Winter Wool

This is my new cap, made by my wonderful wife, Konswan.



For Christmas, she asked for two ducks a layin, and one cat a mewing. I am not sure if she meant she wanted them in her kitchen, but here they are.

Fruits of Winter

We love living in a Sub Tropical climate!

Most of this came from our farm, but the tree fruits came from a friend near to us.

Our trees will begin producing in the third year hopefully.

When the Sun above fades, that within brightens

We have been under cloudy skies, showered by rain and hail for the past six weeks. The garden continues to grow without the curse of frost, so we remain well fed. The home brew is bubbling along, so we have a pain killer when the cold gets into our bones.

Without sun, we do not have electricity this time of year. And so, with the ever lengthening nights, we find ourselves turning to the heavens for entertainment. When the clouds part, the crisp north wind gives us a spectacular view of the southern sky. Every three days, we can charge the laptop, allowing us research time on the computer.

Using an astronomy program on the computer, Redshift 6, we can find out precisley what stars, nebulae and constellations we are viewing, along with meteor showeres and comets. Humans have been observing the same night sky for thousands of years, religions and empires have come and gone, but the stars remain the same...except for a slight precession that is not important for our recorded history.

With access to the local library, we can dowload 1000´s of pdf files to read at home. If I were forced to have all my books in the traditional papyri or pulp fibre, my entire house would be filled. But any sufficiently advanced technology is akin to magic, and so my little laptop keeps filling up and yet remains the same. And so, my library is growing to approach that of Alexandria.

At this amazing time of year, we can watch as the Eternal Virgin flies across the skies, her belly full and awaiting to give birth to our savior, the Sun, in the coming days of the Solstice.

The ritual slaying of the Bull is replayed each evening, as the Divine Mind slays the beast, and as the Bull is destroyed, the meteor showers fall as blood from its body...Giving its life blood to the coming season of planting. As the Mind conquers the Beast, we prepare for the birth of the Savior in the coming days. The diving Light of Pure Consciousness that lies within all is awaiting rebirth.

It is a beautiful epic that is played for all to see at this time of year in the Norther Hemisphere.

There seems to be a natural inclination for introspection and discovery of those things hidden within at this time of year when the weather forces us to be calm.

It is indeed good to be a human.

Tree Felling Adventures

After two years of contiuous cutting we are getting our little acre of jungle surrounding our home under control. Magnus used his 12 in guide bar to take down about 100 hardwood trees ranging in diameter from 2 feet - 4 feet. Along the way, he learned the pros and cons of various techniques. Now armed with a 25 inch guide bar and larger motor, we go lumberjacking!



Konswan goes fishing for trees!
Using the fishing pole and light line, we first lasso the tree to be felled.



With a modified slingshot and 80 gram fishing weight, Magnus does his best to shoot the line over the desired branch. Sometimes this can take 10 days to accomplish!

When the line is in place, we use it to pull up a series of heavier lines, until finally a steel cable rated at 3 tons is fixed.



We only have 8 large Eukalyptus trees left to go and then we are done!



Unfortunately they are all located above and behind our house and leaning over the incline!




Here is a group shot of the remaing trees.

When these are done we can finally rest at night when the winter storms howl through our valley.

Next year we begin clearing the other 2 acres of land!!

Autumn Garden Produce

All orgainc and oh so tastey too!

Most of these veggies originated in Central America, but do wonderfully here on Flores.




Here is an island variety of hot pepper, a melon pear and long beans.




Chayote was first domesticated in Mexico, where the fruit is used in both raw and cooked forms. When cooked, chayote is usually handled like summer squash, and it is generally lightly cooked to retain the crisp flavor.



Hungarian Wax peppers and Cayenne.

Capsicum is an awesome winter buzz, plus it clears the sinus passages when allergies stike!





These are Thai style eggplants. Very firm and tastey.

Preserving the Goodness of Summer

Konswan has been hard at work, pickling, stewing and fermenting all manner of vegetables and fruits.



Every year our garden produces more as we learn the seasons of our little valley.




This winter we will be getting all the summer goodies along with the fresh winter veggies!

Late Season Tomato Picking

Magnus reaping the rewards of his hard work!

We have Road Access

Look what came through our backyard!

The local government has decided to build a new road that passes along our property line.

We now have the option of buying a truck and to stop walking everywhere!

Tree Felling Disaster

On Sept 11, we accidently created our own twin tower disaster.
Through a series of blunders, we ended up with two trees crashing into our garden.



