Quick Post, Small Steps …

Ever feel like there’s not enough time to do everything you want? Going with the flow anyway …

So yeah, as usual, I feel like I’d like to be writing more, but hence my energy is called to many directions. I figure if I can put small posts, keeping regular updates then that would be better than a big post every now and again. Let’s see if I can manage to get into gear of doing ‘quick posts’.

A lof of news to tell, but I’ll obiously just deal with what I can …

We finally found a home for the last of wild Bunda’s special 13 puppies – yes you heard right – 13!. That was a serious mission! I couldn’t have done it without the help of my dearest friend Franji Freedom. Another initiation on our journey. We also managed to get funding and find most of their new carers through a Facebook page we made for them called ‘13 Bundles of Abundance‘. I’m hoping that all carers will continue to post onto the page so that we can continue to see how each of the pups are developing.

I’ve just bought another ‘cheap and crappy’ caravan for a couple of hundred euro from a young gypsy guy. I’d like this done up as ‘Gypsy Caravan’ in honor of it’s previous travellin days, now parked safely (and hopefully permanently) on my land …

So now I have 2 cheap and crappy caravans, waiting to be fixed up for when I have the time, or when I can find suitable work exchange volunteers who would love a project like this. Here’s a foto of the other one I got from a friend with whom I did an exchange deal with. It’s condition is pretty much similar, slightly better, but needs work!

This is the one that I’ve already fixed up and that I’m now living in. Built using mostly material that I had in the barn. I’ve only got fotos of before and after …

I guess I do run the risk of being labeled as some kind of gypsy from the locals, but with a face like that? …

The benefit of caravans, for me at least, is that they can be rebuilt/reburbished quite quickly & efficiently and provide reasonably comfortable accommodation for people wanting to stay on the land, whether it be for temporary or permanent volunteers. This place seems to have also naturally become a place where people camp during their search for their peace of land (So, in a sense, it has become the bridge and meeting place that was symbolised in my dream that brought me here to Portugal). I am feeling much more comfortable now, to having people stay on the land while they’re looking for they’re own bit. I’ve been very busy with that, working together with my partner Franji Freedom, and things in Portugal are always so ‘complicado’. It leaves little time for work ‘on the land’, which is a problem for me. I like to work on the land. I’ve been here 6 years now and really feel like I want to inject more ‘juice’ into land development. So hence I really need to focus on getting more living space around here for ‘self reliant’ volunteers who can competently carry out work and fund the whole operation so that everyone who comes here is well fed.

I’ll keep the post short and try and write again, sooner rather than later. Until then, wishing peace & flow in times of craziness. Speaking of which, let me just share some of the craziness around here. On our way back one evening from a friends place in the mountains we found what we later discovered was a Short Eared Owl. Very rare for these parts! It was hobbling alongside the track and looked like it’s wing had been broken. We managed to get it to CERVAS and Richardo tried his best to look after it but unfortunately it didn’t make it. Ricardo studied the injury and said it had been shot by a hunter a few days before maybe. That’s some of the crazy stuff around here, some of these hunters will just shoot anything that moves. I post this photo of our feathered friend in honour of it’s beauty and wisdom, Things that the world could do with more of …

Oh one more thing! Our small association are doing a Xmas Market on the 11th in Figueiro da Serra, a village not far from here. See flyer below, beautifully designed by our friend Sara at Cherry Pond Quinta. Please download and share the flyer around to anyone who you think might be interested in attending, or if you prefer you can share the event via Facebook. We’re still looking for some more musicians!