“Multiple belongings are nurtured by cultural encounters but they are not only the preserve of people who travel. It is an attitude, a way of thinking, rather than the number of stamps on your passport. It is about thinking of yourself, and your fellow human beings, in more fluid terms than solid categories.”
– Elif Shafak
April has been an emotionally exhausting month, and to be honest, the weather has reflected my inner landscape rather well. On good days I look at all the challenges with philosophical aloofness; on bad days I feel battered and demotivated, reverting to all sorts of words my mother would never have approved of. Poor Michael, who is usually the sole recipient of my emotional outbursts.
It has also been a busy month in terms of chores, which I must admit I love. The lovely rain that has been spaced out through the month has turned the landscape into a delight for the eyes. The buzz of bees and the layered tracks of birdsong are soothing to the senses, while swathes of tall grasses and flowers ripple in the breeze. The hawthorne flowers are gathering like discarded confetti at the base of the trees, while the lavender is turning the landscape into a shimmering purple haze.
Around the house I regularly use the lawnmower to keep the grass short, but with long extension cords I can also reach further into the olive grove to collect enough juicy greens for the compost heaps I am enthusiastically busy building at the moment.
Layers of grass, horse manure and straw alternate to form towering mounds of what will hopefully become rich nutritious compost in which to plant next seasons vegetables, but also use in the orchard and around the olive trees.
This is also the season for strimming and strimming and strimming. Noisy and tiring, but rewarding. The areas with easy access Tim will cut with his tractor and cutter, but there are many areas where only a strimmer can do the job, and my guess is that it is going to be the chore I will spend most of my time on in the coming month.
Earlier on in April Matthias finished pruning the olive trees, which meant there were a lot of cuttings to be gathered and dragged to my biochar pit. It took me several hours on various days to drag all the branches close to the fire pit, and the better part of a day to burn them, but as always it provided me with an immediate satisfaction when it was all done.
Matthias also brought some of the lovely compost he makes for spreading around some of the olive trees that have been struggling.
ON MY PLATE & IN THE GARDEN
I am still feasting on tomatoes that I bottled last year, as well as the lettuce, chives, and spring onions that are doing well. Borage and calendula flowers keep the bees busy and cheer up my food. There is also coriander that is almost ready to eat and rocket that bolted, but I love the peppery bite the flowers give to dishes.
The seedlings I’ve started in the house and potted on, have now been moved to the greenhouse to harden off before hopefully transplanting them the first week of May. Sadly, the voles have discovered my vegetable garden. Exactly like a friend told us they would. Her words alluded to the fact that a first year garden never has a problem, but once these pesky little field mice know that there is a proverbial buffet being prepared just for them, they will move in, and test your patience and resolve, gnawing at the roots of your plants in the comfort of their tunnels. I’ve seen Lily sitting staring at the holes, and although she has brought me two half alive ones recently, I suspect that I will soon have to start plotting murderous tactics if I want to have any kind of vegetables this summer.
It looks like all the trees I’ve planted in the orchard are growing, except for one fig tree, which warms my heart, and although it will take a while for them to bear fruit, each little milestone on these long term projects feels like a celebration. Especially as I’ve never grown a fruit tree in my life.
WEATHERING THE WEATHER
The weather had more mood swings than a teenager this months: light frost, a total of 76mm or rain, strong wind, warm summery weather, and snow on the Serra de Estrela recently, but it will hopefully settle into warm sunny days in May.
OFFICIALDOM
My Residence Visa is still just a shimmering mirage on the horizon, so the saga is ongoing with nothing new to add.
The Land Registry office requested more paperwork from the municipality regarding our habitation licence, but I’ve been told by the solicitor who is taking care of all of that for us that it has been dealt with, so now we are just waiting again to see when they will amend the deed. A process that was started towards the end of November 2021.
The plan has always been for Michael to build a steel workshop on the land, and he has done extensive research on it. We even went to Aveiro last year to meet with a company, which sadly turned out to be beyond the constraints of our budget. The war in the Ukraine affected steel prices on top of the already inflated price that resulted from the pandemic, which meant that the price of the steel structure alone is making us gasp for air. Knowing that the longer we hesitate and wait, the more it will cost us, Michael contacted the Architect and paid a deposit that two years ago would have covered the cost of the whole steel structure to a company in France. But like everything in Portugal, despite every single person telling us that an agricultural building is easy to get permission for, our experience is not at all like that.
