November 2018 - Moving On Up!

Despite the cold and the torrential rains this November, we've pushed on and ruin #1 is one step closer to what it will be — cozy room level one, kitchen level two with dining room extention, and small studio level three. There's a temporary waterproof roof in place over the second level — which is the new and improved kitchen. Long term it will remain the Eco Lodge's kitchen. Just needs a bit more work before it’s ready for our future guests! It makes some difference being up higher this winter. 

Our good ole' temporary kitchen since April of '17 was a structure built near to the river. Great for summer, but with the winter sun it gets very little warmth, so this is a massive upgrade. We'll keep the very fond memories of the original kitchen though, as it's served us and our MANY work exchange volunteers from all over the world very well. 

For a couple weeks, we tried a temporary kitchen underneath the wooden terrace built off the side of ruin #1 (as pictured below), but unfortunately it leaked rain even with plastic covering the wood so we had to upgrade and get into the upstairs kitchen.

Our plan is to go up one more level to have a small studio above the kitchen, which is why the roof is just temporary. Scroll through these photos from only this month to see it's progression. From walls being repaired, to ring beam, to support beams, to temporary roof....

Lovely little view from our kitchen window

The first level of ruin #1 is coming along too. That will be our cozy reception/library long-term, but first we'll move into it for the bulk of the winter. Our friend Mary (you may remember her from pervious blogs from Dublin who has come out to help before) is arriving December 11th, so we have a new deadline to get into the bottom level of ruin #1. That way she can have our cozy tent during her quick stay. The cob floor is just about finished and once the stone walls are repaired and repointed/plastered with lime-crete, we’ll put another finish layer of cob down and at last be able to move in. Miguel (stone-mason) has gotten crafty making a stone hearth for our wood burner to sit on, and shelfs within the walls as he repairs and repoints the walls. We have a gorgeous wood burning stove to be installed that will keep us nice and cozy for the rest of the winter. You can probably hear through my writing how excited I am.

Freshening up the cob - clay, sand, straw, and water

The wet days have been ideal wet weather for burning some of the massive piles of non-usable mimosa branches which has brought terraces back to life. It's nice to be re-acquainted with areas around the site that had been covered in these piles. The rain has filled the river too. It's getting louder by the day, which is a nice sound to sleep to. 

We've added to our fur-baby pack. Shiva is a 4 1/2 month old Spanish Mastiff. She came all the way from a lovely family from Alicante, Spain who were kind enough to meet us half way in Madrid. She loves the freedom she has here, being outdoors with plenty of playmates. Shiva is especially fascinated with Thunderstripes (the cat), who thankfully has no problem holding her own. Most of the time Shiva still only sits when we say it in Spanish, but other than that she's adapting really well😂! 

We’ll be adding more farm animals this weekend too (currently we have 6 hens, 1 cockerel, and 2 piggies)... We're picking up a pair of Nigerian dwarf goats. Two girls, at the right age to have babies, and then we’ll have goat's milk to make our own cheese and yogurt. You can see how it goes as we learn what it's like to keep goats, plus stay updated with all the progress by following us on Instagram and Facebook! As always, thanks for following along!