Anniversary (well, half of one)

It's 6 months today since my arrival at Los Ruices. I have to day that the time has hope very quickly and so much has happened during that time.  Some good, some bad, some funny, some sad.

Despite everything I can't imagine being anywhere. Being so close to nature in such a beautiful location brings me so much pleasure whether it's stumbling across orchids in my fields or watching a kestrel hovering in a stiff wind over the vineyard or, even, working through the rain with the neighbours to clear landslips on the track.

Every day throws up some new challenge but I'm still very positive about making the place 'work' in some form or other though what form that will take will isn't entirely clear. However it's still early days and I know that I need to see a year through before I can even start to understand what I've really got.

With snow on the ground, life looks very different from that hot and dusty day when I drove up the track in the van.

Normal service will be resumed...I hope!

The weeks seem to be flying past this year (or is it something to do with age?!).
January, which always seemed to drag in Blighty, was gone before I knew it and then we hit February which I always knew was going to be busy.
'Tis the month for pruning and we are now on day 11 of doing the grape vines. I say "we" but, apart from some initial training and help from my guru Jose on the first day, it has been me working his way up the hill. The vines are getting a very hard prune which swill act as a 'kill or cure' treatment. There are some big patches of dead vines but all is not lost as the dead stumps make fantastic firewood. Come harvest time, I should get a good idea of what is productive vineyard and then I can weigh up whether to replant the bad areas next February.
10 acres done; only another 14 to go (and silk have to finish pruning the black figs).
However, the weather is fantastic at the moment and it is a joy to be working outside. The nights are cold but almost every day is warm with blue skies.
With the current workload plus day-to-day chores, it's difficult to keep the blog updated but
I'll do what I can. There's an entry in the pipeline for the wild boar 'matanza' which will come with a health warning for vegetarians!

Belated updates

I've posted three new blog entries that cover events from January.

1. 'Bonfire night' in Torvizcon
http://gtandalus.blogspot.com.es/2013/01/fire.html

2. An 'interesting' drive
http://gtandalus.blogspot.com.es/2013/01/hairy-drive-with-lemons.html

3. More photographs of the snow at Los Ruices
http://gtandalus.blogspot.com.es/2013/01/la-nieve-more-photos

Enjoy. They should make a change from photos of almond blossom and blue skies....ok, perhaps one more!