We had a Good Day today! I am hurriedly writing this Blog so that I catch the moment of pleasant contentedness and bask in the brief glory of satisfaction! The truck started working this morning…yeah!!…yes, we were on a roll…and, Gnome managed to fix the mower again! Ahhh…breath a sigh of relief!!

I haven’t been writing much because I honestly think that 2021 has been a real bumpy ride for us! I didn’t really want to moan and groan about it on a Blog post because well, it isn’t exactly entertaining. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I have had a succession of muscular and tendon injuries (gosh, you would think I was an athlete) which has rendered me (almost) out of action on the farm for about 2 months! I even sprained my ankle a couple of days ago when I was over zealously doing a big house clean…oh, what a klutz!! To add to all this, Gnome needed an urgent dentist appointment last week because his crown fell out in bits (he’s only had it for 9 months!!).

Two days ago…the mower stopped working because the clutch cable broke. When this kind of thing happens, the mower is usually out of action for over a month waiting for parts to be shipped from the States. Gnome was adamant that he was going to fix it…in other words ‘Belize-rig it’ and he said that we could probably find some sort of bicycle wire as a replacement. So, we jumped into the truck to get into town…and…and…it wouldn’t start again!!!

TODAY, our prayers were answered and/or it was the correct conjunction of the stars. The truck problem turned out to be a battery problem…that was fine …we just charged it up and the motor started. Yay!!! we were so pleased…after the truck starter saga, we just didn’t want to face the pain again! After this, Gnome ‘felt lucky’ and decided to try his hand at fixing the mower. That worked too. Wow, I should have played the lottery at that stage! I asked Gnome what he used to fix the clutch cable. He smiled sheepishly and told me it was a tattoo needle!

I was quite blown over by his ingenuity actually. Now, we can keep on mowing!

Let’s finish up with a few pictures on the farm:

Another eggplant (aubergine) that I really like. This is Rosa Bianca, a favourite because of its smooth texture and sweet taste.

We aren’t keeping much going right now because we are in the middle of dry season. The tobacco is still doing well:

The Pennsylvania tobacco is worth a mention because they are largest leaf tobacco that we have grown. The leaves have got to about 3 to 4 feet in length. This is definitely a keeper.

I hope that you are all having a good day today!