Second PERMACULTURE Design Course...

Just to let you all know that it is confirmed the second PERMACULTURE DESIGN COURSE this year...
It will be from the 28th August to the 5th September...
Just a little advice... this one that is about to start got full in not so much time and I keep receiving e.mails of people who would like to take part of it...that's why I decided to make a second one this year...and this is the only time it's possible both for me and for Lesley who's going to lecture it...
SO, DON'T TAKE SO LONG TO CONFIRM YOUR PRESENCE :-)
PEACE for ALL...

Fixing the road ...

We keep being busy here...Now Willi is fixing our entry road below, cuz it keeps raining a lot... and I'm still busy with plumbing...Next week I'll start the solar water heater and I'll let you know more about it all...
As I'm also writing in my personal blog, so, if you don't mind, just click here for last week's review...
Have a great week yourself :-)
PEACE

Plumbing time...

Last week I started to fix the irrigation system...actually, making it new and more suitable for our needs...(this is just the first stage of the bigger picture)
I went to buy all the material I needed and I got all excited with the junctions and connections I had to play with..eh, eh...it's not an easy job, but definitely fun... It has been raining and even snowing again, so I got to work either in the bus or in the washing station...



actually, I used the weather as a good excuse to finally make the washing station properly... it needs a bit of flexibility to put our first plans aside and do other things when the rain comes... or other things turn into priorities...the cold is no problem for me as I find it a very good way to warm up during the day :-) ...
For those who are interested, this irrigation system is not such a complicated thing... I'm using a pump on our top terrace pond, and gravity to flow the water down... I'm using 55 gallon/200 liter standard metal drums ( those you find in scrap yards or buy it for 5E) to store the water, as we haven't got enough money to build proper tanks yet (I've spent enough just on the plumbing material and some tools I missed)... but these drums have been doing the job pretty well :-) ...
So, I'm putting 2 of these drums on the top level (using the pump), to use in the washing dishes station next to the house...I've put there 2 taps, one for the dishes, and other for the garden hose...
The other 2 will be on the kitchen level, above the bath house (high enough for some pressure), which will be filled by gravity alone...one of these 2 will be higher than the other, and the lower one will be inside a south facing insulated box and used as a solar water heater...
This will be the greatest challenge of the whole system, but I'll let you know how it worked out... probably at the end of next week...I do hope it works :-)...

Anyway, here goes some more pictures with few comments to give you a glimpse of last week...

the two water drums on the top layer so we have more pressure for the washing dishes station and garden...

the fun work on its place :-)

Nolan on the new washing station :-)

Lyna's cooking... It's been so nice to be living with her, and also really nice to have someone who likes cooking with so much LOVE... the beauty of living in community and appreciate each one's role...each one is so precious and unique, enabling us all to live in harmony...and get things done for the benefit of all...

Willi is also back to stay with us for a month or so... so nice to see him again...he's an unique character too...as always, he's in action (he's our Mcgiver, for those who remember the series, eh, eh)...here, fixing my car that was having a problem with the starter...

And he's also fixing our road (not just temporarily, so we hope), cuz it started to rain again, and it was impossible to go up with his van/home...it's been already a week of rain, and at least one more week is to come...it has been even snowing again...the mountains around us are filled with beautiful white spots throughout its landscape...

But still, I don't complain cuz I know how much the land needs this water to stand the hot summer...this is our pond on the top terrace...for those who 've seen it in the summer or even last year, you can tell how much it's raised...cool !!!

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 :-)

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 ...

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 :-)