or maybe not

Well we are right in the middle of where it is supposed to be 170 kph winds and there is no wind at all, there was a breezy couple of hours this morning but less windy that it was on Thursday. Last night be careful emails were going around between friends, today its where is the storm?

We parked the van in front of where we have all out seedlings and tender plants to give a bit of shelter and I moved a new tangerine and lime trees right to the back downstairs but all that really achieved is keeping them in the shade. The trees are motionless. a few low clouds are scudding across from the East and the higher clouds are heading North maybe we are in a little wedge under the front and all hell will break loose in a few hours...maybe it stayed out to sea...time will tell.

More wind maybe

Locals are saying this storm tomorrow will be worse than the 135 mph one last January that left us without electric for 8 days. A lot of tree felling has gone on recently as the cant grow Eucalyptus or conifers within 50 meters of a property law is now being enforced with a 15 day order and a big fine for on compliance as far as we can tell. So where they have cleared the trees the remaining trees are not used to having full wind on them and in places they will have created clear corridors that funnel the wind so there could be some interesting times ahead tomorrow. We are fairly sure tonight will be fine will be fine will be fine as the local wood chopping chap has just got a brand new big forest tractor and trailer and parked it under a very leaney huge tree over the road from us so I guess the wind is not coming quite yet.

Its hazy and windless 14 C with a big ring around the moon tonight rather a calm before the storm moment...shame about the picture quality.

How can

a wood burning stove made at a foundry in Asturias cost 2500 euros in Spain but only £1200 in the UK;
a Wii cost the same in both countries;
peanut butter cost 3.5 euros for a same sized jar that costs 90p in the UK;
a second hand 4x4 cost 5000 euros in Galicia but £1500 in the UK;
car parking be free in 99% of places in Galicia and cost a blooming fortune pretty much everywhere in the UK;
a 10 minute filling for an 8 year old cost 60 euros and a few months later a 45 minute filling for the same boy at the same dental surgery cost 20 euros and either would have cost nowt at all in the UK;
corn on the cob cost loads and be hard to get fresh in Galicia despite them growing masses of it, and be cheap as chips in the UK;
corn off the cob be cheap in both countries;
there be no road tax in Galicia;
4 rechargeable batteries on their own cost 4 euros more than the same 4 rechargeable batteries in a pack complete with a battery charger;
I get to sleep?

school

I went into Valdovino school again late this afternoon to chat with some of the pupils, I am trying to find how the educations system out here works. The children were nervous I was nervous but we found some common ground and some words we all understood, I took my djembe and talking drum in and they were good ice breakers as well as illustrating different ways of communicating and the importance of the song/ rhythm of language. They talked and I played back their tones and rhythm I think it made sense. Coincidentally they had been talking about mobile phones and the drums I took were the mobile phones of Africa so that sort of worked out too. I was the first vegetarian they had met, that was interesting for me and for them we all agreed that vegetarian living and Galicia were not easy room mates. It is hard to see a way forward as yet - there is one interactive whiteboard and the staff are wary of it as it is not maintained well / they have little training in its use so it lets them down. The computer room is a mixed bag of mostly old machines running Linux. There is a spoken enthusiasm for technology but not a lot of visible momentum. Some great work being done by a few teachers with very little in the way of resources or technical support. They are enthusiastic to make links/ set up exchange visits with teachers and trainee teachers and pupils in UK schools; I hope we can make some progress on that front over the coming year.

até breve
(see you soon)

That's two Galician phrases I now know; the other being very important 'Que choiva' what rain.

This and that

There have been a lot of lovely sunrises recently.
We lost contact with the world for a few days, first the internet then the phone as well, then only the internet, and eventually both came back on together on Sunday. A technical problem Telefonica said..here is what a technical problem looks like....
Yes its some of the trees that blew down in Jan 2009 still on the cables but moved a bit...and below a bout 1 km down the road the arboristas have been chopping around this stretch of the same cables. Pretty amazing that the electric didn't go off....
Here it is partly solved a bit further down the line
We arrived at Club Nautico on the embalse about 7 km East of Valdovino around 6pm in the evening; @ 13 C it was just warm enough to be comfortable so we blew up the Kayak and paddled out on windless glassy water, the level is really really low despite there being a lot of rain, something to do with the algae problem they had last summer I think maybe but we don't know it is just loads lower than we have ever seen it and has been like this for the last few months. A few grebes danced while a couple of Herons and an Ibis kept very still on top of white bleached fragments of trees. Fish jumped and made little rings and long thin streaks of silver, rain tip tapped the water every now and then but didn't wet us. We visited the little island where the biggest of a few lonely tree was blown down in the big wind last year. It is starting to regrow and the old roots are full of wagtails and something else that flew in small flocks and was too fast to see but there were lots of them and they liked the water...and some Snipe zigzagged peep peep peep through the dusk too I think.It was so nice one of us landed on the island and we pretended to be Hiawatha and other people way hey hey heyoweyo weyhey heyoweyaheyoooo an all that I forgot to take my flute and we both forgot to take photos..hey o weyo weyo