The amount of traveling we’ve done over the last several weeks has made them fly by in every sense of the word; however, along with hectic flight and travel schedule there has been lots of positive and exciting progress made at project mimosa. Temporary structures like the kitchen, toilet, and tool area are up and fully functional. Rory did a really awesome job on all of them, and much of it built from the property's own trees. We have a few single solar lights around the site, and one panel for power at night. Even with it being quite livable down on the property, we’ve kept the cabin in the village to store most of our belongings, hot showers, and an occasional nights sleep on a real bed.
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| Hugo enjoying a lazy morning in bed at the cabin |
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| Adding a roof to temporary kitchen/tool area |
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| shelves, gas stove and gas fridge all installed |
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| Fully functional and ready for a get together |
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| Sunday lunch get-together after Tabua market |
We’re grateful to have had Val to help take care of the 3 doggies while we were so back and forth. She weaved the temporary toilet walls, which came out really nice. And she helped us to get better set up down on the site — including planting a few veggies in the garden.
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| weaved walls and green roof by Val |
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| a mini garden with some herbs and veggies planted |
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| The 3 scamps working out their roles in the pack |
We have another friend from the permaculture design course that Rory took last year, who arrived this week and is with us for a “work holiday” for a couple of weeks. Mary’s got some awesome gardening knowledge to contribute, and most of all she’s really fun to have around. We’re thrilled to have her, and so are the dogs.
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| lunch time with Mary on the property |
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| Mary at the cabin after a bike ride |
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| cycle around Fiais |
Over the long memorial day weekend, Rory and I met up in New York and spent it up in the Catskills with friends. We had a relaxing weekend in Woodstock at Ariane and Conor’s house, all while being entertained by the Foley triplets. We spent some time looking at the plans and drawings so far, and discussing ideas for the the property with Ariane and Conor. We're really happy that they’ll be joining us in the business. Ariane’s fitness/nutrition business out of NYC and experience with hosting retreats is invaluable, and we’re so excited to be working with them. They’ll be coming out to Portugal in July to spend some time together at the project, have some fun and continue to evolve our ideas.
After the weekend, I drove back to Boston from the Catskills to work a few shifts, Rory flew back to Portugal for a couple of days before we both caught more flights to meet in Ireland for a friends wedding. James and Claire's wedding was gorgeous and a lot of fun. We're really happy they'll be coming for part of their honeymoon to Portugal later this year!
After a weekend in Ireland we were ready to get back to Portugal and our doggies. Hank has doubled in weight, and every morning he seems to have grown more overnight. Hugo and Harvey have gotten used to having a puppy around who is at them constantly to play. Harvey is the best big brother. He seems to love having a puppy look up to him and follow his lead. And Hugo is loving the sole attention from Rory and I when the other two are keeping each other busy playing and exploring.
We’ve become well accustomed to working as the Portuguese do. Which in the summer means getting all your work done in the morning so that the hot afternoons can be spent cooling off in the river with friends. Our friends Ana and Hugo showed us an especially gorgeous spot with beautiful waterfalls and swimming area.
I arrived back in Boston this week to wrap up the rest of my contract at Boston Children's Hospital, and catch up with family and friends before heading back to the other side of the pond for a more permanent stint.
We’re looking forward to a summer full of many more riverside afternoons.
