Just some challenges for the new year
I may yet get round to writing a review. This undertaking is slightly delayed as there are the wintry chores. Feeding the birds is important as this one queues up and will fly into the kitchen to help itself.
Than there is the cleaning and stocking of the ovens and central heating, I will have to complain to Ecoforest as the latest batch of pellets have a lot of coarse material in them and the the oven can’t blow this out forcing me to clean it more often.
The concello, that is the presiding mayor and some technical underlings, have now graciously walked the aldea and admitted that a “desagüe” ending at our house with no further outlet is not the ideal thing, but there maybe no more “dinero” to do anything about it. The extension to a potential “deputadora” will have to go across our land as we happen to have the ideal gradient towards the only public place where this thing could be installed. If this ever happens – who knows? In the mean time after heavy rain I just drop a pump to releave the pressure on our foundations. It’s just rain water as no one is connected yet and maybe as an intermediate sollution I should just sell one of my solar pumps to the concello.
Having complaint about the lack of rain during the long summer we now have had – typical Galicia – about a years rainfall in two weeks 
interspersed with heavy frost and the odd days of the white and fluffy stuff. Nice as this is it creates new challenges for the next year.
Finally a part of the leaning wall between the grounds gave way. “Told you so” was the comment of my dear wife, who it has to be said, started wearing a helmet when she was gardening near this wall. Last years pathetic self trials of rebuilding such stone wall by myself ended in collapsing both – the wall and Barbara – although she collapsed with laughter.
So in 2010 I will have to rise to the challenge or ask some of my neighbours to help as they make it look so easy.
The old tiles of the alpendre have finally slipped so badly that this is another challenge. I need to find a lot of old tiles to replace broken ones or mix new and old, which also could look nice.
Another observation highlighted that lashing rain from an unusual direction is more than obliging in washing out old loam and cal from stone walls. This being another timely reminder of “jobs” to come.
In-between we have to nurture the bedraggled plants, they have lost all clue as to what season it actually is, not helped by the fact of the ever changing temperatures and daylight hours as. due to lashing rain, we are not the timliest in uncovering them.
Although I started to share some of my bedding with the future olive grove these have not escaped the harsh conditions. The high hopes when harvesting the first 5 olives this year conjured up the mental picture of umpteen bottles of pure olive oil with our own label, have now been a bit dented. Nevertheless being the obstinate myself, I will keep trying to fry the local wild boar and chestnuts in my own olive oil – one day.
So one thing to put on the to do list is update the to do list – will I get round to any administrative tasks – probably not but one thing is for sure – life in rural Galicia is never boring.
Have a great “Sylvestre / noche vieja” and a great 2010.
Expat
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