Monday, May 22, 2017

Beautiful Galicia Once AgaIn

We arrived in our little village, Trasulfe, on Tuesday, May 9th, but the day was not beautiful, like this. It was overcast and rainy with chilly winds, and not welcoming, and our whole village had a water problem. (I wrote about it at length on my other blog, Victorian Scribbles, HERE.) After roughing it a day and a half with bottle water, we succumbed and spent three nights at Torre de Vilariño,  a casa rural near Escairon, a nearby town we shop at. We've often eaten at Torre, but this time we had the pleasure of a cosy, charming room with the restaurant just a couple of doors away.



on the left, Mila, middle, Susana, right, Cristina
Here are some examples of the beautiful setting — and the delightful staff whom we've enjoyed through the years.

By Saturday, the water problem was solved, but the weather still was fickle: mornings would start out clear and sunny, but the afternoons would turn chilly; mornings would start out chilly, but the afternoons would turn warm, then hot. And, through it all, a few sprinkles of rain would punctuate the day, or a dry wind. It was more typically April weather than May weather. But now we are finally having the spring weather we expected.


Spring in rural Galicia is especially beautiful. The country roadsides are ablaze with yellow broom. Purple foxglove, wild blue forget-me-nots, yellow butter cups are everywhere, as well as lacy ferns. I couldn't get a good picture of the foxgloves, but this will give some idea of the vistas:















I don't know what these meadow flowers are in the third photo, but they are everywhere — along with some purple field flowers in other meadows. They look like Impressionist paintings.
Buttercups

Broom and ferns

Forget-me-nots, roses that were
planted against our wall, and some
sage that has a heavenly scent. 
There are also elderberry bushes nearby with flowers that remind me of Queen Anne's lace, and dozens of other plants I'm still learning to name.

Meanwhile, the late frost that occurred just days before we came damaged so many fruits and vegetables that were coming into fruition beforehand. The grape vines were affected badly in so many places, including Trasulfe. All our neighbors have said they will probably only get about half the usual yield to make their wine. Our neighbors down the road had their potatoes and tomatoes wiped out. It's so sad. They depend on these crops. Some of the fruit trees fared well, but the fig trees around here and the nut trees were also affected. Luckily, for our neighbor, Miguel, who uses one of our small fields to plant his potatoes, he planted late this year after the frost, and you can see that they are doing pretty well. We are very glad for his sake — and ours! He always gives us potatoes in the fall. 

Miguel's potatoes in the field below our gate
His potatoes to the left, one of his fields to the right.
 
The neighbors are all wonderful that way, sharing wine, eggs, and whatever they grow. Today I've been baking cakes for them with some of those eggs for a simple "thank you," but really, it's impossible to thank them enough for how rewarding they make our life here when we come.
When I think of it, we've been blessed with good neighbors and friends here and at home in the States.

How about you? What makes you thankful?

12 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing your pictures--enjoyed viewing them. The abundance of flowers sounds beautiful, but sorry to hear how the weather has affected the crops so much. At the same time, it sounds like you have wonderful friends there :-) Enjoy your time in such a beautiful country. I'm also blessed with good family and friends. We have so very much to be thankful for!

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  2. Lovely pictures. Looks like a beautiful place to spend some time. Too bad we can't order the weather we'd like, but it seems everything worked out fine.

    I'm thankful every day when I wake up and am able to take a walk and enjoy God's beautiful world. The clouds, the trees, the flowers, and birds and rabbits. I could go on and on, but won't.

    Have a great week.

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  3. Hi, Kenda, thanks for stopping by. Yes, no matter where you go, the real blessings are family and friends. Everything else is frosting on the cake.

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  4. Hi, Beverly, I agree. Taking time to enjoy everything you mentioned makes life so much richer.

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  5. Beautiful pictures. It's such a beautiful place. Too bad the water and the weather haven't cooperated. This too shall pass. Enjoy your time in your other home.

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  6. Sounds like the weather was not so cooperative but what a beautiful setting. And good neighbors is definitely something to be thankful for.

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  7. What beautiful images... I'm grateful you shared.

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  8. Hi, Rosi, the weather is finally cooperating, yay! And the water problem is solved for now, at least. We are looking into having the water in the well in our lower field analyzed to see if we can have that as a back up in case of future happenings.

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  9. Natalie, I agree. Neighbors can make all the difference. And the setting is so tranquil, it does make up for a lot. 😊

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  10. Mirka, I'm glad you liked the pictures. Have a good day and a good week.

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  11. It still looks pretty, weather permitting or not:) I'm thankful for lots of sunny summer days hopefully coming my way soon:)

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  12. Hi, Mark; I've been here briefly in January years ago, when the leaves had fallen from the deciduous trees, and the view through webby branches was spectacular. Glad we only go in spring and fall, though. Our friends tell us it gets pretty cold in winter.

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