2016 started off with a very enjoyable meal at a friend’s house including good conversation around the table, thank you very much Juliet and David. I would have liked to have stayed longer but had to get back to feed my animals.
I pruned my grape vines at the back of the house with the intention of creating a good crop this year so that I can make some wine again. I also bought two more sapling vines, a nice red grape this time, I prefer red wine but enjoy white too, we’ll see what the quality of the wine will be in a couple of years time.
Talking of wine I saw in the British press that “Dry January” seemed to be high on the agenda for quite a few people and there was a lot of advertising about it. The idea of giving up alcohol piqued my interest so I joined in and went alcohol free for the month. I suppose it did me no harm, I thought I might lose some weight but I didn’t. I didn’t notice that I ate any more but I suppose I might have, I certainly slept better. That reminds me, I bought a new bed last week and it’s really comfortable, I love sleeping in it.
I have also done a bit more to the supporting structure for my wood fired oven outside the kitchen. I’ll have to get another bag of cement and see if I can find some firebricks too. I ought to get on with it since the weather is so nice for this time of year.
By far the most of my time has been spent learning to play my piano. I really get a lot of enjoyment out of learning to play it and I do seem to be learning. I suppose playing it as much as I do something must be going into the little grey cells.
Yesterday my neighbour, Hanife brought her goats into my garden to eat from the new leaves on the bushes, it’s horrible old scrub oak (makilik in Turkish) that grows all over the place here. I wish I could get someone to bring sheep because they concentrate on eating weeds and grass which would be much better for making the garden tidy. Today Hasan, Hanife’s son, has brought their horse to feed on the weeds, it’s not a very big one but my dogs are not happy with it and keep barking, it will save me some work with the strimmer though.
Next door the gardener for my neighbours Celina and Dirk has brought a guy who is ploughing the garden with a horse drawn plough. Very quaint and I’m not sure whether the strange noises and words that he uses to urge it along and change direction would be appropriate in a posh pony club in UK but the horse understands well enough.
As usual when some work is going on there is one person doing it and two or three watching.
The village is swathed in almond blossom at the moment, it has blossomed very early this year, wonder what we can infer about the weather for the coming year from that?? We haven’t had much rain this winter and it’s quite a bit warmer too.
At last the almond trees I planted behind my house a few years ago are giving a good show of blossom too.
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