Posted on

Surprise Bikers

There is a protocol for booking and staying here at Barabrith which seems to be falling apart. Our last two groups of guests gave me 5 hours and 30mins warning by phone respectively before turning up at our gate! They were Germans too! What happened to that stereotype I wonder? Anyway yesterday Adrian and Leo turned up on huge beasts of bikes with more layers wrapped around them than I could ever countenance wearing in this weather no matter how safe it made me feel! But hey they are the ones on the motorbikes I am just a pedal pusher.

To my delight they were keen to play pool – my favourite kind of vegans- and they had drones with them and were willing to take some aerial pictures of Barabrith. Then to cap it all Adrian ends the day by posting a lovely review on Happy Cow of this place!

The funny thing is that my dear Sanja has started her midlife crisis with that familiar craving to own a big motorbike and talks of little else nowadays. So when two bikers turned up out of the blue and I got to discover lots of interesting biker info she was incandescent! Ho Ho!

A grated smoked tofu and mushroom with lots of garlic oil pizza. Just look at those wonderful colours! Tasted pretty good too!
Bikes the like of which Barabrith has not seen before!
Whilst in the process of setting up the pool table last night Sid decided to squeeze into the back of the darkest black cupboard where the pool balls are kept and hide!
A drone up close when not flying is not so intimidating!
A drone flying almost silently above you that suddenly drops to within a few metres of you and hovver at eye level, staring you in the face on the otherhand is quite scary!
The biker boys in realxed mode playing with considerably smaller and more agile toys, their drones (yes the each have one, they are brothers sharing such toys was never an option!)
This is the image I’ve been hoping for, for so long! A detailed aerial view of Barabrith. I’m super chuffed to have this and a few others courtesy of the biker boys and their drones. Now I can turn this into an annotated map showing what is planted where in my nascent arboretum.
Nancy cautiously – it being Nancy more like nervously – checks out the motorbikes wondering no doubt if she can can lie comfortably on them!
If you are wondering why on earth that bike is in the middle of the lawn apparently headin straight at me well its because bikes that size with so much luggage on them do not have small turning circles, unless of course you execute an on the spot 180degree wheel spin but I asked the bikers boys to kindly not do that and they acquiesced good naturedly!
Today after the bikers had left Barabrith returned to a sun drenched stupor and Sid said it all by just collapsing in the shade and waiting for it to cool down.

Much thanx to Adrain and Leo, they do Instagram (boo!) and YouTube (yeah!) which can be found here.  Adrian is also a Happy Cow reviewer! (Super yeah!)

After complaining about the heat we had a surprise storm this evening. It was super quick, super hard and caused Sid to scream at me to let him in insuch a pitch I have never heard from a cat before. There was some ferocious thunder and close lightning which caused my upstairs electric circuits to trip! Then 10 mins later it was all over! Pity I didn’t record that screech from Sid!

Posted on

The third week of June

Barabrith has returned to its summer slumber. Too hot to do much during the day except hide inside or in the shade and wait for a lovely big cloud to come along and offer some comfort or even better some rain! In the meantime the rabbit damaged trees get watered every two days along with the tomatos and other veg.

