Catching up

ETA:  Even more apologies for not replying to your lovely comments.  It´s an issue of logging in to Blogger through Google, I think.  But I have yet to figure out how to get around it.  Sorry!


Apologies for not posting in so long.  I´ve been busy with the flower farm and trying to minimize the destruction of the puppy princess.  Add to that ongoing family drama and there´s little time for blogging.


We´ve had a very unpredictable spring in terms of weather.  Heat waves in February and May, lately cold snaps and ¨cyclogenesis explosivos¨ or cold front rainstorms with high winds.  We even had a frost yesterday, in the middle of June.

It seems to me that I´ve been blogging about the garden for so long, and I don´t want to bore those who aren´t interested.  I have been visiting florists and the reception has been generally positive, though orders are non-existant.  I need to work on selling.

The latest culinary project is chive infused vinegar.  Very simple to make, it´s about 1 cup of chive flowers to 1 1/2 cups of white vinegar.  Crush the flowers (fresh and not too past their peak) before adding the vinegar.  Let sit 2 weeks at room temperature in dark storage.  Strain and ready for use on salads.  It turns a beautiful pink color.  I´m going to give more thought to edible flowers.

Briga continues to be a challenge at eight months.  Now weighing in at 30 kilos, her latest obsession, aside from digging and stealing footwear to chew on, is climbing.  We found her up on the ¨roof¨ of the barn the other day.  V nearly broke his neck getting her down.  At least the enclosure around the flower patch is finished and seems to be working.  Fingers crossed.

In other news, there are projects on the horizon.  I desperately need a space to store craft stuff and process harvested flowers, so I´m studying the Swedish empire catalogue for cabinets to finish the laundry area.  And we may finally see progress on the barn this summer.  Stay tuned.

Galicia remains bewitchingly beautiful, and thankfully far away from the horrors which dominate the news.  I´ve planted tomatoes, onions, carrots and green beans, along with more flowers.  The roses have been particularly spectacular this year. We have firewood that should see us through the end of the year.  Breo continues to be a miracle of patience and loyalty, especially when I´d like to strangle his little sister.

2018 in Review

It´s time again for that year in review post.

I´m afraid not much on the list of 2018 got done - again.  Once again, economics got in the way of the bigger projects.

No well.
No barn.
No laundry room.

But, I did make progress on the flower farm.  Didn´t sell anything at the market as they have a waiting list and a 2 page long list of administrative requirements, but I gave away several nice bouquets to neighbors (bonus points for social engagement), had lots for guests over the summer, started up an Instagram account, refocused the Romanesca Facebook page and got actual enquiries from other businesses.  Met some guys in Pontevedra who are absolutely deeeelightful and have exactly the same interests in wild, organic flowers and greenery that I do.  They are keeping me sane and giving me hope.  If you´re in Pontevedra check out Indigobygm.  And, I´m in a Whatsup chat with several other women who are flower farming around Spain, so I can ask questions and get experienced answers.  Thank you social media!  Did a lot of reading and planted a bunch of seeds and bulbs/corms in the fall for Spring 2019.

And Breo is now enrolled in school at Montegatto, in Oza dos Rios.  We´ve signed up for 10 classes with the trainer, who will help us out on basic obedience and getting him to cooperate a little more on the leash.

And finally, we brought home Briga!  She is growing apace, and starting to settle down into a good puppy.  Not quite so much ferocious biting, lots more tail wagging and we´re tremendously relieved she sleeps through the night now.  We´ll be applying what we learn with Breo to her, and hope to have 2 well-behaved, well-adjusted canine companions by summertime.

In the meantime, we´re stocking up on more firewood during this frosty spell.  Now looking at two weeks of rainy weather, and so, so much more weeding to do.

And started some sweet pea seeds for planting out in a few weeks.  Onward and upward.

Catching up

A potpourri of recent activities.  The rhubarb continues to bloom.  This is for all of you who prefer your rhubarb in nice red stalks, just so you know what a blooming plant looks like.

