Boy! am I failing at keeping this up to date? Well where to begin? It’s now nearing the end of August , Barabrith has been sweltering in the summer heat, but our kiwis , cats and sunflowers have all survived. We’ve had some great guests stay and some of our trees are thriving despite the heat. So I’ll post up a bunch of photos -with plenty of cat pix – and make my usual sad excuses for being so tardy and hopefully you’ll forgive me.
Let’s kick off this cat-ch up with our star characters Sid n Nancy. Here Sid keeps a nonchalant eye on Nancy as she peers hopefully into the long grass hoping to spot some game!After a long day tackling the woes of the world Sid takes a break and after a hearty meal I oblige him with a warm stomach to stretch across. For enthusiasts of all things 1970’s please note the ITT portable radio in the background. This was my 14th year birthday gift to me from my folks and became a crucial part of my teenage development as I listened to John Peel shows late into the night, it still works! Yes, they don’t make them like they used to! and by that I mean the radio as well as moi!My beautiful multiple stemmed maple leaf tree looking grand in the May sun.Nancy, a lover of all boxes, found herself a new favourite, the onion box. No matter how many onions are within she’ll get comfy amongst them and sleep like a baby.One of the Chestnut trees we grew from seed or should that be nut? Now majestic amidst the spring grass.And here’s one of our cherry trees.Nancy could give master classes in the art of flopping down anywhere and making it look so comfortable. Yes I am envious, my tired old corpse no longer tolerates such wanton behaviour, a mattress is essential for good rest.Such simple beauty. Somewhere on the estate in May.Scarlet (an old friend) who popped over in late May insisted on trying out the art of scything. But after Nancy said she just “couldn’t watch”, Health and Safety officers stepped in and stopped the inevitable chopped toes from happening.There I was taking an innocent selfie of the bright blue sky and fluffy clouds when Scarlet decided to steal the show, it’s called photo bombing I believe.Sid was rather dismissive of Scarlets yoga exercises. He reckoned her stretching was very amateur but declined to show us how its done properly for the camera.Karlovac now has a wonderful new cinema, not great programming but I bouht a loyalty card anyway and now have a good excuse to go watch Holywood trash as well as the rare gem ( like Poor Things) but the real joy of this cinema for me is the lack of an audience! I often find myself comfortably alone near the screen and only a few others well out of earshot at the back of the auditorium, perfect! And yes, its another selfie excuse, just look at all that hair!I grew and ate a few of my own tomatos, onions and even a few potatos this year. Sadly almost all the potato plants were destroyed by the stinky martin bugs.One of the joys about going out for the day is coming back home! I’m sure that’s a feel good poster or fridge magnet slogan somehwere, but for me it’s true thanx to the way Sid – and occasionally Nancy too – will come and greet me as I exit the car or after I have closed the gate. They’ll even do this when its raining! True love!The first batch of ladybird Barabrith cakes courtesy of Sanja’s kitchen clearout. Damn big ladybirds, I wonder if they are infact meant to be some other bug?!Friends stopped by in June and spent way longer than was expected out in the garden doing stuff I have failed to keep up with, many thanx to them. This is an attempt to reclaim my veg garden from the weeds, sadly I think I need an extra 3 hours per day at a temperature well below 25 degrees and out of the sun for me to manage this long term.So there I was working in the wood shed when I noticed this cutie on a log by my side!! It’s a Rosalia longicorn (Rosalia alpina) or Alpine longhorn beetle and it instantly qualified as worthy of sending a photo to my bug friend in Germany. Imagine my surprise when I get an almost instant reply to say that she ‘bug friend’ is booked in at the tatoo parlour to get this very bug inked on her calf the next day! Synchronicity – or something like that – a go go!Another sunny day in June at Barabrith.These beauties by the gazebo are gorgeous but days later they are gone, so I decided to preserve their memory.Any excuse to get in a photo!Sanja captured this one of me watering the flowerpots on the window sill whilst Nancy sleeps in her onion box on the otherside of the window. For the historians amongst you, spot the genuine 1980’s NMCDF t-shirt from Alternative Tentacles as worn by moi!Cardboard box and dopey feline in perfect