The Barabrith houses taken with a steady panorama shot on a bright sunny day last week. I even moved the step ladders out of the way to get a better shot of the wooden house! But eagle eyed observers will notice a slight distortion and a snippet of a finger intruding into the top right corner…. tut tut … what an amateur!
One of the many things on my ‘to do list’ for some time has been the renovation of some wooden furniture that has been left outside once too often. I have moved my DIY zone to the relative shady area under the big pear tree on the east side of the house. This is the mess I made – above –  which was worth it for the result below…. I think and they should last a while now!
Now all I need to do is train the cats to sit down and eat from the table and youtube fame will be mine!
Those following this sorry arse excuse for a blog will know that I am preparing for an all out war with the potato plant eating bug anytime soon. So, yesterday evening, it was with some surprise that I discovered this lot all over many of the plants, apparently engaged in an stinky bug orgy! The brown marmorated stink bug appears to be having a ball in my potato patch!
My cabbages !? look nice and fresh after an evening watering.
There aren’t a lot of raspberries yet, but these beauties make me think that there’s a future with the bushes that can produce these.
I thought gooseberries were green but it seems they can be a rich red colour too!
My littlest transplanted tree, a future mighty oak tree, is doing well in it’s new spot in the middle of the clover patch. Yeah, yeah, it was just an excuse for a selfie, but hey I gotta show off my plaits somehow ain’t I?
For those of you fellow foodies, or just those who know my passion for ‘stuffing my face’ as Jen so eloquently puts it, wondering how I survive without a decent vegan cafe within 80km of Barabrith. Well, I indulge in homemade piggery! This mid afternoon meal last week consisted of; a double hot dog in a slanac -salty bread- with avocado and Ajvar, accompanied by a mushroom and sietan fry up and a potato, radish and various other veg salad covered in Lidl’s finest vegan salad sauce. It wasnt at all bad!
Nancy was in one of his “frit” modes, jumping at everything and seemingly scared  even of little ol me! I snapped this as he came nervously off the wooden house veranada giving me the “eye” as he did so!
The evil beasties Sid n Nancy have reduced the local moth population considerably but as yet have not done much about their naturally assigned role of rodent control! Last week I read an article in the Guardian suggesting that cats should be kept in at night in order to protect the wild bird populations of the UK. I thought it over and decided that it was unlikely that either of them was making it across central Europe and the Channel each night and back in time for breakfast so I gave them a pass. It was with some suprise then that on two subsequent mornings in a row I found small dead furry things on the carpet in the beasts lair. On the second day there was also this little critter clinging onto the door frame for dear life and keeping very still. I realised then that the beasties have indeed been killing bats, maybe not English ones but still, very naughty! I put a heavy box around the liitle bat so the furry fiends claws could not reach him and left him to recover in his own time. When I went to tuck the feline freaks in to bed at night he had escaped their den and has hopefully learned to fly higher!
Another of those sunsets that make life worth living.    For Sanja
Posted on

Long overdue photos of recent goings on!

I have tried to keep this blog up to date, but I failed! We have had guests, family ones and genuine paying ones! I drove my Dad and niece to Belgrade and the grass grew like mad whist I was there, I think it thought it could overwhelm me when I returned, but I am still scything however hopelessly given the forces pitted against me.

My Dad is 85 odd years old , my niece a mere 19. I thought they might make good travelling companions and I was vindicated in this. They travelled all over Europe by train and were royally entertained by some of my friends in various cities, much thanx to them for that. Unfortunately by the time they reached Croatia my Dad had some swollen foot trouble and so the pace slowed down considerably thereafter.

Photos in no particular order …… enjoy them before someone complains and insists I delete their unflattering image!

