March 2018 blog 2— Foundations for a Shower with a View

It’s been a productive week here at Cara Creek Eco Lodge, with lots of help from both WorkAway volunteers and our dear friend Rusty.

With the improved sunny weather, we finished off building the river front yoga deck. Rory even saved the final screw for me to finish it off… he's such a gent😍😄😉! 

It’s the most peaceful and magical place to practice. I can't wait to start holding my yoga lessons down here right on the river as the weather gets nicer!

Max headed back to Germany after his 10 day showery stay. During the sunny spells (and even during the showers) he helped lots in the final stages of building the yoga deck, and also built some steps to better access the rammed earth spiral shaped shower that is currently being built. 

Before Max left, we also experimented with various mixtures of sand and clay, varying from 17% to 35% clay, for the rammed earth process which the shower will be built from. Max was wonderful to have, and super helpful. We’re looking forward to him coming back for his next work holiday, which he is already planning. 

Within just the last week our awesome WorkAwayers, Aurelie and Jerome have made incredible strides at building the spiral shower. First, designing it, then digging the shape, and lastly laying large rocks from the river and binding the foundations with “limecrete” — lime mixed with sand and water. Next we'll be getting started on the "rammed earth" walls. It's going to have a window at head height with that amazing view for showers down the Rio Seia. We feel really fortunate to have such driven, smart, and most of all pleasant to have volunteers!

Rusty helped by throwing rocks around, and being shotgun on digger — or just right in the front bucket of the digger😂. 

Rusty has been so fun to have around. Not to mention he’s an amazing chef so he has been sharing some of his cooking secrets. We’ve also been discussing our re-design for the future kitchen/dining area and he has shared his expertise, since he runs the successful beach front hostel/restaurant in Guatemala — The Driftwood Surfer. We’re going to miss him so much when he continues on his Eurotrip.

We are working on some alternative designs from what we had, because we received some exciting news from our architect...... Because we will be classified in the council with “rural tourism”, the planning permitted buildings can now be within 10 meters from the boundary and 30 meters from the river. Before she found this clause, we were excluded to a small area that was 50 meters from the boundary. This opens up lots of options for alternate designs, which is really exciting. Stay tuned 😉....

Our friend Robin, who lives in the village, is a really talented graphic designer. We're lucky to have him developing our logo, and are really happy with it so far. Thanks to everyone who gave feedback. We love having the involvement of our friends and family in building our dream.

Speaking of family... We have Rafa here for the week with us, and Rory’s mom, sister and nephew all joining for a couple of days this week. It’ll be great to show them the progress, hear their feedback, and do small projects to keep things moving. In just one day, Rafa’s already taken a ride in the digger, gone of lots of adventure walks, and has been "building some walls"😆. He loves all the things Cara Creek has to offer, and Hank loves having him here as an adventure pal!

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for more frequent updates. And visit our WorkAway page to learn about joining the fun, and contact me for more details!

March 2018 blog 1 — The Makings of an Octagon between Stormy Flooding

As we’ve approached Springtime at Cara Creek, mother nature has displayed how high the river can rise as well as where we can expect water to run down the terraces when we have bouts of heavy rainfall. Although at times working with the elements can slow building down, we’re very grateful for the wet few weeks for many important reasons. 

Seeing how the water drains from our land has given us ideas on where to dig ponds for irrigation to collect the rainfall during the winter. The downpours also gave us a reality of where the river potentially floods up to. It flooded the terrace where we had transplanted some large Oak trees, and planted some tulip bulbs. We were so pleased to find that once the river went back down, the tulips popped up. Not to mention that post rain we have beautiful wild flowers all around. Even the very little bit of mimosa that remains has gorgeously bloomed.

While I was away (despite the rainy and stormy weather), Rory managed to start the octagon shaped yoga deck on the river with some help from some friends. They spent the rainy hours designing it, and the dry hours building it. The deck is nearly finished and is a magical place to practice yoga to the sound of the river. The wood has been treated with the natural material Borax to keep the insects away. I can’t wait to get some of my yoga classes moved down to the property once the weather warms up a little bit!

Gary moved from Cara Creek at the beginning of March, settling into his own dream house/property an hour towards the coast. He truly became apart of the family to us over the last 6 months. We’re missing him, and forever grateful for his hard work, facing the wild fires in October, and then braving the winter months with us. 

We now have a few volunteers staying with us, and more coming over the next couple of weeks. Max from Germany has mulched lots of mimosa shoots, and helped Rory with the deck. Aurélie and Jeroen have just joined us, and have brought with them great experience from previous workaway experiences. We’re excited to have them, and all the ones who are planning to come over the next couple of months. Here’s the link for more details if you or anyone you know is interested! We welcome the help:)!!

Follow us here on Instagram and Facebook for more frequent updates on how things are going at Cara Creek Eco Lodge. Thanks for following along as we build our dream!

