Posts Tagged ‘siesta’

The day starts with everything we could possibly need for the day (food, working clothes, spades, saws, tools, first aid kit, water, etc etc) being loaded onto the pickup which is then parked in the forest “garage” on arrival at the finca.

Pickup packed for the day

Work starts early in the morning before it gets too hot to do anything. At the time of writing we are experiencing noon time temperatures of around 38 degrees centigrade which persist until at least 4 pm. ( 100 degrees F).
So it makes sense to do exactly the same as the locals do, start work early, have a long siesta, then carry on working in the evening and finally have dinner late at night.

As temperatures on the finca rise we withdraw to the the shade, in this case below an algarrobo tree which is growing by the ruins of a house at one edge of the finca.

These ruins make an excellent windbreak (and fire break too) for the camp fire which is lit with wood from the surrounding woodland.

Camp fire ready for the asado

Sweetcorn and eggs are boiled on the flames.

Sweet corn and eggs

In the adjacent section of the fireplace the wood has burnt down to embers and the sausages and steaks are put onto the grill (with a squeeze of lemon) and are all cooked to perfection.

Our dining table is a fallen tree trunk and the seats are two piles of bricks. Very basic but it suits the surroundings and style of cooking perfectly. Why buy plastic tables and chairs and sun shades when you have everything you need already to hand?

Dining out

After the meal a long siesta is the order of the day. However if you are an artist this is the ideal time to study and contemplate the surroundings for ideas for future paintings – and maybe a sketch or two? Note the black sketch books close by.

A siesta

Eventually the temperatures start to fall, the food has been digested, great works of art have been planned and it is time to go back to work.

Our single row of apricot trees produced huge fruit this year, although a frost earlier in the year had caused many of the buds to drop.

There were not enough for commercial use this year as the trees have not been looked after for a number of years, but even so,these are real organic apricots, unsullied by any sprays or chemical fertilisers. Full of taste and very, very juicy.

We have found that if we do not watch the time we can work until is suddenly starts to get dark. Sunset here tends to creep up on us without being noticed. Especially as watches and clocks no longer rule us. Just the demands of our bodies and the work which needs to be done.

Sunsets and skyscapes here up in the Andes cannot be easily described. I have tried to take photos of stunning skies but the digital camera cannot do them justice.
It needs oil paints in order to capture the brilliance and intensity of the colours. Many a time Graciela or I have noted that the scenes and colours change in minutes, and the colours we see in the sky would not be believable if you painted them.

Sunset over the Andes

The drive back to the town is towards the Andes. On a clear evening we can see the main chain of the Andes behind the foothills (pre-cordellera) capped with snowy white fluffy clouds next to clouds ablaze with red and orange, further away clouds ringed with bright yellow, all set in a cobalt blue sky below which are the purple grey mountains in the distance.
Beautiful.

Back in the town, San Rafael has many plazas, but for us, the most beautiful is the Plaza San Martin where every evening families congregate and where, in holiday times, the equivalent of Punch and Judy shows are set up (free) for the children.

Plaza San Martin San Rafael

Plaza San Martin

As we are still in the hotel (late December 2009) we eat at one of the restaurants near to the plaza.

On Friday we bought some tools in a large tool shop called MACO and started work clearing the entrance.

The farm entrance

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