by the knowledge that we really need it (and a lot more) for our plants now and into the summer. And we can see the benefits already. The fruit is plumping up nicely. Last year we hardly had any peaches but this year promises to be a bumper crop judging by the progress of these little beauties. Maybe even the apples will be big enough to eat!

Here are some birds who love the rain and are still pumping out a regular four-a-day!

The dogs, however, have decided they prefer it indoors and now there isn’t even room for me on the sofa. Just as well Jackie is in Madrid for the weekend.