Having just returned from our Portugese idyll I thought it would be good to start a blog of what is now happening out there.

Vagarosa is big farmhouse on a hillside nestling in its own 3.2 Hectare valley. We have a large amount of cork trees, olive trees, cacti, pine and many other varieties. The property is totally off grid, with a bore well which provides good water all year, its own septic tank for the two bathrooms we have (one inside and one in an outside building) and a small solar power system. All the showers are solar heated. Winter warming is by four log burners in the main rooms.

My son Strat and I just spent a week restructuring the house…taking out old baths and showers from the largest bedroom, removing plumbing and retiling to create a big sacred space that will be the centre of all we do there. We also formed a door opening through the 2ft thick taipa wall (rammed earth) in the bathroom to allow access from what is going to be the 6 person bedroom…a job that took two days which we wouldn't repeat in a hurry !

We also have two other bedrooms…one double and the other for 4 people. So the house will now be able to sleep 12.

We had a meeting with our new friend Jonathan out there who is going to install us a bigger 1.5kw solar power system, so we’ll be able to have a fridge on all the time, run lighting and a few other household appliances.

The Alentejo is a hot part of Portugal, with temperatures in July and August reaching 40 degrees…so water can be an issue. Because of this we've decided to build state of the art separating compost toilets rather than add to the water burden with conventional flushing loos. So the next job when we return in August is building a new outside bathroom which will also have solar heated showers. We'll be replacing the existing kitchen with something more modern that will be able to cater for larger groups too.

We really want to make the experience of Vagarosa a complete contrast to the busy distraction of typical western urban life, keeping it as simple and natural as possible. We have a small lake which will become a focal point for meditation and contemplation when its developed, and a large area of flat cultivatable land with which to produce our own food in the coming years.

Photos of work at Vagarosa mid August.... and the September retreat

                                  

                                     Don’t leave your cuppa for too long or          Full moon on the hill

                                    the ants will be off with your tea bag..

  Yucca in bloom

  Jon and the new Vagarosa solar system ...                               new doorways....

   Old kitchen coming out                                        Liz and Zena working hard in new kitchen

  Building yoga deck...                                           Rachael taking morning asana class on deck

   Strat and Rach stripping tipi poles                       New tipi in place

      

                                            

                                                 

                                                                                                                    

  

   Tara the Vagarosa cat                              Our mysterious goat friend

                                                                                                                     

                 Chanting in the sacred space...                  

                                                                               

                                                                                     cacao ceremony in the tipi with Zena...    

         

                                                     The beautiful Vagarosa

                                                     2016 Autumn retreat

                                                     family ....

                                                                   

Popped over for a week at the end of November to prepare for winter and the Alentejo rainy season. Weather still very dry although there were a few storms, but nothing like the rain they need to refill the lakes and rivers.

Daughter Sophie came with her Portugese boyfriend Nuno to help with the work... turns out she’s a fearless chainsaw diva...turned the unused eucalyptus tipi poles into logs for the woodburners in no time !

Planted some broadbeans in the field, which will eventually become our garden..see how they grow.

Sadly discovered a major catastrophe underway in the palm trees..hundreds of red palm weevil bugs and grubs are munching away through the trunks of two of our six beautiful date palms. Not much can be done according to my tree surgeon friend Tom, once the palms are damaged, even if you eradicate the beetles with insecticide, they return. Searching for an anti weevil mantra.

Chainsaw Sophie                                                                          the dreaded red palm weevil

Roses and

cactii in bloom..

    ...hard work

       in the heat !

Mid July 2018

What a difference 6 weeks make. When we left here for UK after our retreat at the end of May, nature was bursting forth, the magical carpet of vibrant spring flowers had the bees and insects buzzing with delight, the birds were in a frenzy, singing night and day..literally with the nightingales..finding partners and making babies. The sparrows nesting on the side of the house were driving us crazy with their constant shrill cheeps, fluttering too and fro feeding their chicks. Where are they all now ?

It seems like nature has breathed out, and gone from doing... to being..the heat of Alentejo is rising daily, and everthing is now quiet..apart from the afternoon wind in the pine trees and the occassional huge bee fly past and the soundless flutter of the massive yellow butterflys.

Very few birds are seen, or heard, only the beautiful charm of goldfinches which visit our trees daily....even they are languid and unhurried. Summer peace and bliss :-

     Thunder hungry ghost lunar eclipse full moon in July, powerful time with Mars by her side.

     The first half of October was scorched by the sun and mid 30 deg temperatures, but then the rains

     came early to the delight of the parched landscape. Prickly pears and figs in abundance, with

     olives forming nicely on our trees now. Managed to finish off the roundhouse, which will be a

     multifunctional yoga deck and ceremony space, and also convertible into a canvas clad yurt for       

     extra accommodation.