I wake up at 8 thinking I’ll head out and pick the weeds that have taken over the future greenhouse, but after trying to get out of bed I realize that it’s just not going to happen. I roll over and fall back to sleep for another 45 minutes. I wake up a second time and walk down to the house for breakfast. Everyone is already awake and at the table. They give me a hard time for finally waking up, but I’m quick to point out that breakfast was scheduled for 9a. I sit down and get to work. Breakfast consists of toast, homemade cherry jam, eggs, and tea. It is absolutely delicious, but the cherry jam is out of this world. Graham made it himself. After breakfast, Graham, Josh, and I get the mountain bikes all straightened out and set off up the mountain. Graham is a little out of shape since it’s his first ride of the season, so we take a lot of breaks. Josh needs a few breaks too. I keep forgetting that Josh is only 12.
We continue on the up mountain and we are constantly presented with views that span for miles. Mountains, ravines, springs: it’s impressive. We won’t be making all the way to their other piece of land as planned, but we decide to pedal to the next barranco and stop there. The barranco is a spring that trickles and pours down a cut in the mountainside. The cut is lined with slate rocks of all different colors that flake off when pulled. Graham and Josh wait down at the bottom and give me a few minutes to climb up the gorge to the top of a big rock. At the top I’m able to look off in the distance as far as the eye can see.
There’s a cliché for you.
I climb back down, which proves tricky with the shale rock underfoot, but eventually I make it back down to the bikes. We head back to the house for some lunch and, of course, tea. Back at the house, they put on a kettle and Rosie begins to make lunch. Graham and Aidan take a look at the steps and begin to plan out what needs to be done. I sneak around back to pull weeks from the greenhouse patio. My timing is impeccable, since Rosie shouts that lunch is ready just as I’m about to finish pulling the last of the weeds. I can’t believe how big some of those roots were, though.
Rosie has made us all sandwiches for lunch. There’s three varieties: cheese, chorizo, and a combo. After lunch, Graham says he will have a siesta, and Rosie sets me up out front on the steps. She shows me how to mix concrete and gives me a trowel and rocks to work with. It takes me about a half hour to finish the stonework. After Graham’s siesta, we sit around inside and have a cup of tea. He teaches us a dice game, and we play for an hour or so. By this time, we’ve all finished our tea and it’s time to get back to work. Graham, Aidan, and I head off to the barn to cut some old fence posts. They’ll be used as the risers on the steps he’s building. I help cut them down with a handsaw, then carry them over to the front of the house where I cut them into 8 80cm pieces. I wheel a big generator around the front too. We bore two holes in each 80cm piece with a drill and then mix concrete to help hold them in place. We put in four or five steps by the end of the day, pausing for tea after each step is completed. After our work for the day is finished, dinner is ready. It’s a delicious pasta with bread that Rosie has prepared. Dessert is honeydew and watermelon. Graham is crazy about the watermelon. I’m crazy about everything. During dinner we make plans to go mountain biking in the morning. We’ll be going down the front of the mountain. It’s much more technical than yesterday’s ride, and it’s sure to be a good time.
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