so - this was the summer?

the midst of october, and we are heating, firewood cut last spring is warming the house. there is not enough with the winter already starting. i was still growing seeds and my luffas need more SUN!WARMTH! to get big. here is a europe wide cold weather front. so there is hope that this will end and some sun comes back.
october also brings back the hunter (sadly - also the bird-shooter) and the dogs barking through the forests. we had a huge tomato harvest - all frozen in the new BIG freezer and many peppers. so these vitamins are taken care off. i have a lot of very diverse jams in the cupboard: elderberry with vino cotto; plum with cinnamon; wine with christmas-spices.....
my projects in the big house are slow accomplishing, some very slow... in how many obstacles can you run in to get the doorknobs on the newly painted doors?
*the old ones were not usable - all different sizes
*the new knobs have a square steel rod, too big to get through the hardware in the door
*i needed resizer (yes - available in old hardware-stores, just have to find them) for the old steel-rod to fit the new doorknobs
*i needed a 2-piece replacement - length between rod and key whole is different on each door
*the round cover of the 2-piece are wider and the door (actually 1) cannot be closed
*the hardware in that door has to be moved further into the door ...
this is where i am right now, i started that project in spring, will see when i have it all done.

when my brother announced he would like to come for a visit, i took finally the time to check our abandoned storage/guest room and was very surprised about the pets accumulated between the window and the outside shutter. i would love to have a school class seeing this, it is also to me fascinating:

at the beginning it was a relatively small nest, but i guess this here is a perfect nest situation - they are multiplying and the nest is now tremendous. there was the thought about killing them, but they do not really do harm - so far - and in germany they are protected by law. so i thought why not watch a hornet life cycle. i read a lot about them, but nobody told, that they use the open underneath as a bathroom and they pee/poop a lot! so i have a cat-sandbox underneath and have to change it too.

we were finally at the beach, researched this one online - found it and we were thrilled: very calm just some last sunbather, warm sun and water - we were both in it, Jon even with his snorkel. 1,5 hours away from us!

another place we explored when Dietmar was here, was the devils gorge and a famous hermit living above it. the place was all ours no-one on this 2 hour hike, the trail went through the rough cut between the mountains, the peaks sticking in the clouds, through this most beautiful beech-forest with a carpet of cyclamen on the ground.

but the most remarkable place is where Padre Pedro is working on his life fullfilling project: he is building a church, by hand, one stone after the other cut, shaped and placed. pure meditation. he calls himself God's contractor.

he is one of the most happiest person i have seen. Jon said he will see the work on our place different after watching him, living by himself in the mountains, built his vegetable gardens in the steep sites with natural stone walls (piled all by himself) to hold the soil. he started this project 1971! he is far in his 80's and still going every possible minute.

vino cotto: cooked wine. a marchigianic specialty. we were witnessing and even helping in the process. after the grape harvest, the juice, just dripping out of crashed grapes comes in this copper pot and get heated up with an oak wood fire. through reducing the amount and keeping it from over-boiling - constant watching and pouring new cold juice on top, it will after 6-8 hours be concentrated enough. it comes in a barrel and ripens to a sweet and strong cherry like wine.