September 2017 — Special visitors, Cara Creek Eco Lodge and Yoga in Portuguese

The days, the weeks, the months have been flying by around here!

We wrapped up the heat of August having a blast with our favorite 4 year old. Rory’s son — Rafa — was visiting from Scotland and we spent the week chilling out at river beaches and trying out the slides at the nearby water park. He brought some decals of his favorite paw patrol pups to stick on the digger, and made it truly one of a kind! Rafa loved the sunshine, the adventures and the ice pops of Portugal.

Exploring Porto

Rafa and Hank ready for the River Beach

At the end of the summer, the nearby village of Ervedal had their weekend long “festa”. I was invited to play in the women versus older men of the village “futbol” game which was on the final day as one of three "internationals". There were even "injuries" in which players were taken off the pitch in wheel barrels. Although my team lost it was all worth the hilarious, and really great day out.

We continue to be taken with the sense of community here, and how welcoming everyone has been towards us. Since September, I’ve been teaching 3 yoga classes at the community theatre in Ervedal to primarily Portuguese, which has really motivated to expedite my learning of the language. It’s all been so wonderful.

As the weather began to cool down a little bit, the previously known as “mimosa project” really heated up. After quite a bit of contemplation we finally came up with a name we all love for the retreat center that we’ve been dreaming about for over a year now — Cara Creek Eco Lodge. Cara means interconnectedness/friend in Gaelic, and it just so happens to be the initials of our names — Conor, Ariane, Rory and Ashley. The creek on the property is definitely one of the many aspects which makes the site unique so we wanted to incorporate that into the name. And of course Eco Lodge because it will be built with only natural building materials — making it eco-friendly and sustainable. Now that we have a name, we have an instagram page and Facebook page. Don't forget to follow/like us on both to stay up to date with the progress week to week.

https://www.instagram.com/caracreekecolodge/

https://www.facebook.com/caracreekecolodge/

Sketching out some logo ideas

With our company completely registered in Portugal we’ve been busy collecting quotations of prices for building materials, rustic furnishings, fitness and yoga studio equipment, recreational games, the natural swimming pool and much more in the company name. These quotations as well as a detailed application with descriptions of our dreams for the project will be used to apply for a European Grant which grants funds towards projects in order to promote rural tourism and economical growth in this part of Portugal. 

Discussing Natural Swimming Pool plans with our friends from Waters Edge

one of the many cool woodburners we've priced

Over the last couple of months we’ve also had a few friends come through, who chipped in at the project helping chop and clear the endless amount of trees. James, Claire and their 2 boys had a holiday let in a village nearby for a week. It was really great to have them nearby to catch up with, and also share with them our love for the area and point them in the direction of our favorite river beaches to check out. Our musician friend Jake and his band came through on their European Tour and played at a nearby campsite. We hope that their next European Tour we'll have an area set up they'll be able to stay and play at our site. Other friends, James and Esther camped out down on the site and also were a huge help in getting one of the roads up to what will be the communal area cleared. We have one workaway volunteer staying with us at the moment and we're excited to have many more penciled in to come help over the next few months. 

We're thrilled at the progress over the last couple of months and at this point there are no signs of it slowing down. So stay tuned on Instagram, Facebook and here on the blog for updates to come! Thanks for reading and following us on this adventure of building our dream.

https://www.instagram.com/caracreekecolodge/

https://www.facebook.com/caracreekecolodge/