Our initial communication with the architectural firm resulted in us realizing that where we thought of building the workshop was in a so called designated fire zone. No problem, we thought. We would simply move it across the stream to where it is zoned as agricultural land, as reflected on the map the firm forwarded to us. Or so we thought.
A day after Michael paid the deposit on the steel structure he got an email from the firm informing him that literally the whole quinta (or nearly all of it, except for a small area in a swampy section) is in a designated fire zone. The forest fires in 2017 brought a lot of restrictive laws in their wake, and although it makes sense in forested areas, we have no forests anywhere near us. We are surrounded by agricultural land. This meant that we can either build 50 metres from the boundary, which is not an option, because of the strange shape of our land, and to build 10 metres from the boundary would include a slew of very expensive requirements. It appears though that there is a third option available, so the firm is now building a case to prove that the land is wrongly designated to be in a fire zone. At least this is how I understand the process that is currently in progress, and I must admit that even at the best of times, I feel lost within the maze or bureaucratic pathways we are trying to negotiate. And so, we will just have to wait and see what will happen. The steel structure has been ordered, wiping out our savings, but as we are self-confessed fools and dreamers, we will just keep going, trusting it will all work out in the end.
MIDNIGHT & LILY
Midnight and Lily are continuing to be great quinta companions, and they regularly supervise when I work, although the noise of the lawnmower and strimmer make them scamper to more peaceful corners. Once, when working on one of the compost heaps, I noticed that Lily kept sniffing around the top of the heap I recently turned and is almost ready to use. She behaved in a way that made me wonder if there was a little mouse hiding under the geotextile covering the heap, so I carefully lifted the corner to have a closer look. What she was after was not a little mouse, but a snake. I didn’t linger, but there were enough coils visible to make me realise it is better to grab her and engage in chores further afield.
PORTUGUESE WORDS
liberdade – freedom
Revolução dos Cravos – Carnation Revolution
Portugal celebrates Freedom Day on 25 April. It is a day that marks the peaceful end of what was Europe’s longest dictatorship, and is also referred to as the Carnation Revolution. I love the striking similarity with South Africa’s Freedom Day celebrated on 27 April, which also marked a peaceful end to Apartheid.
My entanglements with the Portuguese language continue, and although three hour language classes can be brutal, I am actually enjoying them, but I’ve come to the conclusion that it will take me many years and consistent learning to master this complex language.
VISITORS
Earlier in the month I spotted my first Portuguese wild boar, just across the boundary fence on the neighbour’s land, despite having seen evidence of their presence on our land.
TO READ & LISTEN TO
# Read my latest contribution to Migrations Literary Review: Belonging is not a Static Condition
TO VISIT
When I recently had to go to Coimbra for an appointment, I decided to spend two nights and make the most of it. This vibrant university town with its steep cobblestone streets is steeped in history. I found the people friendly and generous, ate great food, and realised that one should stay much longer than just a day to explore its many delights. A highlight of my stay was a delicious meal, and delightful service at Boutique – Tapas & Petiscos.
On the way to pick up Michael and his parents from the airport in Lisbon on Saturday, I made a detour via Évora. The main reason was that the Convento da Cartuxa / Mosteiro de Santa Maria Scala Coeli is currently open to the public on a Tuesday and Saturday from 10h00-13h00 until mid-May, before it becomes home to a contemplative order of nuns. It was such a rare opportunity and perfect timing that I couldn’t resist. After the visit, on my way back to the car, I fell into conversation with a lovely older gentleman who was born in Angola, and who told me that the monastery used to be the home of monks, but as the community became too small, they relocated to Barcelona, where they joined another community within their order.
Évora with its narrow lanes, and white and yellow houses is a delight to visit, and a visit to the rooftop of the cathedral is a perfect way to get a sense of the landscape and town. I also recommend a leisurely lunch at Enoteca Cartuxa, where you can sample some of the excellent wines of the Cartuxa winery located just outside of town, near the monastery/convent. Évora is definitely a town worth exploring at a more leisurely pace, especially if you want to visit the various places that have specific opening hours.
Written by: Jolandi
Wonderful to get your lengthy update on what’s happening on the quinta. I’m sorry for the frustrations, especially regarding the steel shed (ugh), but the greening of the land and its output made me smile. The cats ALWAYS make me smile; they are such serious sentinels, and you must find their living presence a comfort during all your time without other humans. Wishing you a lighter-hearted late spring and summer!
