Not so friendly caterpillar
It’s so lovely to see all the spring flowers, I think it is my favourite time of year. Our garden is in its prime, with the daffodils and tulips and the fruit tree blossom, as well as the grass everywhere, it is so colorful, you always forget how beautiful it is, after a long hot summer and muddy winter, and it comes as a lovely surprise every year. Of course it is hard work, there is always more to do in the garden in the spring, but it is the best time of year to be outside. I always think it’s a shame that most people only see Spain in the summer and never get to experience the wonders of spring here.
The horses are all starting to shed their thick winter coats too, transforming them from muddy woolly monsters back to the beautiful creatures that have been hiding all winter.
The birds love all the molting hair, using it to build their nests. The stables are full of sparrow and swallows nests. I love watching the birds busily preparing their homes, but sadly I often discover tiny just hatched baby birds on the stable floors. It’s worse really when they emerge as fledglings, as they often fall to the floor then, in their effort to fly, and I never know which nest to put them back in.
If you like flowers, it is really worth a trip to Cordoba in May, when all the town houses open up their patios to the public. It is an amazing site, with every patio full to the brim with flowers, and every inch of wall space covered in pots. How they water them all I’ll never know. It’s completely free and you just wander from courtyard to courtyard. Donations are at your discretion. There are maps available at the tourist information centre if you prefer to follow a route. Dates and opening times can be found on the internet. Don’t forget that almost all of the patios will shut at 2pm, and not all of them re-open in the afternoons, so it is best to plan your trip for the morning.
Taking a walk in the countryside at this time of year is breathtaking. The wild flowers are so incredible. On the mountainside where we live you can see wild peonies, orchids, wild iris and the fields are full of wild gladioli and poppies. Some years there are so many poppies that the fields appear red. Add to this glorious picture the bright yellow of the broom and gorse and the effect is stunning.
A draw back of spring is the Processionary caterpillars. You will see their nests in pine trees from about December; they look like thick white spiders webs. They hatch in the spring and they can be deadly to animals. You can recognise them easily as they move around in processions (hence the name) nose to tail in a long train. If you have any nests in your pine trees, it is advisable to call an expert early on, before they have a chance to hatch out. You can remove them by sealing a plastic bag around the nest and cutting off the branch but you have to be really careful. I believe that there are also some sprays you can buy, but it is really best to seek advice. If you do see nests in your trees, or in any trees where you take your dog for a walk, it is best to keep your dog on a lead as the caterpillars can cause really nasty injuries. If a dog or cat sniffs the caterpillar or plays with it , the injuries can be horrific, with animals losing their tongues if they are really unlucky.
Spring also brings our fish in our water trough up to the surface looking for food. Unfortunately, one of our cats has discovered that she can catch them and to date we have lost three. We can’t put wire over the top as there are umbrella plants and arum lilies growing out of the water. We have tried letting the water level down a bit so that she can’t reach but of course if it rains it fills up again. Let’s just hope that she doesn’t teach the other cats!
We put the fish in the trough in the first place to eat the mosquito larvae that appeared overnight when we first built the trough and filled it with water. As we live at an altitude of 800m and don’t have any still water nearby, we don’t normally have a mosquito problem which is a big bonus for our guests who arrive in Spain expecting to be bitten. It is worth trying fish if you have a mosquito problem, they really work.
Our guests at this time of year are often walkers and nature lovers and are in their element here. We have to be careful to watch out for them setting off on their walks though, or they could have our four dogs for company. Chichi tends to like to follow more when we are riding the horses, which is not a problem if it is just her, as she will come to heel, though she did run off and catch someone’s chicken once which was very embarrassing. Luckily I was able to jump off my horse and retrieve it from her mouth, none the worst for its ordeal, but it means that I have to be careful now, and don’t let her come if there are any chickens on the route I am taking! Strangely, she never so much as chases our chickens; I suppose she knows that they are out of bounds.
Buster, her puppy, has not yet learned that he can go any further than the garden, thank goodness, and will always come when he’s called so I am hoping he will stay that way. Suzy thinks she wants to come with us but gets agoraphobic if she gets too far away from home and turns round and goes back. The first time she did this I thought we had lost her and was very relieved when we got home to see her running to welcome us back. Scruffy is the worst culprit, he loves to go on walks with our guests. To be honest, a lot of our guests love to have a dog with them, especially if they have children, and if it is just Scruffy then that is fine, as he is quite an entertaining companion, darting off here and there to sniff things. He is also very faithful, and will make children feel like he is their dog. He has even had e-mails from past guests, he is so popular. I actually feel quite abandoned sometimes, as Scruffy will drop us and become our guests’ dog for the week, sitting outside their door waiting for them to get up in the morning, then following them wherever they go. Of course our guests do tend to spoil the dogs so it is understandable that they want to spend time with them.
One of our guests decided to go for a long walk up to the top of the mountain behind our house. He set off on his own, taking a picnic and a few instructions from us for finding his way to the top. Unbeknown to us, Scruffy had sneaked off with him. I didn’t realise this until I noticed that Scruffy had been missing for a few hours, and then I guessed what had happened. When the guest came back I went out to apologise to him for Scruffy tagging along. It turned out that Scruffy had actually saved the day. The walk had started off well, with Scruffy happily walking along with our guest, who was actually quite pleased to have some company. After they had been walking for a couple of hours and were half way up the mountain they came to a fenced off area with a gate. Our guest decided to leave Scruffy the other side of the gate and pick him up on the way back, rather than try to lift him over, as the mountain was starting to get steeper. As he climbed over Scruffy had other ideas, and found a gap in the fence to squeeze through. This turned out to be a blessing, as a little bit further up were some very fierce dogs. Apparently our guest was just thinking that he would have to turn back, when good old Scruffy started barking at them and keeping them out of the way, so that our guest could carry on walking. When they got to the top of the mountain he shared his lunch with Scruffy and they made their way home. As our guest recounted his story, it was obvious that he had thoroughly enjoyed their little adventure, and that Scruffy had enhanced the experience. Perhaps we should start renting him out as a guide!
To be continued………………………
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