Sunday Musings on Moss, Meetings and Weasels.

The weasel is alive and well and busy hunting for food on the rocks outside our window. For those who know about my novel, the weasel Comadrito is one of the key characters and is based on my own encounters with a weasel by these rocks over 5 years ago.

Mossy rocks so different from when I was last here in the summer.

Mossy rocks outside window

But I was beginning to wonder whether there were any weasels and mice still around. Touching wood or a tree we have not had any in house visitors of the wood mouse kind either for quite a while. And on cleaning up the wood shed there was little evidence of mice too.

Well, on one of our quiet meditative Sundays my husband sees one outside on the mossy rock. I had my eyes closed. And I wonder about this. I had been enjoying the sun on the moss and thinking of the beauty of the world we can see, touch, hear. I also love the inner silence when eyes closes and attention goes inwards. But this time I felt a bit cheated but was glad to know there are still weasels about. So I guess there must be sufficient mice and voles too.

Imagine the weasel on this mossy rock!

Sunday for us is often a time for some silent space and reflection. We have both been practicing Transcendental Meditation for years and value the inner silence. We also like the community of Quaker Meetings and would often have our own Meeting for Worship at the same time as Quaker Meetings in the UK.*

Since zoom and when the pandemic both disrupted and connected up our lives we have been able to join our Marple Quaker meeting. As I was talking to people all those miles away I suddenly yelled out. The weasel was back racing over the mossy rock. So I was privileged to see this little creature and the inspiration for my book. I was also able to share this experience with one of the younger members of the meeting. Talking weasels over the zoom miles!

It is so difficult to know how the wild creatures are faring through all these long droughts and then crazy windy weather which is really bashing down so many branches of the old chestnuts, even an olive tree lost some branches and they usually fare better in drought and then strong winds.

I also love serendipity and by some chance on the same Sunday came across an article in some online Nature pamphlets after looking at the American Eco Lit web pages of Ashland Creek Publishing. Two books I have read that they have published have been really good. Their aim with Ecolit is to create writing FOR animals and not about. The aim is to be an advocate for nature and the animal world.

https://ashlandcreekpress.com

‘Suppose the whole of creation began to speak to us in the silent language of a deeply submerged kinship. …Suppose we even felt urged to reply courteously to this address of the environment and to join in open conversation.’ Theodore Roszack

As I read this I can only say I was ‘knocked out’ as this was almost how I try to present the ‘Meetings of the Many’ in my novel where so many of the diverse wild species come together in the Navaselva valley and communicate their lives and stories so all can learn better ways to adapt and survive. Both elements of Quaker practice and TM have also inspired me to write in this way. What if this amazing biodiversity of life communicated in a very deep way? Theodore Roszack sums up this idea for me and ‘the silent language of deeply merged kinship’. All of nature is deeply connected and we as modern humans become the outsiders as we lose this closeness and understanding of other species. The article looked at the experiences of early and indigenous people and their ways of relating to the natural world.

Here are the two books I read published by Ashland Creek and also the link to my novel. As ever and for so many books published by small presses reviews are very important particularly on Amazon.

I will be putting together pages for my novel and more on writing and reading with a nature focus. The zoom book launch went well and hopefully this is the link to the recording.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8aE4zgWKTU

Bird Place for the Month of March will be coming soon too.

And another yell when I was on a zoom meeting as a small mousy creature ran alongside the pipes not too far from my feet. The wood or house mouse is back inside. Oh no! But at least all have survived the long droughts of summer and the lack of food in winter and are ready to reproduce. Oh no! Not in the house…

• QUOTE ON BEING A QUAKER ‘For a Quaker, religion is not an external activity, concerning a special ‘holy’ part of the self. It is an openness to the world in the here and now with the whole of the self. If this is not simply a pious commonplace, it must take into account the whole of our humanity: our attitudes to other human beings in our most intimate as well as social and political relationships. It must also take account of our life in the world around us, the way we live, the way we treat animals and the environment. In short, to put it in traditional language, there is no part of ourselves and of our relationships where God is not present.’ Harvey Gillman, 1988

Bee Eater and Book Launch

The zoom launch of my book is looming. So a reminder for Thursday 22nd of February at 7 pm UK time. There will be an interview with me, a slide show of some photos, readings, followed by questions that I will try and answer. It would be lovely to see you if time and time zone allows.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/navaselva-an-evening-with-georgina-wright-tickets-804907218157

A bee-eater was chosen for the cover of my book as Abe Mero, a European bee-eater is one of the main wild characters who leaves the sanctuary of Navaselva, the wild but safe valley with the aim of helping a queen bumble bee get to a cooler climate. Co-operation and co-existence are key themes and crucial to not only their survival but ours too.

