Day out Good Friday

We went with friends to see a traditional Good Friday procession from a Monastery (Las Ermitas?) up through an old village. The Monastery was built into the stone cliff at the edge of the river Sil and the procession was already half way up the winding hillside path when we met it. The procession consisted of the congragation carrying a figure of Jesus on the cross which looked quite heavy. This was followed by two figures of Mary. Some taking part in the procession wore costumes but nothing like those seen in the huge processions of Sevilla. You can just about spot the monastery in the picture blending into the hillside. A lot of the surrounding hills were covered in abandoned vine terraces an indication of the difference in population levels between the past and the present and how much more the land was worked in the past.

From here we visited an amazing geographical feature called Las Medulas on the border between Leon and Galicia. The Romans created surface lakes and dug caves into the cliffs. They then let the lakes wash down through the caves taking the mountain with it which allowed them to pan through the remains at the bottom for their precious gold. We were allowed inside some of the red sandstone like caves to take a closer look. Unfortunately no gold was found!

Very big herb spiral!

This project has been in my mind for a while. I had something similar on paper after seeing an article in the permaculture magazine about a medicinal herb spiral. This one has been inspired by my best friend J. who is fighting cancer and going through some intensive chemo sessions at the moment. I met J. at university and she has been a big influence in my life. She is the one who has taught me to think outside the box and not to take things or people at face value but to look at little deeper. She was sprouting her seeds and being vegetarian way before me and always cooked us delicious dishes with traces of her Spanish links.

I have always felt that the best healing for me has been to put my hands into soil and work with it. I hear they offer allotments now as holistic therapy for people suffering from depression. For me it is obvious. When life is harsh or things happen that are hard to deal with then contact with nature or getting stuck into the garden just gives some good energy and helps balance things out again. So I plotted out the compass points using string attached to a stick in the middle. Decided it was too small and made it huge. I realised it was huge when I came to dig out the paths! The neighbours are very curious and asked if I was planting potatoes! I plan to plant it up mainly with herbs but also with salad/vegetable plants and perennials. Already there are good vibes coming from it and I gladly send them on to J.

Orchard just reclaimed

It has been a challenging start to the year hence the delay in adding to the blog. Life or people sometimes have a way of throwing things at us that are not expected.

The orchard has been a real challenge with brambles as big as the trees they are covering lashing us at every opportunity. We now have permission for burning wood from the tree prunings and we began this nervously this morning. The ground is dry and the weather incredibly hot, but this is due to change again this week. Two weeks ago we had snow, yesterday temperatures were in the 20s. The trees have repaid us with their beautiful blossom and the bees have loved it. Seeds and potatoes have been planted and the galeria is full of seed trays on the go. This means I have been here for a year!

The neighbours appeared for Semana Santa (Easter Week) and brought

us two very cute rabbits - male and female. We debated the whole eating thing and my daughter decided that they should be pets - Dora and Diego. We have persuaded friends to have the male as a pet and we now have the female and possibly more due soon. A run was constructed hastily using what wood we had around and mesh we had bought for fencing and the dog travelling box was used as a hutch.

Hive News

I have lost one colony which may have been mine fault for not ensuring that there was enough air cirulation. It was the weaker and smaller of the two colonies but while the others made a very busy appearance the other day when the temperature went up the other hive was deathly quite. On opening it up there was a musty old grape smell and inside my bees were dead and covered in mould. What a shame. I´m not sure now if I can use the frames again but will find my blow torch to disinfect it all. There was no sign of another illness so it should be ok.

Culture Culture everywhere

I was invited to give a talk about how Britain celbrates Carnival, at the local Cultural Centre. I had to think and eventually gave a talk about the village feites and showed a video I had from my teaching days of folk dancing and in particular Morris dancing. It made me sad to think that we are loosing so many traditions while here they are preserving them and passing them from one generation to the next. I was interviewed by Galician TV along with the council representative and had made a Simmnel Cake to take along. Other foreigners had also been invited and we had an evening sharing our different celebrations and food.

The next week we had a fancy dress procession around the small town accompanied by the local band. We stopped off at the old people´s home and danced and played lots of music.

Reclaiming the Forest Garden

In here somewhere is our forest garden. The brambles could have won the Guiness Records for length and sharpness as they passed over the top of the old fruit trees. It has been a very mild start to the new year and trying to get the old trees free of the jungle and pruned back into possible production was the goal. It´s been a huge job but gradually light and air are getting back in and old wood is being removed and stacked to dry out. A friend lent me a sythe attached to a long handle which has been a great help after being attacked several times by the brambles. There are apples, peaches and chestnuts so we are hoping that we were able to save them or will they be too old. There are Robins all over the place here and they follow us everywhere we go.

Con Madres & Con Padres

This is a typical custom of this area. Images are made of different people in the town or family. They are dressed in their clothes which in the past have been pinched off the washing line if the person wasn´t forthcoming to provide them. They are then displayed for all to see and burnt that night. I joined the women in my choir to prepare the effigies of the men. We used turnips and melons for heads and packed the bodies with straw. The following week it is the turn of the conmadres. It is all done in good fun although it was strange to see myself swinging from the tree as part of the choir I had joined. That night I was burnt on the fire while someone played the bagpipes.