festas, family and a new baby!

This last few weeks have been really busy at Mount of Oaks. The garden is lush and the harvest starts but mostly it has been a time of coming together. The parties in the villages nearby started and our families have been around. Also we are really happy to announce the first baby being actually born on the land! Exciting times!


If you want to read the stories and see the pictures, please click below.







Help on the Farm

We received the visit and help of Sophie. She was studying theater in Porto and come to help us for some days. Was a short visit but we had lots of fun. Thank you for everything, the trays for drying herbs couldn't have looked any better!

drying Plantain

Cheese Fest

 The party season has started, from May on there will be a Festa every weekend in the villages nearby. It's really nice to enjoy local traditions and food, and have a deserved break from work. The Cheese Fest in Soalheira hosts a great collection of cheese produced in our region. Mostly goat or sheep's milk, or a mix of both.

The sheep are really the stars of this party. Without them there would be no cheese.







Medieval Party in Monsanto

On the same weekend we went to the Medieval Fest in the beautiful village of Monsanto.

 
Family

Eric's family came to visit us for the first time. They really enjoyed knowing where we live, meeting the villages around and trying portuguese food but what they most enjoyed was helping us in the garden. Sometimes it was hard to make them stop :)

 Eric's grandmother, Gudrun, is a very experienced gardener. She thought us how to prune tomato plants and helped us to keep our weeds in check.

Flower Fest

Another party we went with Eric's family was the Festival das Flores in Aldeia de Santa Margarida. The people of this village made an amazing job in decorating the village with different types of flowers. A party for the eyes!

   




Baby Sebastian

As we shared in the latest post, our friends Dane and Jillie came to stay with us for some months, as they prepared for the birth of their first child. We are so happy to announce that Sebastian was born healthy on the 22nd of May. The birth was assisted by a great midwife António and Carly (Dane's sister) was the doula.

Jillie's parents came to meet their grandson and we had a table full of friends and family.  

more visits 

It was so nice to receive the visit of Leah, Marc and Coen. I (Márcia) met Leah in Mexico in 2008 and it was almost 5 years since the last time we saw each other. Now she and Marc are great parents to a very cute and smart 2 year old. It was great to catch up and share some life together, as they helped us in the garden.

Coen loved playing with the animals and collecting the eggs from the chicken.



Bárbara and Emma are back!

It has been 6 months since they have left on their sabbatical journey. In some ways time passed really fast but we did miss them a LOT! We can now appreciate even more all the years Barbara and Emma took care of this place and all gifts the 2 of them have. This place is not the same without them. Welcome back sisters, you were missed!

An interesting time of dreaming and planning is ahead of us. We will share our new projects with you in the right moment.

Thank you for reading and supporting us.
Enjoy the Summer!