Bee-Eater by window in UK!

My novel explores through fiction many aspects of the places and species of Western Europe, the challenges faced, and the links through migration to Africa. The human narrative links to this too and helps us understand more about our need for better relationships with each other and the natural world. This book was inspired by living here and writing my blog about nature.

Here are some of the European bee-eaters seen outside our house in September. As I describe in my novel. This is the time many flock together again, young and old together. They need to refuel before the long journey across the Sahara to places in Africa where there will be a different cycle of insects and bees available.

Bee- eaters by house in Sierra Aracena in early September

Note for bee lovers and the bee crisis. For thousands of years these birds and bees have been interdependent within balanced ecosystems. Many bees come to the natural end of their life at the end of the summer season. This links well with the European bee-eaters journey back to Africa. A decline in bee population may help the remaining bees when flower sources are also scarce. More knowledge about interdependence is needed but certainly stopping key insecticides and creating wider ranges of safer unpolluted habitats helps restore complex ecosystems.

Bee-eater nesting holes

There are many other types of African bee-eater with different blends of colours and size. Some of these may be resident or just migrate shorter distances.

From WordPress stock photos. Any ideas about this one?

All bee/eaters will eat a variety of insects but are especially adapted to eating bees. These birds have developed a technique of avoiding the sting. All the different species have evolved a distinctive but different rainbow display of colours. Perhaps suited to tropical climes and the summer in the Mediterranean with the background of bright blue skies. However, there are a few bee-eaters reaching the UK and a pair have returned twice now to Norfolk where there colours are quite bright.

Thanks to I J Khanewala and their Bird of the Week you can also see two varieties of Indian, sub continent bee-eaters.

Blue-bearded bee-eater + Birds of the Week Invitation LI

Do take a look.

Hope to see you the book launch. If not the book is available from different online sources and as ever Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Navaselva-Call-Valley-Georgina-Wright/dp/1914199529

Blog Anniversary – 10 years of Navasola nature on WordPress

I am planning to choose a key post from each year for each month of 2024. For today I have chosen some photos from each January since 2014 and with the link to my very first blog post. I had no idea what connections and inspirations would come from this. My nature writing started with this first blog and has finally come to fruition with my publication of my attempt at nature fiction and having such wonderful connections with people and wildlife in so many places.

Latest news for my novel Navaselva below.

Coming soon for February 23rd evening a zoom launch with readings and Q and As. Will post with further details soon,

My very first blog post and I was so surprised by the viburnum berries taken with my phone getting my first like by a really good photographer’s blog. January 2014

Autumn and Spring in January: Mushrooms, berries, blossom and birdsong.

Viburnum Tinus with the first flower seen January 28th:some berries can still be seen behind flower. January 2014

January 2015

Winter scene on our normal walk with Lotti , and Ruth in 2015. Taken on the Fuenteheridos to Galaroza track where this deserted inn or Bodega can be seen from the times when the tracks were the highways about 300 years ago.

January 2016

Saving a bumblebee January 2016

Holy boat not at sea onT’s 70th birthday trip to the Azores 2016

January 2017

Halimium on the yellow hillside 2017

Lotti, Ruth’s Tibetan friend with her special lashes under the fringe.

January 2018

The nativity display at the Bomberos/fire service station in Tavira – Early January 2018

And below the desperate attempts on the beach at Monte Gordo , on the Algarve, to save this whale. Most heartening was how so many people were concerned about the fate of this most magnificent and suffering soul.

The stranded sperm whale

Sperm whale moving its tail and those trying to keep whale in enough water.

Birds at Dehesa de Abajo, near the Donana wetlands, in January 2019 on our first trip and where we felt so ‘filled up’ with the joy of seeing so many birds in one day.

Storks making love?

Linnet

Spoonbills flying overhead

And below the innocence of January 2020. Buff and all the wild animal characters in Navaselva were waiting for the arrival of Jay Ro’s human part of the story. Tortoiseshells and bumble bees can be seen in January. Buff is in Ruth’s garden where there are always some early flowers and rosemary flowering also keeps the bumblebees busy.

