harvesting grapes and avoiding crawlies...

(other) hairy 8 legged freak

Last weekend we volunteered for 'ayuda con las viñas', helping our good friends and neighbours to harvest their grapes, the first step along the delicious road of Vino Collapso.......as he has furnished our Bodega (okay so it's just the cupboard under the stairs, delusions of grandeur and all that) with 150 litres of the stuff we could hardly not, now, could we?

Off we set under what happened to be an unseasonably warm start to October morning, and were set to work.....it's not easy, for any of you harbouring a dream of a lazy late summer job of languidly picking grapes, Cleopatra style. When you've filled and walked up a bumpy terrace lugging a 35 litre bucket full of the picked fruit, Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon, and stacked crates until you're dizzy, the romance dissipates pretty quickly!
The other big downside for me anyway were the noticeable residents, those 8 legged guys an inch from my face, let's just say some areas were left unharvested!

However, we were supplied with beer and food, and at siesta (when we thought we were finished....I was in fact quite literally finished...)Rosario invited us for a plate of Arroz, a lovely combination of prawns, clams and squid cooked in a rice and fish broth, delicious. She, being superhuman, had cooked it in advance that morning, I don't think we were ever hungrier...

The last mouthful was spoilt somewhat by the order to go home and sleep for an hour, they would be collecting us for the rest of the days' work at 5pm....aargh.
Well we did, and again the next day for half a day (Football called at Almeria for the season ticket holders, Stan and Josh) and apart form aching limbs we actually enjoyed the whole experience.

Still, can't quite see myself as a full time vine farmer!