Thank you, Lexie. I’m glad the cats make you smile. They are a crucial part of my life here on the quinta, and I cannot imagine them not being here, which is also why I try to make sure that they feature prominently in the photos I post. They bring so much joy to my days. So much so that I am starting to appreciate their presence more than that of humans. They are delighted that winter is over, and they are allowed to roam around at night. – Jolandi
I’m glad you’re able to get out and see the lovelier aspects of Portugal, instead of having to sit and tear out your hair over the regulations and restrictions of the local bureaucracy. I’d be completely bald if I had to deal with as much as you and Michael have, living on the quinta.
Anytime I hear someone say it’s easy to do something, I immediately suspect it’s really not—“This dish is so easy, even a child could cook it!” “This kit can be assembled in less than a day, you don’t even need tools to put it together!” I’m willing to admit I’m hopelessly inept at some things, like putting together IKEA furniture. (I have an armchair that my eight year old grandson could have assembled better. But I can still sit on it safely!) But I’m generally good at dealing with paperwork and figuring out a workaround with legal restrictions, emphasis on “generally,” and I’d still worry if someone told me putting up a building on rural land is easy. California is starting to put up similar restrictions on construction in areas where wildfires have become endemic. In some cases, they’re paying people not to rebuild on land that seems to catch fire every summer, fall, and sometimes all year around. It’s sad, as many of these places are beautiful, though maybe not so much after last summer and fall. The reason why most of the people who live there do so because they love being surrounded by the quiet and beauty of natural places. To be told by the state that they can no longer build on their property because it’s likely to burn every year is disappointing and, I suppose, even infuriating. But I wouldn’t want to see any more firefighters die while trying to save a 50-year-old wooden house surrounded by dry brush and grass, or precious water used to put out a thousand-acre fire.
Anyway, I emphasize with you and hope the situation gets better with time. Hang in there! Sometimes being a hopeless romantic isn’t that hopeless at all. 🙂
I love your last sentence, Hangaku, and will hold on to that as we blunder into the future with all our dreams. 😍
As always I love the way you comment, as I learn so much. I have to agree that losing lives just to save buildings make no sense, and where wild fires are endemic restrictions and laws do make sense. The irony is that there are no forests or plantations anywhere near our land. Friends about a kilometre from us has there land designated as ‘orange’, while all their Portuguese neighbours have their land as ‘green’. It just makes one wonder . . . I’ve been told that they can re-designate your land every couple of years without your knowledge (not sure how true it is), which means that, unless you follow official processes and have the correct paperwork in place (which is a nightmare), you may find yourself in a pickle at some point. It amazes me how many people (actually the majority) still follow the ‘unofficial’ road.
As for building furniture – oh my goodness, I have to side with you. Although I do it, because I have no choice, I do at times struggle to understand the instructions and then doubt the sturdiness of the final product. – Jolandi
Such a beautiful green landscape, Jolandi. Combined with blue skies and a few white clouds here and there, this is a color combination that never fails to soothe me, calm my nerves, and brighten up my mood. I wonder if that’s also the case for you. I love how Midnight and Lily kept their diligent eyes on Matthias. 🙂
The steel workshop situation sounds so complicated, especially since you have to deal with Portuguese bureaucracy (again!). I hope it will be sorted out soon.
The amount of bureaucracy is mind-boggling, Bama. This one is an unexpected and unpleasant surprise to us. Fingers crossed that we will be able to cross that bridge without too much trouble.
I definitely find that colour combination soothing too. There is something about white fluffy clouds that I especially enjoy. Perhaps as I remember lying in the shade with my mother as a child searching for shapes in the clouds that reminded us of animals or objects. Living for so many years in the UAE where clouds like that hardly exist makes me even more appreciative of them, as well as the colour combination. Soon the green will be gone though, as the days have jumped to summer, and the grass is already starting to dry out. – Jolandi
My goodness, you’ve been busy! And I haven’t seen a damn post from you in my feed, so I’m sorry I haven’t seen them. Methinks WP has messed with coding or sth again because you can see who you follow in the sidebar and that’s how I saw you posted, not in my regular reader. GAH!
Anyway, the house + land looks fantastic. I like what you did with the patio, the red bricks and the furniture looks really inviting. I hope all the bureaucratic mess gets sorted, you are right, in the end it usually works out, because, it has to! xoxo
Yes, it just ‘has to’, Lani. 🥰
There is always so much to do on the land that I have to force myself to take time out, and not get caught up in all the things that still need to get done. I’m definitely learning to work at a pace I can manage with peace in my heart. I guess my yoga practice is helping a lot with that attitude, as these days of physical chores simply is my yoga practice. – Jolandi
Yes, I would imagine getting outside and working the land is a kind of meditation on it’s own. But it would probably drive me a little crazy too, since I like to get things done. A procrastinator I am not.
