Davenpuerto
The damned wind
We have suffered low temperatures these last 10 days or so, suffered being the correct word, as they have been accompanied with the dreadful Mistral.
‘Mistral’ – sounds French – nice warm soothing breeze that gently ruffles the treetops, and causes the sweat to evaporate faster from your body cooling you down.
Not a bit of it.
This b@stard hurls itself about the place, coming roughly from the North, and changes it’s angle of attack every second. It is no pleasure to be outside at times like this, and is to be avoided at all costs. It is especially comical when you ‘have’ to be outside, together, and it becomes increasingly difficult to hear the instructions from your beloved as to where the cat food is, or the answer to which arcane place she has left the axe.
Believe me when I tell you than it is not conducive to marital bliss, especially when you are only trying to ‘help’.
Tonight, after some 10 days of this dreadful French import, we had a remission – it may not last, but for the moment we can enjoy a measure of tranquility. No more are the kennels being pushed sideways, with dogs still inside! We can carry on with a conversation over a cooling ‘sundowner’ without fear of the bottle being whisked sideways and out of the finca.
It is sure not to last, but enjoy it we will – someone has to!
All is well just now – dogs fed, cats fed, kids soon to be. I have a monster of a lasagne gently bubbling in the oven which has many ‘homegrown’ ingredients within. The tomato frito, the oregano, the onions and garlic, the bayleaves for the bechamel are all ‘home-harvested’.
<smug></smug>
it has been a good day, now the wind has gone. It is incredible what a difference it can make to your overall sense of well-being. Sometimes I can relate to the man who wore shoes two sizes too small just for the feeling of relief when he could finally take them off at the end of the day.
<open bottle of red>
Natural Farming
I mean how cool – “Do less” – seems ideal to me.
The Natural Way of Farming – let nature do the growing, not you!
“Natural farming is based on a nature free of human meddling and intervention. It strives to restore nature from the destruction wrought by human knowledge and
action.”
If you produce carrots for market, who grows them?
(Clue: the answer is not you!)
Although a thousand diseases attack plants in the fields and forests, nature strikes a balance; there never was any need for pesticides. Man grew confused when he identified these diseases as insect damage; he created with his own hands the need for labor and toil.
Man tries also to control weeds, but nature does not arbitrarily call one plant a weed and try to eradicate it. Nor does a fruit tree always grow more vigorously and bear more fruit when pruned. A tree grows best in its natural habit; the branches do not tangle, sunlight falls on every leaf, and the tree bears fully each year, not only in alternate years.
When I see how much effort goes into the production of olives, oranges and rice here in Cataluña, I am always amazed. When we first arrived here, our 200 olive trees had received no attention for some six or seven years, the land was full of weeds, and we had the biggest crop of olives that autumn than we have ever had since.
Hmmm ….
I can see that a laissez-faire take on our efforts from now on may well be worth considering. More on this as the year progresses.
Facebook Rant
Why can’t they leave it alone – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
After the wholesale changes employed by the previous ‘Facebook Experience Upgrade’ caused most of the chatter on FB to disappear overnight, they are now intending to force yet another change on us all. Continue reading