November 17 - 23, 2008

We returned to Alfheim late Tuesday evening, around 23:00. For no apparent reason, though fortuitously as it turned out, we decided to take the Paraibuna route home, via Posso Alto and Bairo Alto. It had rained almost non-stop while we were away, and about halfway home the car's ABS braking system gave out...nothing like a little extra excitement on a very muddy road home. As it turned out, this was merely an interlude to what would greet us at the stone bridge on the entrance road to the main house. In short, there was no bridge, or rather we could not see it because the river had overflowed and the bridge was completely submerged! Unable to see anything other than rushing water in front of me, I stopped the car, put on my Wellington boots, fished out our trusty One Earth Emergency Wind Up Light and waded across the bridge to test the depth. The rapidly moving water reached about three-quarters of the way up my Wellington boots, approx. 40 cm. Probably against better judgment, we decided to risk the crossing. Given the fact that you are reading this blog entry, you have probably ascertained that we made it back to our house without a major incident. The next morning, I rushed down to take a photo of the scene. Unfortunately for reader's of the blog, for it was a truly spectacular sight, but fortunately for us, the water had already subsided and was again running through the enormous pipe under the bridge.

After this dramatic homecoming, Lone spent the entire week painting the house's interior, which is almost finished and looks terrific. I have taken a number of lovely photos of Lone this week, a seemingly simple task, though not without its own risks. Very early on Lone had complained about the dearth of photos of her in the blog. Only too pleased to oblige my loving wife of 22 years, I immediately took a handful of what I thought were beautiful photos, almost all of which were summarily rejected as unfit for publication. Thereafter, she issued me the following guideline: 'take lots of photos of me, but as I think I should look'. Talk about a Far Side moment (see: ... knowing exactly what to do, ...).

While we were in São Paulo, Lone's squashes began sprouting...in just over a week! The development of her squashes and seedlings once again demonstrated the breathless growth of pretty much everything at Alfheim, a fact that was brought home to me ever more powerfully on Wednesday morning, when I went out to feed the animals and found all of the chicks outside the hen house pecking and scratching with the two mother hens. Apparently, they had ventured outside for the first time already on Tuesday. Utterly amazing: barely four days removed from their arrival, which itself was only a matter of days post hatch. The chicks are fearless, and wander surprisingly far from the hen house, though always under the watchful eyes of one of the two mother hens. Unfortunately, three of the chicks have become "late" (Botswanan vernacular for having passed away), but the remaining 25 seem very strong and healthy -though there table manners are still somewhat unrefined. They are irresistibly cute.

Not to be forgotten in any discussion of rapid growth, the ducklings have quite nearly outgrown their makeshift, inverted concrete sink for a house. Both Lone and I tried, unbeknown to one other, to take a duckling out for a test paddle in a still part of one of the streams close to the house. Not a big success. Apparently, these ducklings do not yet take to water like...well, a duck.

Weather permitting, I will build a new hen house on Wednesday for our growing brood. As if in anticipation, the chickens undertook an early inspection of the building materials.

My entire week was focused on readying the farm for December's influx of large farm animals. On Wednesday, I secured the use of a tractor to help us distribute fence posts around the farm's pastures...and checked in with Chico to make sure that we were still on for December 1st. We are. I also closed the deal to purchase 20 sows from Fazenda Brasil. Delivery: Wednesday, November 26th.

The tractor made possible an absolutely brutal day of work on Thursday, when Clair and I, together with Dirlei, the tratorista, moved 600 fence posts to the various pastureland, where they will be readily accessible to Chico and his team. We loaded 50 fence posts into the tractor's trailer at a time, and then, according to Chico's instructions, we distributed them in piles of 25. Between loading and unloading, we lifted the equivalent of 1,200 fence posts. By the end of the day, I could barely use my left arm due to cramping. In spite of the physical torment, the end of the day brought a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment: an entire pile of 600 fence posts had almost entirely disappeared; however, as with all things in farming, the remaining 200 fence posts are already mercilessly awaiting their distribution next Thursday!

It is probably worth noting that Negão was nowhere to be found when we returned to Alfheim on Tuesday. Apparently, he and Layla moseyed on down to Clair's sitio near Vargem Grande, approx. nine km from Alfheim, shortly after our departure on Sunday. Clair brought Layla back on his motorcycle...don't ask me how. Negão we learned, was born a ramblin’ man; he once found his way back to the sitio from Ubatuba, through the Mata Atlântica, a journey of not less than 25 km! Not surprisingly, Negão's departure left Layla crestfallen; she barely ate for two days and generally had a severe case of the mopes. So, like any warm-blooded dog owner, I drove down and fetched Negão on Friday afternoon, once the roads had dried out sufficiently for me to reach the sitio. Layla, who refused to let me leave without her, camping out emphatically on the backseat while I was loading the car, was so happy to see Negão that she quite literally jumped from the backseat out through the driver's side window in one motion to greet him (the car was stopped). Upon returning to Alfheim, they played like long-lost amigos miraculously reunited. Unfortunately, Negão and Layla disappeared again on Saturday, though thankfully Layla returned on Sunday morning, completely mugged but with her usual healthy appetite fully restored -though still clearly missing her playmate. We will prioritize finding her a more steadfast play pal this week.

On Sunday we visited a biodynamic farm near Jarinu run by Cassiopeia, a company founded in 1981 that produces aloe vera, natural phyto-cosmetics and the BioWash line of natural, biodegradable cleaning products, all of which became certified natural by IBD (Biodynamic Institute) in 2007. As consumers of the BioWash product line, it was doubly interesting for us to visit the farm and meet both the owners and staff. For our Brazilian readers, if you haven't already tried the BioWash product line, you should...an effective alternative to traditional cleaning products based on petrochemical derivatives.

We were given a wonderful tour and made to feel entirely welcome by the administrador of Sítio Veraloe, Carlos, a more diminutive incarnation of Tom Bombadil, a walking, talking lexicon of flora, fauna and all things organic/biodynamic, and hosted by his captivating wife, Sylvia. A most inspiring day!

Finally, the Fazenda Alfheim blog continues to gain momentum and has now attracted 485 absolute unique visitors from 19 countries, namely Brazil, United States, United Kingdom, Denmark, Norway, Canada, Germany, Portugal, United Arab Emirates, Greece, Sweden, India, China, Romania, Belize, Belgium, Togo, France and Australia. We truly enjoy reading your comments (in any language), so please keep them coming!