As if in anticipation of the inevitable restrictions that Sanja is going to order me to impose on the cats to stop them wondering past our fence and on to the road, Sid shows just how easy it is for him to get over the fence. Ho hum, purrr!
This was the chair whose cloth seat and back rest had disintegrated after being left out in the elements once too often. A sanding down, a repaint, a new set of cloth sewed to fit and Sid approves of our revamped chair.
There are quite alot of potato plants growing happily in the garden. The question is when will the damn bug start eating them and will I be able to stop it?
Taking it easy, relaxing, enjoying rest and recuperation are things we humans are not very good at (unless your name is Sanja nd you have a predisposistion to being horizontal rather than upright.) Here Sid shows my Dad how to stretch out and doze.
My Dad is rarely happier than when he is in a museum or some such educational gallery and is able to sit down and read all the info and explanations that most people ignore.
This is a picture of a photo in an exhibition of of cave photographs. This is from the Tounj cave we have visited a few times and stood at that very spot but without the benefit of all those lights!
My niece Imogen shows off her not needing a stick to stay balanced, Dad rightly ignores her…. the brat!
Dads walking ability was severely hampered by his swollen foot so he didn’t get very far from the Barabrith houses but he was cajouled into trying out the new bench in the middle of the old clover patch.
Our guard cats were rather suspicious of the slow moving large creature with the stick and kept their beady eyes on him at all times.
Some idiot suggested a day trip to the seaside and knew that the mention of a Roman Ampitheatre would be a deal clincher with the old man. So I drove them to Pula and back in a day, thankfully we had a good time.
and they had ice cream! Pula is crap for vegetarains and vegans, almost everywhere vegan friendly that was worth visiting last year is now closed!
After doing Pula I drove them to the old fort site where I hoped it wouldnt be busy, it was empty! A good thing too as Imogen and my bright white skin tones were quite blinding! Great to go for a swim in the sea with no-one else around.
Our neighbours guard dogs were out on the road when we got back one day and the big beast scared poor Imogen to death with his ferocious behaviour.        Not
Dad is not really a pet person and decidedly at a loss as to how to deal with cats, often to the point of awkward unfriendliness. Sid was not having any of that.
I was looking for a suitable spomenik to visit to break our drive to Belgrade and discovered the Stone Flower of Jasenovac. This place is incredible, the flower is powerful and in a well maintained park and the free museum is seriously impressive as well as being heavy and depressing. A bit like Hiroshima and Auschwitz one really should visit such places if one can.
The stone flower is a fantastic piece of memorial art that does not deserve to be denigrated by smart arse trick photography but despite that, and the two Imps, I rather like this picture
You really have to see it from all the angles, inside and out, to get a feel of the multiude of images it inspires in ones mind and for that you need to visit it. (You got the message yet?)
After we exited the museum we all felt rather shell shocked. Dad and Imogen sat down on the bench in silence for some time till I noticed a photo opportunity and Dad got up to pose for it!
Three monkeys enjoy a simple picnic, leftover pizza, in the grounds of the Jasenovac museum. Lets call them, Goofy, Grumpy and Gormless going from left to right!
Eagle eyed blog readers will recognise this super sized spomenik from previous blog posts. This time we had the full might of the sun illuminating the concrete structure.
“The central monument at the spomenik complex at Kosmaj Mountain, Serbia commemorates the Partisan regiment from the Kosmaj area and Sava region (Posavina) and honors those who died during the National Liberation War (WWII).”
https://www.spomenikdatabase.org/kosmaj
It took a couple of practice runs but eventually Sanja got the hang of Imogen and I’s panoramic trick shot game and hey presto two of them, twice!!
Like a painting by the grand masters of old this image tells a greek like story of family tragedy as the evil youth (!) plot and then enact their treacherous slaying of their  (grand) father !! Note the weeping lass standing helplessly by unable to carry out her part of the dreadful deed.
No such reservations in this photo as the yound pugilist protagonist punches her poor old uncle right in the gob!
What I did to deserve this kind of response I’ll never know! But never doubt the power of sisterhood!
The museum of Yugoslavia in Belgrade is still being refurbished! it has been for a couple of years now, so don’t trust the websites that say it is open! The Tito memorial garden and mausoleum are open and worth visiting even though my Dad wasn’t too impressed.
We went up to the old tower over looking Zemun and the rivers of Belgrade , the Danube and Sava. Imogen was feeling camera shy, Dad never so!
We were out watering the rabbit damaged trees one evening and suddenly heard Sid wowling nearby, looking round we were surprised to see him perched atop two narrow tree defence posts. I guess he wanted to get a good view from above the tall grass, maybe I should build him a little cat hide for surveying his estate!
The latest batch of peanut butters was made without the blender overheating even once. I would tell you what flavours they are but unfortunately my assistant decided to use the local lingo and I can’t remember what they are. Maybe you can guess what they are….. no prizes!
A couple of our young cherry trees are producing fruit, cherries to be exact! And they taste good as Sanja demonstrates.
A cherry sucker! Couldn’t be fresher! Straight down the hole!
Breakfast in the gazebo with Nancy engaging in another meaningful conversation with me.
There are bright red tasty wild strawberries all over the estate, literally masses of them! I guess the recent rains have brought them out.
There I was innocently listening to my little Ipod and scything the pathway grass down to acceptable levels when Sid came along and demanded attention, a right cat in the works!
Sid once again decided to interrupt my gardening. I was attempting to give the head heavy rose some string support but Sid had other ideas! And no he didn’t actually eat the rose petals but he did swipe a load off the rose with his vicious claws.
We ran out of cat food one evening, they were not impressed! I snuck out sharpish in the morning so they couldn’t rip me to pieces for their breakfast. In a pathetic attempt to mollify the moggies I bought the biggest pack of expensive cat food I could, Nancy does look like he may have forgiven me! Sid just wanted feeding.
Not sure if I’ve ever seen mulberrys growing wild in the UK, but last year there were none on our tree. Now they are all over and super sweet and tasty if a little funny looking, bit like me!
There are times when I wonder what I am doing in this screwed up country a long way from Hackney. But then the sun goes down and the sky goes a rich bluey purple and I am content. The fallen tree features silhouetted in this photo, just right of centre. I have decided to leave it alone as the leaves are still green almost two months later, perhaps it will survive in its new horizontal position.
The potato circle with a transplanted apple tree sapling in the middle is coming up well this year so far and is even visible on google maps!

