Cycad - Cycas - Sagopalm

The terrace has an amazing 20 year old cycad / cycas  sagopalm. More than one meter high. But, it has to go, it's extremely poisonous for dogs.  Every part of the plant. The leaves, and the nice red nuts it produces. 

We replanted it outside the fence. An operation that has cost days and days. First, while constructing the fence we tried to dig it up, but the soil is hard, and it has a big system of fibrous roots. So, with the hammer drill engineer Jansen has spent days digging a trench around it, softening the soil with water, but it would not really budge. 

In the end we bent it every way, managed to tear is off it's roots. I hope enough roots are left to make those regrow. Currently it does not look terribly happy, the lower leaves are sagging.  But, the hot weather is over, so it has some opportunity to recover, we hope.

The top was a yellow-beige ball of fluff, that is now showing the red nuts! (Hope that is not a bad sign)

Palm removal

Today we say goodbye to the palm tree. It got far too big, and it made a mess with all those seeds, that were also eaten by the dogs, and attracted flies, and sprouted everywhere. Sorry!

One guy climbs up, in a special protective suit, he then first cuts off the leaves, dropping them down on a big wooden board. That is necessary, because these leaves weigh a lot. He then slices slices off the palm with a chainsaw, dropping the blocks down on the big sack filled with the leaves as a cushion.

Very very impressive work by Nash Groundworks (Mojacar).

Video:

Calefacción solar

It's quite frío in January, the solar heating needs to be reinstalled, and properly this time. Decided to not drill holes in the wall for pipes, but use open windows instead, and simply blow the hot air through the mosquito screens.

Bathroom 2 gets its own heater, as that one has the outlet opening at the back, while the bathroom has a hole in the wall there for a ventilator above the (ex) shower:

Well, who would have thought. This palm tree casts a shadow later in the afternoon. We'll need to cut off the dead leaves, which is long overdue anyway.

And so it happened, with the 4m extendable Wolf telescopic cutter. Not that this is a lot better, shadow wise. Even on a non cloudy day. Oh well.