harmony.We had a family visit from a brother and sister with their partners. Julie and her partner (front row) run a vegan guest house in Portugal (damn! can’t find the name of it! Will add this later). The other two had come all the way from Australia to share a holiday in the Balkans and travelled a long way across Croatia to come and stay at Barabrith so many thanks to them all!There’s a little castle, remains of, by the river Korana at a settlement called Barilovic. We stopped in there with Phil our most hard working guest when we gave him a few yours off and went swimming in the river Mreznica.Phil the lumberjack of all trades in action getting wood for the Kiwi frame extension. Treehuggers, don’t fuss we have loads of these trees and if we “managed” our woods properly we’d be taking out many of them anyway!Sanja has the imporatnt role of encoraging our guests to take it easy and join her on a recliner * in the shade of the kiwi plants. * or wherever!Sanja nervously spots the camera, Nancy stares at ghosts and Sid sleeps, an evening in July.Freinds from Prague flew through on their Balkan break and were treated to a late nite dinner in the gazebo with the experimental use of an electric lamp for the first time. Looks like pie and spuds again!Sanja sometimes complains I only use weird looking shots of her. But what choice do I have? She does love watermelon and I love her.It looks like we now know which critter has been running around above our ceiling at night probably ruining our insulation. Meet an European edible dormouse! They can climb up vertical walls, and sleep all the way through winter. They are considered by some in the Balkans to be a delicacy – roasted!! This one looked very lost for a day or two hanging onto various bits of the outside of the house and then disapeared presumably back into the roof.Our yoga mats ready to host the next torture session.Sid has a varied yoga routine that has many positions that put us to shame. This one involves using a wall to dig your claws into whilst pretending to be half asleep. Nancy can’t be arsed!I love these silhouette shots against such glorious sunsets as we are often blessed with.Who you looking at? Why shouldn’t I squat this box? It was sitting here empty! So what if my leg is sticking up at a weirdly odd angle? I’m Nancy and I’m weird, get used to it normo!Sid is a top predator in his domain and often brings us “presents”. These two were ceremoniously shovelled on to the snow shovel and buried in the long grass. At least he doesn’t seem so keen on “playing” with them as he used to. Some ‘vegan refuge’ I hear the mice squeak!Our first guest to book through the Veggievisits website was the wonderful Jennifer. She claimed she wanted to be left alone to work but after a little suggestion she came out to see the local sights and was suitably impressed (see her Happycow review!). This is Petra Gora on a bright sunny July day.Jennifer is an observant woman. She spotted this bug shell on a tree at the Partisan Hospital that we both walked past obliviously!Overgrown would be the simplest and most accurate way to describe the “garden” by July. It took me a long time to locate the stockade surrounding indian Banana tree. When I finally found it I was pleased to find the banan doing relatively well, it’s the one with the big leaves in the middle. By now – mid August – they pathways have been recut and the tree is visible once more.Here is the plate of birthday cakes that Sanja made for my 58th, very good they were too.In early August we took a walk with Jennifer down the freshly re-cut pathway through the long grass that goes from the house to the red gate at the bottom of our hill.It’s been coming for sometime, but the heat became too much for me and my long hair and so Sanja jumped at the chance to butcher my silver locks. This is all I have left.The Barabrith taxi service has a new driver. Sanja recently passed her driving test and is loving the feel of whizzing along the roads and being behind the steering wheel at last!We had a short break on the coast near Pula, here we are early one morning enjoying the sea and rocks all by ousleves. Two hours later – at about 9am – we began to be joined by the hordes.Our furry friends get a mix of dry cat foods from a big container and on this day Nancy thought all her birthdays had come at once!No caption needed! But tis a good excuse for a selfie innit?We have kiwis growing on the kiwi wines! but what will they taste like?Capturing the last rays of the golden hour for outdoor portraits. Doesn’t improve anything much for us but I tried!
That’s it for now, I’m gonna try real hard to post each month from now on, promise!
