January '12

No. 11

The builders had started putting up the walls just before Christmas, so it was great to get back and see the progress they had made after the Xmas break. Unfortunately the windy weather has prevented them from working on the roof, so that will just have to wait for a while.

We have chosen white PVC double glazed windows, all with integral blinds and some with flyscreens so they can be open for ventilation. The frames are German Rehau units and the glazing is solar reflective glass. All in all there are over 53 square metres of windows in the house, so they are a major feature in the house.

St. Antoni

The demons were out in force this St. Antoni. To celebrate, I have learnt a new trick and embedded some of the video we shot of their escapades. Who says old dogs can't learn nuffink noo. :)

Finca Cut & Burn

In the middle of the month the winds had moderated, we decided to cut down several Carob trees that we shading our olive trees and were difficult to work around. Carob is a very soft wood and not worth saving for firewood. The first tree was in a huge bramble patch, so we just waded in and cut it down then burnt it on the spot. Unlike the olive cuttings, these were a bugger to get proper fire going and it took several attempts to get it going properly. Now there is just some of the fallen trunk and the stump to go. We will just pile up some olive cutting on it and that should see it finished.

The next two carobs were cut down and one has been left for future burning while the other was stripped and the branches burnt along with some olive cuttings a little was from the original tree which was on the edge of the barranc.After that we moved up to the top of the finca and started clearing the bases of the older olive trees that we have not yet worked on. This work is going to give us a huge backlog of branches to burn and lots of small logs for the stoves in the house. So far we have cleared under about 50 trees, but we must have at least 100 more to do.