None on Sunday, swarm on Monday

This week: Adding cardboard; Wild flowers everywhere; None on Sunday, a swarm on Monday; A tidy desk is the sign of an unsound mind;

We have had another mixed week for weather.

There has been warm sunshine, cold winds and heavy rain. The combination of warmth and moisture makes everything grow.

On Sunday night I was in the other half of the village for a concert in aid of the local donkey sanctuary.

Donkeys have been part of human history since they were domesticated in Africa. They spread with civilisation as people moved through the “fertile crescent” and around the Mediterranean basin.

Here on the island they were in regular use as beast’s of burden into the 1970’s. My home had a large stable and has hollow stones in several places, where the donkeys were tied to.

The tracks between the terrace walls up the hill sides are just wide enough for a donkey with panniers.

My neighbour still has the wooden frame, bridles and tack from his animals.

In the other half of the village there is a privately run animal sanctuary where six donkeys and a pony live in relative comfort as a visitor attraction.

With seven hungry mouths to feed, plus dogs and cats, the lady who runs the sanctuary needs donations, so some friends organised a fund raising event.

On a beautiful, warm and sunny Sunday evening people began filling a field next to the donkeys to listen to music and a group of local singers.

A cocktail bar was serving refreshments and a good time was had by all.

Adding cardboard

Following on from last week’s effort, I have added more cardboard as weed supressant around fruit trees.

When I look at my next door neighbour’s plot, there is no wonder that I have a problem with weeds!

The thistles are more than a metre high. I simply cannot fight against the seeds which are blowing into my orchards, apart that is from laying a carpet of cardboard.

I removed the outer plastic on the polytunnel this week.

Although we have had some cold days, it has been nothing like as cold as it was in April, so the plants inside should not be affected.

I have rolled the polythene film onto a noodle to make it easy to reinstall again before next winter.

When I removed one of the wooden lats which hold the plastic in place, I was delighted to find a large egg sack, laid by a Preying Mantis.

It is not quite warm enough yet for them to hatch, so I carefully replaced the wood, to protect the sack until the nymphs hatch.

While the sun was shining, I also cleaned and painted the felines drinking fountain.

Cats much prefer to drink from moving water and I have this fountain inside, in the dining room, close to their food bowls.

I repainted the base, scrubbed the water container, then after the paint had dried in the sun, I reassemble and filled it.

They have water containers dotted around outside too, but seem to like the fountain best.

Wild flowers everywhere

Spring is without doubt my favourite time of year. Every day there is something different to see or hear.

When it hasn’t been wet, I have been out along the tracks and green lanes around my home, once again looking for wild flowers.

Because of the weather we have had, everywhere is lush and green. Most olive groves have been cut once, but with rain, warmth and sunlight, the understory has once again grown.

This time though, it is not just grasses, but many, many wild flowers.

One plant which is noticeable everywhere this year, and in large numbers, is Cow Vetch, Vicia cracca.

The deep purple flowers are in large clumps, growing alongside every path.

Clearly they have enjoyed the cooler and wetter than usual weather we have been experiencing.

Another flower which can be seen in profusion is the pink Rock Rose, Cistus crispus.

There are quite a number of other pink wild flowers to be seen alongside the many paths. One in particular, the Common Mallow, Malva sylvestris, has striking flowers.

Another is the convolvulus, Mallow Bindweed, Convolvulus althaeoides, whose flowers only open for a single day. It is part of the Morning Glory family of plants.

None on Sunday, swarm on Monday

It was going to happen sooner or later. This year it is sooner than last year though.

I am talking about the Tiger Mosquitos hatching.

On Sunday there were none but on Monday I had been bitten and I saw lots of them, so broke out my supply of Dipterol mosquito repellent.

They are 23 days earlier than last year. This is not surprising because it has been a mild winter and warm spring.

More of our summer visitors have arrived too. The Golden Oriol are calling from all around my home.

I have yet to see one in my plum trees, but then the plums are not ripe yet. Once they are, the Golden Oriol will be there, taking the ripe fruits from the top of the trees.

I have had a flock of Bee Eaters overhead feeding several times this week too. They have a very distinctive call and a swooping flight, so you hear them before you see them. Then they are completely distinctive.

Whether it is the the same flock, feeding on different days, or different groups, I cannot tell.

When I walked up one of my regular paths, I was pleased to see that the four stems of the Purple Birds Nest Orchids have all survived and flowered.

I think the cold we have had over the past couple of weeks has reduced the potential for visitors to explore the paths, so they have survived.

I’m going to keep my eye on them and when appropriate, I will make sure that some of their seed is spread around the stalks, but away from the centre of the path.

A tidy desk is the sign of an unsound mind

I strive to be both efficient and effective..

Being “Efficient” means you are capable of producing a desired result without wasting materials, time, effort or energy. Efficiency is about being organised.

Being effective means “producing the result that is wanted”, so effectiveness is focussing on the goal and achieving the result you want.

What I realised last week when I was trying to find and scan some photographs from more than 20 years ago is that at that moment, I was inefficient but effective.

Part of the problem was the layout in my study, but also because I have several other projects on the go at the same time, my work space has been compressed making things inefficient.

I found the photographs, or some of them, scanned them and was happy with the result, but it took way too long.

With some cool and rainy days this week, I decided to do a bit of reorganising.

I have several specialised scanners: there is an A3 scanner for very large format photographs and papers, I have a slide scanner, a 35mm film strip scanner and a 5×4 negative scanner.

Whilst it is possible to have one ‘general purpose’ scanner, which would do most of those tasks, the finished images are low resolution.

My archive of very old photographs needs scanning at the highest resolution possible, so over time I have acquired different specialist devices. They are all connected by either USB2B or USB3B cables, to a single dedicated computer.

However when everything was on one (large) desk, it meant I wasn’t doing anything well.

I also discovered that dust from my over winter work projects has got into the study, so I began with a good spring clean.

Once I had some clear and clean work surfaces, I moved my everyday computer, the one I am writing this on, to a corner desk, next to the window.

That cleared acres of space on my big study desk. So I set it up as a scan desk, with just the dedicated computer and the scanners, together with my light table.

Almost all my photographs are in plastic storage boxes. There are boxes for scanned photos and boxes of images which are waiting to be processed.

I went down to my local “cheap and cheerful” store, where they have a good selection of storage boxes and came back with some more.

This meant that I could then put things away into the storage boxes, which I stacked neatly in the corner.

It will take me a little while to develop the workflows to make the scanning efficient and effective, but at least now I have everything in one place.

With my everyday computer set up in the corner, I turned it on and everything worked.

What does worry me a little, is that my desks are clear of clutter.

I was always told that “a tidy desk is the sign of an unsound mind!”….NCG