Also, they came and finished the installation of the stove hood.  There was a lot of grinding and a strong smell of ozone in the kitchen when they finished, but it does the job.   I might not have used white silicone caulk, but it´s done.  Now I really want a steel plate to cover the hole in the wall where the stovepipe goes to the chimney.

And since there was a sudden break in the weather, and we´re now getting 24C/80F and sunshine, the mud has turned to cement.  The pasture grass came back while the rain was falling, so I´ve gotten some black plastic and weed fabric spread to try some occultation weed control until I can get to making the remaining many, many raised beds.

In the meantime, I got a start on planting the roses that were languishing in their pots.  Th fence posts are in, but I haven´t found a local source for plastic rolled fencing to keep Breo out of the garden and provide a little wind break.

Speaking of Breo, it is such a joy to see him galloping around like his old self.  We´re still pondering finding him a little sister to play with, since he thinks I go outside just to throw him the ball all morning.

And lastly, as I was giving him some well-deserved tummy scratches, he swiped me with a paw and managed to scratch my eye.  I guess my reflexes aren´t what they used to be.  So I´ve spent the last few days recovering in piratical fashion with eye patches, and applications of antibiotic ointments and eye drops.  The good news is I got a tetanus booster in the process so I can fling manure and compost around with even more abandon.

Building an Ark

Whilst it continues to rain, we´ve at last made progress indoors.  The second set of appliance people finally, after 2 months, came and installed the stove hood and dishwasher!  Woot!

It´s not quite done, though functioning.  They´re supposed to be back to put up the rest of the stainless steel covering for the tubing after the holiday weekend.  We´ll see.

Hope everyone has a Happy Easter!  Stay dry.

Goals for 2018

New year, new goals (some old).

1.  Find and refurbish the well out back because...

2.  I´m going to try selling some flowers and herbs at the Sunday market.  On a very reduced scale, barely 1/8 of an acre at first, and if there´s any potential, grow from there.  Gallegos are famous for only spending money on what they can eat, hence the herbs, but these days, who wouldn´t want a little joy in a vase on the kitchen table?  And, even if I don´t sell so much as a single stem, all the infrastructure and soil building can be re-directed to veg, and as a bonus we´ll have the prettiest garden in the county.  Original Crazy Idea post from way back in 2012 here.

3.  Refurbish the barn.  I´ll still need a studio and some space for processing the flowers, stow tools, stack firewood, etc.

4.  Finish the laundry room/pantry with a sink and a countertop and some shelving.  As I gear up for more food preservation, I need room to store more stuff.

5.  Get Breo some training.  He´s now healthy and strong and acting up on walks again.  Also, we´re thinking about getting a second dog to give him someone to play with and tire him out a little.  But he´s not a great example of an obedient pet, which is entirely our fault, so some classes and guidance are going to be necessary first before he´s in charge of training a new companion.

The Barn

We had the builder come out and use the bulldozer to move the stones from inside the barn to the pile out in the lot.  It would have taken me weeks to move them with a wheelbarrow, and they were infested with nettles.

The building is basically two, unconnected spaces built on the slope.  One about twice the size of the other.  The good news is that the stone looks very good and the walls quite straight.  There is a very ramshackle extension off the corner, with a window and two large stones that remind me of Stonehenge.  Who knows what it was for - pigs?  Chickens?  That won´t be included in the covered space, perhaps it would make a good potting area.

There is a large opening that has been bricked in.  We want to open that again.  We still have a bunch of windows we bought for the house that we can use.  The rest of the openings were filled in by slats to allow ventilation.  On the larger space, we may do the same for the time being.  Other options might be insulated panels clad in boards.  I don´t think we´ll have enough stone to fill in them all.

The builder has determined that the existing chestnut beams have rotten ends where they´re supported by the walls.  Of course, what else would he say.  On the other hand, no point spending the money for a new roof if the support is questionable, and our budget is, as always, minimal.

We saved a bunch of old beams and beam-ends that I intend for use on raised beds, arbors, etc., that will have to be moved somewhere out of the way.