Thats all for now, bye bye.

 

Posted on

First guests of the year, more tree news and cat poses.

Twas a busy week what with getting things ship shape for guests and then some unexpected stormy weather. The pictures tell the story…

As you can see I have an extremely good crop of dandelions and talking of big cats here a black prowler makes his way stealthily through the long grass.
The latest batch of my peanut butter specials fresh out of the blender. Yummy! My recent guests heartily approved of the garlic one.
Lidl are selling their Almond milk at 50percent off this week, I stocked up!
It’s all very well being top of the food chain and having more little grey cells than the rest of the worlds animals but boy what I wouldn’t give to be able to stretch out like that and relax so easily!
Nancy takes the weird and wonderful positions and poses that cats can do to a new level of wierdness!
Some things as just ‘sent’ to test us aren’t they? I was wondering around my nascent arboretum one evening last week when to my horror I discovered some beast had been attacjing the bark of several of my trees. I assumed it was deer and so built a bunch of fences around the most important or at risk young trees I have. I researched what to do about the wounds and it seems the latest thinking on the matter is to clean away the dead bark and leave the wounds to dry and heal as best they can. I am not happy it looks like two of my best trees planted last year have been irreparably damaged.
My newly planted Medlar tree got emergency deer protection as it sits at the bottom of the old ‘clover patch’ barely visible from the house and so presumably easy picking for the beasts of the forest. The plan is to add many more sticks interwoven between the string and stuck into the ground.
Taking a well earned break after building multiple deer fences and watering a few new tree transplants.
A gratuitous bit of sunset thrown in to remind me of why I live out here. Not a building to be seen on the horizon.
After much online consultation and discussions with folk in shops it seems that the most likley culprits for my tree attacks is not deer but rabbits! DOH! So different tactics are called for. Two of the better DIY stores in Karlovac had nothing but a very expensive version of chicken wire so I demured and wondered about butchering flexible piping etc. Then I found these – and a friendly English speaking shop worker – at Bubic garden supplies! These things are cheap as chips and fit snugly around the young tree stem and do not taste good to greedy rabbits. So they have been installed along with the new fences and another coat of the lime white paint which I am relaibly told also doesn’t taste good to rabbits… lets hope my trees are safe now!
Much to my delight the two cyclists , Sam and Miriam who stayed over the weekend were keen to play pool and snooker. They even taught me another version of ‘Killer” pool style. Good times.
It not being wood cutting season anymore our guests are now put to work cutting the grass as best they can! Please note these activities are technically voluntary, we just use witchcraft to get such chores done “voluntarily”
Taking a rest from cycling Sam uses the rest to tackle a long shot at snooker.
I offered to take the Munich cyclists to see the local sights and that of course includes Petrova Gora. Unfortunately the only tarmac road accessing the monument has been closed due to the road being unpassable (heard that before). So we took the poor car “off road” and up some tracks to get to the monument which was unsurprisingly empty with no on else around at all.
The Partizan hospital and the Petriva Gora woods have new pathway signs all over them, some really in the middle of nowhere! But more interesting still is that the hospital in the woods now has a visitors book you can sign – helpfully all in Croatian – but its not rocket science! Hopefully this means someone is interested in how many people visit the place, so now you know put your paw print in the book hidden in the red box tat says Knjiga – book – on it!
Sam turned out to be very adept at spotting bugs and the like whilst out in the woods. He spotted a total of three Fire Salamanders! They are easy to spot with their black and yellow shiny skin and funny cumbersome walk but whatever you do DO NOT touch them they will mess you up!
The Croatian woods are all green after the recent rain. One can see how well the hospital was hidden in such conditions.
This little creature may have a lot of legs but seeing as it was starting to climb up a tree several times taller than your average house its gonna need all of them! Well spotted Sam!
This is the newly roofed old Partizan Print House. See back to last years blogs to see what a wreck it was. There is a new wooden floor inside so no more scratching around on the floor to find letter set printing souvenirs! I wonder what will be next in these renovations!
The first Fire Salamander we saw was trying to hide under the print house.
The third and most agile of the three Fire Salamanders we saw at the Partizan Hospital.
These intrepid pedalers are on their way from Munich to Athens by bike! Pretty damn impressive I’d say, It was nice to offer them a few days rest and recuperation.
Tis a nice way to start a days cycling going down hill for the first kilometer!
Its all the rage nowadays, funny looking men, with plaits, half naked and carrying large metal weapons! Ok so this example might not quite have the awe inspiring physique of a “Skarsgardesque” Northman but remember it was Obelix that the Romans feared most!
Posted on

