A small harvest

A small harvest

Greetings from Mykanos. It has been an unconscionably long time since my last Letter, for which I sincerely apologise. Part of the reason is having to spend too long in London, another part is coping with La Traviesa, the small harvest, and the other part is having to rework my book, as some of what […]

Crispin’s stay…

Crispin’s stay…

Greetings from Mykanos. It is that time of the year, when the weather is hot and sunny. If you call 27C hot, that is. Compared to -40F in Chicago and 45C in New South Wales, it seems very boring here but we like it, and so does the coffee. In fact so do most things.  […]

Harvest and a festival

Harvest and a festival

Greetings from Mykanos. We would like to wish Happy New Year to you all. December was primarily the month of the cosecha … the coffee harvest.  As I mentioned in a previous Letter this was the first cosecha in more than a decade of which we have been solely in charge … sorry, I mean […]

A dog’s life

A dog’s life

Greetings from Mykanos. I’ve been asked about our animals, so I thought a report from the home front might not go astray… Many of you might find this very boring as it is mostly about dogs, with some plants thrown in. Over the years however, with a few notable exceptions such as Mac in London […]

On the big screen

On the big screen

Greetings from Mykanos. Whereas August was the month of wind and kites, September was the month of love and friendship, encompassing Colombia’s version of Valentine’s Day, ‘Dia de Amor y Amistad’ or ‘Love & Friendship Day’, which falls in the middle of the month, and as usually happens here, a one-day celebration is celebrated (and […]

Winds of change

Winds of change

Greetings from Mykanos. Well it’s now September, the month leading up to the cosecha or harvest, and we are getting ready to pick and process coffee. We are also getting ready to cope with a very poor coffee price, and putting pressure on the Federación to support us, but I will leave that for the […]

A sad farewell

A sad farewell

Greetings from Mykanos. July is almost over and I have been remiss in communications, but then we have been pretty busy. First, we had the World Cup. You might wonder if I am a football fiend. Well, I most certainly am not, but when you live in a country so fanatical about football it is […]

Political and tropical storms

Political and tropical storms

Greetings from Mykanos. It’s very lush and green here at the moment, the result of a lot of rain. It has rained almost every day and now it’s time for some sun to get the coffee cherries ready for the cosecha, which will start in September. Mykanos’ location, right in the middle of the tropics, […]

A rum affair

A rum affair

Greetings from Mykanos. Spring is springing in Europe and Autumn is falling in Australia, but here it is much the same as ever. We have, however, been having regular rainfall, which can be a nuisance in Bogotá but is exactly what our coffee trees need. We are just about to get into La Traviesa, the […]

Be fruitful and multiply

Be fruitful and multiply

Greetings from Mykanos, Happy new February! Yes it has been a while. You have enjoyed Christmas, New Year and January without having a word from me, but I am afraid your soothing sojourn is over and it’s back to Letters as usual. Sorry about that. The lead up to Christmas saw numerous dinners with friends, […]