Chico is one of those larger-than-life rural characters who defies description, though that will not stop me from trying: He is 61 years old, has been retired for 11 years and has worked as a fencer extraordinaire for equally as long. He is built like a dwarf, the Tolkien variety rather than the kind Ricky Gervais has a go at in his latest, hysterically funny, stand-up routine entitled Fame. Chico barely reaches my belly-button, but he is as wide as he is tall, barrel-chested, has a back that the Governator would envy and, much like Matthew McConaughey, has trouble keeping his shirt on. And to be honest, there is no reason he should...he is pure Geritol® beefcake. By choice Chico only works with other retirees, one of whom is 73 years old and, according to Chico, a bit slow -but consistent. In Chico's view, the majority, though not all he was quick to point out, of today's generation não quer trabalhar (do not want to work).
The result of Thursday's effort: Chico will finish up his current jobs, has promised not to take on any additional work in November and will begin fencing at Alfheim, with a crew of two or three, on Monday, December 1st. Lone or I will pick him and his crew up on Mondays and drive them back to São Luiz do Paraitinga on Thursdays. They will live in our apartment, which Marcos and the construction crew finished this week along with the other outstanding construction items, including a beautiful, retrofit brick staircase for the front entrance of our hosue. Rosana, Clair's wife, will prepare their meals, as she did for Marcos and his crew this week, and Chico and the boys will install approx. 300 fence posts, each with four-strands of Belgo Motto® Farpa Vermelha barbed wire, per week. In total, they will install almost two and one-half kilometers of high-quality fence per month...and probably spend between six and eight weeks working at Alfheim. In addition to the fencing, one of Chico's compadres performs arado de boi or plowing with oxen, eight oxen in all, four of which plow for a day and then rest for a day while the second foursome takes over. We have chosen to pursue this option in order to limit the likelihood of erosion on the steepest mountain pastures.
As promised, Negão, the mutt, arrived at Alfheim this week, and he and Layla became instant amigos. The only downside to their friendship is that Layla's IQ has plummeted by at least a third. I have nicknamed them Dumb and Dumber. Negão is shorter than Layla, but faster and has better endurance...and he does not chase any of the other farm animals. On the whole, both dogs are extremely well-behaved, with the exception of when they take our clothes down off of the clothesline.
Negão joined Alfheim together with Elle, Rosana's supermodel hen...long-legged, paparazzi-shy and skittish -and always stylishly dressed in black.
The ducks are growing by leaps and bounds; I would swear the three male ducklings have doubled in size in a week. Lone has gone completely bonkers for the ducks, her new brood (sorry, Johannes, Esben and Pelle!). The other day Marcos and I found her sitting inside the tiny duck pen talking to the ducklings. Needless to say, the image left us both speechless. Only when Lone realized we were standing next to her, and where she was and what she was doing, did it occur to her how funny it must look (unfortunately, no photo).
In addition to looking after the ducklings, Lone has been busy painting the interior of our house, still a work in progress, and seeding her vegetable garden.
Miss Massey, Clair's pig, gave us a scare the other day. Encouraged by my prodding, she let me give her a neck rub. After a few moments of rapture, Miss Massey collapsed without warning onto her side with her eyes closed...motionless. After the initial fear that I had killed Miss Massey had subsided, I realized that she was merely making herself available for further neck and belly rubbing. Further tests confirmed that her 'flop' is indeed a sign of contentment.
Clair and I continued clearing the pastures, and the results are very encouraging.
This coming week's biggest challenge will be distributing the 800 fence posts, in groups of 25, in each of the proposed seven pastures so that Chico and his crew can work efficiently. As he made repeatedly clear, he could also carry the fence posts from source to destination on his back, mais não por R$2.00 por mourão (not for R$2.00 (€0.73 or $0.95) per post). Fortunately, we have access to a tractor on Mondays and Tuesdays, so I hope to be able to limit the scope of manually moving fence posts, each of which is 220 cm tall and 10-13 cm in diameter, up the mountain pastures to no more than 200 fence posts.
Lone and I spent most of Friday in Ubatuba purchasing mattresses and pillows for our guest beds at Casas Bahia, where interest rates on store credit exceed 50% per annum! Fortunately, we paid a vista or in cash. While Lone paid for the bedding, I went to Banco Itaú and withdrew Marcos' final payment and bonus. Afterward, I went for a run on the beach while Lone napped, and then Lone and I took turns swimming in the ocean...nothing like salt water to mend scrapes, cuts and insect bites. We had the entire beach pretty much to ourselves.
On Saturday, Lone and I spent the entire morning completing the Associação de Certificação Instituto Biodinâmico - IBD form, which is a prerequisite for organic certification.
The main purpose of IBD is to participate in the development of organic, biodynamic and socially correct agriculture, processing, trading and its markets, through certification.Thus far, we have been well-served by both Tom Vidal, whom we originally met online and later in person at BioFach, and Maria Carolina Wilmers Manço, with whom I had an hour-long conference call on Wednesday afternoon to lay the groundwork for our application. Unfortunately, no amount of technical support could help us to circumvent the 34-page form required to initiate the organic certification process, but between the two of us we managed to put together what we hope is a qualified draft document.
Finally, our fixed-mobile home telephone went on the fritz this week, so we have been incommunicado...apologies to any and all who tried to contact us. We have, of course, contacted Eugenio, Telefônica's third-party service provider, and hope to have it working again soon. Also, my mobile has changed to +55 11 9206-6927.
3 comments:
I am very jealous that the ducks are getting all of Lone's attention. They are a lucky brood. If they grow up to be anywhere as good looking as her last bunch you guys could start selling them for selective breeding :)
Glad to hear all is going well. Still unbelievably amazed at how quickly pastures are being cleared.
So how effective is this pig at helping in mom's garden? Ive heard that she is not the fastest of pigs :-). I hope you leave some work for me, by the sound of it all will be done when i arrive hehehe
hugs
Happy to see the photos of the buildings in their surroundings. They were informative for someone who does not know the place. Impressive how fast you are establishing the business, the new (or reconstructed?) houses look nice and cosy, --and everything around seems to be so green!
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