After the strawbale workshop I was away for 3 weeks in the USA for a Peace and Reconciliation camp...If you missed the previous posts, you can check out hereWhen I came back I had to catch up with all the work left behind, mainly cutting grass and brambles which were totally taking over...plus, a solar water heater that is not really working as needed, so I hope I have time to fix it before winter...
Another Permaculture course was about to come, so that was my priority... I had grass to cut from the camping place and to clear the walking paths for the 15 participants who would arrive for the course, plus Lesley of course, our amazing usual teacher...
I started to build the new compost toilet that I thought was needed for the extra number of people on site ...
I didn't finish it, but I made it ready to be used... anyway, I will leave the compost toilet for another post...
The course was great as usual... It's always nice, encouraging and inspiring to have like-minded people around... and in some ways, it reminds myself of the reason why I'm here...
It was lovely for me to host all those who came, and I had the privilege to cook for all of us during the 8 days of the course... the first couple of days Lyna was still here and Marcia also came for the weekend to give a hand... but I realized it´s really not be a big deal if that´s all I´m doing during the day while the participants are in class (I was a bit worried that it might have been too much for me alone)...Despite the heat, I guess everyone was coping well with the conditions we can offer at the moment...
There was a couple from Germany, Hannes and Johanna, who came with 2 kids, around 2 and 4 years old, Lina and Finn, who also added to a good and definitely entertaining environment around us...
Here's Finn playing with some wood boards together with uncle Georg...
Georg, uncle Justus (both Hannes' brothers), and the parents, would take turns to skip the lectures and be with them... it worked perfectly ... they would also entertain themselves quite easily, either with the dogs or with dirt, or a simple bucket with water
the classroom...
the usual "sheet mulch" bed, during the practical time...
now in groups, they started to prepare for the final presentations of their designs...some more focused...
others, rather relaxed...
In the end, they all did great... I always get amazed with the results of a day´s work with a group of people who hardly know each other...and who don't know much about this place besides the few questions they asked me before starting to work...
here's the first group: Ricardo, Jo and Filipa...
Ricardo filling in more details...
Vera, Pepa, Susanna and Francisco... The second group... very concerned with the handicapped accessibility...
As usual, everyone would hear the feed-back from the others...nothing negative... only what we liked, and what we would do differently...
Fourth presentation...Johanna, Hannes, Georg... I guess Nelson was in this group but he had to leave on saturday because he had a ferry to catch up to Madeira Island, where he lives with his wife Maria Jose... But hey, little Lina was a good replacement...
Here's Hannes, presenting some details... very good, low cost and practical ideas... Hannes also took part in lectures to speak about peak oil... I'm sorry I've missed it, but Lesley said it was really good with lots of detailed facts ... It´s a subject that many people should be hearing about, or at least be conscious about... here
Another presentation... Pedro, Moy (Susanna's husband), Justus...
...and Maria Jose (Nelson's wife)...
They all got their certificates and most of them left that same afternoon...
The German family only left on tuesday to get their bus in Fundao, and Jo was going to stay 10 more days...
I was exhausted, I have to say, especially because I got a flu in the middle of the week and it took me a while to recover...actually most of us got the flu... it all started with little Lina, and then it spread to the others... oh well... it was worse for Lesley who had to teach, but the rest of us did fine under the circumstances...
One more course, one more good experience ...
soon I'll write about the compost toilet that is about to be finished.
PEACEFUL DAYS TO ALL
