Sourcing and storing wood for Winter 2015 - 2016.

This year we had had a colder and wetter Winter than what we normally experience at La Pasera here by the Asturian coast.We are still using the central heating other than on the very few warm and pleasant days when burning a few logs in the evening helps remove what otherwise would be a chill in the air as we relax at home in the evenings. During the day, daytime temperatures can reach into the lower 20 Celsius.

We occasionally are given an old fruit tree from a neighbour's orchard that would supplement the bulk of the wood we buy from a local wood merchants. After several months of firing our log burners in the lounge and the workshop/studio. we have ordered a load of wood that will finish drying over the coming months for us to burn next Winter. We are also expecting another big load over the next few days, a mixture of oak and birch wood that probably we will not start burning until Winter 2016 - 2017. Storing wood this far ahead ensures the logs we burn are dry and burn efficiently.

Over the last few days we have also finished chopping the hazel we coppiced from one of our boundaries and the small branches and twigs we gathered after pruning the fruit tress. This is ideal kindling. Some of the hazels had grown too big shadowing areas and depriving them of light; some of the hazel had not been coppiced since we arrived at La Pasera. Chopping the hazel and twigs for kindling is a job I particularly enjoy at this time of the year when Spring starts to come into life. The robins are never too far with their beautiful song while patiently waiting on a nearby perch to see if there is something for them to feast on.

A special froe traditionally used in Asturias to coppice trees and clear hedges along with a log used as a chopping block are the ideal tools for this job. The use of knee pads is something I would advise using when kneeling on a hard surface for long periods of time.

Now we only need to store and protect from the rain the chopped kindling wood and wait for the hot and drier weather to draw out most of the humidity so that it is sufficiently dried when we come to use it to start the fire. The next load of wood will be stored under cover in readiness for burning in the future.Gawber and Wentworth will certainly appreciate the warmth of the log burner in the workshop during cold Winter evenings.

In the garden, the proliferating daisies and dandelions not only herald the warmer weather but also the need to start cutting the grass after the cold weather. Cutting the grass has been a job we have delayed for a few extra days so that we could empty the compost bins before we start adding fresh grass clipping and organic matter that will guarantee next year's supply of compost. a valuable resource for the vegetable plot. What are you up to in your plot?

Walking in Asturias: Carria Peak in Winter

This is one of the latest Winter walks I recently did with the  Peña Santa walking group as part of my ongoing training for the three challenges I will undertake this Spring to raise money for the Donkey Paradise.

Going out with the group when your orienteering skills are not very good is a good opportunity to walk across some beautiful valleys and mountains as was the case with this stunning walk I did on a beautiful and sunny Winter's day in the area locally known as Ponga which lies next to the Picos National Park.

In Ponga the mountains are lower that those found in the Picos National Park and in Winter the snow soon melts so as a group we have an area where we can go out walking without the need to use crampons, snowshoes or skies, equipment that will be a must for those venturing at this time of the year within the higher peaks.

The drama when walking in the Ponga area at this time of the year resides primarily in the stunning beauty of its alpine meadows and woodlands surrounded by impressive lime stone mountains and ridges. The wild daffodils, of which in Asturias there are 4 native varieties, soon herald the colourful carpet that the warmer weather will bring over the next few weeks. In addition to the beautiful and brave occasional clamp of daffodils, I particularly like the vivid colours of the mosses and lichens so prolific within Ponga's limestone and, stunning at the moment as they are fully hydrated with the melting snow and rain.

Today's walk would take us to Carria Peak at 1431 meters high and was the last of a series of events the Peña Santa walking group had organized on a yearly basis and  as part of a week full of different presentations and exhibitions that celebrate the many outdoor activities that can be enjoyed in the mountains and as a result, the number of people doing this walk was slightly larger than usual.

The walk took us across some stunning scenery and as soon as we gained a bit of altitude and were out of the woodlands, we were rewarded with impressive views of the coast to the north and the snow covered peaks in the National Park to the south without forgetting the stunning area of Ponga itself.

