Solar heaters (4 November 2021)

That time of the year. Installed the solar heaters again.

Mango or not? (3 November 2021)

 Mango, or not?

Our one and only almost ripe mango, blown off the tree this morning. It looks like it is hurt, or someone may be living inside..

It was very good, the dent is only superficial.

Jostle stone / guardacantón (8 november 2021)

Stumbled upon an article about "jostle stones" - stones placed at the corners of (old) buildings in the days horse-drawn vehicles and wood-iron wheels were all the rage, to protect the walls.

Then it dawned on me that the curious stone at the corner of our house actually *is* a jostle stone! Our house *is* from those days, and the corner used to be at a bend in the road..

"In cities the older guard stones as a concept have been replaced by objects meant for automobile traffic, such as curbs and guard rails. As a city maintenance object they slowly became obsolete and were discarded or reused for other city purposes. When they were incorporated as part of a building's structure however, they were difficult to remove and many remain as silent witnesses to early traffic on historic roads. Today such objects are treasured for historic reasons and are often protected as part of a city's cultural heritage." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guard_stone

In Spanish they are called "guardacantón" - "corner protectors" - https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guardacantón

African death head hawk moth caterpillar (1 November 2021)

Found this in our garden fence, 12 cm long and 2 cm wide. Apparently it's an African death head hawk moth caterpillar.