LUIGI AND THE CONCHA

This is Luigi. He is what Italians call a bastardo. This is because of the magnificent variety of breeds that make up his being. He is also a vagabondo because he is off through the woods at the first opportunity. He likes to visit other people and other dogs. He was tossed out of a car on the main road some years ago which, in spite of his many ancestors and wandering ways, he did not deserve. Now he is ours.

He is sitting next to a concha, pronounced konka. This one dates back to the late 1700s and was found by our builder when he was digging up our yard. He very carefully extracted it whole. It took four men to get it onto a lorry and unload where you see it now.

These conchas were multi-purpose basins. They were used to collect rain water, as planters for lemon and other trees, for farm storage and for septic tanks.

The person who made this one long ago did a thumb print design around the rim and scratched in his own personal design around the rest while it was still wet. I often wonder about the person who made it and what tool he used to scratch in the design. They are quite sought after by those who are restoring big villas but this one sits outside a little farm house, its natural home. We haven't used it for anything and like Luigi, it is simply ours.