Apple turned green with a rosewood foot - about 1.5 mm thick. (16 cms wide by 5 cms high)

I am not sure where the last three weeks have gone.  This is the time of year with long days and good weather and yet I am so behind with collecting timber that I have to bring back to the workshop.  I can console myself with the fact that I have been planting – everything from a couple of trees to a hedge and tending an ever-growing vegetable garden.  I have been in the workshop, but have been making things that somehow don’t count as they seem to go as fast as I make them and it is the odd turned items that present a challenge that I really enjoy.

Festas in north Portugal

The season of “Festas” is very much here now and that takes time too of course.  And then there is the pleasure of having visitors to stay, which also takes time!

Not the only hoopoe in the garden

It has been on of the most extraordinary springs that I can ever remember for birdsong.  The whole area is exceptionally interesting to anyone with an interest in wildlife, but this year the birdsong has been spectacular.  As well as the Hoopoe above, we have had the real thing in the garden and there is always a wealth of bird-watching to be had even from the garden.  Weeding the vegetables the other night, I  had a White Wagtail beside me, a Black Redstart hopping around nearby, House Sparrows and a couple of Serins all in sight in the garden.  Although the Cuckoos are quiet now, the resident Sparrow Hawk is very much in evidence and we see the odd Goshawk flying by too.  The other night we passed a Wildcat on the road and shortly after that we saw a Genet.  I am pretty sure that the Genets visit the garden too, as I find regular evidence!  The poor dog thinks so too – the early morning olfactory evidence drives him crazy!