We have to take measurements and make decisions about uses for the spaces.  I´m wondering about things like skylights, water lines, drains, insulation in general.  I actually think it´s an ideal candidate for a rocket mass heater, but doubt we´re capable of making that happen ourselves.  Plans are to put on a roof and cement slab in Phase I, probably maintaining the two different levels with separate entrances.

So let me ask, what are the most useful aspects of your barns or garages?

2017 Projects

Lots of Projects for 2017 big and small, which will be expounded upon in further posts:

1.  Barn renovation

So we have this 1917 barn, or what´s left of it.  The roof had a gaping hole when we bought the place, and based on the builder´s recommendation, had the roof taken off and the rotten elements removed.  In retrospect, it might have been wiser to patch the roof, though the builder insists that the weight wasn´t good for the structure.  In any event, as a first phase we´d like to get it covered, install a floor, and fill in the openings so we´d have a dry place for storage.  Eventually, I want a studio workshop and a dry, secure place for storing feed/bedding/firewood/tools.  V wants a mancave.

2.  Garden

The veg area will be expanded, but is limited by tree roots and the zone around the barn which will be churned up by workers and vehicles.  Closer to the house, I´ll creating an area for flowers, culinary and medicinal herbs and dye plants. 

3. Assorted Interior projects:  backsplash, range hood, laundry sink

While livable, there are a few elements still missing from the house.  This year we´d like to get those finished, along with buying the last furniture items.  We´re still sitting on patio chairs at the kitchen table.  The laundry room needs a complete makeover, but depends on what kind of laundry sink we get.  A bigger, longer term project still pending is solar thermal hot water.  I wasn´t really convinced that Galicia had a climate for solar anything, but with summers getting hotter and drier, it´s probably time to investigate this more thoroughly.  We simply can´t afford a solar electricity set up, and the government is now taxing those who do, even if they´re off grid.

4.  Experimenting with natural dyes/cheesemaking/brewing

 India Flint

I miss doing creative stuff, even though I don´t seem to have time to do what I should on any given day.  Lately, I´ve been really intrigued by eco-printing and botanical dying, which uses plant material and found objects to print patterns and colors on fabric.  I got a copy of India Flint´s Eco Colour, who´s an Australian fibre artist and does very interesting work, and have a couple of books on dye plants and dyeing to put to use.  I got some cheesemaking supplies while I was in the States and will have to look into finding a supply of raw milk and maybe a local mentor to show me the ropes on producing cheese.  Another goal is to renew our brewing hobby, now that our bottle collection is out of basement storage in Madrid and here in Galicia.  Another reason to organize the laundry room space - storage for bulky brewing stuff. 

5.  Water

This winter is shaping up to be very dry.  I´ve been busily building raised beds since historically Galicia is quite wet.  But this winter the weather is wierdly dry, warm and sunny and we´ll be needing to take advantage of all new roof surfaces to store water, especially at higher elevations.  I´d also like to refurbish the defunct well by the barn for watering the garden, and there needs to be some form of irrigation put into place.  We´ll see.

6.  Chickens

Still need to decide on a place to put a coop.  Disruption from work on the barn could be an issue here, also.  I´d just like to get started with a half dozen hens and start producing some fertilizer for the gardens.  Always good to have the ingredients for a tortilla española around the place.

7.  Integrate into the community

We´re really, really bad at socializing.  V has the excuse that he´s gone a lot, but I´m just anti-social.  We know our immediate neighbors and have met a few locals, but haven´t done a lot to participate in local functions or anything.  However, just before Christmas, we started hosting a lovely young woman for an English conversation practice once a week, and are planning to meet her family soon.  Turns out, she plays the gaita/pipes and is a member of the local folk band, so we hope to be more informed as to local festivities this year.

So those are the plans.  We´ll revisit to see how well we´ve done at the end of the year.  And now I must go get in another couple of loads of firewood as they´re predicting a siberian cold wave for the end of this week.

2016 in Review

Despite the appalling loss of celebrities in 2016, on the positive side we did get quite a lot done this year.

