The swallows are still here in Cornwall and so am I
but we all will be flying south very soon – or in our case we will be driving east then going through the Channel Tunnel and then heading south west through France.
It is always nice to stay until bramble time – or blackberry if you are English!
At last the sun is shining on them and making them sweet.
I usually leave the van in here when I leave Cornwall
But it will have to survive a summer outdoors.
There are new residents building a nest in the garage and I don’t want to risk disturbing them nor provide a ledge for cats to lie in wait.
It’s the first time they have nested in there, using the broken window at the front and with an emergency exit through an air vent at the back. Hopefully when I get back here they will have a large family preparing to fly south.
Sorry there are no swallow pictures – I waited for a long time at the window but they chattered loudly on the wires and waited equally patiently for me to go away!
I know I have already written two posts today and one on Falset is pending but I can’t not mention that the swallows have arrived in Granollers!
Orenetes! Lots of them swooping down by the river. So exciting.
I walked with Duna down to the river – as you can see it’s not exactly rural heaven, there is a field of long grass and some ramshackle allotments but it is backed by large blocks of flats and you have to pick your way around the rubbish and dog shit.
However…wherever there are birds there is beauty.
And something else happened – the collie that I always greet as I pass, the one who is tied up in a hen yard and who wags his tail when I call Hola Guapo!, this beautiful black and white collie was out for a free walk and it turns out should be called Guapa. She was dancing around me and Duna and the other dogs who were also out for the evening. She was obviously on heat and luckily the little one who was most interested couldn’t reach. Her owner seemed pleasant but fairly clueless about the facts of life and worried me by saying he wants to exercise her and let her run free but doesn’t want to have to kill puppies.
All I could do was tell him I think the next week is the most dangerous and then have a long stroking session with her and a chat about not letting other dogs get too close. She seemed to listen.
It’s hard – you have to accept that’s how it is. I always keep an eye on her and she was one of the most friendly and calm collies I have ever met. It was good to meet her at last.