I just caught up with last month’s post. I’m curious why you don’t like Madrid (never been), and I hope you keep those ticks at bay! xo
Oh my goodness, Lani, I definitely do not recommend you buying a piece of land, as you will never stop working. You are like Michael then. He can drive me crazy, as a sense of urgency to get things done is driving him towards constant work, instead of pausing and just enjoying the beauty and peace of the land. My attitude is rubbing off on him though, and he is learning to find enjoyment in the moment and task, instead of always just focusing on the end.
Regarding Madrid – To start with, I am not easily charmed by cities, and Madrid lacks the energy and charm of two of my favourite cities – Lisbon and Rio de Janeiro. To me, the buildings and streets in Madrid all just look the same. Perhaps it is too neat, tidy and regular to my taste. I prefer a good dose of neglect thrown into the mix to add some charm. 😂 It is difficult to put into words really, as I guess it has to do with an energy that resonates with me more than anything else, and at this point in my life, I definitely prefer solitude and quiet, so cities are even less appealing than before. – Jolandi
Thank you for your report! I had a busy poem-a-day April and fell out of my blogging rhythm as far as visiting others is concerned. Ten days till my birthday and two weeks until my one year of daily blogging is complete. I shall take some time away, I should think, or at least limit my activity.
I love your outdoors sitting arrangement! It looks so inviting. I’m sure you’ll be able to use it soon. I also hope that everything will end well for both of you. Lovely that you were able to spend some time in Coimbra. And not so nice that you’ll need to deploy murderous tactics to preserve your crops.
Happy May and beyond!
My word, Manja, I would never be able to sustain a daily post. Happy birthday❣
Thank you for your kind wishes. The weather here has turned from winter to summer, so are making good use of the outdoor sitting arrangement. I’ve also just transplanted my seedlings, so fingers crossed the voles will leave them for me.
Hope you are having a lovely months. – Jolandi
Apologies for the delay in commenting on your post, Jolandi. You have certainly had a frustrating time recently! I hope that answers to problems can be found soon and you don’t have to wait too much longer for your visa and licence. I am also sorry about the problems with the steel workshop.
The best solution for the vole problem would be to attract other animals onto the quinta that prey on voles. Your cats are helpful here but they obviously need some assistance! We have found that owls and other raptors are excellent at keeping voles under control; have you noticed any on your land or could you attract them with nesting boxes and/or platforms? A barrier around your vegetable plot would help but you would also have to make sure it was buried some way below the soil, deeper than a vole would tunnel. I have heard that castor oil is a vole repellent but I’m not sure how it is applied. ( We had a mouse problem in the loft of our house during the winter and only got rid of them eventually with a battery-powered mousetrap. No poisons and a quick death for the mouse! )
I am glad you have had some pleasurable times as well and that you, like me, enjoy chores (though not all chores are fun!) Your cats look as though they are thoroughly enjoying life on the quinta!
Thank you for your comment regarding the voles, Clare. We have some raptors hanging around, and there is at least one owl in the area. Michael and I have been discussing building some owl boxes, as we would love more of them in our immediate environment. It really is good to know that they also help with keeping the voles under control. Fingers crossed they won’t do too much damage. I, for a start planted my parsley in a pot this year. 😆
The cats adore quinta life, and now that the weather has turned to summer and they are allowed to come and go as they please at night, they are even happier. – Jolandi
Ah, my monthly dose of getting up close with nature, vicariously speaking. Even the distressing steel structure story has not dampened the sense of peace and timelessness I get in reading your adventures. (I’ll just choose to speed read that part LOL). I’ve also just read your piece on belonging in Migrations Literary Review. I haven’t signed up yet so didn’t comment there, but it is a great piece.
Hope you are finding some time at the end of each day to relax in your new outdoor setting. It looks very inviting.
Thanks, Gwen. I quite like writing for Migrations Literary Review, as I can write pieces that are slightly different from the usual blog posts.
I think I will stick with the current post format only for this year. At least with the headings, one can speed read over the bits one find less appealing. Truth be told, I wish I could speed read over the Officialdom Woes we experience. I am starting to sound like a grammaphone record that got stuck. I must say that I definitely prefer the peacefulness nature brings to the dealings with other humans and paperwork. If only life could be that simple! That said, I do trust that at some point in the future we will be done with all the extra bits of bureaucracy, and life will fall into a slower, more enjoyable rhythm. – Jolandi