It's catch up time - Oops been nearly a year !!

I'm glad to feel back on the writing track, but where to start when eleven months have past ! The summer got hot hot hot, we disappeared to northern climes, and everything got crispy back on the farm. We returned and spent some months in the waiting game - Trev waiting to sell his other farm in Spain and us waiting to finalise the legalities for our eco project here in Portugal.
Now the energy has shifted, Trev has sold his place in Spain, we are all legal beagle and away we will go ! Planning permissions are underway for our unconventional eco builds. This can be a serious challenge here in Portugal... a lot of tight bureaucracy, but fortunately we are under the umbrella of Vale das Lobas (www.valedaslobas.com) who have worked unfathomably hard to break new ground in sustainable living here in this region of Portugal. So we feel very hopeful that we will get permissions to create our round straw bale house and another straw bale eco house.
At present we are cleaning our woodland for fire prevention which is an enormous issue here in Portugal, but also we are doing it to prepare the two sites in preparation for digging the foundations, which is extremely exciting for us after a wait of over two years.

So I have some catching up to do before I can show off what we are doing right now. This is 11 months condensed into a few photos - there's something gratifyingly simple about rounding life off into pictures :)

First on the pack-it-in list is : creating out caravan shelter last , it gets hot in a caravan, and this shelter has transformed life from fan oven temperatures to cool woodland breezes in the summer months...aaaah

Stripped green pine beams from our woods will create the structure

These two hard working enthusiastic volunteers were a god send for Trev

Isaac, Trev's son in full focus.

Hey Presto ! almost done ! Give or take 10 days of muscle power from four guys.
Olli, my younger brother is helping with the roof in this photo.

 Caravan settling in.

These bats were found sleeping under the tarpaulin covering the roof.
 Looking a little annoyed by being woken up. They flew off once they got used to the daylight.

The Summer Harvests 

The grape pruning paid off, we had a bumper crop, so we decided to try our hands at some wine making. There were a few varieties of red grape, our's are mostly black, small and sweet which are the winemaking variety. 

Trev looking like the proper farmer he is.


Chrissy grape picking



The harvest ready for juicing



Our very simple method to juicing the grapes - squishing them in buckets!
The juice was amazing, sweet but with a citrus tang - delicious.



I thought it might be quicker with the feet (washed well first), but actually by using the hands it was more effective.






Some of the finished product, we made 100 litres !
Each bottle has a different quality, as we did small batches in buckets, we realised that the flavours of the bottles were attributed to the grape variety in that particular batch.
Next time we have learnt that we need to leave the grape must (skin) in the fermenting process for longer, we wracked it off too soon, so the wine had become more like a rosé than a full red. By all reports it's a refreshing summer wine with hints of Cranberries !!!
(That's as far as my wine talk goes).

Here are a few photos showing the peach and plum harvest, it's important to be ready with the jam making equipment and preserving jars and bottles, as they all come in one go.
 (this year the cherries weren't as abundant as they usually are).

To finish off the catch up, here are a few photos of the bathroom now fully functioning with hot water shower and sink, We also now have a washing machine !! Two very important improvements to my simple country life.

Our new wood burning stove hot water heater called a 'Bailerina'
In one hour there is enough hot water for five showers. 


Still some finishing to do in the bathroom. as the pipes are exposed due to a water leak. Slowly but surely we're getting there. 

So much is happening now on the farm, so I'm looking forward to tell you about it very soon. 

There is also some exciting things happening to Vale das lobas, this is the eco project we are part of. If you have an interest in joining a sustainable eco community or just want to find inspiration in the vision of a new model of living, combining regeneration, biodiversity and sustainable living, check out the website www.valedaslobas.com

Até Logo.  See you soon  :)