Category: Travels

Fence permit?

No, you cannot install that fence because…

…well, depending where you live, you might think the statement continues, because you don’t have a proper permit.

The passageway for cows and machinery, in which I planted fruit trees that will have to move, included a gate only on the road, leaving the back open. To prevent the cows in the back from destroying the fruit trees, I cut out a section of (useless) fence elsewhere, and dragged it to the offending gap, but I could not install it.

Because immediately two neighbors showed up, and next thing I know they had done it for me.

My volunteer garden

zapallo squash growing in Uruguay

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:

Zeus: 4/29/2012

Peepers: 10/12/2012

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.

fish hook

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.