Janet speaks Portuguese like a native and Clive isn't far behind. I'm sure it's helped them to make local contacts enormously - the Portuguese are surprised and very appreciative. The lovely lady above with Janet and Clive lives near the well and is tremendously friendly - she cooked us a delicious stew one Sunday lunchtime and poured us many a glass of excellent local wine. I won't give away her age but she walks miles everyday, looks after a small holding, prunes trees and looks about fifteen or twenty years younger than she really is - a sort of Portuguese Super-Gran.
Clive and I were a wee bit tentative with our pruning to begin with, agonizing over every twiglet. Then we saw a local pruning in the neighbouring quinta and Janet asked him if he would be kind enough to pop over and give us a little advice. He gave us a demonstration of a sort of Lightning Prune that had two thirds of the tree on the ground in minutes and we got a bit bolder after that.
Olive trees are a real pleasure to work with and you can feel that they love all the attention. Clive and I soon tuned in to their shape and what could go and what could stay. Every now and then there was a loud thump as a larger branch hit the ground.
Janet speaks Portuguese like a native and Clive isn't far behind. I'm sure it's helped them to make local contacts enormously - the Portuguese are surprised and very appreciative. The lovely lady above with Janet and Clive lives near the well and is tremendously friendly - she cooked us a delicious stew one Sunday lunchtime and poured us many a glass of excellent local wine. I won't give away her age but she walks miles everyday, looks after a small holding, prunes trees and looks about fifteen or twenty years younger than she really is - a sort of Portuguese Super-Gran.
Clive and I were a wee bit tentative with our pruning to begin with, agonizing over every twiglet. Then we saw a local pruning in the neighbouring quinta and Janet asked him if he would be kind enough to pop over and give us a little advice. He gave us a demonstration of a sort of Lightning Prune that had two thirds of the tree on the ground in minutes and we got a bit bolder after that.
Olive trees are a real pleasure to work with and you can feel that they love all the attention. Clive and I soon tuned in to their shape and what could go and what could stay. Every now and then there was a loud thump as a larger branch hit the ground.
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