Buff tailed bumblebee

But January 2021 we were stuck in the UK with the Pandemic and another long UK lockdown and full travel restrictions while waiting for vaccines.

These were phone pictures sent to us from Fuenteheridos and Ruth’s garden. Yes, It can snow here, especially in January but we have never seen the snow ourselves and missed this downfall.

For January 2022 there was the aftermath of Ruth’s wonderful bird paintings and exhibition. She completed so many in the pandemic lockdowns We were thinking about going to visit the cranes overwintering in Extremadura for January but reports were of very little water in some key crane places. But we could enjoy Ruth’s paintings of the European cranes.

Back in January 2023 and there is a roaring wood fire as we have so much wood from Storm Barbara with so many of the old chestnut trees fallen branches. I also have my first short story published in the annual anthology of Bridge House Publishing with the theme of Evergreen. It is about a fir tree and as I love to do , from the perspective of the tree as it survives for much longer than just a tree for Christmas.

So we return to January 2024 and with much gratitude to the blogging community over these years and a little reflection on ways forward. There will be more on my book and some pages on the characters and places. Maybe some walks and introductions to the villages of the Sierra Aracena too.

And of course Bird Place of the Month. Thanks for the contributions so far. Just descriptions or observations from your own backyard will be great too. Here we have just seen a crested tit close to the house very clearly but it was too difficult to get a photo and I just looked out and enjoyed seeing this new and delightful character explore the olive and hawthorn tree.

Botany and Black in Nature – Denzil’s Nature Challenge

Walking around Navasola this morning as the heat rises from 21 degrees to 28 by 11.am I am struck more by the incredible greenness of so much around me. Thankfully this year there has been rain in the spring and a last late shower in June.

Navasola from the bent over pine at 28 degrees July 19 th 2023

For Denzil’s nature challenge I look for the black berries of viburnum tinus but these are still grey. The brambles may provide blackberries by early Autumn. I try and check the wild peony seeds but these are mainly still encased in their moist green seed pods.

I overlook the wild carrot because it is everywhere and gleaming white lace like flowers. I marvel at its ability to be the main flowering plant of the drought times and heat of July and August. And then I notice the tiny blackness in the middle. So for Denzil’s black nature challenge I give you Ms Daucus Carota the wild carrot.

Daucus carota with black or purple black centre July 19 th 2023

This black centre has made us ponder but I can not find a labelled botanical drawing. From the Kew website there is a lot of information. Daucus carota comes from the middle lands of Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq. And is referred to in the gardens of Babylon. Brought over to Spain in the 12 th century and finally developed into the cultivated orange carrots we know in the Netherlands. And so it seems nowadays the world produces megatons of carrots.

This flower also supports the life cycle of the swallowtail butterfly who indeed has black markings. But have not seen one today.

swallowtail at Navasola

Daucus carota seen July 19 th 2023. Some are in full bloom like the one with the black centre. The early smaller flowers do not as yet have a dark centre. Others have transformed into the amazing nest that will stick to animals and be moved far and near!

But what about this colour concept of blackness? Kew references the centre as a purple flower. We think this one here looks quite black.

What else is black or shows some black at Navasola. There is the black carpenter bee but not seen today. It maybe too hot for them and for the bumble bees with their black stripes. So many birds here have black markings, eye strikes or caps. There should also be black kites around and rare black vultures near Aroche. But maybe the blackest are the male blackbirds and the ravens that fly overhead to a big roosting place near Cortegana castle.

Carpenter bee on viburnum flowers February

Carpenter bee on Rosemary, early April

This all leads me back to my novel The Call of the Wild Valley whose key female non human protagonists are the black kite, Milvana and Buff the buff tailed bumble bee.

Buff tailed bumblebee

Saving a bumblebee January 2016

Black cap by quince tree in Castaño Del Robledo

Blackbird by Ruth Koenigsberger *

I also have the links to Africa as all the messenger birds have homes there too. Nana G used to work in Africa and I think we should honour Africa as our first motherland. In some of my research the Congo basin in the heart of Africa contains incredible diversity of species. And even though homo sapiens is one species there is the richest genetic diversity there among all the different human groups. This and other evidence shows how we and maybe most species we know today emerged and migrated out of Africa.

