Ukatani ....52° N......Around the yard

 

Summer finished now and night temps down in the 40s/'50s.  Our neighborhood Peafowl lost all their long tail feathers and are growing new ones.

Here's three of the boys.  They are very curious and have to check everything out.  They 'sample' a few flowers and take dust baths in the garden, eat a few fuschia flowers and some grapes, but they are not very destructive.  Three of them roost in a tree in neighbour's yard, the other one roosts high up inside the roof of a farmer's barn about 1/2 km away and comes every morning and goes home every night.  We watch him cross the fields on his way home and he is usually right by the kitchen door the next morning, clucking, displaying and fussing for food.

Even though their long tail feathers have moulted they are still proudly displaying and showing off what's left.

Of course they all have names, are handfed and would come right inside if we let them.  We leave our shoes at the door before going inside. 

They like company and sit outside the studio looking at M through the doors.  The glass doors are also mirrors and they are interested in their own reflection.  The neighbours think that the Peafowl are about 20-25 years old.

Here is a lovely Dutch couple, live aboard sailboaters that we met on Abaco, early '90s.  Sailed their boat back to Nl and we have stayed in touch ever since. They had a successful art gallery and a commercial art rental business in the south of Holland and have some of  M's work.

 Carona rules, we can have 3 unrelated house visitors at this time. (Annet has had fluorescent wildly coloured hair as long as we've known her, Wim never had any hair)

'Our' backyard, not our property. Neighbour tends and mows it, can't build on it, wants it to go back to nature, fine by us as we have full access.  Lots of birds, squirrels hares.....hoping to attract deer.

• Langiappe!  Unexpected bumper harvest from old patio shade grapevine. We pruned it and fertilized it, but did not expect the bounty.  The vine was cloned from a local 100 year old farmhouse vine

 

 I think we can make wine from frozen grapes.

The Billabong......fish are multiplying and growing.

L

Pruning time (Ukatani estate manager hard at work Pruning Plane tree)

Recycling shade tree cuttings, I can see some wreaths coming out of this pile.

Weaving the cuttings into an ugly wire fence, planting ivy and other climbers.

Now, for a cup of coffee by the fire and and a 'stroopwafel' (thin syrup filled waffle you warm up on your coffee.

Good night...interesting autumn evening sky.