How many alambreros does it take to screw in a light bulb?
I don’t know. But this is what you get back when you leave just a key with the guy doing the fencing.
(Alambre = wire; Alambrero = guy who does wire fences)
Alambrero’s key chain
Category: Travels
Next thing you know…windmill!
More ‘monster squash’ plants
I’ve marveled before at the volunteer ‘monster squash’ plants we had last summer at our house. Plenty n the country as well. Perhaps because of its location in the midst of a work zone, this plant hasn’t produced anything that doesn’t die off. Not to worry; others exist nearby.
My volunteer garden
A monster zapallo plant spreads like crazy behind the chiquero, or pig pen.
At least I think it’s the same type as last years’ monster squash, which you may recall grew everywhere.
Poking around, I found this phallic offering concealed among the leaves. I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be this shape, or if it’s a small round squash that decided to get long, or if it’s a monster squash in its infancy. Given that confusion, there’s only one thing to do: cook it.
Peaceful resting place
Our dog of twelve years, Karma, developed a tumor about six months ago, six months after I thought we would have to put her down because of a cyst forming on her spine. But she happily walked to the beach every day, and we watched carefully for any sign of discomfort, since we let the last dog Pandora hang on too long.
Last Friday, the tumor – size of a baseball – doubled (or more) in size, and the dog wouldn’t lie down or even sit, but stood all day, panting, or following us around. Our lovely country neighbor, a vet, came with her father in the evening, did an exam and announced that it was an edema which would rupture in a day or two – very ugly. It was our decision, but the dog actually made it. Calmly lay down on its side for the first time that day, eager for relief.
Digging the grave was hard – not emotionally so much as physically: clay.
Third pet buried in nine months:
Problem solved.
I kept forgetting to bring our workers in the country a broom handle to replace the one that broke (goods sold in Uruguay being generally shoddy).
Another perspective
You may have seen the picture I posted of our little farmhouse here.
Here’s another view from the back corner of our property:
That white dot almost dead center is a neighbor’s horse (trees mark the property line) and there are a few cows as well, from the neighbor on the right. All with permission; happy to have them keeping the grass down.
Resourcefulness +1
We’re still drawing water from the well with a rope, which gets completely twisted. Our ‘everything’ guy Martín suggested a metal thingie that allows it to rotate, didn’t like the way I installed it, and did it a different way, with a knot that left the bucket at the bottom of the well in the middle of my watering routine today.
He made a hook out of thin metal construction rod and started fishing. (He’s a fisherman.)
No luck. I was heading home for lunch; said I’d bring back a strong flashlight and another bucket so they could continue work in the meantime, since brickwork requires water.
Two doors down, on a whim, I asked my neighbor if by chance he had a strong flashlight. No, but he had a bucket I could borrow. That would definitely save time. Being only 100 meters away, I left the car and walked back with the bucket.
In the few minutes of my absence, Martín had fashioned a treble hook, fished out two buckets from the bottom of the well, and assured me there was a third, which he left for now. Attached a bucket to the rope in place of the hook, and went back to work.
My new toolbox – imagine that!
Look what I found in the barn (galpon) – guess I get my very own Uruguayan toolbox after all. It even has a handle on one side!
This year’s volunteers
Our country property included two pig houses, one collapsing. When I took the latter apart, I discovered volunteer zapallos (I think; some kind of squash at any rate). You might recall my fascination with the volunteer zapallos last year.
At some point, I will take up the neighbor’s offer to plow the area between here and the house for a garden, in exchange for letting him graze cattle on our land. Meanwhile, I can be happy that part of my garden has already planted itself.