Cosy Cob Cottage

Starting the No-Dig Beds

I stopped to talk to a cow farmer nearby and asked if he had any manure for sale. He thought about it and then said he had some. If I followed him up the the monte he would show me. And sure enough there was a small pile of left over very well composted manure, probably two years old. He said I could have it! So I went over there first thing Sunday morning to dig it up and take it home. He described it like this: Melhor do que isso nao e. Better stuff than this doesn't exist.

So I've been barrowing it down to the vege garden. That's the hard bit of this gardening on a steep hillside. I managed to do two loads and have started to do no-dig beds. See how that works. I need more cardboard, but am using black plastic for the moment, to black out the soil and kill off the dreaded couch grass.

It's windy and we have had some rain off and on for the last few days. Soft rain that encourages growth and softens the soil, but it is still dry when you dig below 20 cm.

One of the little guava bushes has fruit on it. A good dose of vitamin c in each fruit. I grew these from seeds. They are no bother and don't need lots of watering in the summer.

I have planted a cheery red bougainvillea on the south west corner of the cob house. Let's see how it fairs. I've put it in a big pot as I don't want the roots to interfere with the drainage below the foundations.

Rainbows, Red clay, And the joys of the Mini Spring

Rainbow's Edge

Red Clay Room

Winter Lambs

New Spinning Wheel

Farmer's Sunset

We have finally had some rain, but only a drop or two. The soil is still dry when you dig down. I am on the look out for manure for the vege garden and the trees.
I have planted a couple of trees and plan to plant more over the next few months.
Quite a lot of my time at the moment is spent renovating a small house I have in the village. It has a serious problem which I feel I am keeping at bay by  will power alone. That is a bit exhausting! There is a shortage of builders available these days.
My new spinning wheel is a dream. It really makes a difference to my posture while working as it is a double pedal device, and also to the quality of the spinning.

On a More Positive Note...

Now that the days are a bit cooler I feel more hopeful and optimistic about this life on the hill. Yes, it can be a bit lonely but actually, I do like to spend my time doing stuff on my own.

I have been going down to the garden and reviving it. Digging out barrow-loads of couch grass and carrying it up to the cob house roof. Perfect place for it. There has been no real rain since April and even that wasn't very real. The soil is like dust and the couch grass slips out easily in most places. Now that it is not so hot it is very pleasant to be in the garden surrounded by the things that I have planted, the bushes, trees and herbs.

The compost heaps from two years ago and last year are ready to use and it is amazing stuff. Black and crumbly. I have sown cabbage, carrot, onion and they have all emerged. My middle grand daughter, Olivia, came and helped me prepare a bed and we planted four bits of potato and I told her that was her patch. She can come and watch the progress.

At the top of the hill, just below the windmill, my neighbours wanted a little house to make wine and they asked me to build it so I contacted a great cobber who has wwoofed for me in the past and we have been building with the red earth. Our feet and hands are stained red, The house, the floor, the bed sheets, everything is going earthy red. The new clay house is rising rapidly. Janosch has really got the cobbing bug and is doing a beautiful job. Next, I want to build one for me!

My neighbour Eusebio came with a bag of fava beans. I will need to dig more ground!

A few weeks ago I was showing how to plaster the inside of an old taipa (rammed earth) house using clay plaster. That was fun. It feels right to be working with the earth in such a basic positive way, not trying to extract too much, just enough to help us live in comfort and with the beauty of the earthen colours.

Aclimatising

The Well Where I get Drinking Water

Basiclly, You're Welcome

Recently Peeled Cork Oak

Psychedelic Sunset

Weaving Away the Hours

This is the last day of August and I've been sweating it out under the cover of an insulated tin roof... The temperature rose to 37 degrees outside but now the late afternoon brings a breeze and some relief. It is now 30 degrees outside and 30 inside... I am reluctant to go out in the car so I take a lesson from the dog and just lie in the draught in the shadows, waiting for coolth.

Earlier, before the heat had really struck, I went down to the cob house and carried up large 'biscuits' of straw in an improvised net, up two ladders, to put on the top roof. It was looking thin in places where a big storm a few months back had blown off some of the straw. It seems that after a few seasons the straw does become a kind of matted material that will allow new grass to seed and grow. Until then it needs replenishing. That was hard work. I kept saying I would just do one load, do it, and then say, I'll do another. I had covered about half the roof  when I realised I was so hot and sweaty that it was becoming dangerous to climb up the various ladders. Still, I am pleased with the efforts and hope to continue tomorrow morning, before the heat gets unbearable again.

I am trying to think about living somewhere else as this project started out as a two-person one and since one person is not here I feel I don't want to live with all the work glaring at me, and the top house is growing  big cracks along the east wall. It will be hard to give up my cob house but if I have the opportunity to build another I will leap at it! Until then, I will move down to the village and do the home improvements and repairs necessary to make it rentable again.

Return to Alentejo

I was away for three months. Mostly in Scotland and some time in Bristol, where I used to live when my children were small.

I loved being in my old country, (Scotland, that is). I had planned to get away to avoid the hot Portuguese sun but in fact it proved to be hot in Scotland and cool in Portugal.

My first farm was on the Isle of Oronsay, next to Colonsay. I was a bit nervous as it was my first time being a wwoofer! I needn't have worried. My hosts were so nice and I could manage the work and I had a bothy to myself. I walked all over the island, discovering the bays and cliff and rocky pools. It was brilliant and the sun shone every day except for my last one.

While I wandered the hills I gathered bits of sheep's wool and used my spindle to spin up enough wool to make a hat. Hebridean black sheep a have lovely soft fleece.

The Walled Garden

My next port of call was to the Outer Hebrides, to wwoof on a croft of a weaver. I was allowed to shear a sheep and did other woolly stuff and gardening and painting the fank.

Sallie's Studio

Angora Goat

One day it did rain and the feel of that fine Scottish rain on my face took me back more than forty years to when I used to live on Mull, where it rained nearly every day. It was a delicious, bitter-sweet moment. It had never been my intention to leave my homeland, but life has lead me to this hot, dry place.

I am still trying to get back to earth. I have mixed feelings about living on this hillside. I love the work that I have done here, but I don't want to work so hard and on my own.

Meanwhile, the flies buzz and shift from bare shoulder to knee to nose. Life goes on.

April showers

We have had days of heavy rain and thunder storms and days of brilliant sunshine. A real mixture. Spring time is so exciting. I have been out walking the hillsides and enjoying the cool temperatures and the fullness of it all.

I built a compost loo at the side of the house. It has a brilliant view of hills and rainbows.

I am about to set off for Scotland, my old homeland. I can't wait to smell and touch and taste and see - BE- there!