I think I spoke too soon!

As you know we have had 4 days of t-shirt weather, but today, although the sky is blue there is a cold wind blowing and the forecast for the coming week is much of the same. Seems to be part of a northern european weather-front coming here again...we usually have good weather in January and expect it to be wet and windy in Feb and March but this year has proved to be the exception.

The almond blossom is coming out, the hills around us look like they have cotton wool balls on, from white through to pink.

Another mill trip today, although less kgs because we had a strange mix of trees. Some small with less yield, some enormous but old and difficult to reach and with a lot of dead wood and so not many olives for the size of tree. Sometimes you feel like you spend more time moving nets than you do harvesting. When you consider each net is 8m x 5m (and we have 3 to move) and then they need tying/pegging to a tree or post so the olives don't roll off, each time you move tree you also have to move your sacks, saws, chainsaw, buckets, sticks, water bottles - it's hot thirsty work - dog and his blanket (his contribution to the day is to watch and sleep) and at the end of the day all the sacks have to be taken up to the car. We were carrying them but now pull them directly up the bankings - shorter route and less strain on the legs! I was going to call this post "the olive harvest weight loss plan" as I have needed to tighten my belt and after almost 4 weeks of harvest have lost at least as many lbs.

Back to normal

the weather system that brought in all the strong winds moved away overnight on Tuesday, unfortunately for Lauren and Luca it went towards Italy which is where they were flying to. Since then the sun has come back out and we have been harvesting in blue skies and sunshine. When we have a car load, we do a trip to the mill, 231kgs on Tuesday,and 220 yesterday.

A few photos from today, me (obviously!) half way down a banking trying to get the olives without sliding too far down, under a very large olive tree at full stretch trying to clear a branch and John on his way home from work at 5.45pm (note the lack of rush hour traffic!)

Update....

Wednesday was breezy so it was a firewood day, trimming the pruned branches down for logging and moving nearer the area where we want to make a new wood store, then in the afternoon we went with the chainsaw to cut up a dead almond tree that came down in the first snow. In just 1 hour we had enough logs for about a couple of weeks which we then stacked on the terrace for using. Thursday, yes more olives, 9 sacks this time, about 225 kgs.

Weekend was fiesta, the sun shone as it always has but with a chill wind as well. Church service at 1pm, followed by a buffet and some amazing locally made wine,(or beer and soft drinks) coffee with friends afterwards, siesta and out again for the evening session at 11pm till about 3.30am. Sunday started with lovely clear blue skies and sunshine but by mid-morning it was drizzling. We had decided not to stay for Sunday as we had lots to do here.

This morning started off cold, so we decided to do house things till it warmed up, but then the wind started up again and it is blowing round the house - if feels like it's coming down from the Sierras but is actually coming up the valley from Cadiar. Monty seems bothered by the winds, he keeps running outside and sniffing the air, sometimes barking, I suppose he can smell and hear things from a long way off.

onions, peas and beans

We planted 300 onion sets first thing this morning which hopefully will grow big and fat by the summer for storing, also about 100 more peas (we have already put peas in at the end of September, October and November) and a 4th planting of broad beans and then we went olive harvesting again. John went off to the mill with the olives, that weighed in at 284 kgs.

We have lunch every day under the trees in the sunshine although at the end of today there was a chill wind blowing and we were glad to stop. A weekend off coming up as it is Yator's fiesta.

following on from Friday...

we did another 4 sacks on Saturday morning - probably about 120 kgs - and are going down to get them cleaned and weighed in the morning. Some of the trees are laden, accessible on flat land and easy to harvest. first we pick the ones within reach, then Luca and John go up the tree with sticks to knock off the top olives and Lauren and I do the same from the ground. She likes tree climbing too but not as high as they go!

Trying again with the remaining pictures from Fridays post - hopefully they'll load today.

We have had a day off today, went to market this morning and did loads of washing this afternoon which has all dried in the sun. The weather is now as we expect at this time of the year - blue skies and sunshine.



We had 8 of us here for dinner last night, 1 Spanish neighbour, 3 English friends, 1 Italian (Luca) 1 American (Lauren) and the 2 of us. Quite a mixture, but good practice for our language skills. Luca also speaks Spanish having spent 8 months in Tarragona.

Off to do a Roast Beef dinner, Lauren is having a lesson in Yorkshire pudding making tonight.