Thursday 30 January 2020

Olive and Vine


Quite a day today.  A morning of memories.   Whilst drinking my morning coffee a photo came in via Whatsap from my sister-in-law in New Zealand.  It looked as though the old family homestead was being sold.  It hasn't been in our family for over 50 years but we grew up there and have so many memories.  

There were messages zapping through the ether  between NZ, Australia, London and Greece.  Seems the kids knew better.  No it wasn't the old family home but the one next door, or was it?  That got us onto google and eventually we worked out which house had been the family home and I found photos of the interior and the gardens as it is today.  Exciting stuff!  

Some neighbours popped in with their coffee cup in hand and we discussed the day's work.  They are pruning their olive trees and this afternoon will be slaughtering little bunnies.  All in a days work if you have any sort of rural holding here.  The rabbits belong to our elderly neighbour Vaso and her children have decided it is too much work for her, so the bunnies must go.  Into the pot.  We'll be eating one of them on Sunday with stewed onions.



The olive tree we bought yesterday.  We are waiting for the same neighbour to come and dig a hole for it.  He can do that on Sunday before he sits down to eat the rabbit.

An olive tree this size  sells for 25 euros at our local garden shop.  Daylight robbery. We bought this for 6 euros



The bottle of red wine.  It wasn't such a bargain after all.  The bottle is only 1 1/2 litres, not 2 as I thought.  It is a nice light, dry red.  Very drinkable.  I had a glass and a half with lunch.  Stir fried vegetables with a few noodles thrown in.  K is still eating the left over bbqed pork from Sunday.  Today it was helped down by a greek salad and some leftover tzatziki.  

The rest will go to the neighbour's dogs.  It really is vital you get on with your neighbours here.  One helps the other.  They kill the rabbit, we cook it.  They provide the wine and the lemons.  We feed their dogs with pork bones.  K fixes their broken heater and gets their power back on when the oven trips the switch.    We get a handful of fresh eggs.  And so on.

I usually get bottles of red wine from them too but they didn't make red wine this year.  He juiced the red grapes and sold the juice.  There are not many around here that appreciate a good red wine.  

He has just popped in again to bring me a long handled cutter so I can gather the lemons at the top of the tree.  I asked him about the red wine and he says he has loads of last years and he'll bring me a few bottles.  Couldn't/wouldn't say 'no' to that!




15 comments:

  1. -happy sigh- This! Is how life used to be lived. And should be, today. Neighbor helps neighbor. Useful trades are made. Help is not too far away, and everyone knows it.

    Embrace it! Long may it live!

    *•.¸💛¸.•*

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, we are lucky with our neighbours here. The neighbourhood where we used to live down in town used to be just as friendly but the ones who come in from Athens for Christmas, Easter and summer holidays have a different outlook and often cause peiblems

      Delete
  2. Oh, bunny stew. My favourite.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A few too many small bones but quite tasty. Poor bunny

      Delete
  3. Growing up in England in the 50s we often had rabbit stew. We all loved it and yes, it does taste like chicken!! If I suggest rabbit to any of my Canadian family and friends they are horrified at the thought, lol. I think it's great to have the relationships you have with your neighbours. It seems the bigger place you live in the less neighbourly people are.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I think you're right. It's the small neighbourhoods that stick together. We only have 4 close neighbours. Rarely see the others and of the 4 closest 2 of them don't live here fulltime

      Delete
  4. Lovely to see the ancient bartering customs are still good and strong in your community. Today it seems (in the city, anyway) that people do not even know their neighbours let alone swap goods/services with them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Swapping goods and services is just perfect for us all. We do fall out now and again but everyone has short memories and doesn't hesitate to call when they need help

      Delete
  5. Here, too, in my small rural place, the relations between neighbors are very close, but less and less we meet in daily life.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Our other neighbours are also friends and especially in the summer when we sit outside they will stop for a drink and a chat when passing by. But I have a very social husband

      Delete
  6. Sounds idyllic. This is how it was when Max and I were in the north (near 90 Mile Beach. We provided avocados and were given thick cream when milk was separated for the pigs and as many kumara and potatoes as I wanted to dig. Works a big here in the city but not as much.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The more isolated you are the more you stick together I think. My parents used to live at an isolated beach. My father swapped crayfish for zucchini!

      Delete
  7. I like Rabbit stew; we usually add prunes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Prunes sounds good to me. Not very traditional around here so I don't think I'll be adding those. Lemon juice, cinnamon maybe

      Delete
  8. We live in a semi rural area and get on with our neighbours..
    It is nice to know we have each others back. Especially now as we are all getting to that age where we will all need help.

    ReplyDelete