“Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and slow – that is patience.”
– Leo Tolstoy
Progress on the quinta at times feels like a long, drawn-out and never-ending process, but at times the amount of work can leave me out of breath. Whenever Michael comes for a two-week visit, I always hope that we can manage all the essential work in the first week and then have a quieter pace during the second.
Michael and Tim worked for 8 days straight to get all the scheduled work done. Sometimes until after 7 pm, and at times in pouring rain. The irony is that a lot of the work was buried again, and although there are some visible changes to the landscape, mostly it still looks the same as it did before.
The work started with digging holes for manholes, and trenches to lay pipes for future projects, before levelling the terrace with the excess soil from digging up the area between the workshop and terrace to install a proper drainage system.
Once the various trenches were backfilled, it was time to move on to the drainage system. We booked a big digger for a day to remove a layer of soil to create space for some touvenant. We will eventually pave this area, but for now the touvenant has to settle into place before a final levelling and paving will be done.
The extra soil was used to level out the terrace in front of the house.
At the side of workshop Michael also got Tim to dig out and level two different areas, which will be filled with touvenant and compacted.
Sil, a friend of Tim, who has discovered a talent for dry stone walling since moving to the area, repaired a portion of a retaining wall at the back of the house after Tim managed to dig up a big piece of root belonging to a tree that was cut down before we bought the property.
I can’t wait to start with permanent gardening around the house, and although I know that it will still take longer than I would like, the small terrace behind the bread oven is almost ready for designing something more permanent. We decided to build small circular walls around the three olive trees on the terrace, and asked Sil if he would like to sign up for the job. Although he has never done anything like it, he was keen to give it a try, and the first wall was a great success. Both Michael and I are in love with it, and although the priority has shifted to other jobs, he will do the same around the other two trees, as well as two more olive trees to the front of the house at a later stage.
A big cork oak that was still standing when we bought the property eventually fell over as it was rotted to the core. Although we removed the fallen wood at the time, the roots were still standing. Making good use of the digger, we asked Tim to remove it. It was so rotten that before I could even take a photograph it was gone. In its place, Sil is currently building two curved walls to link with the existing ones running along our access road.
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- One side taking shape at the end of April
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- One side taking shape at the end of April
Michael also welded and put up a washing line for me in a spot that gets a lot of sun, which means that I finally have more space to hang clothes and that the washing line that was strung between two olive trees at the front of the house could finally be taken down. We had a good laugh, as the ground where he erected it is so uneven that the two poles look wrong and a bit strange, despite using the laser level to get it just right.
We were hoping that the Electrician would come to wire up the workshop while Michael was here, so Michael pulled rope through the pipes running to the workshop right at the beginning to make it easier and quicker for him to do his work. When he failed to arrive, Michael pulled the long electric cable we had been using to get power to the workshop through one of the pipes in the newly dug trenches, and connected two lights to provide light in the meantime for those times he wakes up while it is still dark and cannot fall back to sleep. From experience we know that it may take many more months of waiting to finally get the Electrician on the land.
Because the soil is drenched and things like diggers and tractors churn up mud, every bit of rain felt and still feels unwelcome to me. Not so for the swallows making good use of the mud to build nests. Unfortunately not yet below the overhang of the workshop where we are hoping they will start to build their nests. With a total of 160 mm for the month it is, like March, one of the wettest Aprils on record.
That also meant that the workshop became an absolute mess during the 8 days of full on work.
The last couple of days were spent cleaning up, sorting out, and tidying up, while Michael also spent some time to rig up chains for my yoga trapeze.
The work unfortunately, after Michael left, did not stop, and Tim and Sil are regularly on the quinta when weather and other commitments allow for it. The biggest project now is the retaining wall for the terrace in front of the house. Tim spent many hours getting that ready for a concrete pour that was supposed to happen on Tuesday, the 29th, ahead of rain that was predicted for Wednesday. I spent my fair share of time in the trench to dig open the pipes that bring water from the borehole and electricity to it, place plastic pipe and tape around rebar to help with the levelling of the foundation, and dug out soil that fell into the trench after a rogue thunderstorm moved through and dumped 9 mm rain in its wake on Friday around lunchtime.
When, this past Monday, brought chaos to mainly Portugal and Spain when a blackout wiped out all the electricity in both countries. I felt grateful to be on the quinta, and although we are on the grid and were also affected, it was less noticable. Luckily someone on a WhatsApp group that I was on for a birthday party mentioned what happened shortly after I heard the electricity go off. It meant that I could quickly inform Michael and cancel a yoga lesson I teach on a Monday before the networks went down and communication ceased. With that, the concrete company managed to get hold of Michael in the afternoon to confirm the pour for Tuesday morning at 9 am, as they have generators. Michael was in a panic, as he couldn’t get hold of me to convey the message, but he eventually managed to phone a friend, who passed by the quinta to convey the message in the evening. As we are in a rural part of Portugal we expected it to take 3-6 days for us to have our electricity restored, which meant I was overjoyed when it clicked back on at 11pm.
As Tim, Sil, and I were looking at the time on Tuesday morning, wondering when we will hear the concrete truck, Michael called with the message that they were unable to deliver the concrete and will have to rescedule. Luckily both Tim and Sil had other work to get on with. As Sil will be building the retaining wall as a dry stone wall, we are hoping that most of the stones can come from the land, and so Tim got busy digging out stones between two pieces of our land where some sort of wall was built or planned for at some point in the past.
The weather prediction held true and after 38 mm of rain yesterday, I was swearing at the concrete company, as the carefully prepared trench is a mess, and more rain is predicted for tomorrow. As I am trying to finish off this long post, I feel exhausted and frustrated.
