A strong windstorm a few nights ago shook down avocados I didn’t even know were growing. None is edible at this size. Fully grown, they easily represent 15-20 kilograms of paltas we won’t be having this year.

El pico

Off and on over the last few months, I’ve been doing maintenance at our little country place. It becomes a little inconvenient, such as today when I needed the pressure washer and realized I never brought it back after cleaning out there. Off we go!

But at least I knew where it was. The pick was different. It’s my weapon of choice for uprooting thistles, and it had disappeared. Not in the house, not in the galpón (shed/barn). I sometimes leave it in the middle of the yard when cutting grass, but I hadn’t seen it anywhere. Would someone have stolen it? Hard to imagine.

So, after washing frog turds off the kitchen sink, I grabbed the power washer, turned to leave, and voilá.

Almost like I’m playing tricks on myself.

Is it just me…

…or does this look like a cactus trying to climb a fence?

“Let me park in this bush–”

OK, shade. I get it.

Still….

Nice legs!

14 years ago, we had a New Year’s Eve party in our parilla, which we had turned into a barbacoa by enclosing it. 10-12 people, and LOUD! Unbefreakinglievably LOUD in that little, masonry-walled closed-in space!

So I decided it would work better as a workshop, and added bits of 2×2″ wood to the L-shaped legs of the dining table I had thrown together for the occasion, raising it to workbench height (you can see remnants of legs lower left).

A few days ago I bought some mostly-clear 4X4″ pine, cut to length, and a 1×2″ strip to create a better overlap on the top front for clamping, and 8cm lag screws (imagine – not just smacking it together with nails as I did before!).

Finally, sturdy support for the workbench.