Myself (Jasmine) and my partner Trevor share a dream to provide a sanctuary to those who are open to allowing the Earth and her natural rhythms and cycles to nourish, support and ultimately heal us. We feel that humans are social beings that have, for eons, lived within community, supporting each other in physical activities as well as through receiving inspiration in each others knowledge and gifts. 

This blog is an opportunity to show a glimpse of my life on Portugal living the 'good life',. I want to be able to share my experiences with all my friends back in Ireland, the land that had been my home for 25 years. It is also a chance for the people we meet along the way to get a sense of what it would be like to come down to visit, to get involved with our project or with the wider eco community of Vale das Lobas that we are involved with. 

Below are some photos of the farm :

 Often we can appreciate the beautiful sunsets from this aspect of the land

The old walls of the terraces and front view of the farmhouse

   A view of the front of the farm house with the terraces of fruit trees and vines below

 This is Trevor with our water mine, pure spring water comes deep from within the earth, we pull the water up with a solar powered pump. 

We hope to be able to provide a safe, comfortable and joyful space for visitors who come to attend workshops, retreats, social events, eco camping, glamping and wwoofing. Our vision is to create a 10 meter straw bale roundhouse to cater for community events and workshops/ retreats in Yoga/ Dance/ Qi Gong/ Movement/ Circus/ Performance Arts/ Music/ Drumming/ Shamanic Journey work. Within the woodland area I plan to design an area for sacred space to include a therapy dome and a Watsu warm water pool plus a sacred fire place.
At present we have erected one simply put together dome that we use as a social space for musical gatherings, meetings, dinners and general chill out space. 

We hope to accomodate visitors in various natural structures to include: tipis, bell tents, domes and yurts. We will also provide a caravan and on completion a renovated stone farm house with out buildings.

The land here in Alagoas, near Fornos de Algodres, holds a very special feeling. Our four and a half hectare farm was once a thriving 'quinta' known to be one of the most abundant in the region. We are hopeful that we can bring it back to it's former glory and that this will provide satisfaction to our friendly local neighbours who have seen much of the land in the past decades enveloped by bramble and broom, which has submerged it's vibrant history beneath.

Our two dogs, Bugsy and Raja walking in the northern most part of the land

This is our stone walled water reservoir, The channel at the back wall connects underground to the water mine where the source comes from.

Our oldest cherry tree

The wild lupins in the spring

Within walking distance of the farm are some beautiful walks that take the curious of spirit to ancient sites that include two 6 thousand year old passage tombs, graves carved into boulders, Knights templar chapels, many fascinating, prehistoric relics and beautiful winding tracks leading to 'who knows where'. Here are some images of our locality and it's ancient heritage. 

Fraga de Pena is a spectacular natural rock formation, but it is also sacred site for the neolithic peoples who inhabited the land many thousands of years ago. It is perched on top of the of the same ridge of hills that our farm is located on.

This passage tomb is little more than a mile's walk from our place, I like to see it as my very own meditation chamber. It's aligned with the sunrise of the autumn and spring equinox.

An example of the fantastic granite boulders scattering the region.

Some of the fields in the region date back hundreds or even thousands of years.
( Raja also looking handsome in the foreground).

At present we are busy completing a straw bale and cob compost toilet and bathroom, the next project will be to renovate the small stone house into a communal kitchen. We are open to inviting willing workers to come and offer their time in exchange for simple accomodation and food. We know that it is essential to have good will and community to fulfil the vision, so we start as we mean to go on with joy and wholehearted belief in a positive future and the evolvement of human consciousness !