5.  Guest Bedroom

Although this didn´t make it on the blog, probably because it´s practically impossible to photograph, we cleared out the many, many boxes of stuff, bought a sofa bed and an armoire, put down a rug and now have a perfectly serviceable guest bedroom/office. Honestly, where did people buy furniture before Ikea?  We looked locally, asked all our contacts in Madrid and La Coruña and ended up back at the Swedish behemoth anyway. The room has received the approval of several family members so far this year.   I had toyed with the idea that the space might serve as a sewing/craft room for me, but once the furniture was in, that´s really not practical.  I toy with the idea of earning a small part time income doing something online, and there is Wifi reception in that room, so we´ll see as 2017 develops.

4.  Main bath finished

Finally painted, added sconces, and finished installing the lav sink in it´s antique cabinet.  Ongoing challenges in this room are the cold (it´s the northeast corner of the house) and the shower doors which have a 1/4 inch gap in the gasket corner at the hinge that flood the floor with water every time someone showers.  We´re thinking a heated towel rack might help with the heating issue, and I suppose we´ll have to look for replacement gaskets to fix the other.

3.  Garden started

The veg patch produced well for a first timer.  I pulled out bags and bags of trash, rocks and weeds and the veg seemed to appreciate it.  The experiment to leave the carrots in the ground has produced split carrots.  The kale and beet greens are still thriving, despite several frosts.  The peas are still growing, but I expect them to succumb this month.  They´ll get plowed in in the spring.  Hoping an earlier start will help with bigger harvests this year. 

2.  Patio area

One of The Best ideas of 2016.  This patio got used practically every day once it was done.  A truly lovely spot.  We finally just moved the table and chairs over along side and hung out in this shady little corner.  Put up some solar lanterns and had many enjoyable hours chatting and relaxing.  I encourage everyone to have an agreeable little corner like this to retire to.

 1.  Breo

The best idea of 2016!  After a couple of months of adapting, Breo has taken to the place and settled into being a delightful dog, though he can be a handful.  Ongoing challenges are due to our own lack of training skills and consistent discipline.  He´s a very willing collaborator around the place and caught 2 rabbits, much to V´s distress.

He gets walked, er ¨goes on patrol¨, twice a day and, weather permitting, gets an hour or so of ball time, er ¨prey practice¨.  There is a complicated, and highly secret, buried bone rotation in place.  He likes to help dig holes and absolutely loves it when the garden requires an application of manure.

He´s diligent about warning off passersby, whether on foot or in enormous farm machinery.  He completely charmed all friends and family who came to visit and behaved quite well with other dogs, both family and strays who´ve happened by, all while maintaining the property absolutely cat-free.

We´ve switched from feeding raw to one raw and one kibble meal a day.  Mostly because, should we have to drop everything and go to Madrid for a family emergency, a dog residence will have an easier time feeding kibble, and also because the Vet is always warning us to watch his weight.  So he´s on Acana Light and Fit and he seems to enjoy it. 

On the other hand, the hair!  The ongoing, constant, unstoppable shedding.  Clouds of hair.  Tumbleweeds of hair moving through the patio.  Also, I cannot in all conscience recommend a blonde dog with black cabinets.  But here we are.

We´re delighted with him, and he seems to be with us, especially lately he´s been more and more cuddly.  It will be a year now, since we brought him home, and yes, the Reyes Magos will be bringing presents.

And in honor of the love and joy and life he´s brought to the place, we´ve named the house ¨Fogar de Breogán¨, or Breogan´s Home, which figures prominently in the Galician anthem.  Some purist Galleguistas will no doubt be offended, but that´s OK.

So that´s 2016.  Many thanks for reading and following our story.  Projects for 2017 will be forthcoming.  We wish you all the best for a happy, healthy 2017!

Summer

Suddenly it´s hot and sunny!

Sorry for the pause, but my laptop had a breakdown.  Posts may be slow.  I´m stll digging.

In the meantime - look at what V did wth the ruins of the bread oven!  Just in time for the hot weather.

Before:

During:

After:

Isn´t he swell??