BTW: This mail can be forwarded to interested people
Dear friend,
it has been a long time since the last news from the CHC and Monte Parreira. And a lot has happened.
We had a very wet winter, with heavy rain even in March and April, which was very good for our reservoirs. But since May, there has only been a little drizzle, so we have now had a dry spell lasting over four months. It's nice to have the new lake, where we swim almost every day in hot weather. In its first year, it still loses quite a lot of water. And it may take some time before all the cracks in the ground are filled with clay. But as the lake is deep enough, it is still great for swimming.
Stéphane and Lucie (with Joé) are very busy with other things at the moment and were therefore unable to come back in April as planned. So we have carried on without much support for the time being. Since a group of 18 girl scouts (with three female and one male leader) from Brussels had announced their intention to come and volunteer with us, Stéphane (and later Lucie and Joé) returned for a while and, together with Tom and other helpers, built the basic structure for a house, which the girl scouts could then build with clay.
In five days, the Belgians helped us build at least three walls of the house, and now we have to finish the rest. A roof made of EPDM foil and insulation material is now also on the house, which we will later green and blend into the natural surroundings.
Throughout the entire time, we had many volunteers who worked for room and board. At lunchtime, there were sometimes 10 people at our large table; it was very busy. Sabine cooked wonderfully, and the helpers were full of praise. Afterwards, Sabine treated herself to a short vacation in a motorhome in northern Portugal and is now halfway recovered.
In the next few days, more Wwoofers (the name is derived from World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) will arrive and help us finish the house. We would like to make it ready to move into this year. There is still some work to be done. But that would be the next house on the land. For guests or for members ...
Nevertheless, we are always happy to have guests, even if we don't have anywhere to put them up yet. Of course, we prefer those with their own motorhome or camper van. Sabine has set up a small parking space and guests love the peace and quiet, the view, and the possibilities. An outdoor shower and compost toilet are included. We now also offer electricity and drinking water.
Would you like to come by? Let us know and we will gladly tell you where to go, and we will even pick you up.
All the best from Portugal
Sabine and Tom
Our lake was filled up
Cutting eucalyptus trees and peeeling them
Preparation for inserting the logs
The basic structure is in place
Work on the roof (Muriel, Nik and Vincent)
Initial work on constructing the clay walls
These are the core walls. Everything still needs to be plastered.
The roof now has pressed fibre boards, insulation and EPDM foil.
And the food was praised by everyone.
Even when there were ten of us sitting at the table