High wire young ones getting ready to fly from the Algarve to somewhere in Africa.

Young house martins ready to leave Cabanas for Africa September 2015.

We have just about finished the serialisation of Part 0ne and it will stay on the google blogger website for a while. The whole novel is due to be published in November.

This has the last two episodes showing. But you can get back to the beginning or where you left off.

http://www.navaselvathecallofthewildvalley.com/?m=1

For the beginning of all the episodes

http://www.navaselvathecallofthewildvalley.com/2023/05/introduction-and-episode-1.html?m=1#comment-form

Do take a peek preview and Bridge House Publishing welcomes reviews so far and comments. I too would love to hear from you and do comment on my blog too. Or email.

Bridge House Publishing

https://www.bridgehousepublishing.co.uk/

* Ruth Koenigsberger, artist who has drawn some of the characters and places in Call of the Wild Valley, and I have shown her work in various blog posts.

Denzil’s Nature Challenge

https://denzilnature.com/

The Evergreen trees of Navasola and the Evergreen short story anthology.

My story recently published in the anthology Evergreen is partly from within the consciousness of a fir tree grown only for Christmas. But it survives beyond the festive season and connects and inspires a variety of local children until …..The story is called Until We are Ever Green. It contains quite a few ‘untils’!

A variety of christmassy trees in the Fir and Spruce section in Kew Gardens. We were in search of Abies alba but found so many other different kinds of fir.

It is late January and we are finally back at Navasola after dull but changeable temperatures for the UK in the winter. It was a rather frustrating time with so much illness from bad coughs/ colds/ sinus and the worst I have had since leaving the classroom. Here at Navasola it is very cold but the sun is high and bright with andalucian blue skies. We also have our supply of wood from when so many branches of trees came down in the bad storm of 2020.

So thanks to the trees we can keep warm at night when at present the temperatures are falling below zero.

There is also so much green thanks to our own evergreen trees in stark contrast to the denuded old chestnuts. However without the leaves there is much sunshine on the woodland floor. Their leaves will come back later than most in May.

Pollarded old chestnuts supply lots of fallen branches.

View walking down the hill from the gate. Chestnuts and pines on other side of the valley.

Many branches fell from these millennial chestnuts in ‘tormenta Barbara’.

Navasola’s Ever Greens

Olea europaea, Olive Olivo.

The olive trees’ grey green leaves keep dancing in the chilly skies. All the olives need to be picked by end of December but any left will make good food for birds or other animals when fallen to the ground.

Black olives high in tree against Andalusian blue sky

There should be some olives later

Quercus suber, alcornoques, cork oak

The cork oak leaves show different shades of pale grey green. The tree trunks are well insulated and fire resistent. Cork trees can only have their cork cut every 8 years or more.

Cork trees still green in Autumn near Castaño.

Newly corked cork tree on Galaroza path

Two cork trees growing by our house. The bigger one was like the thin one 15 years ago. Both self seeded!

The Holm oak, encina, Quercus ilex or known as the evergreen oak.

encinas or holm oaks are stretching higher to the sky in their self seeded grove. These are the trees of pasture land or dehesa and can be found across vast swathes of Spain evenly spaced out to provide shade for grazing animals. These trees are also excellent for wood burning too.

The common ivy or Hedera helix dresses up many a trunk and keeps its green even when the frost bites. The Mirbeck oak also hangs onto its glorious display of red orange leaves until the new arrive.

Winter trees by the ivy perimeter wall.
Quercus canariensis, mirbeck oak

Pyrenean oak now fully covered in ivy so green in winter and a haven for birds and other insects.

Arbutus unedo, madroño, strawberry tree.

The madroño tree or strawberry tree is very hardy in the frost or heat. And home to the caterpillar of the Two tailed Pasha.

Madrono flowers and fruit

Bullfinch on madrono through kitchen window

Arbutus unedo, madroño, strawberry tree.

Two tailed pasha hatches in July or August

Wild viburnum tinus does not grow into a tree but can grow very tall around the trees. It is usually in flower by the end of January as the bees wake up. But at the moment it is rather frost bitten with the colder icier winter we are having here.

There are many wild pines too. Mainly Pinus nigra or black pine. These grow very tall very quickly and thrive here on sandy soils. These are different to the cultivated umbrella pines found a bit further south towards Huelva. Stone pine, Pinus pinea.

wild viburnum tinus

Blue skies and tall pine for blue sky thinking!

