Mount of Oaks

Feb 7, 2010

Mission almost accomplished...

The second part of the bath roof is almost done...few more Spanish brums (now I know the word for "giestas") and it will be done... I'm not sure if tomorrow or tuesday cuz it's said it's gonna be raining...
Anyway, here are some pictures of this last week progress... I had fun, and Lyna cut all the Spanish Brum, which made it much more easier on the last day to cover it...

the first thing I had to do was going to the woods and cut some straight Mimosas for the roof structure...then take all the bark away so they are clean and smooth...it's also harder for the wood worms to go for it...

After finding the best way to lay the "not quite straight" poles I then laid these ones here to strengthen the whole structure, and divide the weight of the boards which would go on top...

so, the boards then...they were fitting well...straight enough, and enough inclination to let the water run down to the other roof...

It was looking cute already...but the hardest work was to saw each end of the boards... my back got a bit sore...I couldn't find a good position to do it...anyway...done...Fiiiiuu...

so then, two layers of normal black plastic which I nailed with the laths creating a frame all around it...oh, except the bottom, where the water goes down...

I added an extra board at the end side for more protection from the sun (that's what would destroy the plastic)

And finally the laying of the Spanish Brum...I love this work...

and as I said, having Lyna picking it all up during the week made the work quite easy...still, a bit delicate as I need to go on socks to the roof so I don't make any single hole on the plastic...

But we couldn't get to finish it before saturday evening, as we run out of brum, and it was getting too dark for me to do it... anyway... we chose to rest today...shantii, shantii...there is time for everything :-)

so, today I made a nice bath instead...enjoying and contemplating the work of the week :-)

all the details of the bath house are not done yet, but I'll save it for later cuz there are other priorities ahead... next week I want to start fixing and improving the irrigation system so we have taps with pressure for the dish washing and bath house...

And here's a nice one of Nolan...the one man show, "playing" the guitar and a sort of instrument that sounds like a trumpet... he's imitating his mom Lyna...actually he's in a funny stage of imitating and trying out everything (testing our patience as well)... the other day he picked a hammer and went right to the place I had the nails, then he was putting one in the corner of his mouth ( the way he sees me doing)...of course I was watching... and laughed... that's not really a safe "toy" for kids to play with :-)... he does try to help though :-)...
O.K, have a good week all of you... I'm ready for dinner and bed now... yeh, it's only 7pm as I write this, but that's the rhythm I have here...before 7am I'm already waking up and enjoying the sun rising :-)

Jan 31, 2010

Bath Roof almost done...

After one week work, our bath roof is looking nice, and I think stronger :-)...
no more tarps and temporary fixing (we hope)...
Me and Lyna worked well as a team, and we had 2 "angels" coming to help for a couple of days, Rute and Miguel...
It's nice and encouraging to be building again...actually, I'm planning lots of buildings before the permaculture course at the end of March...so we can offer a bit better conditions...
After this is finished we'll work on the shower place, the irrigation and warming water system (by the way,I'm researching and studying about it, but if you have simple tips, let me know cuz there's looots of ways for solar water systems), a compost toilet and a shelter for the course, in case we have rain (but I do hope not)...
Yep, We'll be busy these next weeks... I hope we'll have some time to plant in our veggie garden, as the season is coming...

If anyone would like to come and give a hand, that would be great and helpful...Lyna will also need help to build her Yurt's floor...so, just let us know!!!

But I'll just post some pictures of our past week and make some comments...

Rute, Miguel and Mafalda (the dog), our "angels" who came to visit for a couple os days and gave us a hand...it was really fast working together with them.. and Miguel gave us nice tips... It was a pleasure to meet them...so nice people...And Muxima was glad to have Mafalda to play with...she often gets bored and wants attention when we're working...

the beginning of the new roof, after tearing down the old tarp...
We did spent some money to buy wood boards, but I think it's time for that kind of investment...not that we have much, so any donations would be much appreciated and very useful !!!

Lyna and Nolan (always around)...measuring the boards to cover the bath place...she did a great job...

Lyna got me on the roof with the full moon rising at the back :-)

Another stage...a simple tarp for waterproofing ...

and the fun part (also a bit hard on my hands)...covering the tarp with "giestas" ( I have no idea what it's called in english)...

funny perspective in the end of the day !!!

and a beautiful one of the moon rising !!!

I got to the end of it... fiiiiu !!!

And Lyna too...

Now I'm thinking how to do the second part of the roof which will overlay the one I just finish... with a bit more knowledge after learning few more things with little mistakes I could avoid on the first part of the roof :-)...Again, learning by doing ...

Jan 25, 2010

STRAWBALE BUILDING WORKSHOP

I'm also planning a STRAWBALE BUILDING WORKSHOP from the 27th of MAY till the 3rd of JUNE
The teacher will be again Lesley Martin who has been teaching the Permaculture courses... Besides the fact that she is an excellent teacher and experienced gardener, she has also a degree in architecture which she approaches with all the permaculture principals of self-sustainable building, low impact in nature, with the best use of the natural forces/resources around us...

I'm really excited about this cuz I really want to learn more about different ways of building our structures with the natural materials we have around.
This is also considered one of the cheapest and easiest techniques among many other ways of natural building... so that it´s very handy for our reality at the moment as well :-)

ALL OF YOU WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED, LET ME KNOW...

THE PRICE IS GONNA BE , 200E, unless we don´t have enough people to cover the cost for food and teacher. But we´ll see how people respond to the suggestion.

