No.
11 The
builders had started putting up the walls just before Christmas,
so it was great to get back and see the progress they had made after
the Xmas break. Unfortunately the windy weather has prevented them
from working on the roof, so that will just have to wait for a while.
We
have chosen white PVC double glazed windows, all with integral blinds
and some with flyscreens so they can be open for ventilation. The
frames are German Rehau units and the glazing is solar reflective
glass. All in all there are over 53 square metres of windows in
the house, so they are a major feature in the house.
St.
Antoni
The demons were out in force this St. Antoni.
To
celebrate, I have learnt a new trick and embedded some of the video
we shot of their escapades. Who says old dogs can't learn nuffink
noo. :)
This
year the children were recruited to make a host of demons.
The
red ones represent the seven deadly sins
They
catch St. Antoni and put him in the little hut, intending to burn
him. Then an angel freezes the demons with her magic tape, rescues
St. Antoni before the hut is set on fire.
The
hut is burnt be the demons and Joaquim has his work cut out spraying
the hut down with his hose
Then
the villagers sang a specially written song all about the life of
olive farmers (I think). Afterwards everyone retired to the bar
and then later to the village hall for a dance.
Finca,
Cut & Burn
In the middle of the month the winds had moderated, we decided to
cut down several Carob trees that we shading our olive trees and
were difficult to work around. Carob is a very soft wood and not
worth saving for firewood. The first tree was in a huge bramble
patch, so we just waded in and cut it down then burnt it on the
spot. Unlike the olive cuttings, these were a bugger to get proper
fire going and it took several attempts to get it going properly.
Now there is just some of the fallen trunk and the stump to go.
We will just pile up some olive cutting on it and that should see
it finished.
The
next two carobs were cut down and one has been left for future burning
while the other was stripped and the branches burnt along with some
olive cuttings a little was from the original tree which was on
the edge of the barranc.
After
that we moved up to the top of the finca and started clearing the
bases of the older olive trees that we have not yet worked on. This
work is going to give us a huge backlog of branches to burn and
lots of small logs for the stoves in the house. So far we have cleared
under about 50 trees, but we must have at least 100 more to do.
Once
the weather warms up a bit we will start work on the top growth
of these trees so that the will produce good olives in the years
to come.
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