February 2018 — Worldwide Workawayers, Tetrahedron Frame, and more!

We’ve been so fortunate to have so many helping hands (both workawayers and friends) around the site over the last month or so. Although we had another cold spell during which a couple of the volunteers cut their rustic stay short, there has still been an average of 6 volunteers working on various projects at Cara Creek Eco Lodge. It’s been wonderful meeting Workaway volunteers from all over the world🌍🌎🌏. 

Johannes drove from Austria, and brought his life long experience of growing up on a farm in the Austrian Alps. He was comfortable and happy to use a chainsaw, and made strides in clearing some of the last standing patches of mimosa trees. With our new wood chipper we’re able to chip the mimosa trees that are too small for firewood as ground cover to help keep down the invasive species while also rotting down to make the soil more fertile.

Johannes clearing Mimosa

Firewood ready to be driven down to the bottom

our wood chipper

In addition to wood chipping, all of the volunteers have worked on the hot lime repointing of Ruin #2 at some point or another. It looks fabulous and is complete now so they’ve already moved on to repointing of Ruin #1! And if you remember the Eucalyptus beams that Atlântico Jardins took down, here they are below being prepared and installed into Ruin #2 by Rory, Gary and Jon.

Jose took a liking and skill to the repointing. Rory showed him once, and then Jose took ownership of it, and was able to lead other volunteers in both the repointing as well as the mixing of 3 parts sand; 1 part lime plus river water to an ideal consistency. He's also studying a Master's in Groundwater and Global Change and did some research for us on the ground water in our area. We really appreciated that!

During the first week that Johann was with us, he showed an interest and skill in carpentry as he helped Rory with the Tetrahedron frame (more on the later😉)… Johann then independently designed and worked on some home improvements around the site. He built a new kitchen table with storage, a shelving unit for the kitchen, and a table for the washing up area in which the recycled sink fits perfectly! Rouven, our volunteer who has been cooking and baking fresh bread every couple of days, helped revamp our kitchen as well. We really appreciate each and every one of them!

And now, the Tetrahedron!… 

A few months ago, Rory and I were inspired by certain shapes and patterns that recur in nature which were highlighted in a documentary we watched. It got us thinking of an idea to use some of these shapes and patterns in the design and building of Cara Creek Eco Lodge. One of the shapes that recur in nature is a Tetrahedron — 4 equal triangular sides. Rory spent some time designing the structure, as well as a planning the steps to build it. **link here with more photos of google sketch up design if interested**

Once he had the plans ready he measured and cut all the wooden parts of the frame, and assembled the base of it first. We chose a perfect spot for the frame. It has a beautiful view of the river which was tidied besides one stubborn stump which after a failed attempt of removing it, will now be a feature of the surrounding garden instead. Then before bringing it to the selected spot to assemble the frame we used borax to treat the wood — protecting it from bugs and fungi. It’s a natural element which repels things that could cause the wood to rot.

With the help of many we brought over all of the parts of the frame, and lastly, every person that was on site that day helped to erect the Tetrahedron frame. It looks amazing from all perspectives on the site! There’s a bit more work to it before we’re ready for the canvas cover and star-gazing roof, but it’s going to be a fabulous “glamping” accommodation for our future guests!

In addition to all of the excitement and progress on the site, both Gary and I have improved our Portuguese a good bit thanks to an intensive 3 week course at the University of Coimbra. I’m understanding a lot more, and getting more confident speaking it as well. In addition to the English speaking (foreigners) yoga lessons that I teach, I’m fortunate to have a group of Portuguese women who come to my once weekly yoga class in the community. There I teach as well as I can in Portuguese and they’re so patient with me as I learn the language and am able to say more and more. 

Gary and I around campus

As Spring approaches I’m looking forward to holding yoga at Cara Creek for both our Workaway volunteers and the public. The nights are still quite cold but one of the afternoons the weather was even warm enough to take a cold plunge in the Rio Mondego!

I’m in Boston for an extended layover to catch up with family and friends before I go to Ecuador to be a part of the medical volunteer team of Global Smile Foundation. Here’s the link with more information about the Foundation and trip, as well as an opportunity to donate towards the cause. I appreciate your generosity, and am so grateful to those who have already donated! Thank you:)

Although I’ll miss the happenings at Cara Creek Eco Lodge, Rory will keep me posted as things continue to move along. Even though it’s hard to leave, sometimes being away helps to gain some perspective, and allows for ideas for the project to develop into new and/or even improved ones.

Follow us here on Instagram and Facebook for more frequent photos and updates of the progress. 

Also if you or anyone you know is interested in a work exchange we are accepting volunteers to come help build and learn about the natural building / permaculture friendly techniques we’re using. Your own tent like the one below to sleep to the sounds of the river at night:)... Here’s the link to our Workaway host page for some more information and of course any one is welcome to contact us for more details and questions.