Plant update the car and of course a cat!

I’ve discovered a pair of flower sellers in the Karlovac open air market that speak English. Unfortunately they don’t sell vegetable seedlings but thye did advise me to wait a coupl more weeks before investing in any tomato or pumkin plants, cool! Similarly I discovered a geezer at the flea market who sells flowers, shrubs and trees speaks the language of Marlowe – that one was for you Dad! –  pretty good too! I was tempted by this dude cos he was wearing a Rage Against the Machine shirt and trousers just like mine which is not the usual attire for market vendors in Croatia. I was so enamoured in fact that I spent (£30) way above my plant quota for the day on just three plants!

Still lets get the obligatory cat picture out of the way first and then there is a pictorial resume of almost all the newly planted things.

Sid stares out of the studio flat window past the flowers at the strange creature reflected in the glass. Its not Sids best pose but I rather like the composition and the special effects / reflections that adorn him.
Ha! only a day later and I cant remember the name of the two flowers I was assured by the Karlovac market stall holder – Yes I found one who speaks good English – would develop in to a little bush and should reappear for a few years… This one’s situated outside Sanja’s studio to help inspire her creative juices when composing punk rock songs about pretty flowers and the like.
This pretty thing has been strategically placed on a spot that was dug up the pipe when we were looking for the water leak and the grass has refused to regrow there ever since. So lets see if this – forgtot the name – flower does any better!
Now this little beauty is called a “Diabalo” or something like that and of course I couldn’t resist. I was looking for plants with some colour and this has that for sure! It should end up as fair sized bush, but then again the guy who told me that didn’t know I was gonna need a mallet and spike to help create a decent sized hole in the stony ground for it, so we’ll see!
A long time ago I took a bunch of cuttings from a Privet hedge in the East of Zagreb. Last year I put a few out along my front border fence, two nights later the snow returned and all my little babes bought it! I had four left and they have remained inside on my window sill for another year till now when I am pretty damn confident that the winter is over. So here is the beginning of my Privet hedge that will one day prevent nosey neighbours from peeking in to our yard, ho ho!
This little may not look much as yet but its just settling in and one day will bloom into a Passion flower vine that will transform an otherwise boring wire fence. Oh yes it will!
Who says old paint pots arent worth keeping, eh? Just take a look at these beauties.
How to make one of your fave mugs live on…. and the same with a boring plastic food pot too…. These are on the kitchen window sill facing north so they might not fry in the midday sun as plants on the opposite side of the house tend to do in the summer.
This luscious looking lemon balm plant came from friends who have a very ecologically sound garden/estate growing in the commuter belt of Zagreb. I hope to get more plants from them in future as they indeed hope to begin to make some filthy lucre from selling them. This is positioned on the east side of the gazebo ready to be picked fresh and scrunched into a jug of cold spring water perhaps…
Looks like a weed dunnit? But this little plant once it has got past it’s puberty stage will potentially be of great benefit to our peace and tranquility. This is a young Evening Primrose plant and I’m really hoping that it may offer up that powerful E.P. oil soon! Like maybe before next month! Please!
This rose had been rather neglected and unpruned and I’m rather pleased that only a few weeks after being pruned it already looks healthier and if I’m lucky some of the cutting I took will sprout roots and be ready to plant in the autumn.
I’ve been debating what to do with the long grassy area onthe south side of the house and now I’ve decided it will not become an outdoor badminton court after all! Nope, there will be bushes here, including this one which I bought from the guy at the flea market this morning and so of course I can’t remember what it’s called but I do remember that the leaves change colour in a continuous cycle of green to red, exciting eh! And it will grow quite big if I let it, bit like my paunch!
Here at the beginning of a new path, one that winds its way through the old clover patch is a Japanese Quince courtesy of my green fingered friends in Brezovički near Zagreb. It might not look much yet but you should see what they told me it may grow to be….!
The Japanese Quince is only about 30 cm tall at the moment but as long as the dear leave it alone and I remember to water it it should end up as a 3 meter tall shrub with brightly coloured flowers! Come on!
More of the clover patch path with two replanted fruit trees visible, strategically planted along its way. There are loads of little fruit trees popping up from the roots of the established trees and I’m quite pleased that they seem fairly happy to be cut free from there parents and escape to far off places… sounds strangely familiar!
Is it an oak? Im not sure but there are a bunch of these little things under the canopy of the big oak so maybe. If its not I will brutally rip out the imposter and replace it with the real thing when I am sure of its veracity! I like oak trees.
So this dramtoc looking young tree is one of the most expensive I have ever bought. And yes I did haggle, but I only managed a paltry 20% discount. And I can’t remember what it is but I think its a loquat or Kumquat or maybe a Persimmon! I guess we’ll find out if the fruit grow and ripen, at present they are just little green balls. This beauty sits at the bottom of the clover patch path where the old lower field begins. It should be plenty big enough to be seen above the long grass but I gotta put a fence around it so the dear don’t ruin it.

