The color purple

Written to Led Zeppelin Remasters

At the worst, a house unkept cannot be so distressing as a life unlived.
-Dame Rose Macaulay (1881 - 1958)

It began raining on Wednesday...and it basically has not stopped since. Rainfall levels for the week:

• Sunday - 8 mm
• Monday - 4 mm
• Tuesday - 28 mm
• Wednesday - 4 mm
• Thursday - 27 mm
• Friday - 4 mm
• Saturday - 57 mm
• Total - 132 mm
  

In parallel, the temperature held steady at approx. 30 degrees Celsius until Thursday. The aggregate impact of all of this rain, unfortunately, is that the roads have become impassable for heavy vehicles. Therefore, neither the Nelore cattle nor the plowing oxen arrived as planned, nor will they until things dry out. The trucks are too heavy and the roads too poor. Fortunately, we have not yet been landlocked, and Lone was able to pick up and deliver Chico and Martins, who were able to get in three solid days of fencing (for the most part it rained in the afternoons). As you can see from the previous photo, Chico reaches only to the top of the fence post -with his hat on: 220 cm of fence post minus the 50 cm that is buried below ground minus his hat leaves less than 170 cm of Chico. Height notwithstanding, the sexagenarian together with his septuagenarian compañero de trabajo nearly completed pastures 1 and 2...and did finish fencing the paddock next to the corral. Slowly but surely we progress, but there are at least four more pastures to fence as well as the enlarged hog area, so this saga will continue for some months. This photo sums up pretty well the rain's impact on the activity level at Alfheim.

That said Lone did manage to cover her vegetable garden-to-be with hay -and likewise her potato plants- and seems very un-Danishly self-satisfied with herself.

Here she merely looks rather short. In fact, this photo illustrates the ridiculous growth of the banana plants that Johannes and Esben planted back in August, barely six months ago. When first planted, they barely reached our knees.

While Lone was in São Luiz do Paraitinga picking up Chico and Martins, she also picked up four meat bones for free at the butchers...excellent choice Layla, Negão, Huginn and Muninn seem to be saying.

The hogs could not be better...they continue to bulldoze the landscape unabated. Ditto for the Galinha-d'angola or Helmeted Guineafowl chicks and the kittens, i.e. they are all doing well -rather than bulldozing anything.

Clair also cut more grass for hay this week. At some point we will have to consider investing in a gas-powered grass trimmer...together with the leaf blower the scourge of the suburbs, but an essential tool on 319 hectares of fazenda.

The truly enduring impression of the week, however, is the blooming of the manacá-da-serra (Tibouchina mutabilis). The forest is ablaze with purple and white. From every corner of Alfheim ones eyes are delightfully assaulted by the tapestry of purple and white flowers pouring forth from the carpet of green hues. Nothing short of spectacular.

This week's flora and fauna winners: a frog in our kitchen and a series of gourds from the family Cucurbitaceae (1, 2 and 3).

Finally, next week (February 21st-24th) is Carnaval , the annual festival in Brazil held four days before Ash Wednesday. Therefore, I will be taking a week off from blogging. During our mini-holiday, Lone and I will visit our new friends Emmanuel Rengade and his wife, Filipa at their fazenda, and hopefully receive a visit from our good friends Melissa, Layla's previous owner, and Patrícia -and generally chill as much as possible. Please cross your fingers (7-9-13) for a period of dry weather or you will soon be forced to read a blog that consists solely of accounts of Lone and I playing backgammon...indoors...waiting for the sun.