OK,Ok, I know. No blog for a long time and I’m sorry about this. To think that there is a quiet life in rural Galicia, just sitting back, let it rain and sip the excellent wines of the Ribeira Sacra, at least for us, couldn’t be farther from reality.
Amongst a lot of other tasks we’re working hard on getting the gardens in shape for the next “Open gardens” here in Mer.
Cold weather spells and rain have meant scurrying around and cover tender plants during the night. Uncumbling and fighting with sheets of 20 square meters is not for uninitiated.
Nevertheless we will also combine this with a small market.
Emely has agreed to have great eco veggies ready for sale.
there will also be some great art & craft from the studio of Anna Champaney (fabrics & textiles) and hopefuly some great baskets from Lluis. They will be represented by friends, recently moved to Christosende, as they have decided to be in Barcelona on this weekend.
So we hope for visitors and customers as earning a bit of money in rural Galicia is certainly not easy.
It’s not made easier by the local Council of Sober, acting on EC regulations and regional subsidies, trying to install a waste water system in Mer. We had the fun last year when they started directly in front of the casa de flores and drilled into sheer granite.
The undertaking ended at our gate and being totally unconnected nearly flooded our kitchen a couple of times. Well that was on public road and not much I could do about. This changed, when they admitted, that for the next part, they will have to cross my land. I made it very clear that they will have permission until April, after that we expect guests. These guests are coming here for tranquility and nature, whereas a building site they can easily find at home!
Beginning of April, as one can expect with political let works, nothing happened. The subcontractor showed up confirmed that they intend to cross and I told him to move it, as I wont tolerate any building work after end of April. A week went by nothing happened. So I blew my top and officially wrote to the local council denying any permissions as of 1st of May till after the vendimia (wine harvest).
HA! They turned up on the 30th of April. When I politely declined permission and found out they knew about the letter the haggling started. They would start on Monday, three days maximum and we agreed to alter the run slightly so it caused the least destruction on our land. Its all about give and take.
I can’t fault them, they were careful, and within three days had dug and laid pipes, creating a great motorway for moles, cleared off my and disappeared a bit more into the distance where they drilled and dug happily for another week or so.
So whilst this was going on I decided to repair / refill yet another outside wall. As usual – just three days – I thought – the weather helped stretching it to more than a week.
More of all this, a trip to Astorga and some tips on how to fight the RENFE (Spanish Railway) Internet site soon.
Just licked out the bowl in which Barbara prepared the Tiramisu for tonight, with the result that I now have to clean the keyboard and than take a shower.
Expat
