I have very good memories of my childhood; I fondly remember my summers at my father’s village, Torremocha del Pinar, Guadalajara in Spain.

My mother, my sister and I would spend 3 or 4 weeks there each summer (my father always worked in the summer, since he used to deliver ice – peak season!). There I liked to go to the places where the different grains were being processed: I have used a threshing-board to separate grain from stalks, seating at the wooden piece which was dragged by mules. Then we would sweep the threshing floor to gather the grain, and then we would clean it with a machine (this is a generous word for that artifact!). I am sure my kids will think I lived in the prehistoric times when I tell them about this.