The Ever Evolving Rustic Kitchen

The kitchen has been evolving and morphing over the years, it started nearly six years ago as an old but waterproof caravan awning between my camper van and Trev's little caravan. That's all we had when we arrived, no shower, no toilet, no washing machine..... ok it's not like we weren't both used to roughing it in the past, but the challenges of two wet and cold winters in the mountains made the arrival of the 'luxuries' feels just that, incredibly luxurious.

So this summer the addition of the new kitchen has felt like another 'luxury' to me, we now have space to be creative with our meals, spices and herbs on shelves and everything having it's own place..aaah, happiness. The new solar powered fridge/ freezer and gas cooker with double oven is also a great pleasure for me. I have realised that as a host to so many volunteers and guests the value of a good kitchen is immense, it is the Heart (h), it offers us all joy and gratitude around the dinner table. I find that the volunteers and guests have become more productive, enjoying the autonomy of a functional space, separate to all our personal living spaces.
The vegetable garden is placed close by so that the eventual plan is to have a Farm to Fork arrangement. The kitchen composting system in close union with the garden, a symbiotic relationship.  

This is our lovely new rustic kitchen 

Originally we had this simple caravan awning 'kitted out' with a work surface, some shelves, a sink and cooker. After that it became the volunteer's kitchen for a couple of years. It was cold and damp in the winter, but it did the job. 

I forgot to take photos of the building stage of the wooden frame, so now you see Trev making the fascia boards out of the 'Feileros', we got a large batch from the wood yard. They are the 'left overs' from the cutting of the square/ rectangular beams. We are also using salvaged double glazed windows that Trev's brother, Colin saves for us from his building jobs. 

The caravan has a had a paint job thanks to Claire Nichols, one of our volunteers.

Building the extension on the extension:) This is to protect the caravan from the elements but also to weather proof the kitchen. 

A great way for some of our volunteers to get some experience with woodwork. Thanks Simeon, Miles and Sam. 

Chrissy getting to work on the kitchen. Even though we had a small space to work with I wanted the space to feel contained and separate from the eating area. The 'bar area' works to do this. 

Chrissy has used some our pine for work top, the interesting colour of the grain has been created due to moisture in the wood.  

This panoramic shot shows the compactness of the kitchen. Also it shows the caravan sporting a funky paint job courtesy of Claire. 

Exciting for me to see the progress. The outer shelves will be used for easy access for  cups and plates. And I get to work on the sanding, which actually takes a lot of work, unfortunately I forgot to take photos of myself. 

The addition of the shelf above the bar was a great idea by Chrissy, my idea of adding some of our swirly natural chestnut I feel adds some rustic charm... it took lots of sanding to get the smoothness I wanted, I used Danish oil for the finish that gave a great effect and strengthen and nourishes the wood. The weather conditions in Portugal are challenging for wood ie, lots of moisture in the winter and lots of heat and dryness in the summer. This design works well when we have a party or for presenting the breakfast. 

Chrissy with Brent and Babette, two very capable volunteers from Belgian who turned up spontaneously and have ended up staying for months!

Carrying the heavy newly stripped beams to the kitchen in preparation for building the veranda.

Good woodwork experience for our French volunteers Felix and Basile, Chrissy enjoying teaching. 

Felix keeping focused

Starting to look like a veranda

The kitchen in action, it has become a great social space. It all started just before the weekend of my party in August last year, when I bravely (I felt) moved in, bringing everything up from the veranda kitchen that is outside Trev's caravan. It worked fantastically well for the party, a perfect kitchen warming.
It feels good to have a clearly defined eating and socialising area. The dome that we had originally built temporarily is still standing and used a lot for chilling out, social gatherings, and cosy winter evenings by the fire.
It feels like the people and our lives are shaping the way we create theses spaces, it is an organic process - we are inhabiting areas and they are growing into something. This is the way I imagine that villages and communities have been built throughout time. We plan now to cobble or tile the outside area, creating a functional outdoor space, we will integrate the existing outdoor fire area and also add a spring water font area. At present Babette, who is fast becoming our artist in residence is designing some ideas for a sculpture to honour the spring that gives us such beautiful fresh water.   

Maybe one day we will share lunch or a cup of tea around the table.
Blessings on the food, as we say here !