A New Year, A New Beginning

 

I’d just like to wish everyone,,, A BELATED MERRY CHRISTMAS

2019 is nearly over, I for one, will be welcoming in 2020 with an extra large glass of Brandy

 

2019…

One doesn’t like to moan, ( although my Wife would probably say I’m quite accomplished in the Art of Complaining, lol ), but for us, right from the start, this has been a horrible year. January, February, & the beginning of March, I was ill with a Sinus Infection, which spread to my throat, ears, chest, & tonsils before it finally cleared up. In the end it got so bad, that the infection wouldn’t respond to the usual Antibiotics, so I had to try an experimental Antibiotic, which yes, DID clear up the infection, but the side effects were that the skin peeled off of my hands. I couldn’t even open a bottle of water without wearing a pair of gloves, at least not until the skin on my hands had recovered.

Then we had the Fire.

And the final six months have been spent frantically trying to clear & tidy our house & farm of all the damage.

 

Moving on…

Not everything remains “Doom & Gloom” though

Things, albeit slowly, are progressing here.

Our First Poly-tunnel, is now finished, and ready for Winter growing Veg., & early Sowing in Spring. We actually had a bit of Luck with the Poly-tunnel, because although the frame was up, & all concreted in by the time of the Fire, the same Winds which helped the Fire spread so rapidly, had also prevented me from putting the cover on, and after returning home, the cover was still safe & well, folded up, on a table in our kitchen, ready to go.

The Workshop…

Due to the excessive damage to my Workshop, including seriously cracked walls,  I’ve had no choice but to start converting our old Horse Stable into a new Workshop, & move our Pigeons, which were previously living in the Stable, down to what was my Workshop. This isn’t a bad thing anyway. The Stable is at least four time bigger than my old Workshop, & to be honest, a large building like the Stable being used to house a few Pigeons, was a bit of a waste of quality space

The trees…

Once my kids return to School after the Christmas / New Year School Holidays,,, not only will my Youthful Good Looks return ( Ye Gods,,, It’s stressful dealing with their constant arguments, lol ),, but I’ll finally get a chance to move on to this years Olive Tree Pruning. For the last few Months, I’ve been having a debate, within my own mind, as whether to concentrate this years Pruning on the trees damaged in the Fire, or to carry on with my four year Pruning cycle, trying to stick to the healthy trees unaffected by the Fire ? Well, I’ve decided to stick to the latter. Yes, I’ll start by clearing the fallen trees, just to tidy the terraces up, but after that I’d rather leave the damaged trees for another year, as even now, six months on, new growth is appearing where I didn’t think it would, & leaving them for an extra year will give a better indication of what can be saved, & where to prune.

NEW GROWTH ON WHAT I THOUGHT WAS A DEAD OLIVE TREE

 

 

A Dose of Lady Luck…

Something we were INCREDIBLY lucky with,,, was “THE” tree.

Now, we’ve been here 15 years. The whole time we’ve lived here ( & many years before that ), there has been a huge Pine Tree growing at the end of our house. By huge, I mean very large indeed. It splits into two trunks near the ground, & whereas one trunk grows out, away from the house, the other trunk used to grow the other way, leaning towards the side of the house, & then branch off, overhanging quite a bit of our roof.

THE TREE AS IT WAS

We’ve always been aware of it, but in the last year or two it became more of a concern, because whenever the wind blew, the branches would start knocking on the roof. I say all of this in the “Past Tense”, because, after 15 years, & just two months before the Fire, we at last got around to hiring a Tree Surgeon, to come in & remove that Trunk closest to the house, before it did any damage to our roof,,,, and Thank God we did !

AFTER REMOVING THE OFFENDING TRUNK

Oh Yes,,, The end of the house where that particular Pine Tree is located, is also the end of the house which was in the direct path of the oncoming Fire, & in turn that end of the house, suffered slight damage. The remaining trunk from that Pine Tree got badly burned all the way from the base almost to top in the Fire, & now appears to be dying as a result. BUT, we can only imagine what could have happened if the second Trunk had still been there. Even the Fire Brigade speculated that we most likely wouldn’t have a house any more, if the Trunk which used to go up & overhang our roof had still been there on the day of the Fire…. It makes us shudder to think about it

O.C.D. & the panel…

Another small bit of luck we had, was with our Solar Panels. Until three years ago, we ran our Solar System from just three panels ( Centre in Photo ), which worked to a point, but we were always low on Power on Gloomy / Rainy days etc. ESPECIALLY, once we had two “Power Draining” young Children, who think Electricity simply “Grows on Trees” 

Then, we happened to come by Four Cheap second hand / used panels for sale, so we bought & installed them ( Left in Photo ). This now took our panels to seven.

And, then, only a week or two later, six more used panels came up for sale on a Local Facebook Group, at an absolute bargain price of € 15 per panel. So we bought those too, & brought them home.

But now I had a problem….. Our existing seven panels + six new panels = 13 panels

Well THAT wasn’t going to happen,, certainly not with my O.C.D. / Superstition of the number 13 bringing “Bad Luck”.

So, I installed FIVE of the six panels ( Right in Photo ), & since then, have had panel six leant against a wall in our spare room.

Fast Forward a couple of years or so……

When it came to changing the melted wires which lead to our panels, after the fire, I found that all the panels, were untouched by the fire,,,, except one, which had been seriously damaged. And, that one damaged panel just happened to be one of the ones from the Array / Group of five. So I was able to remove the damaged panel from the frame, & just pop the spare one in

People may mock my O.C.D. / Superstitions, but they “Came Through” for me in the end

Our Valley…

The Valley in which our Farm is located has obviously changed.