I think many readers of my blog will enjoy the stories under the theme of Evergreen in this Bridge House Publishing anthology. Apologies that it is only easily available on Amazon but we would love you to read, review and share the stories.

Bridge House Publishing’s launch of Evergreen and other Cafe Lit short stories. I finally meet my writing mentor too, author Debz Hobbs Wyatt.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Evergreen-Multiple-ebook/dp/B0BMW5K6GJ/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=2JXZC9KIQI2SY&keywords=evergreen+anthology&qid=1674852585&sprefix=evergreen+anthology%2Caps%2C142&sr=8-1

https://www.bridgehousepublishing.co.uk/

https://debzhobbs-wyatt.co.uk/

One Swallow does not make a Summer

Thankfully there is still water in the well and the pond. The birds love the pond and all the trees, wild flowers and other plants love that there is water deep within the ground. We have had the highest temperatures on record for June in Spain and also in our area but there are now cooler nights. Seville has faced temperature in the 40s much earlier than normal. Young swifts have been falling out of nests in the heat.

phlomis

Down by he well

wild scabious

Red rump swallow recovering from being stunned and ready to fly off.

Among the Navasola summer visitors are red-rumped swallows. Can you just detect the red in this strong little bird that survived striking fast onto our window? There are plenty of swifts around the monument of Castano De Robledo and here the temperatures have not reached 40 plus yet. This should have given these young a chance to fly out of an overheated nest. In order to keep these amazing migratory birds off the threatened lists their young must not just survive the early heatwaves here which have forced them out of their nests before they are ready but they must fly thousands of miles within weeks of leaving the nest. Lots of insect food is needed to help grow muscle strength too. And yet again there has been some glyphosate spraying of verges poisoning not just the wild flowers but all the surrounding insects and those that fly into the area.

Bee in Cistus

Young House Martins

For the young wolves in the north of Spain there have been raging wildfires in one of the highly populated but endangered wild Iberian wolf regions in the Sierra Culebra. Just the wrong time as the young wolves might not have the ability to move far from their dens to get away from fire and smoke.

Iberian Wolf courtesy of Blackpool Zoo

Swifts flying over the old monument at Castano de Robledo

And the good news. The European Union has just agreed a robust plan for the restoration of Nature. Biodiversity strategy for 2030 – Environment – environment.ec.europa.eu/strategy/biodiversity-strategy-2030_en

The European Commission’s proposal for a Nature Restoration Law is the first continent-wide, comprehensive law of its kind. It is a key element of the EU Biodiversity Strategy which calls for binding targets to restore degraded ecosystems, in particular those with the most potential to capture and store carbon and to prevent and reduce the impact of natural disasters.

And I have finished War and Peace. An epic and an insight into Tolstoy’s mind and Russian issues in the 19th Century. But has helped me understand a little more about the awful war raging in the Ukraine.

And for the first time in years I have read a book I could not put down. I read Bewilderment by Richard Powers within a day. And was star and earth struck. The book beautifully describes how a scientist searches for life way out in the stars while his son struggles to deal with the knowledge that life on our planet is threatened with extinction. The boy feels the loss of many species that have already gone forever. He draws them and wants to save what we have left. His father creates stories of possible life on faraway planets.

And recovered from Covid. So far no long term effects but was really tired and wiped out.

So the glass is still half full. There is still time to act and save our wonderful world.

An attempt at drawing water with light and shade with wild scabious.

We need lots more swallows to make a summer and a planet full of different life forms to make a better future.

Lets hope these EU actions will lead the way.

With best wishes and blessings from Navasola

War and Peace – Fiction, Truth and Reality

If I had just chosen to write my February post before the invasion of the Ukraine last week I would have written about my peaceful but busy existence on our Navasola woodland. And the coming of Spring with lots of bird activity, a range of butterflies and the rare wild daffodil, the Angel’s tear. I have also embarked on a reading challenge to read or for me re read War and Peace by Tolstoy. As I read it many years ago in my youth it was interesting to revisit and is also giving me some insight into the current crisis and the history of Europe.

