Not all fun and games in paradise

The beginning of our week started off a bit rocky. On Monday, we had our first real rain. It's been very dry (as to be expected this time of year) and the moisture is welcome. Kevin was checking the river and it became noticeably murky... a sign that it's raining even harder up the mountain. Dirty water is not good for our fish. The muck flows through the aqueduct system and settles at the bottom of the ponds. Kevin monitors the river diligently and, with experience, knows when it's time to shut the gate to the aqueduct. The "pro" is that it stops the dirt from filtering through into the ponds. That's a good thing. The "con" is it prevents any water at all from flowing through and oxygenating the water. That's a bad thing. The bigger fish can last overnight without oxygenated water, but as Kevin found out this week, the smaller ones (3 months old) cannot go that long serious repercussions. He woke up on Tuesday morning to half of our baby trout floating dead. Half equals 750! We were both so gutted. Having said that, being "the glass is half full" kind of people, it could have been worse, we could have lost the whole lot.

The very same day, Kevin realized that he hadn't seen our big bulls (Martin's two and our Jackson) since Sunday. That seemed rather strange. A full 24 hours without any glimpse is unusual. In fact, it's never happened. They might have tried to find some shelter from the rain under the forest canopy. Martin had been clearing some of the dried brush up in the pasture near the fences, maybe they found a way out. We had no idea. So as Martin hiked up the trails above the pasture and searched the forest, Kevin decided to follow the trail next to the river. He noticed some manure and followed it just beyond the border of our property where he found all three munching on green grass beside the river. Had Kevin not found them at this point, they could have easily just kept on going. Who knows where they would have ended up? We're just really relieved that Kevin found them and brought them back home. 

To find out where they got out, Kevin spied on them to see if they'd go back to the same spot. True to form, they did. There was indeed a gap in the fence where Martin had cleared. The next day, we went to Santa Maria to buy more barb wire to fix the problem. So far so good. No more rogue bulls.

Tuesday was an intense day. Stuff happens.

On the upside... our tomatoes are in full swing... we even have some beautiful small tomatoes ready to pick off the vine. They have a candy appearance with their smooth and glossy ganache-looking skin (apparently I've been watching too much British Bake-Off haha). And they are so delicious! The green ones in the second picture are much bigger; we're just waiting for them to ripen. Can't wait! Yum!