Seedlings and winter crops were annihilated in seconds as these two came carreening down the mountain. Our mini-greenhouse was shattered, so now we will be picking glass out of the garden for years to come!

Veggie Harvest

Rainbow Tomatos from Magnus´ new garden.



Veggie stir fry from the garden. Awesome Aborgines from Konswan.




Italian cooking is so easy with fresh basil and tomatoes and Portuguese Red Table Wine.





Japanese Eggplant from Konswan´s garden.






Artichoke Hearts are the best ever with fresh butter made from the island.

Visit from the 0ceans...Magnus´ Father and Brother Sail Over from the USA

Summer in Flores with the Johnson Family!

Aboard Cherub for cocktails in the harbour.

Magnus letting his little brother do the work.

Summer Visit from Magnus´Parents

Steve and Magnus´ mom hiking to our house along the nearest road...slightly overgrown during summer.
The easier way to come home when the river is dry.

M for Mother Mary...an excellent festival in Fazenda.

American Shepherd Schutzhund Bark and Hold

Here is my boy, Dink, demonstrating the Bark and Hold.
The idea is to keep the Intruder guarded until I arrive to deal with the situation.
If the Intruder tries to escape or attack, then Dink is permitted to Bite him.
Once the Intruder is apprehended, I order the Bad Man to drop his weapon and surrender. If he complies, I tell Dink to release his Bite and come with me.

Obedience Routine

This is a basic routine demonstrating control and safety.
The Dogo Argentino, Drako, is owned by Cesar Furtado. I have been training with them for the past year.
Notice that both dogs are male and also that the Dogo is on the official list of Dangerous Dogs in Portugal. I take particular pride in demonstrating that these so called Dangerous Dog Breeds are a ridiculous concept.
A dangerous dog is an untrained dog in the hands of a fool!
The response from the local islanders, of whom Cesar is a member, clearly shows that they appreciate a safe and well trained dog.

Agility with American Shepherd

This Video shows Dink and myself running through the agility course.
This was a new challenge for us, I have never trained agility before and Dink has never been asked to perform these tasks.
We trained for a month prior to the Festival, and overall I am very happy with the final result.
Bite Work is much more fun for the two of us though! Must be the Testosterone.

Festival of Saint John Canine Demonstration

We had a great day with our friends putting on a show for the Flores Island festival this year.

Highest Tomato Garden

This is the highest garden on our property at the moment. It gets full morning sun year round.

Along the fence are heirloom rainbow tomatos.

The tall post in the foreground is a cherry tomato.

The free standing plants are Bushing Roma tomatos and red lettuce.

Here is a front view showing the new wall I built and the chicken proof fencing.

All that compost went to good use!

Now I just have to be patient, pinch the suckers and eat the fruits of my labor.

Stucco on Front Wall

Here is a view from the opposite side of the valley, looking towards our house.
This is the kitchen doorway and side wall cornered with the front wall.

And finally, a close up of the new work.

The Process of Building On a Mountain

The first stage, mixing the cement, which is so much easier with a machine!

The second step is to fill buckets and walk them up the mountain side.

Once on location, I place the stones and pour the concrete into the form.


Here is the end of a days work. Total cost was only 20 euros for materials. Everything else was just laying around and needed to be placed correctly.
Above the wall is the compost bin, waiting to be dumped into its new home!

New Spring Garden

I built several poly tunnels using recycled greenhouse plastic. Locating them on the sunniest portion of our property has allowed a great head start on our tomatos, peppers and squash.


This is a bit of jungle that I converted to a garden. The fence is for wind and chicken protection.

Full Morning Sun

Wow, this is the moment when our little valley comes alive!

The song birds descend when Venus rises and then run from the sun to the deeper valleys.

We get direct sun from 7:30 until early evening, and every gardener knows that morning sun is the best!

Here is the view from our front door. I give credit to the unknown early builders of our little cottage, they went to considerable effort to build a huge stone retaining wall in the middle of the forest and off the road system.

I always figured there must have been a good reason for all the trouble, and now that we have cleared the jungle we are being allowed to see first hand why this awesome location was chosen.

Building a New Retaining Wall

This is a mixed Stone and Concrete wall being built for a new garden space. The posts will be used for a fence to keep the chickens out.

Here is the first level after the concrete has set. You can see the remains of an old wall along the base.

Fresh Strawberries

All organic yummy-ness. It took some trial and error, but we found a way to keep the water where we want it.