After a stressful and very busy week with all the kids away at various times in different countries visiting capital cities on school trips, and a lengthy drive into Poland to get some diagnostics done on my Vlochka, my Discovery, we only managed to squeeze one night in at the house. Thankfully, the weather was gorgeous (apart from the usual afternoon storms) and was 30 degrees plus centigrade.
I had a list of things i needed to do around the house – cut the grass on various plots of our land, fix my motorbike, Feisty, and carve a new valaska shepherd’s axe for an article. I managed to do a bit of everything but not complete one single task, which was very frustrating.
I went to check my trail cam as a week earlier I’d moved it as I’d noticed a fresh but barely visible trail running through some thick undergrowth. There were a few mounds of boar scat along the length so thought I’d try my luck. I’d actually thought it was a male but the evidence showed otherwise. I managed to get a sow and several squeakers (the official, extremely cute, name for boar piglets). Sadly, the squeakers were way too fast to get a decent picture of.
The stripes can still be seen, albeit blurred, running along its sides.
The trailcam also picked up the usual suspects, a red deer hind and a fox:
Using the new strimmer I managed to cut some grass but I’m having problems with the string mechanism so I’ll try to finish this week. The boys helped my wife to move the hay.
As usual, we went for a walk in the evening along the old bush road.I can’t even begin to describe just how therapeutic it is to be out in the fresh air, surrounding by nature and with only the sound of nature and the wind. It’s also somewhat of an adrenaline rush as occasionally we’ll see an animal partially hidden in the grass and it often takes several moments before I can ascertain if it’s a safe or potentially dangerous species. The wildlife here is truly wild, unlike in the UK, and oftentimes it feels almost primeval.
Due to the extreme heat and having been working in the garden all day, I found myself dehydrated while walking and began fantasizing about drinking 100% orange juice. Luckily, nature provided and we stuffed ourselves and quenched our thirst on wild strawberries and then, upon returning home, raided the garden for our own organic strawberries. Zero chemicals, herbicides, insecticides, nothing. Our logic is if they grow, they grow; if insects or other animals get to them then so be it – at least we know they are completely fresh and healthy.
Returning to the village:
There were plenty of deer about but nothing exotic. It’s always a surprise as to what we’ll see. On this occasion just a brown hare pretending to be a log and a melanistic red squirrel (they really need their own classification as there are far too many merely to be classed as a mutation here):
Summer is a beautiful time, although the insects and snakes suck….
haha, I guess that no matter where you go insects are a problem during the summer! We’ll, except maybe Antarctica. Still, it seems like bothersome insects are a small price to pay for all the benefits of your lifestyle. I don’t know about the snakes though. Are there many venemous snakes by you?
We get lots of one poisonous species, the only poisonous species in Europe – the Adder, or European viper. Today I have to cut long grass on a plot of land I know to be teeming with them.