Donna:

…a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; Ecc 3:1,2.

It is still winter here, but at the same time, it is time to plant. Because it is raining regularly, it is now the time to dig up the soil, pluck out that which is old and plant that which will grow. . This month we began by pruning the grape vines. Our friend Sr. Joachim came around to teach us to do the job properly and we are very thankful for that. Noticing that some of the vines were dead we used our new tractor power to remove them by the roots. This is not as easy as it sounds, as the roots are deeply embedded under the earth, but after multiple attempts we could remove a good portion of  the vine. After that, we decided to replace 32 vines and plant 3 extra ones near the house. These new baby vines are fragile and will require watering during the first year, so that will be our first conundrum to solve, but we shall work on that later.

  Our next campaign was the zoning project. In order to use the space we have we divided the areas into walking space with rounded pebbles, open  space with artificial grass,and  areas with gravel for roads and car parks.  We broadened the entrance area and reinforced it after a  delivery truck got stuck in the mud as he was bringing some sand to our place. This job is not finished, and we hope to conclude it in March.

  Next we decided to beautify the front area with more color!  We planted lavender and  rosemary which are sturdy in cold and heat and a few smaller yellow and orange flowers. We started growing small lettuce plants and will keep them in the greenhouse until there is no more frost at night. We added some white stones as we moved into our landscaping vibe, yet to be continued…:)

  We did take a trip to Lisbon to catch up with the folks there.  We were with Cristy and saw baby Afonso as he began to crawl. So cute! Gloria is very busy working in the hospital with a very irregular schedule and night shifts. Life of an intern. Jason is also busy every day between school and training sessions and we hope to catch up with him some time soon.

   We visited Uncle Fernando and Aunt Adozinda and family at their new farm. They have a lovely piece of land and have been working hard to make it an amazing place to live.

All in all, winter is coming to an end and there are signs of spring popping up here and there.

Praying for you every day. Stay safe and, especially, stay sound, in mind and spirit, in this world that seems to be going bananas.

Love and prayers.

here are the pictures:

Above: Before and after

<><><><><><><><