View of Fuenteheridos and below a wild angel’s tear daffodil

One of the reasons I like the blogging world are the different experiences and connections that build up. One longstanding one is with Steve Schwartzman and Portrait of Wildflowers. Botany was the first link and then his incredible knowledge of Spanish and the research he did trying to find the origin of the name of our local village, Fuenteheridos. On the surface it looks like wounds- heridos and fuente, a source of water, spring. Inddeed the village is a source of much water through twelve springs. Steve found the old word ‘feridos’ which is to do with irrigation and taking turns and sharing the water. I am going to share Steve’s recent post as he suggested to show solidarity with the Ukraine. I found this very moving and beautifully written by his father, Jack Schwartzman about leaving his homeland. Lilacs for me were part of my childhood home and they will now also remind me of those who have had to leave their homes because of war and tyrants.

“Lilacs”

Small Wild daffodil, hooped daffodil, early April

This is the link to the War and Peace 2022 reading Challenge of Rebecca Budd.

S2 E6: #WarAndPeace2022 February 15th Update

The characters and the Russian high culture at the time is as intriguing and involving as I found it when younger. Tolstoy is certainly so skilled at writing and can immerse the reader within these different worlds. However, I have been intrigued by the narration about the battles of the Austrian and Russian Army against Napoleon in 1805. There is an ease of moving between characters and events. I have selected a quote below as Tolstoy shows such insight into truth and integrity. And as we know ‘the first casualty of war is truth.’

“Rostov was an honest young man who would never tell a deliberate lie. He set out with every intention of describing exactly what had occurred, but imperceptibly, unconsciously and inevitably he drifted into falsehood. If he had told the truth to these two, who had heard as many descriptions of cavalry charges as he had, had their own clear idea of what a charge was like and were expecting something similar, either they wouldn’t have believed him, or worse still, they would have assumed it was Rostov’s fault for not managing to do what was normally done by narrators of cavalry charges. He couldn’t just tell them that they’d been trotting forward together when he fell off his horse, sprained his arm and then ran as hard as he could into a wood to get away from a Frenchman. Besides, to tell everything exactly as it happened would have demanded enough self-control to say only what happened and nothing else. To tell the truth is a very difficult thing, and young people are hardly ever capable of it. His listeners were expecting to hear him describe how he had felt himself burning with excitement, stormed the enemy’s square defences, oblivious to everything, hacked his way in, mown men down right, left and centre, tasted blood with his sabre before collapsing from exhaustion, and all the rest. And that’s what he did describe.”

And as we know ‘the first casualty of war is truth.’ It seems also in our 21st Century that peace has also created a culture of lies, mis and dis information and there is a need for truth and integrity. I think Tolstoy gets quite a lot right about his character Rostov but later we do find out that Prince Andrei Bolkonsky appears to see through this fiction that Rostov is compelled to make up.

But I do not think young people today are incapable of telling the truth. Many of the young climate activists are trying to get the adults to understand and take on board the truth about climate change. Today marks another warning about how the climate crisis is going to bring more of the chaos we are already experiencing if we do not act together.

https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/ipcc-climate-report-updates-un-b2024751.html

Lilac with pearls and house and solar panels in background.

A Poem, Art and Birds for Christmas

The Art exhibition of Ruth Koenigsberger at the Teatro Aracena has just finished this December. We were really fortunate to be in the Sierra for this and we have many memories of times spent with Ruth visiting the Donana Wetlands for bird watching and photography. For those who follow this blog closely Ruth has featured many times with her art and photography. She has also drawn some of the characters and places in my novel and then turned her creative talents to painting birds during these past pandemic years. I intend to show more of her Bird Art and talents in the year to come.

For now I will give you a poem I wrote for Christmas inspired by the paintings below by Ruth Koenisgsberger and the European Crane, (Grus grus). This incredibly large and beautiful bird migrates from the North of Europe to the South during the winter months. We heard a story of a Spanish writer who as a child looked out of his window and saw the cranes calling and flying in the moonlight. Childhood experiences of the beauty of nature can stay with us and inspire us.

A Child’s Christmas in Southern Spain

Stories are told of the olive and dove

While high in the sky in the dawn’s new light

The children look out to the sky above

To spot long necks and great wings in flight.

The Cranes are coming for Christmas

The Cranes are coming for Christmas

Fe Li Ci Da Des

Fe Li Ci Da Des

 Na Vi Dad

Great bodies descend to the earthly ground

With wings outstretched they graciously land

Their calls sing out the most heavenly sound

Long legs extend to the beat of a band

The Cranes are marching for Christmas

The Cranes are marching for Peace

Gathered together on the rich wet earth

Their journey long to a climate more mild

In pairs they now dance for a special birth

A gift they bring to each precious child;

The wonder of the wild.

