Tipping Over the Equinox

So it is Spring, with a capital 'S'. Flowers are going crazy. Leaves are bursting out of their woody tips. I am very excited because my Hunza apricot tree has lots of flowers on it! It's maybe 6 years old and I grew it from an apricot stone, from a dried Hunza apricot.

I went for a walk on the big beach of Malhao. There were two surfer families and a few of those black-clad dolphin boys riding the rather gentle waves. There was NO rubbish on the sand! The water didn't feel too cold, although I only paddled. All in all, it was heavenly.

This is a huge plum tree at the bottom of the land. Every branch is covered in blossoms. It gives golden plums in the summer.

The wheat grows long and lush in the cork trees. It is all very green at the moment, but actually, if we don't get rain soon we will have a draught situation. The roads are dusty already.

Spinning and Dreaming

It's raining! Hooray! We need lots of rain. These spring showers are lovely but not enough, but we may have to accept them as enough. At least it is gentle rain which feeds the seeds and soil rather than the winter torrents we have had in previous years.

A Rather Gory Dawn

Taking The Girls To The Garden Centre

Weaving on the Patio

I am planning a trip away to Scotland. I will go WWOOFing! That is rather exciting and so some of my time is spent planning and dreaming about getting and being in the Western Isles.

Meanwhile, I have some sunset, baby-pink, hand-dyed, Shetland lamb's wool to spin. Perfect for a rainy day. I have not had a fire in the house for a few weeks now as the new firewood is still green and not worth burning. Also, it is not cold. People say to me that I must be so tough but really, it's 16.05 degrees Celsius. With my hand spun hand knitted woolly socks I feel cosy.

So come on rain, let it out!

Saint Valentine's Day

It's Saint Valentine's day and I'm feeling a bit blue. Living on this steep and beautiful hillside can be lonely. It's a fabulous blustery day with not a cloud in the sky.
I have heard that working with the earth can alleviate gloominess so I've been swinging my favourite garden tool, the enxada. It does help to work the physical body and to be outside in this beautiful part of the world. Bonnie came and sat on my jersey and Coco came and sat in the giant heather tree nearby. It's nice to feel the love.

I get a bit obsessive about the stones I find while I'm working. I collect them and use them in the bottom of flower pots or as gravel.

I'm not sure what to plant in the top one. I will let it rest for a bit. The one below it has garlic and peas. I thought they might like to grow together.

I have been spinning and knitting and crocheting but now it is beginning to feel like spring is around the corner. In fact it gets blooming hot during the middle of the day. I will probably do some more digging and pottering but my heart isn't in it. Mostly because I am alone and feel sad that another attempt at the good life has gone south. Ah well. It could be worse. At least I am in a lovely place and have my family not too far away.

And the thought came to me that I have a great relationship with the soil!

From Bare Feet to Wooly Socks

A Very Dry Month

There has been no rain for months. It is very dry. Days of endless blue skies and not a cloud in sight. Neon sunsets. Roses blooming and narcissus coming into flower. I long for some damp days and dream of Scotland.

Christmas and New Year have been celebrated in a quiet way due to a very nasty bug going around that got us all, one after the other. I am recovering now.

It's been very cold at night, frost in the hollows. I feel blessed to have a good stove and a stack of firewood.

I am not a very political person and never keep up with the 'news' but I wonder if this 'Brexit' thing will happen and if so, how does it affect us emigrants. I don't want to lose my ties to the old country (which for me is Scotland, not England). I guess we shall find out in the next few months.

New people continue to find their way to our neck of the woods. Young people with children and dreams. I understand their wish for the good life. This is a good place to have a family and grow your own food, etc. I am curious to see how their new energy and input will affect the area. There are more activities, like yoga, pilates, working with modeling clay, zumba. My daughter has started a small play group where children all with different mother tongues come together and play in the sand pit. Rather special. And the kindergarten where my middle grand daughter goes is also multi-lingual. She speaks German with her best friend!

 

 

View to the North West

Let's see what 2019 brings. I am ready for a change of scene!

All Quiet on the Western Front

It's been a time of contemplation.

I have moved out of my lovely cob house and back up into the 'shack'. I guess I like change. Also, it's nice to have a break from that hill, and so lovely at the top! The views are captivating.

I intend to rent out the cob house but meanwhile I have two lovely German girls helping me finish the roof and weed the strawberry patch. The couch grass roots go on the roof. Permaulture in action. (Stacking functions)

R is in UK working and I feel tired of farming on my own, so I am letting ideas and opportunities rise up to the surface.

I bought myself a rigid heddle loom and am enjoying learning how to use it. I am making stuff using hand spun wool. It is very satisfying work.

The olive grove has been ploughed for pasture.

I love this curve of land.

All the fields have been ploughed and lots of cistus cut and burnt. The land looks very manicured for the moment, with the corduroy red-brown earth and the vivid green edges where the grass has grown after the baking heat of summer has dissipated. I sat on a fallen bough of a cork oak yesterday and listened in the stillness of the afternoon to acorns falling all around me.

A new year is just around the corner. Best wishes to all.

Rain, finally!

We got the tail end of a couple of hurricanes in the Atlantic. Nothing damaged, but quite a good bit of rain. We are all blinking and feeling strange. Shoes and socks, jeans and jerseys, etc.

My house is dry inside. Yeah! I still haven't finished the roof extensions but it works fine. I am hoping to get some volunteers to help me do the work next week.

Last week I took a short trip up north to a place near Tabua, Coimbra area. It was interesting to see how steep the hills are and how covered in (burnt) eucalyptus they are. It is so sad. It should be a criminal offence to plant those trees, plus the false mimosa which is spreading like a plague.

I stayed with a family who are starting up a permaculture forest. I loved their enthusiasm and energy. I feel a bit jaded, myself. Farming and 'the good life' is a lot of work, especially if you live on a steep hillside with no access to the lower slopes. Still, it is good exercise.

The chestnuts are ripe and big. Time to make that dangerous chestnut pudding. Chocolate, chestnuts and cream...

Also, it will soon be time for fires inside. I am without a stove at the moment but feel I will soon be on the case. I took out my clay fireplace as it was not working. I feel tempted to make a new one but I do have a very good Jotul to put in so I may skip the clay bit.

The figs always get ripe just when the weather goes wet. So there are a lot of soggy figs around, and dizzy, slow wasps feeding themselves up for the winter.