Coming across the occasional bit of snow proved to be too great a temptation not to have some fun as was the case when Cori and Noelia decided to let themselves fall backwards and draw angels in the snow. Who could blame them with the Picos National Park as a backdrop.

The peaks are often crowned with a sort of letter box usually detailing the name of the peak, its altitude and who the sponsor for the box was. As you can see, Peak Carria had a letter box attached to a cross. There is a tradition for people to leave a note in the letter box indicating the name of those who conquered the peak, the date and any other information they may wish to share. The walking group usually leaves one of its publicity cards.

Reaching the summit is always a good opportunity for admiring the views and it is always interesting to hear from those who know the mountains very well, about others walks or when they point out some interesting detail about local history.

The second part of today's walk after leaving the summit would takes us across some areas still covered with frozen snow as we made our descent towards the lowers slopes where we eventually found a suitable place to stop for lunch.

After a short break for lunch we all felt rested and ready to undertake the descent down towards the Beyos Gorge just over 1000 m below where the bus would be waiting for. We walked down the terraces that many centuries ago were created across the mountain side to provide pasture for the livestock. These pastures supported life in the now abandoned and rapidly becoming derelict village of St Ignacio. Other than for one elderly shepherd who occasionally uses one of the huts and gathers the hay as Winter fodder for his animals in a traditional Asturian manner around a long pole, the village and grass terraces are rapidly been reclaimed my nature, an indicator and consequence of a rapidly disappearing way of life.

We came across a lady who as a child would have to walk up the slopes to gather the animals and whose knowledge of the area is invaluable and one of the reasons it is always nice to stop and talk with them as they are a great source of information as Jar, the main group leader would tell us.

Here is the link to my sponsorship page, please visit and if possible make a small donation or help us to promote this worthy cause. Many thanks.

Winter flowers showing Spring is on its way.....

A few flowers from the garden, hedgerow and mountains....

UPDATE - Bat Rescue

It has been an eventful few days. Our previous post about finding a drenched and exhausted bat provoked a lot of comment and advice both on the blog and on social media sites. We also contacted various organisations in Spain and the UK that support bat education, research and rescue. In addition we contacted Seprona (Servicio de Protección de la Naturaleza). The advice offered was mixed, some helpful and some not so helpful. In the end we made a decision that we would follow our instinct of minimal intervention and as early release as possible.

We continued to offer honey and water via droplets out of a syringe and made available finely minced cat food and meat jelly. The tiny bat took little and spent most of the days resting underneath cloth in a plant terrarium on the cool balcony. Our thinking was a couple of days to recuperate, then rehouse in a bat box and let nature take its course.

I built a bat box with instructions and specifications found here (something we have been meaning to do for some time), and made the decision that we would temporarily, position the box up high on our workshop window ledge; some 4 meters of the ground. The time came when there was a break in the weather and the temperatures had risen...

Time to relocate the bat to its new home and wait and see. We gently moved the little bat (a pipistrelle we think) and helped it climb up into the sanctuary of the new bat box. It slowly climbed higher and higher into the box. From the ground we could just about see it.

Much to our surprise and delight, about an hour later whilst Luis was taking a look through binoculars, the bat eased its way down and took flight. Fortunately I was close at hand and we both watched as it soared with ease and made its way to rocky outcrops and woodlands just across the field next to our house. This is ideal territory and we hope that it found refuge and that it has a second chance to live a fruitful life. Pipistrelles can live 6 or so years.

The next time we see bats diving and gliding in the soft yellow light of the local street lamps we will no doubt remember our encounter with this delightful creature and consider what a privilege it has been to spend a few days caring for it. The next job is to make further bat boxes and install them around our plot. We'll keep you informed in further posts.

Our first bat box

Rescuing a bat in winter

The weather has been pretty grim for the past few weeks with many heavy storms, strong winds and cold. Not the best of weather for creatures great or small. On my way to the workshop yesterday morning I spotted something out of the corner of my eye that made an impression in my mind as I carried on and began rummaging through the chest freezer. You know the sort of feeling that you need to take a closer look... On my way out Gawber the cat, who was two steps in front of me, stopped and sniffed at this little dark lump on the ground. I looked closer and saw a tiny bat. My first thought was that it was dead, probably caught out by a heavy storm or even worse, clawed by one of our cats as it swooped down looking for insects. Its tiny wing moved. It was sodden and covered in cobwebs.

