Life is just happening as usual. The obvious differences are not seeing any familiar faces or going out with friends and not speaking the native language (although, this hasn't actually caused us many problems so far). So socialising in general has basically stopped altogether.
The pluses however are the spectacular views surrounding the land, the clean air, fresh mountain spring water and getting to spend time on the land and be with Mum.
Since the new year we have started eating vegetarian, it just kind of happened, it also helped that we met up with some friends I first met at the Be-In Gathering last June. They live near Lisbon. So, on the 1st Jan, we headed off to their little village. They promote healthy eating and eat a raw veggie diet (Hi Shayna & Steven). Shayna made a lovely raw food salad with a starter of freshly picked (from around the area) various green leaves, grasses, etc that were juiced into a lovely power shot (Thanks Steven). It definitely kick started our year right.
Another friend I met at the Be-In Gathering came back with us to the farm to stay for a few nights, get away from the hustle and bustle of the Lisbon city life and generally chill (Ola linda Sofia). Sofia is vegetarian, which also helped me and Mum to eat veggie foods. Since Sofia left we have both felt inspired to stay on the vegetarian path.
I will admit, we have eaten fish a couple of times in the last 16 days... It was in the freezer, it's not like we were going to throw good food away! Our stomachs definitely paid for it the day after or so... Hmmmm
The sun has come and gone, some days are grey and rainy, some days are bright and blue skied, most mornings are currently bitter cold. If there is a wind blowing, you really know about it.
Not having any central heating in the house (it's not a done thing here) we only have the wood burner (in the lounge) and a gas heater (in the kitchen). All we can do for the moment is lots of layers, in fact, as many layers as you can wear is advisable!
I finally plucked up the courage to get the horse box on the land. The dirt track we live at the end of is quite small, however, I managed to get it here, in one piece too! I then realised that I could turn the horse box into my DJ studio! I had to do something with it didn't I...
Around 6-7 weeks living on the farm I decided to see how good my handy work was. So I crafted some stairs... I can tell you that they're very useful and sturdy, I impressed myself! They're used everyday, making life that little bit easier. Not being a builder type, I am having to learn a lot. But seems to just make common sense most of the time...
Learning new skills has definitely been the main highlight for me. I had forgotten how much fun learning something new could be, especially when the results are in front of you by the end of the day. Hopefully I am creating a nicer environment for us to live in.
Some photo's.
Thanks for getting this far...
Peace 1 <3
WMD