and then there was that weird mist one morning when I was up unexpectedly early.

Early morning mist is common at this time of the year but this solid bank of fog was so densely packed in to the valley I thought it worth a picture.

and then there was the day I got all “organised” and serious about being a host.

It’s time to spring clean! Get those blankets out and aired, dust off the tables and chairs and do the rest of the boring – but necessary – side of having guests.

and then there’s the car. I used it way more this week than I usually do. One trip was aborted when my reason to go to Zagreb was cruelly cancelled just as my excitement at going to eat vegan burgers and watch Holywood films in a real cinema was reaching a fever pitch! But I had to visit Karlovac three times this week by car and not one bike ride as yet! Shameful!

Posted on

I knew it had been a bit windy…

I was busy up in my room most of the early afternoon, I heard the wind blowing and the electricity kept cutting out for split seconds which is a good sign that there is some kind of storm going on outside. At about four I wondered down stairs into the bright sun and fresh air. The cats needed feeding and watering and a bit of a tickle. Then I walked around the corner of the house, looked up and saw this…

My favourite hammock spot is now minus one fixture and its shade!
The only good thing about this is that the tree missed absolutely eveything where it landed.
A look along the horizontal trunk and the split.
Like capitalism, organised religion, and so many other manmade things this tree was an example of nature also being on occasion rotten on the inside.

On a happier note and to keep all you feline fans happy here is Nancy in one of her unique poses.

Nancy is a special cat as you can see, it is sad that I did not have my camera running when she rolled off the chair in excitement this morning and flopped to the ground on her back without batting an eyelid. So here at last is her unique style of stair sitting. She does this for a long time so it must be comfy but it somehow just doesnt look right… very Nancy!
Posted on

Cats win again!

Today was a good day, not only did I continue to play the new La Fraction CD that arrived in the post yesterday – a lovely suprise, thanx Thierry! But also I discovered a new episode of the wonderful adventures of McLevy played by Brian Cox on Radio 4. Aural bliss the both of them.

So I know I said I’d not let this blog get taken over by the cats but…

Sadly my Ipad has gone on the blink so I am unable to access the photos I have on it. All these were taken with my Iphone which I inherited from my lil’ brother, thanx Plog.

