Winter Season: The Chestnut Trees

No, this is not our guests practising their hobbies, this really is "men at work"!
They are specialists climbing up the big trees, taking away dead branches and restoring the allover shape.


This 80-year-old tree bears big chestnuts: 25 - 30 g each.





This tree had to go completely: nearly dead, the electric cable close to the trunk, and 2 telefone cables on the other side of the trunk. Not an easy job. The tree had to be taken off piece by piece. Dismantling, that's what they call it - "desmontar" in Portuguese.
Last not least: we have planted 20 new chestnut trees!

Winter Season: The Vineyards

Winter is something special here in Central Portugal: the camellias have come in bloom already ...



... at the same time the usual winter jobs are waiting to be dealt with, for example trimming the vines. These ones have already been finished.










New vines have been planted here. The above-ground part is still covered with wax to protect from drying out.

Eddie the Hedgehog

Quite a big hedgehog now! And his weight is 750 g. He wants to have less feed now, but still is putting on weight. Snails are his favorite feed. When we find some for him outside, he cheeps with pleasure like a bird. When the spring will be coming, he may go. It won't take long any more here in Central Portugal, the sun has warmth already!




Hello, I am Eddie!








When will the spring be coming?

The Wild Boars

One of our attractions - the wild boars. Always hungry - they readily accept everything to eat. And they reproduce!



a caring mum











at the milk bar

The Dog

Really a dear, but wild - always ready for running around or for a walk with his boss. Of course, Beno is a Siberian Husky descent - his mother was one, his father unknown, the typical story. What a pity, there are no sledges to be dragged here. Maybe because of this he uses up a lot of collars and leads - he destroys them all.
With his 30 kg Beno commands everybody's respect - nobody dares to approach the garage containing the agricultural implements.

The Cats

They really love each other - of course, they are sisters: Garrida, the tortoiseshell cat, and Zarca, "the one with the blue eyes". Hard to believe, considering what they look like. Typical story: Mum is a Portuguese mongrel, Dad unknown.
They are now 3.5 years old and catch the mice. Zarca even catches rats. Garrida is more likely to catch mice, but never under stress, and never doing without her after-lunch sleep!


Zarca






Garrida








after-lunch sleep

The Hoglet

Our hoglet is developing very well. 4 weeks after joining us the boy is weighing nearly 500 g. He is running around in his new preserve in the boiler-room. His old apartment is far too small for him now.
So we built a new preserve for him (1.10 x 2.20 m) with a lot of leaves and a nice den for his nest.
Eddie is always hungry, eating up everything he can get hold of. So we must take care to provide exactly the amount of feed that he needs.
Only our cat has a problem: she cannot understand that anybody else is receiving her feed. She was getting really depressive. So it is very important to feed her first, and then rapidly disappear taking the feed for the hoglet.
Oh dear, tortoiseshell cats are so sensitive!











Could there be any more food below the rim?