PEACE

Barbara

PERMACULTURE COURSE IS FULL

We reached more than enough participants for this next Permaculture Course next March, from the 20th till the 28th... I´m still waiting for some confirmations, but I think we have reached the limit...
So, I´m thinking about the possibility to make A SECOND ONE THIS YEAR, either FROM THE 17th till the 25th OF APRIL, or else from the 21st to the 29th OF AUGUST.

IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED LET ME KNOW AS SOON AS POSSIBLE SO I CAN DECIDE IF WE GO FOR IT OR NOT... WE NEED AT LEAST 8 PARTICIPANTS IN ONE OF THIS 2 OPTIONS OF DATES (end of APRIL, or end of AUGUST)...THE SAME PRICE AS THIS ONE, 180E...

PEACE

I´m really glad with this, first of all cuz most of the participants this time will be portuguese :-)

Jan 13, 2010

Weather conditions at the moment...

we had snow here... :-) ... check out for the pictures here ... and here if you wanna see the flood that came after the snow melted and the rain poured :-) ...
Oh my... what a wheather !!! Beautiful though...

Dec 9, 2009

NEW PERMACULTURE COURSE COMING SOON...

Next SPRING we'll be running another PERMACULTURE COURSE here at the MOUNT OF OAKS... As last year, it will be taught by Lesley Martin who is a fantastic person and teacher in my opinion, and I’m sure all the ones who did the last year course can say the same...
It ‘s gonna take place from the 20th to the 28th of MARCH 2010, and it’s gonna cost 180E

(if by any chance you’d like to offer more, know that all the money will revert to pay the teacher, the food expenses of the course and all the extras will be for our future building projects...this land is still in a pioneering stage and we buy all things we need mainly with charitable donations)...
this course will be given in english, unless we have a volunteer to do a simultaneous translation into portuguese or other language...

Now, WHAT SHOULD YOU EXPECT OF THE COURSE :

It includes lectures, field trips, hands-on projects, camping and meals. The course will be conducted in the internationally accepted manner, so all graduates earn a Permaculture Design Certificate for completing the 72-hour course which includes : Intro, Fundamentals, Field Trips, Design Workshop (the attendants will be put into groups and each presents their own design project in the final day)... All students are required to be present for the full 9 days if they wish to receive the certificate.

The course will consist of a broad range of topics applicable to life anywhere on this planet, yet will be tailored to the needs of the students present as well as the location at hand. Participants will help to co-create the design of food forests, permaculture-style gardens, natural buildings, water catchment and irrigation systems, work with swales and dams, etc...

Permaculture courses are fairly standardized as far as content. We will cover every major topic . So quickly what that includes is the following:

1. Philosophies and Ethics underlying permaculture.

2. Basic permaculture principals and help shape things in general

3. Patterns in Nature, and how to use that in design

4. Methods of design. How to go from a damaged piece of land to having and idea for how to move forward with it.

5. Climactic factors. We will cover all the major climates and how to work with them.

6. Trees, forests, and why we want to mimic their systems.

7. Water: catchment, usage, importance, and conservation

8. Soil, minerals, microorganisms, building new soil, and preventing erosion

9. Earthworks: How to shape the land to help it acheive the goals we are aiming for.

10. Aquaculture

11. Natural Building

12. Alternative systems: community living, and other ways of choosing to live differently that works well for people and the planet.

Each of these categories has subcategories and the teacher also has their own additions and certain topics that are stressed over others.

You can also check here for the last year’s report...

WHAT ARE YOU EXPECTED TO BRING ?

-tent or if you have, your own mobile home :-)
-your daily care personal stuff
-a flash light (the moon will be growing as it will be full on the 29th, but still, it’s always handy)
-a cup/mug (we might not have enough here for everyone)
-we do have plates, forks and knifes, but if you prefer to bring your own that’s up to you...

-sleeping bag and mat or whatever you wanna sleep with...
-some hard surface for you to write on... We don’t have a conventional class room...Fiiiiuuu!!!
-if you have your favourite kind of chair or stool, do bring it...the ones we’ve got might not be the most comfortable ones :-/
-Some warm clothes...the nights can be chilly...but the days, are usually warm and sunny (I do hope so)...
-If you play any instruments and would like to bring it for the fire circle in the evenings, do bring them along...
-Joy, Love , open heart, laughter, your own knowledge, etc...all the good in you!!! The not so good stuff comes along too, but we all have it anyway, so hopefully we’ll all be gracious :-)
-you can pay the 180E as you arrive, but if you have the chance to give it in advance one week before (all of it or a part), that would help on the shopping we need to do before everyone comes...

WHAT DOES THE LAND PROVIDE ?

-A camping area
-A shit pit and or a dry compost toilet (if we get it ready for that time) :-)... With toilet paper or water as you prefer...
-Drinking spring water and food (mainly vegetarian)...LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY RESTRICTIONS ON YOUR DIET...
-I do hope to have a better shower system then :-)...but we do have a way to shower or bath :-)

Hmmm...I guess that’s all the information I’ve got... If you have any questions, do ask ...
O.K, DON’T FORGET TO PASS IT ON TO YOUR CONTACTS OF PEOPLE WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED...

...a comment from one of the last year attendants :
“What an absolutely brilliant course it was.. I am still digesting everything Lesley taught us. And thank you so much for hosting us all, and for this write-up!
I look forward to seeing the fruits of her teaching in the years to come - when we are all working on established permaculture projects of our own!” Hannah xx

PEACE FOR ALL

P.S- I'm thinking of not having more then 15 attendants, so if you're interested get in touch as soon as you can...I have already 4 people interested and I only mailed the invitation a couple of days ago...