These are in no particular order, but they do represent my finally catching up and so I’ll try to return to a more regular posting from now on. The pictures do show that I’m spending most of my time gardening or tinkering with things on the estate that need doing.

I got fed up with the whole “gardening” palava, digging, composting, watering, waiting, more watering etc etc So I decided why not just put a nice picture of a flower on the ground in the spot where you would like a flower to be, much easier!
The pear blossom that greats me as I step outside my bedroom door at the moment.
A family that eats together…..
Proof that I have managed to do something other than entertain the cats! I am slowly clearing out ad painting the floor and walls of the workshop in the wooden house basement, so that it becomes a more user friendly space.
One indication that all is not roses in the Sid and Nancy camp is the fact that Nancy has taken to spending a lot of time in the kitchen on his own whilst Sid in comparison rarely hangs out in there. Nancy really likes to burrow in to duvets taht should have been put away long ago!
These two have yet to rid themselves of the fascination with drinking from running taps. They demand it everytime they are fed, sometimes more often. A double tongue shot is a coup!
The relationship between Sid and Nancy always was a little complicated, often fractious. On occasion though they seem to be best of mates, high on life out of captivity and what better way to show this than to sniff each others butt!
This pic is of an eveing walk, well outside Nancy’s usual comfort zone, Sid on the other hand, we think, goes everywhere!
Sid surveys his domain as the evening draws to a close.
Sid will always come for a walk down the hill as lonhg as he’s not engaged in stalking some poor rodent. Here he is engaged in waiting for us to catch up and giving the oak tree a hard stare. Why do oaks come in to life so much later in the year than other trees?
Sanja, wearing her gorrilla gear to ward off any bears we might come across encorages the ever slow and cautious Nancy to keep up with the team as we head off on an adventure. Nancy is almost always “the one at the back” , you know the type!
Photographic proof of the rare occasion that Nancy took the lead, it didnt last long!
Gorilla giirl and Sid on the way back up the hill, taking the less often used west side path!
Posted on

Long over due and lacking in text….

Sorry for the pitiful posting rate of late, I blame it on Sanja, but I guess it’s up to me to me work out a new timetable /routine that includes time doing things with her and also the things that I do alone. Sanja is taking a well earned break from me back in Belgrade for a couple of weeks so blogging is back!

These photos are not in date order and range over the months of Feburary and March.

An sunset lit evening stroll with Sid and Sanja
We saw this wicker cat basket in the Karlovac flea market, I said “not worth more than 50kuna” and we got it for 30, after I’d cleaned it out and left it to dry in the sun, Sid gave it the ultimate seal of approval.
Trying to come to grips with basic Serbo-Croatian grammar and failing. This local language is universally recognised as “difficult” but I have the feeling that my old brain would have trouble learning any language however simple it might be.
Sometimes I wonder why so few folk visit me and then I realise I should stop forcing them to chop wood and the like!
This is the view of our house from the otherside of the valley. At most times of the year it would not be visible due to the foliage.
Sanja leads the pack on the scenic way back from the Post Office.
Burning fields and brush is I think illegal, its gotta be bad for the environment, but it can make an interesting picture!
Sanja and Andrje admire the local farmers arsonist handiwork.
We have a hedgehog shuffling around in the grass just outside my door. This is a nighttime shot but we’ve seen him out and about in the day time too.
Sid gave us a bit of a scare, he got in a fight and was walking funny. We ended up in a specialist xray unit for pets in Zagreb!! Of course a day later he was fine, grrrrr!
One of Sid’s xrays that showed no broken bones, rather beautiful innit. If only my back was that flexible!
Both Sid and Nancy love drinking from dripping or slightly running taps. Sid is rather expert at this but Nance almost always ends up with water all over his head and having a coughing fit!

Sanja’s birthday was celebrated by a trip to the Plitvica National Park. This was opportune as it much cheaper to enter the park in the winter months and  there are relatively ver few people there as these pics show.