The Cranes are dancing for Christmas

The Cranes are dancing for Love.

Fe Li Ci Da Des 

Fe Li Ci Da Des, Na Vi Dad  –

Congratulations,

Happiness, The Birth of Christ.

Wishing you all a very happy, peaceful and safe Christmas as we continue to live through these anxious times. I also feel inspired to continue in 2022 with more about Ruth’s exhibition, paintings and her flight into the light with such a variety of colours and different techniques inspired by birds and the beautiful nature in the South of Spain.

Here’s to 2022, Hope, Light and our dedication to nurturing nature in all its beauty and diversity.

That Old Chestnut

That old chestnut is very apt for the Sierra Aracena which on the north slopes is full of very old chestnut orchards. Some trees must be over 200 years old. For visitors November is a major attraction because the changing leaves of Autumn are a rare sight in these southern parts of Andalucia. The chestnuts, poplars and fruit trees all add to an intoxicating colour spectacle. There are coachloads of tourists and the plazas of the small white villages are full of people enjoying local food after some walks around the area or just views from a coach tour. However, the local people who historically have some land are busy with the chestnut harvest. Except it is difficult to really make this profitable and each year seems to bring a different problem.

Last year it was a raging storm called ‘ Borrasca Barbara. Due to Covid and the birth of my second granddaughter, Jessica Rose, we were not here to witness the devastation to the old trees. On our return most of the fallen branches had been converted into firewood. I am sure I would have been more upset but friends helped clear the worst of it.

This year the price of chestnuts is very low at 1 euro a kilo so this has not made it worth paying to collect and it is backbreaking to do this all myself. I managed some at the rate of 3 kilos in about 20 minutes!

Then there is the peeling to do. And there is always some advice on the best way to do this, Mine is revealed if you read on!

At Navasola we have many old chestnut trees and each tree can deliver up to 10 kg of chestnuts if there has been plenty of rain in both spring and autumn. My main tasks in November is to prepare and preserve as many chestnuts as I can for my own use. This involves the tedious task of trying to peel off the inner skin. I believe chestnuts do not intend to be eaten by humans. The wild boar and other creatures do not seem to mind and can continue foraging or inhabiting these belligerent nuts for many months. However for humans there is a procedure to follow.

First here is the outer spiny case which is referred to as a hedgehog in Spanish. Gloves and good boots are needed to get the chestnuts out of these if still in them on the ground. Am sure this makes mechanical picking impossible.

Then once picked, beware, these are fresh fruits of the earth which can be infested with a maggot or go mouldy very quickly. I think commercially they are dried but for my own use it is good to keep some in the fridge. This year I was told to then put them in the sunshine in order for the peels to come off more easily.

Ah ha, I sat in the warm sunshine about two weeks ago, not possible now as the chill has set in, and began peeling off the outer layer. Not too bad but the inner thin brown skin which is so bitter was still pretty reluctant. But it was a very meditative and pleasant sun filled serotonin inducing time. I sat for about two hours and had some beautiful whole peeled chestnuts at the end of this. About 20. A labour of love and certainly not profitable. I felt privileged to have the time to experience this but my aching hand that night rebelled. Two years previous to this (as 2020 was lost to this chestnut experience) I developed a chestnut callous on my finger from peeling.

So why do this? Well I feel the chestnuts are a good and sustainable source of protein and make good additions to stews, and chestnut rissoles. And there is this desire to pick them up all glossy and shiny. And roast them.

We hear from some friends in Tenerife that they are enjoying walking down to the plaza and having roast chestnuts and red wine. Mmmm. I must retire to a place in the sun where that is the only way I experience chestnuts.

Well, this year we have discovered the secret to removing the inner brown skin is steaming. After roasting, cover with a cloth to allow the steam to remove the thin skin more easily. Using a steamer was also much quicker than anything I have tried before. Still takes some time but easier!

And the olives this year have been amazing but very high up in the old olive trees which makes collection more difficult. But the olives and the different types and different methods for preserving must be another post.

