“Most of us are moving through such an undergrowth of excess that we cannot sense the shape of ourselves anymore.”
– John O’Donohue
October has been an exceptionally busy month, as a lot had to get done before I handed the quinta over to our house sitter on the 16th, and join Michael in South Africa for a visit to our families. With daily roundtrips to pick Sil up and drop him off again, it meant that two and a half hours of my day was gone before I even started on my list of chores.
Preparations for the quinta sitter included my yearly deep clean, and clearing out cupboard space, while I wanted to shorten the new curtains I bought before I left. I also had to find time to advertise my January house sit for when I will be away for a week on a pottery course, and finalise a sitter, while the cats had to go for the yearly appointment at the vet to get their vaccinations.
Leaving the quinta for any substantial period of time is always emotionally challenging for me, even without anything going wrong, so when I noticed that something was wrong with Lily the night before I left, my stress levels peaked at dangerous heights. It was clear that Lily was in pain as she could only sit upright even to sleep. It was after 2 am when she finally managed to lay down for the first time, which meant both of us had a terrible night. A trip to the vet in the morning resulted in him prescribing an anti-inflammatory and antibiotics, as it wasn’t clear if she was bitten or just hurt herself from jumping down a tree.
I left tired and rattled, but in desperate need of a change in scenery.
A Special Memory or Moment of Joy:
The balmy evenings were perfect for lighting a couple of campfires around sunset. Not only did it force me to sit and relax after an inevitable hectic day, but I could drink in the sights and sounds I’m surrounded by: the spine-chilling cries of a fox, the hoot of an owl, the last twitter of birds, as they settled in for the night, and bats flitting about.
Notes:
# Matthias came through for me, and fitted an olive harvest in before I left. The trees this year had more olives on them than any other year since we bought the quinta, and although the olives were smaller than most other years, we were quietly hoping for a good harvest. As usual he managed to gather a great team around him, which meant that it was a joyful couple of hours harvesting, and lunching together.
The 9 trees we had to move to build the workshop is still recovering, so we only had 31 trees to harvest from. We ended up with a total of 407 kg of cleaned olives from which 43.45 litres of oil were pressed, which meant that we got a yield of 9.37 kilograms per litre. By far our best year yet.
# The dry stone wall is taking shape nicely, and we even managed to get a big machine in to fill up the big gaps behind the wall, while also moving some of the big stones to where Sil will need them once I’m back in Portugal and work can resume.
# Lawrence has made great progress on building and cladding more small walls we’ve been planning for a while.
# Michael and I were supposed to fly together on my last leg from Abu Dhabi to Johannesburg, but when Etihad changed my flight to two days after my original flight, I had one night in Castelo Branco and two nights in Lisbon before I left. Initial irritation and frustration softened into acceptance, and I made the most of my full day in Lisbon to visit Cemitério do Alto de São João, the National Tile Museum, 8 Marvila, and Parque das Nações, by walking roughly 10 km in unsuitable shoes, but loving every moment of discovering a part of Lisbon I wasn’t familiar with.
# Since leaving the quinta about 38 mm of rain has fallen, which is a great relief, as I had to fit an extra valve and switch the irrigation in the orchard to borehole water, because the well simply didn’t adequately fill up after it was cleaned.
# The day after I arrived in South Africa, I received photos from my quinta sitter showing brown tap water, indicating an issue with the borehole. Because the rainy season was so late this year we feared the worst, but luckily it turned out that we have plenty of water in our borehole. The issue was that the trench Michael and Tim dug to the borehole in April had not adequately settled, and with the first rains, it contaminated the well water when the manhole flooded. Michael has now ordered a cap for the borehole, and will also order bentonite and seal it properly, but in the meantime a friend of us went around to make a temporary fix.
# Michael loves visiting the farm, and quickly fell into the rhythm by getting involved in fixing things.
Curiosities or Unknown Facts about Portugal:
Cemitério do Alto de São João is the largest cemetery in Lisbon. It was founded in 1833 after an outbreak of cholera in the city, along with Cemitério de Prazeres.
Written by: Jolandi
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I felt your pain with unsuitable shoes. Ouch.
But wow on the olive harvest and oil abundance.
Ouch indeed, Peggy. 😆 But worth it. We really are delighted with the yield! – Jolandi
Last month I mentioned that your attitude and activity will help ensure your long life, and here you present another example. A TWO-DAY delay and you rapidly transition to enjoyment of the opportunity. What excellent art in Lisbon! I love being able to see that part of town with you, and I always love old cemeteries.
Those walls are freaking gorgeous Jolandi!! I am envisioning them in 10 years when it looks like they’ve been there for a generation, and weeds and bugs have made homes in every crevice. And what a delight to have your largest olive crop yet and with fewer trees. Your life routines are beginning to feel natural now, in that you are able to work in these projects on short notice or while away, when in the beginning they were huge challenges. Today I am marveling once more at the stories you are collecting there.
I hope you and Michael are reveling in togetherness, home, and family. I hope you have long stretches when you forget to worry. I hope you taste foods you have missed and hear sounds that remind you of childhood with a smile. Hugs! Happy travels.
I can get grumpy as hell or completely frazzled at times, Crystal, but I do think that I was born with a default setting that makes me reach for making the best of what I’ve been given. It really is a blessing!
