praying mantis

The longer summer continues, the bigger all insects seem to get. Weird how this little fellow both captures my eye and repels at the same time. Mesmerizing color and shape, but those claws...

thirsty tortoise

When temperatures rise and we experience what the weather forecasters call mini-heatwaves (this expression actually does not say anything about the weather, but is just being used to prevent people from panicking), our garden becomes a pit stop for thirsty tortoises. Well, just one. It bulldozes the fence and slips into the vegetable garden to drink some water. I could start a really sad story about how the local ecosystem is being destroyed, by redirecting a small stream, but I won't. For the moment I'll just marvel at this gentle creature, and it's stubborn determination to survive.

's.

Tiny stage

What a relieve, the conversion of the tiny model-stage to the even tinier real stage, went rather well.
Funny thing to finally see the result of sketches and visualization and to be able to actually walk around in your own imagination. Some details are yet to be finished, the draping on the chair, the angle of the branch and a blue fluorescent light which will flood the projection screen. 

No-budget poster

Beats me, why things always have to be done at the last moment. But after a rather chaotic couple of days, the no-budget poster is finished.

the linden realm

Lindens are very generous,  friendly trees. They remind me of small village squares and barnyards in Holland. Their heart-shaped leaves filter the sunlight beautifully, only equaled maybe by plane trees. So I planted three of them, years ago.
They've just started to bloom, filling the air with a heavy, sweet scent that attracts zillions of bees and other flying stuff. While gathering the blossom, standing on a ladder with my head in the tree's crown, I could only marvel at this scented, buzzing realm. Every bug goes peacefully about it's business knowing there's plenty of pollen and nectar to go around.

Grass, the most tasty plant

After an intense period of bottle-feeding, our protege lamb has finally grown some teeth. At first it was only interested in eating flower buds and dirt. (Yes, I have no clue either.) It clearly expected me to show the most tasty plants, as it followed me around wherever I was weeding. Alas, my knowledge of sheep-gourmet is rather limited. Luckily,  instinct kicked in and I can stop pretending to eat grass.

Chick-atraz

eggplant before chicken-attack

after

May is a lovely month when you're a gardener in Greece. Almost everything you put into the soil, develops roots, shoots and flowers. Plant-sucking bugs and drought are yet at bay. Closer than this you can't get to perfection. (Well, yes, as an amateur-gardener, my standards are really low).
Except of course if you' re housing free-range chickens. 3000 square meters with lush green grass, plenty of worms and other tasty snacks, would suffice for a population of 8 1/2 chicken, I would think. How wrong can you be?
The favorite chicken hang-out seemed to be my small vegetable patch. Seeds were dug up soon after planting, baby plants trampled, the lettuce eaten. So after a continuous battle, the chickens are now were they belong, in their coop. We raised the fence, and blocked up some secret tunnels they had made underneath. Now even our chickens can't escape anymore. I'm really going to enjoy my salad.