Hola! This week, the weather decided it was still firmly in charge.
Heavy rain rolled back in and stalled the rest of the olive harvest before we’d finished. So we did what you do on an off-grid farm when the outside is underwater: we adapted, moved indoors, and got on with everything that had been waiting.
Table olives. Bottled oil. A new breakfast bar. And a chimney problem that needed sorting before it became something much worse.
🫒 Curing Our Own Table Olives
Back when we were harvesting, we set aside the best-looking green and purple olives to cure for eating rather than pressing. Now it was time to actually do it.
The process is simple but satisfying, and genuinely something anyone with an olive tree could try:
- Wash thoroughly — rinse off the mud, changing the water until it runs completely clear
- Sort carefully — remove anything bruised or damaged; the rest looked really good
- Make a salt brine — fully dissolved, because our neighbour kindly pointed out that undissolved salt means uneven curing
- Submerge the olives — they need to stay fully under the water throughout
- Cover with a boiled cloth — allows the gases to escape during fermentation while keeping dust and bugs out
- Change the water weekly for four weeks, then start tasting
- Add lemon peel — we hunted one down from our own land just before the storm hit, and added it both for antibacterial properties and to help weigh the olives down under the brine
They’ll take about six weeks to be ready to eat.
One important note for anyone curious about trying this at home: do not taste a raw olive. Just don’t. Jem did. They are, in her own words, disgusting. The curing process does all the work — it’s essential, not optional.
Once they’re done, we’re thinking of adding a bit more lemon. But for now, they’re sealed up and doing their thing.
🍋 A Small Moment Worth Mentioning
We went to find a lemon from our own land right before the storm arrived. A big dark cloud was rolling in, so there was something mildly absurd about hunting through the overgrowth for a citrus tree in a race against the weather.
We found one. Green and perfect, as if it had been waiting.
These are the moments — finding your own lemons on land that was abandoned and forgotten — that remind you why you’re doing any of this.
🪑 The Breakfast Bar
Big day. The breakfast bar arrived and went in.
We’ve wanted a proper indoor workspace since we moved in — somewhere to eat, to work, to sit and be part of the kitchen without being in each other’s way. This is it.
The difference in the room is significant. It feels bigger, brighter, and properly functional now. We also discovered a plug socket hidden behind where the bar now sits that we had absolutely no idea was there. The cortijo keeps revealing things.
🔥 The Chimney Problem
While sorting out the kitchen, we noticed something we really didn’t want to see.
There was a small gap between the chimney breast and the wall in the kids’ room — and smoke had been creeping in. Enough that we had to take the fire straight out of action.
Room ventilated. Alarms checked and in place. Fire stayed off. The house was genuinely cold, but safety comes first, always.
The fix: sealant. Generous amounts of it. We were not going for aesthetic points here — functional and safe was the only goal, and we can make it look pretty another day.
We left for Christmas not entirely sure how well it had held. First thing back, we checked.
No smell. No smoke. Kids’ room completely safe.
An actual repair that went well. We’ll take that win.
🫙 Bottling Our First Olive Oil for Home
We also finally got around to bottling some of our first olive oil from the press — a small amount to take back to the UK as gifts for family and friends.
The process mattered here. We sterilised the bottles properly and made absolutely sure they were completely dry before filling — even a small amount of water can spoil olive oil. We’ve since learned that darker bottles are better for preserving it long-term, but these ones are perfectly fine for gifts that’ll be used quickly.
Something about labelling up bottles of oil that came from trees we pruned by hand, on land that was abandoned for 20 years, to take home to family in the UK — we found that genuinely moving in a quiet way. A small thing. A meaningful one.
🚗 Gizmo (Again)
Just as we were getting ready to head to the airport for Christmas, Gizmo delivered his worst news yet: a bearing issue and a leaking brake cylinder. The mechanic advised us not to drive him — especially not with the kids.
So instead of Gizmo, we found a coach from a local petrol station to Alicante airport. Not the plan. But it worked.
Gizmo is going to need some attention when we get back.
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¡Hasta la próxima! 🌻