We have been without a drop of rain for over 4 months and have been nearly 3 months without a drop of irrigation water. The farm is looking like a desert and the well has dried up. When you walk anywhere a cloud of dust rises from your footsteps and coats you with a fine, grey layer.

Yesterday (29th July) it rained! And not the normal quick downpour, but a fine drizzle all day long. At last the dust has settled and the moisture is actually penetrating the ground.
Then, last night, it snowed and has continued to snow all day. At the time of writing we have had a good foot of snow which is a blessing as the melt water will help fill the dams up in the Andes.

Snow in the town of San Rafael

Here, in this part of Argentina we received a foot of snow in a few hours. All the transportation systems are still running, there is no panic buying in the supermarkets and no panic queues for petrol. Life goes on normally, except that work outdoors and in the fields stops. Not at all like in more ‘civilised’ countries where an inch of snow brings everything to a complete stand still.

Winter time

It is still snowing, late in the evening, which means that the skiers will be out in the higher mountains, the rivers will fill up and we will be able to water before spring growth starts.

The house building has come to a halt with the change in the weather, but we are not complaining.