I gently put the bat in a small cardboard box with some dried leaves and kitchen roll and, placed it in the boiler room where there is always a warm ambient temperature. After removing the cobwebs with tweezers, the next job was to research what to do? I trawled the Internet and found that most sites recommend making the bat safe, handle only with gloves due to disease and then call a bat charity, volunteer, vet or animal rescue centre. This is rural Spain... I was on my own. I had read that bats found in such circumstances could be exhausted or dehydrated and to try feeding it water and jelly from cat food from a paint brush. I tried several times but the little creature just licked the moisture of its furry face and then kept turning its head away when offered more. The bat had dried out and was much more alert and active.

 I contacted a couple of people who were volunteers for UK based bat charities who suggested that once it had dried out to put it up high in the evening and it could possibly fly. I did, on the balcony, it didn't.

The bat box on the balcony

Following further investigation and advice via contacts on social media, we concluded that the bat was probably still in a hibernation period and it could have been blown from its roost. We were also advised to examine it closer for tears in the wings as antibiotics would be required if that was the case. Fortunately, the wings seemed intact. We have made further attempts to hydrate it with honey and water and will put a small amount of cat food/jelly for it to eat if it wants. It is now housed back in the boiler room in a plant propagator filled with a piece of cloth, a twig or two, some dried leaves and honey water. If it is hibernating, it could be a few more weeks before it is ready to fly and as they can live on very small amount of fat reserves, I am not too worried. We will keep you updated on his progress and carry on with our research and investigation as to what the next steps should be.

Alert and ready to bite

If there is anyone out there who has experience of this sort of thing and can advise us what to do, please get in touch.

BAT UPDATE CLICK HERE

Joining in #AnimalTales with Rosie at:

http://eco-gites.blogspot.fr/2015/02/animal-tales-13.html

Come rain or shine, there is work to be done...

We've had a couple of weeks of very mixed weather here in Asturias. One day bright sunshine and the next, torrential rain, hail and strong winds. There is snow in the mountains but at least here on the coast, that never causes us problems apart from the chill factor. The fields around us are flooded, there are several trees down and on the coast there has been damage to the promenades and tonnes of wood has been brought down stream in the swollen rivers and has now been deposited on the beaches.

It is always depressing to see such a large volume of plastic amongst the wood on the beach. Why can't people just dispose of water bottles and such, responsibly rather than just tossing them into the void that is apparently also their brain?

The rain in Asturias is relentless at times. Last week we had around 106 litres of rain (per square meter) with most of that coming down in short sharp bursts.

At this time of year we try and coppice the hazel that borders our land on the north side. We have a fence that was installed when the house was built sited just inside of an old limestone wall that has now fallen into disrepair; this wall is the actual boundary. One day we will restore it and remove the fence. About half way along, this wall becomes a retaining wall for our garden which drops down nearly two meters into the field below - hence the name La Pasera meaning the stepping stones. Along this dividing wall, hazels are prolific and thick but provide something of a wind-break from the storms that hit the north coast from the Atlantic and bay of Biscay. Never-the-less they need keeping in check or they become too impenetrable and a nuisance. We are about half way through now and when the weather allows we will continue behind the shed and compost bins. The coppiced wood will be chopped, left to dry and used for firewood or for plant supports in the garden.

In between the storms we have made a start on thinning out the hazel and where possible just leaving a few main branches to break the wind and prevent damage. The cats love the coppiced hazel and spend their time pouncing on the dried catkins, scent marking the twigs by rubbing their noses along the length and hiding from each other amongst the piles of cuttings ready to pounce when the opportunity arises.

On wet days, Wentworth and Gawber take refuge inside but use every opportunity on finer days to explore the surrounding fields and cuetos (rocky outcrops) in search of mice and lizards. Come rain or shine, there is always work to be done.