Trimming the orchards

Today I went out to repair a friend's clock. It is good to keep my hand in. It was a huge longcase with multiple complications but fortunately it only required partial dismantling to fix the moon phase. Not having any specialist mineral clock oil over here, I had to resort to traditional methods. A touch of olive oil did the job nicely. The house was in the middle of orchards and a lot of trimming and pruning goes on at this time of year. A friend who works a vineyard was complaining the other day at how bitterly cold it is doing this work when it is a few degrees and the Tramontane blows relentlessly for several days.