One of our major issues post Brexit seems to be the changes to our roaming data and use of our mobile Wifi. So until we work out another system I cannot use up too much data. But soon I will catch up with you and all those wonderful photographs on so many amazing nature blogs.

With good wishes to all from Navasola for Thanksgiving time.

COP 26 Not one degree more. Not one species less.

Ni un grado mas ni una especie menos.

Not one degree more. Not one species less.

( From a Spanish placard at a young person’s climate demonstration in Spain)

As many of you know my blog has been about my own individual nature journey at Navasola, a mixed woodland valley in the Sierra Aracena in southern Spain. This led me to wish to be involved in more action to protect this amazing world of nature and so, sitting in a bar in Spain in 2016, I joined the UK Green Party.  I became interested in the way members create policy and later decided to join the Wildlife and Habitats Policy Working Group. This has been another good learning curve on collaboration with others, research and constant evolving of policy framework in line with the philosophical basis of the Green Party and to do our best to create ways forward to protect and regenerate the Natural World. https://policy.greenparty.org.uk/philosophical-basis.html

I decided to begin this ABC summary of what I consider as the main principles that have driven the thinking behind the policy to share with you and I welcome discussion.

A for Abundance.  Let’s have a world where there is an abundance of wildlife for its own sake but which we know can delight and lift our own spirits.

With such decline in natural spaces for wildlife we must address this with a desire to have an abundance of habitats to support the regeneration of the natural world. Wouldn’t it be a joy to see more green spaces, more birds and even more insects as so much depends on these tiny creatures. Rivers full of newts, fish, otters and beavers. All places to be 100% nature friendly is the key to solving many aspects of the climate/ecological crisis, inequalities and our own increasing mental health challenges.

B for Biodiversity.  Let’s have a world where there remains an incredible variety of plants, insects, and all animals.

Well-functioning ecosystems support a variety of species. Regeneration of ecosystems including more wetlands, woodlands, moorlands, clean rivers and oceans with farming and gardening that supports wildlife will help all species, including homo sapiens, adapt and be more resilient to the effects of climate changes.  From increasing the vast variety of native wild plants and trees to our coast and ocean beds being full of the variety of life that is possible when not over exploited or polluted. Regenerative farming and fishing are key to preventing more nature depletion.

C for Connectivity. Let’s have a world where wildlife can expand into more and more places and we can connect with nature.

Recognising that nature knows no borders and needs more space we must ensure good connectivity through a Nature Regeneration Network. This should help the need for wild species to expand. Where do all the young birds go when new territories and resources are needed? Nature needs space and knows no borders. We all need access to nature and to understand more about our interdependence.

D for Dedication. Let’s show the willingness to achieve a world rich in nature for all future generations human and otherwise.

To achieve nature rich environments our species must now dedicate all of our actions to this aim. All land use must consider how to improve outcomes for nature on that land. Not elsewhere.  All business and public institutions must address the effect of their activities not only on carbon emissions but also on nature depletion. Not just local but all supply chains throughout the world.

Our dedication to regeneration of nature will be to accept a legal framework for the Rights of Nature to exist, persist and evolve. And nationally and internationally support the introduction of Ecocide as a crime against humanity and nature. How much longer can we accept the polluter just pays as in the recent vote in parliament re the constant over flow of sewage into our rivers? We need a better legal framework to truly protect the natural world into the future.

E for Enjoy a world abundant in diverse Ecosystems with Equality of access and opportunities.

The full policy and background research paper will be available on the Green Party website in the near future. In the magazine Green World- Jonathan Elmer, Green Party spokesperson for the Natural World wrote about the significance of the policy.

‘It represents a fundamental shift in emphasis, a movement away from traditional site-based conservation to systematic regeneration of nature. 

A recent report from the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee concluded that since 1970, there has been a 68 per cent decrease in the population sizes of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish across the globe, and in the UK, 15 per cent of species are threatened with extinction. It also noted that of the G7 countries, the UK has the lowest level of biodiversity remaining.’

It is time to act to ensure enough is done to regenerate nature not just in the UK but all over the world. We now need to find practical ways to bring these policy principles into action.

Let’s also hope that COP 26 will be a turning point for global co-operation although constant vigilance and action will continue to be needed for the protection of our living Earth and all species on it.

Reforestation needed, old chestnut trees in abandoned woods

Storks by the wetlands. More water needed and frogs.

Biodiversity, Green Party, Nature, Writing