Staying Positive

I am still remaining positive, despite the fact that I can't eat any food.

Yes, you read it correctly. I can't eat.

Let me explain. I told you a few days ago that I baked this week for the first time since I've been here. Well, that joyful experience of baking lead onto bigger and better things and yesterday I found myself making a chicken casserole in my slow cooker. So, I hear you say, what has this got to do with not being able to eat? Well, the casserole smelled so good and I was so famished from my day of weeding that I tucked into it a little too quickly and burnt the roof of my mouth!

So now I can't eat...

But there are other problems too.

Stu can't walk.

Let me explain. He was a little too over zealous constructing his stone wall yesterday. To place the stones properly and securely in the soil and gravel, he decided he would kick them into place. Well, he kicked a little too vigorously and bruised his foot.

And now he can't walk...

However, aside from my food problem and Stu's foot problem, all is well.

Yesterday, before these misfortunes befell us, we were able to achieve great things in the garden. I told you a while ago that I was cleaning out the garage? Well, one of the things in the garage that needed to be removed was an old wine barrel and we had already found a place for it. The Pomegranate tree that had recently died had been growing out of a circle of cemented stones about 1 foot high at the start of our driveway. This circle of stones would be a perfect base for the wine barrel, where it could frame the beginning of our garden.

So we cut down the tree, axed the remaining trunk, made firewood, made kindling, levelled the stones in the circle, poured sand inside the circle and bored holes in the bottom of the barrel. And yesterday, finally, we were ready to 'roll out the barrel' as they say!

So, with great concentration, Stu tilted the barrel until it rested on its centre of balance, then he carefully rolled it out of the garage and across our gravel driveway to its new home. Once we positioned it, we were impressed by the character that it added to the place, so much so that we then did 2 hours of gardening around it to do it justice!

Since we are not (yet?) making wine, we had some initial concerns that our barrel made us look like 'pretender foreigners' in this very farming-authentic region. However, after much soul-searching, we have been able to convince ourselves that (since grappa-making is part of the history of this property) it is acceptable for us to have a barrel in our garden.

And even if I can't eat and Stu can't walk, we can still be proud of our barrel...