Plitvice lakes with snowy spots in the sunshine in March.
One of the things I love about Plitvice is the pristine clear water of the lakes that allow you to see the underwater view if trees that have fallen in to them.
Sanja provides a splash of red amongst the wonderful winter colours of the Plitvice Park.
The snow was still quite thick on the less used paths on the shady side of the lakes.
A selfie at last! And a double one at that, so cool! You lucky lucky folk!
In the summer one just wants to stip off and wade in to the Plitvice lakes, in March this was not so much of an urge I had difficulty resisting.
Wooden crocodiles bask in the winter sun.
Nancy to a liking to my huge Yugoslavian flag that I found in the flea market. She is after all a yugocat!
Sid relaxes behind the bars of the wooden house steps hand rail.
This beauty was found in our woods. If we were unsure there are wild boar in our area this proves there are! Just look at those tusks! Now to find a bear tooth or wolf fang!
The Barabrith houses in the early spring late afternoon sun.
One day in Febuary I heard some birds squawking and momentarily couldn’t locate from where it came. Then looking straight up I saw a flock of what must be geese of some kind. They were circling around in a noisy chaotic looking mass and then when others joined they started forming in to V lines and headed off north! It was amazing how loud they were at such a height and also how many there were, quite a spectacle!
Ever wondered what a gardener digging over a veg patch looks like from the point of view on an unsuspecting worm?
Posted on

Catrix

Those of you who ignored the reviewers and went to see the latest Matrix film will have been rewarded by a good film that Sanja and I much enjoyed, especially as we saw it on an IMAX screen – Sanja’s first time as proved by her many ‘oohs’ and “ahs”! If you sat through all the credits at the end you will understand the above title! If not lets just say here and now that I do not intend to let this blog be taken over by pussy ‘cat’ porn! But Sid and Nancy’s recent arrival at Barabrith is big news in our quiet little life and so this blog is unashamedly Catrixy! Here goes, dog people look away now.

Sid and I pose for the camera in the kitchen of Sid’s old three room pad.
Sid is a ridiculously friendly and affable cat, he will get in to the most bizzare positions and purr away like mad as long as he is getting attention.

Then he and his brother came to Barabrith..

Here sits Sid, looking out of the mucky studio window in wonder at the world of grass, trees and so many other things he’s never seen before.
Nancy with one of her typical dopey looks sits in a blaze of light in the studio room. The bed in this room provided a space similiar to the one underwhich the they used to hide so it was their favourite new hideaway but now the bed has become a couch again they cower under the blankets instead.
I like this photo for the use of the reflections as much as for capturing Nancy’s dopey stare once more. Here he is looking out of the studio windows – after I gave them a good clean and so they reflect a little clearer.
Here is Nancy in his favourite spot ensconced deep under a warm duvet.
These curtains are ones I brought from my Dad’s when he was having a clear out. I tacked them up to fit the flat windows and Sid seems to appreciate them.

Then we blew open their furry little minds, by opening the door to the world outside…

The door was opened and SId – in the ginger fur coat – and Nancy – in a black coat with odd white patches – took a long cautious look. We had feared they might bolt out the door and make a dash for the road back to their old flat! Sid as usual was at the front and Nancy barely made it across the threshold this first time. Thankfully both ran back inside whenever something spooked them.
Sid makes it as far as the corner of the concrete whilst keeping a very wary eye on the source of all the barking from the neighbours opposite.
Nancy is abit of an enigma. Is he a dopey dunce who is always several steps behind his brother or is he just on the spectrum , the “slow” end of the spectrum! Or has he got cat life cracked and knows there’s no need to do anything even slightly stressful or difficult, why bother investigating new things, why bother saying hello or being friendly when you know you’re gonna get fed anyway? Those eyes could be of either nature.
For that last twenty years or more I have been using the same phone. Not exactly the same one but the same model. My Sony Ericsson C510s were great. The batteries lasted for days, I had 600+ phone contacts saved on them and loads of music that the little thing played remarkably loudly! It also had a great camera. But these two above are my last, the black one was my UK phone that has been out of use now since my UK provider realised I was no longer based in the UK. The Croatian one -silver- has been replaced by an Iphone 6 which is a refurbished cast off from my brothers teenage son! I am now seriously connected by Apple products but I will miss my little old phones. Sniff!