Vast swathes of Forest are gone forever.

The Flora & Fauna, & whole Ecosystem, for the time being at least, is in such a precarious state, that even Hunting has been banned here for at least four years,, in an attempt to help nature recover.

Driving the three Kilometres along the Country track, from our Farm to the main road, we pass Huge piles of dead Pine trees, which have been cut down by the Forestry Department, & stacked up along the side of the road

The wonderful thing about Nature though, is that it does recover. The Birds are returning to the area, which is great, as in the months following the Fire, the Silence was deafening. The Hills & Mountains still look Bare & Desolate, but the lower grounds & Olive Terraces are turning green with grass. Wild Bushes & Shrubs are re-shooting from the ground. And with the Autumn Rains, lots of the black ash, left behind from the Fire, has finally started to wash away.

 

The new arrival…

As I mentioned in my last Post, my Dog, Foxy, died in the Fire. And one thing I haven’t been looking for since, is a new Dog to replace her.

HOWEVER…. Recently I met an Elderly Lady, who had a large Dog who she said, was so boisterous & out of control, that she was desperate to find him a new home. Despite my inner voices telling me to the contrary, I reluctantly agreed to take him off her hands, & give him a chance here.

Bentley (as I’ve named him), is now about 8 months old. Lordy Lordy, he was a handful when I first got him. Even the Vets in Town have Nicknamed him “Poco Loco” ( little crazy).. But do you know what ? He’s surprised me. By spending time with him, he’s calmed right down, responding to commands, & despite his size, he’s a surprisingly soft natured Dog,,,,, Clumsy, but soft natured, lol

Whether or not he ever manages to be as controlled & obedient as Foxy, only time will tell, but for now at least,, he’s doing well

 

The lighter side…

Very few things, if any really, made me smile at the time. But one thing, which looking back now does bring a faint glimmer of a smile to my face, is when I look back, & remember our first visit home following the Fire……

We’d checked the house was OK.. We’d wandered around for a couple of minutes, trying to take in the damage, & had decided to get on & try & sort the animals out,,,, while all the time a Fire Brigade Helicopter had been circling & hovering above. My first Port of Call, was to check on the Goats, as I’d noticed one had given birth in the time we’d been gone.

Thankfully the Goats were all good. The new Mother & Kids were all doing well, so I got on with feeding them. As I walked around their Paddock after giving them their food, I was more than a little “Annoyed”, to find it had started raining, “You’re Joking”, I thought, “Why oh Why, couldn’t it have rained a week ago ?” Only, when I looked to the Skies in exasperation, did I see the Helicopter straight above me,,, & realised the Pilot was Dropping Water, & Dousing  down our Goat Paddock,,, with me still in it !

To this day, I’m not sure if the Pilot didn’t see me, or whether he did, & was just amusing himself

 

And Christmas 2019,,,

After the year we’ve had, I was fully expecting Christmas to be a disaster ( It’s funny how over time, one develops a certain Mind-set ), but do you know what ? Christmas was actually fantastic from start to finish, the whole Christmas experience running without a hitch,,,, (almost)

* Buying presents went unusually smoothly, with the shops actually having everything we were looking for

* For the first time ever, all of our Online orders turned up on time

* Our Children were Fantastic fun. Their excitement was contagious. They even got to speak to their Auntie & Cousins ( my Sister & her Children ) in the U.K. via Video Call. And then later in the day, when their Granny, also in the U.K. rang them, they were excited to tell her all about their presents, & thank her for her gifts to them

Now I said Christmas “Almost” ran without a hitch ? Well 2019 had one final ( cough ) “Treat” in store for me, lol. Yup, one of the days leading up to Christmas, I sneezed SO hard, that I managed to pull a muscle in my stomach, & to the amusement of those around me, getting up, sitting down, & bending over has been a bit painful ever since

 

 

2020

Next year looks like it’s going to be one of our busiest yet. Not only will January – March involve lots of Olive Pruning, but..

2019, saw me return to work. By trade, I’m a Gardener / Landscape Gardener, & over the course of the year, I picked up quite a few customers & contracts, so once the Kids return to School, I’ll be back at work again

Our Son, is now 5 years old, & has outgrown his bedroom. To be honest, it’s such a tiny room, I’ve often thought he might have more space if we stored him in the Cupboard under the stairs. So, we’re converting our Balcony into a large bedroom for the Wife & I, which will free up our existing bedroom for our Son,,, which in turn will allow us to install an upstairs toilet in what is at the moment, his tiny bedroom

Within the next month or so, we need to sow seeds, & start thinking about this years Veg. Garden

Lot’s of Planting… We have an area set aside to plant various Fruit Trees. We also have a developing Ornamental Garden area, which really needs to take more shape this year, just so that we can get to enjoy it

Ten years or so since the first block was laid, our Goat shed needs finishing ( these jobs shouldn’t be rushed )… The final part of the roof needs putting on, which will then allow me to separate the Billy Goat when needed. And, because one of our goals is to be self sufficient in Milk / Cheese / Butter,, at the other end of the shed, I need to convert the area currently used for Straw storage etc, into a Milk Parlour. But this will mean I also need to erect a basic covered area for the Straw / Alfalfa

So yes,,, all in all, a busy year ahead, but by moving forward in 2020, it should help erase some of the Stress, Shock, and Disappointment of 2019

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE,

HAVE A FANTASTIC 2020…