On the 15th June I had the first sighting of what has become a resident badger family/grouping. I think there are two badgers that have been residing in a set near the big barn.
I'm not one of those people who usually get excited about sightings of vicious animals and was not at all pleased at the prospect of getting grunted at every time I went to water my tomatoes, but to be honest I have sort of got used to seeing and chatting to Lionel and his friend Lionelka. They don't seem to grunt anymore, just sort of scuttle under the pile of branches I cut for kindling with my friend Saw Beng Tee last year.
They don't seem to be damaging crops or gnashing their teeth at me, so perhaps Lionelka is not a female after all and it's just two lads shacked up together. I suppose this doesn't surprise me after all the male flowers on my courgette plants. Mabe I should rename Lionelka as Leonard or just opt for some ambiguous name like Lesley.
Anyhow over the last few weeks I've seen them or it (since they don't wear clothes or seem to have distinguising marks, or more likely I'm too scared to get up close) frequently and once, one of them did a little scuttling dance for me.
What an exciting day... I just went down to the vegetable garden to check on the plants after the rainstorm. On passing the well, I found a hungry snake shlucking a huge earthworm down its gullet. Quite a normal scenario really. The only thing that worried me was that the snake had a huge part of its tail missing. Memories from aggressive snakes in Lebanon came back when it started to hiss at me. Amazing what snakes can do with huge earthworms in their mouth.
Past the snake I viewed the progress of my vegetables. All fine. It was when I was viewing the sweetcorn that I notices a huge great beast appear at a canter towards me. It was black, neolithic and angry looking. Its pincers were huge and reddy and not things you wanted to snuggle up to.
I shot off at full speed, past the engorged snake and half eaten worm to the kitchen to find the camera.
It obviously was not a camera extrovert and exhibitionist and wasn't happy with me snapping away. When it started charging at me, all 8cm of it I backed off and found my computer and Internet connection to identify it. Apparently it was a male stag beetle.
The latest addition to the animal visits was the Pine Marten I spotted wobbling around in one of the mulberry trees. He, (I presume it was a he from his size) was causing a huge ruckus among the bird population, as he was either trying to make a meal out of the feasting birds or stealing their food.
Spicy jams are all the rage today, with one of them winning the Grand Prize at the 2003 Scovie Awards. The recipe below is great on biscuits, toast and pancakes, and you can even use it as a glaze on grilled meats or as a topping for vanilla ice cream.
3 cups mulberries
2 cups water
1 package powdered fruit pectin
1 tablespoon red chile powder
1 cup sugar (or more to taste)
Crush the berries thoroughly in a bowl and then transfer to a saucepan.. Add the water and fruit pectin. Stir until the pectin is dissolved. Add the chile powder and stir. Heat to boiling. Boil 5 to 10 minutes. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Boil 3 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently, or until thick. Allow to cool, place in sterile jars, and refrigerate.
Here’s a spicy treat and a good way to use up excess mulberries. Any number of commercial rubs work well for the lamb chops, or you can simply use red chili powder or hot paprika for the rub. Think I may have to substitute pork chops for the lamb chops though..
4 thick lamb chops
Commercial rub of choice
1 cup mulberries
1 cup diced melon, such a cantaloupe
2 serrano chiles, seeds and stems removed, minced
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
1 medium onion, chopped fine
Juice of 1/2 lemon
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon minced Italian parsley
1 tablespoon minced cilantro
Place the lamb chops on a plate and sprinkle with the rub. Press the rub into the meat and let stand for 1/2 hour.
In a bowl, combine the mulberries, melon, chiles, red bell pepper, onion, lemon juice, oil, parsley, and cilantro and mix well. Let stand for 15 minutes.
Grill the lamb over a medium hot fire until done; medium rare approximately will take 5 to 6 minutes per side, depending on the heat of the fire and the distance the meat is from it. The internal temperature should be 150 degrees F.
Place the lamb on a plate and top with the salsa.
Yield: 4 servings
Heat Scale: Mild
Mulberry Jelly Recipe
1 1/2 pints mulberry juice
4 ounces of tapioca
Sugar
Instructions
Extract the juice from the mulberries by placing them in a jar and bruising them with a wooden spoon; then place the jar--which must be covered--in a saucepan of boiling water.
Let the water boil until the juice flows freely from the mulberries; then strain them through a fine hair sieve.
Do not squeeze the mulberries, but let the juice drop slowly through.
Crush the tapioca so that no lumps remain. Then, pour the mulberry juice over it and let it stand all night.
Boil it until it is quite clear, stirring to keep it from burning, and add sugar to taste.
Pour into small molds which have been standing in cold water.
Well today I saw one of the most amazing insects I have ever seen in Europe.
On my way down to the vegetable patch, whistling and daydreaming, I was about to put my hand on the gate, when I suddenly saw the most incredible sight a pair of ghastly evil looking moths mating on the gate post. Hairy legs and fangs and about 15cm.....
Since I moved into the wilderness of central Bulgaria, I have been planning to track the novel and exciting events in my life here. I am particularly interested (and to tell you the truth baffled by) the incredible wildlife that has presented itself in my garden this year.
It seems not a day goes by without spotting some rare and exotic animal wandering around on the ground or wobbling tree branches. For the most part many of the species have been difficult to identify, but I'm slowly making progress... :)
