August update from La Pasera

It's been a busy month. A couple of visits, a family wedding, a family barbecue, lots of work around the vegetable plot and garden, some building work, a street market to prepare for and stand, and...a few preserving and jam making jobs.

Luis' brother Oscar came to stay with us from El Salvador and besides valuing his help with one or two DIY jobs it was good to hear about his life as a Marist Brother teaching in El Salvador. He have previously been living up the Orinoco Delta in Venezuela so this recent move is quite a change for him.

Another brother of Luis, Ruben, got married to his long term partner Veronica and we all met up with the family at the weekend for a large family barbecue and gathering. It was a lovely day and great for Luis to spend time with some of his nieces and nephews.

Just a snack before the main event...

The vegetable plot is producing well with beetroots, aubergines, basil, peppers, cucumber, marrow and chard ready for harvesting almost on a daily basis. I made two large pots of Basil pesto (Recipe here) with lots of garlic and some mature Parmesan. It is lovely to have with pasta and a variety of vegetable and cheese dishes. I doubt it will last long. Luis made 14 jars of Raspberry Jam and there are still lots on the canes and many more frozen ready for later on in the season.

We have just stood our 5th or 6th annual Rastrillo in Nueva, a small village a few kilometres away. It has always been a great showcase for our chair restoration and with a live demonstration we always attract a lot of interest from passersby who either remember past relatives being able to weave cane or rush or from people who have chairs they want restoring. This year, along side the chairs we took a whole load of bric-a-brac; items we no longer had a need or use for. We took quite a healthy amount of money on the day and will probably put it towards a high-end shredder which will help tremendously with out coppicing and pruning off-cuts.

An early start setting up our stall.

We are gearing up for more visits in September and will continue with some building jobs before winter sets in, more about that in a later post. The main holiday season is nearly over here in Asturias and although it is good to see the place buzzing, it is also a relief when they leave and the beaches and roads become tranquil and at peace one again.