I can’t wait for the walls to be finished so that I can start landscaping! Both Michael and I believe it is going to give the quinta a special energy once they are done and have started to age.
It was wonderful to be with Michael for two weeks in a setting away from the quinta. – Jolandi
I hope Lily is recovering fast! Leaving our house for an extended period of time can indeed be stressful — ironically, many of us travel because we want to escape the stress of our daily lives. But I will keep doing it anyway. I’m happy to hear about your olive harvest, and the amount of oil you got. I don’t think I’ve ever tried Portuguese olive oil, so the next time I go to my usual supermarkets here in Jakarta, I’ll see if they have it (so far I’ve only found Italian, Spanish, Australian, and Tunisian olive oil brands). I like how you embraced the unexpected change in your flight schedule to explore Lisbon, although I can imagine how frustrated you must have felt at first.
From what I understand, Portuguese olive oil isn’t as readily available as the ones from the countries you mentioned. Please let me know if you do find any. – Jolandi
Hi Jolandi,
I’m glad that you’re having fun and loving your place in Portugal even discovering some places. I am hardly in WP but mostly in YT but now would like to greet you. I hope you still remember me from Abu Dhabi, Al Rheem. Take care!
Kind regards,
Evelyn
Of course I do, Evelyn. Hope life is treating you well. – Jolandi
I’ve just been thrashing through an overgrown cemetery today. St John’s Cemetery in Parramatta is the oldest surviving British cemetery in mainland Australia, being established in January 1790 (the First Fleet arrived two years earlier). Two of my husband’s ancestors are buried there, both convicts who made good in the colony.
Have had a couple of hugely exciting months, with never enough time to write blog posts about what is going on. I live in hope of catching up.
However! I am keenly aware my lifestyle takes me further and further away from connecting with nature. I envy you your campfire evenings. I’ve just looked up what constellations you should be able to see. None of them familiar to me, although Wikipedia assures me I should be able to see them here, too. What I have kept track of is whales migrating south. Most of them have gone through, but there are always some stragglers out there learning their fin slapping techniques.
How fascinating, Gwen. There doesn’t seem to be a dull moment in your life! I must admit that what I love most about my life on the quinta is that close connection with nature. And to be honest, I have no clue what constellations cover the sky above my head. I’m happy just enjoying them, but I always admire people who can identify them. 😆 – Jolandi
I hope you got word pretty quickly that Lily was continuing to do OK in your absence. That would be very unsettling. Great yield from the olive trees (I imagine your olive oil is so fresh and delicious!). And as always, I love seeing the progress of those gorgeous stone walls. Hope South Africa is/was great!
Luckily Lily was back to her normal self quickly, Lexie. I will only be back in Portugal later in the month, but the quinta sitter is luckily trustworthy, and seems to fall for Lily’s charms. My poor little Midnight is only going to the house for food, though. I suspect that she hides out in the workshop most of the time. – Jolandi
Oh!! I neglected to say Happy Birthday, Jolandi! I am certain you did something special. I wonder if your tradition of spending it alone happened this year though, since you were vacationing at the time. Hugs to you and I’m looking forward to hearing all about your time away from the Quinta.
Thanks, Crystal. How amazing that you remember. I’ve managed to fit a trip within a trip for my birthday to Zanzibar. I’m heading back to South Africa tomorrow. Feeling gloriously relaxed! – Jolandi
Congratulations on the olive harvest! I hope the nine trees you had to move continue to settle into their new homes and will eventually add to your harvest each year.
Being away from home always entails such planning and preparation and I am always exhausted by the time I travel; as you were! I hope you have enjoyed your time with family in South Africa. I also hope poor Lily is better. What an unfortunate time for her to be injured!
So true, Clare. Luckily Lily is back to her normal self and I’m still enjoying my break. I really needed this change of scenery, and although I’m not quite ready to head back, I’m sure I will be soon. Luckily I have a wonderful quinta sitter that I feel I can trust, which makes all the difference. – Jolandi
I hope Lily is okay. I had something similar happen to my cat just days before I was about to leave for my older daughter’s graduation ceremony on the other side of the country. Eliza unhappily had to be boarded with her vet, at great expense to me (not that she cared a bit about that!). But it’s stressful anytime one is leaving on a long distance trip and has pets and property to worry about. Hopefully you were able to take off without many more problems!
That is so true, Hangaku! Luckily Lily is perfectly fine again. I just felt sorry for the quinta sitter who had to administer it, although he was quite relaxed about it. – Jolandi
From your past post, and especially this one, I’ve always had this thought when reading: “I bet that olive oil must taste heavenly…” 😂! The main reasoning is that it is something you have created… a reward for all you have done to create the quinta what it is. I love olive oil not just for flavor, but perhaps even more for its history and story.
You have beautifully written this busy snapshot of your October, Jolandi, capturing both the demands and the deep rewards of rural life. I always admire your blend of honest challenges—leaving the quinta, travel stress, the scare with Lily—and precious moments of quiet by the campfire and community during the olive harvest. It’s resilience and adaptability, which is such an inspiring part of the human experience. Wishing you a rejuvenating time in South Africa and a smooth return—take care!
Thank you, Randall. You correctly think that the oil tastes heavenly. Last year’s batch was wonderfully peppery, which is what I expect from this year’s too. I haven’t tasted it yet, so am looking forward to do so when I get back later in the month. So far my break away from my usual routines and the quinta have been great. – Jolandi