Small universe

September, 22, last day of a glorious Summer. Walking round the house, in the Sun, I thought what a happy life. No more city dwelling for me, surrounded by concrete, noise and bad air.



This is a big garden and I have the privilege to live there. Sure, I own the place but all the other inhabitants, the plants, birds, squirrels and so on happily ignore this. They live their own life and I try to have a light footprint.

The above apple tree is a tree baby. I planted it a year ago because the original tree was uprooted by a small cyclone. Thanks to global climate change, we had our first whirlwind ever over here, two years ago. Say hello to Oklahoma/USA.




The previous owner lodged his little dog in there. Now it is empty but I keep repairing it because of the roof. Those stone shingles are typical for the region. You need huge beams to support the weight of those stones. A normal roof would simply collapse under its weight.




Meet Mister Atlantic Cedar, cedrus atlantica. He is twice as big as the house but only slighly older. At least, that's what I suppose because hundred years ago this was grassy farmland for the cows. And peasants don't plant cedar trees! Let's hope he will never fall on the house. But in this area, the big storms always come from the South-West, never from the North-East...............




That's hard to believe, but they grew right here! These lepiota (in Latin macrolepiota procera - parasol mushroom) have a wonderful taste. Just put them in the frying pan like a steak if it is open. Add some butter. After frying, add some salt and pepper and then iam, iam.





Great to look at, don't know what happened when I made the second photo but I could not resist. Home-made abstract art, painting with light. And in this time of the year, the birds feast on them. End of October, the flowers are empty shells, not a single grain left.




Still life in a shady corner behind our "doll house". A good place to sit on a day with blazing sunshine, 40°C (or 104°Fahrenheit).




Same place as before, just another angle of view. Fuchsia flower. See the wooden door in the rear. I made it.





During the warm months, a frog is living there. And the second day I installed the little pond, some water fleas settled there. Where did they come from? Where did they live before? Another mystery.