Our vegetable garden

Many are the news from our garden, rain or shine. It's always thrilling to see even a small progress every day, because each day nothing is the same, everything has now turned and evolved into a next phase. Nature is thus always surprising, always in activity. Spearmint and parsley emerge after the death promises that were not fulfilled. Leaves of strawberry promise more fruits than last year. And our friend robin continues to accompany us on our adventures. We even know its movements, we already know its perches and it's not hard to see where it is. The hard thing is getting a decent photogenic bird pose to take with my camera - this is what is still a mirage in my horizon ... And on sunny days it is beautiful, so beautiful, to watch the busy bees kissing the flowers of spring greens. I am touched by all this, but work calls us and we need something more than just mere contemplation ... it is necessary to collect, care for, treat, bring the produce of the land to those who truly appreciate what is healthy!

Reminding a winter day to escape this heat

Not even the beautiful landscape that we had before us took away all the fatigue we felt due to the ground conditions. But those who love the earth, love it and get tired with pleasure.
Cold, it was too much cold on that winter day. The land was down there, in a nearly dark valley. If the sun shines there, it shines for a short time, since the grass was still covered with ice up to darken. Cold, terraced terrain, slippery grass, old vines without being prunned for years caused hidden pitfalls in the middle of the herbs. The sky was already announcing the change of the coming weather, maybe some rain to soften the air and abate the cold, brrrr!
The first phase of work, which had began a few weeks sooner, consisted of cutting some olive trees brunches. As a result of this work we would have more wood for the fireplace for longer or even to sell. 
Some call us crazy. Some regret the fact that we hurt our bodies in harsh conditions for as little advantage. But from our point of view, the scenery, the fresh air, the impregnated lungs from cold air puffs, the bodies warmed by the work, the muscles pulled by the force of the chain saw, the pile of wood to burn, the controlled burning to leave everything clean, the laughter at the expense of slips and persecution of rebel trunks allowed us to arrive home tired but happy. Because in consciousness, this is the life we ​​chose, this is the life that satisfies us, this is the life that allows us to be in tune with nature and thank God for it and for life itself.
Some call us crazy but we just responded to our inner calling!
And it was so good to wake up on the next day with a sore body but full of warmth, because the sky was right and it woke up raining. It felt so good to have a leisurely Sunday to seek for other inspirations in life, a life that runs slow and unhurried at the fireplace, with our attention awake to the next step to take.

Our vegetable garden

We are so proud to exhibit our vegetables, renewing the votes of hope that each bud promises. Taking care of the land is really believing in tomorrow and trying a better future. There is no doubt that this land is cared with so much love and dedication. The seed is thrown to the ground and surrendered to God. This is the secret of my farmer boy. He is only the intermediary between God and the land. But an intermediary who believes, who provides and sees the work born and grow. An example to follow. I have learned so many lessons with this farming life. And I am sure that it is in the simplest things that we see the true meaning of life.

As always, our days are like this...

How exciting

Despite the difficulties, the sense of new beginning and all the excitement it causes does not leave me.
The vision of an open field in front of us is like a blank canvas ready to receive the colors of our inspiration. Planning, executing, working the land, harvesting, everything is part of the process. And the dew  of the season, the warm sun that drowns out the cold, the fog in the mountains and white little clouds only stimulate me and fill my soul. Each breath is a breath of fresh air renewing me. 
It's good to make sure that Nature gives us everything we need and that neither its unpredictability keeps us away from trying to understand it and getting from it what we need and she likes to give.
This communion with the earth is a great lesson. Observing who understands it and gets from it the success, is a motivation for me. Ideas, wishes, desires, projects, all this makes us fluttering the butterflies that we bring in our belly.
Despite the difficulties, we keep fighting. The sunny days fill us with courage and warm our hands to work. The seasons invigorate us and make us go on, even in foggy days and moonless nights. God is our compass.

Patience is the time between the fruit and the seed

To those who live in the countryside and from the countryside, this is a phrase that was born from the wisdom of life, from the experience of those who know that living in this context is synonymous of long waits for the expected product, long waits of trial and error to achieve our goal, long waits guided by variables that do not depend on us, which brings us to our insignificance of mere intermediaries. Who lives like this, even if they seem crazy, will become wise. Those who live like this wont reject the prize of being blessed with the qualities that come to those who to try, try again, wait, and know how to win and lose, knowing that winning is always a certainty, even if it is so in the form of a lesson.

What is this?

This, my friends, is poop. Oh yeah. Cow and sheep poop, pressed and shaped in these small cylinders that make it manageable.

Gone are the days when we were going directly to the corral to seek the animal manure to fertilize the land. Everything is so modern today. But believe me, the smell is there, it's the same from the old days :). Curious, I must be the only person in the world, at least the only I know who says that does not dislike this smell. Ok, it's not the fragrance I would choose before leaving to work in the morning - help!. But this is a smell that reminds me of the good moments of childhood. Those in which the responsabilities were little and I watched it all as an attentive spectator.

The colors and smells and sensations come to me and stay in my memory when I stick my hand into the bag to remove these little poops that will do wonders on earth and plants that we put there. It's so nice to walk through the open gullies ready to receive the sprouts, french garlic, etc.

It´s time to raise my smile, enjoy the fresh air and be ecstatic on how much you can cultivate in a vegetable garden. So bless us the sky with rain in the right proportions, we will have a great garden. Our dependence on water decreases now, since we have a good farmer neighboor and this renews our hope in the possibilities of land production.

All this is made to the sound of birds that fly through in their lives, accompanying us to the sound of chain saws that cut down trees for firewood in the winter, to the walking faster sunlight and to the spirit that markes our pace. 

Memories from the last late summer

I believe it when they say that the hardest thing is not to start something but to keep it going on. The truth is that, also in this case, the beginning was very difficult. But we persevered and it was good to know what we wanted not to dishearten with all bureaucracies, impediments and work that had appeared in front of us. And it was in the middle of all this that I took these pictures. I've always loved to register moments and eternalize them with the camera. But in this situation this love assumes an even more important role: to maintain the focus and the spirit. So I never miss this ability of being enchanted like a child before nature. So that when the work will be routine and weariness, I can always be thankful for thorns, which were used by our grandmothers to curdle milk and make cheese. So I never lose this sense of enjoyment before what nature gives us for various purposes, like these sweet berries to make jams and liqueurs or to freeze to making desserts throughout the year. So I never miss the ecstasy that causes me a sky on fire when saying goodbye to the day and opening his arms to the night. When all becomes work and weariness, all this and more is the driving force that makes it all worthwhile!