A Special Memory or Moment of Joy:
I regularly watch a little Eurasian blue tit, who discovered Lily’s hair on the scratch pad on the porch, collecting mouthfuls of fluff for its nest. I’ve started putting extra out after brushing Lily in the morning, so I imagine it is going to be the cosiest and softest nest in the area.
Notes:
# The Spring weather has been a rollercoaster ride during the whole month fluctuating between cold and balmy days. It meant that I can almost hear how the grass is growing, and footpaths I have strimmed open previously had become overgrown again. Just to access the fruit trees to prune them, meant that I had to strim first. I made good use of the cuttings, as I raked them up to add to my compost heap that Tim moved to where we had been planning to have it all along.
# Tim scraped away extra soil that had been building up in the middle of our access road, and filled various places that had washed away with some touvenant. He also levelled the area behind a small wall at the entrance of the land where I had previously removed the last remnants of an old wire fence.
# The cats and I manage walks on most days, except for when it is raining, or I decide to light a fire in the firepit. The landscape is gorgeous with various wild flowers blooming, including all the wild lavender and white and yellow broom. The air is filled with the songs of birds, especially that of nightingales. Although Spring brings a lot of work, it is also a very pretty time of the year.
Written by: Jolandi
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Hi guys! Great to read this blog and see the enormous progress you’re making. The workshop is really looking good and I’m so jealous of all that’ space. Can’t wait to see what projects you’ll get up to in there. And the garden is going to be amazing as it develops.
Hope you’re both well? We miss our little get togethers and our shared venting of various frustrations. Keep up the good work and we look forward to seeing the next update.
You’ve been involved in the very first stage of steel delivery on a rainy day, Chris. What a day that was! Your anticipated moral support quickly turned into physical one. 😆 We miss our venting sessions and good laughs with you guys too. I hope the Spanish bureaucracy is a bit easier to navigate than the Portuguese one. – Jolandi
The amount of work you are doing is absolutely mind-boggling. Glad the power outage didn’t affect you much.
Sometimes I think we are just downright crazy, Peggy. – Jolandi
It is so interesting to see the work in progress – and such a lot of work too! You must be exhausted. I am loath to tell you but here in England, and especially where I live in East Anglia we have hardly had any rain for weeks and people are beginning to talk of drought! April has been very dry indeed but for most of the month we have had very cold nights and chilly days with a strong northerly or easterly wind blowing. The past few days have been warm (at last!) but I think the temperature drops again tomorrow. I am glad your blue tit is recycling Lily’s fur; what cosy nests for the baby tits!
I always say that I will never complain about rain, Clare, as a drought is far worse, yet, this year I started to grumble about all the rain, so when I read about your lack of rain, I feel bad, and wish I could have sent you a bit of ours. I really hope that by now you’ve had some rain. – Jolandi
Oh my goodness, what an incredible time you have had. Sounds like things are really beginning to fall into place. Glad the outage wasn’t too long for you. Love the stone work around the olive tree. So stylish.
What an incredible, backbreaking, frustrating, rewarding project you have taken on Jolandi and Michael. I so admire your courage and stamina and ability to keep doing despite poor weather, bureaucracy and tradies who don’t turn up! My favourite project is the curved walls; they add so much character to a place. And the stone looks ancient and full of stories.
Thank you, Christina. We love those curved walls and stones too! We could spend a lot less money if it wasn’t for our love of stones, but I think in the end the place is going to have so much character and another layer of stories to tell, because of this love, so we will simply persist. 😇 – Jolandi
I can’t imagine the exhaustion and frustration you have been feeling in recent weeks due to all those works. The prospect of having more permanent gardens after all this mess is definitely encouraging, but still, the amount of work is mind-boggling! But that keeps you moving, doesn’t it? And that’s good for your body. I’m glad to hear that the recent blackout didn’t affect you too much, Jolandi.
It is definitely good to keep the body moving, Bama, but sometimes we simply push our poor bodies past the point where it is healthy, especially when we work with time constraints. Hopefully those days will become less and less. I certainly cope better with a slower physical pace. Plus it is much more enjoyable. – Jolandi
Oh, how I love the opening quote by Tolstoy. So much truth in those words, “not passively waiting… but to keep going when the going is hard and slow – that is patience.” And those words are at the core of most hard-working, dedicated people with a passion (which you and Michael are at heart). I love living vicariously through your photos and words… and my lower back is even sore watching all you have to do 🙃! Step by step, piece-by-piece, and a lot of patience is how a paradise is made ~ so inspiring you all bringing this to life. It’s amazing to see the transformation from afar!
Thanks, Randall. Patience is definitely the only way to approach this. And yes, so many body parts end up hurting at the end of the day. 🙈😆 And we are sadly not getting any younger, so the body sometimes struggle to recover, but I do think that one day we will be happy and proud that we have taken on such a hands-on approach. Not that we can really afford not to. We stretch both our finances and bodies most of the time, but we trust that it will all be worth it in the end. – Jolandi
Soooo much work! I am exhausted reading about it. I know how antsy I get when we have a project going on at our house, so I can’t even imagine the frustrations of waiting for contractors who don’t arrive. Or power outages. And difficult weather. From afar, I can say that things look really nice, and the small pleasures of your days (the cat hair for the birdie!) can help offset the challenges, I hope.
P.S. I’m glad Michael sent out an email about your balky plug-in because I had indeed missed your posts for at least 3-4 months. I hope to catch up now!
For reasons I don’t understand, I enjoy watching videos of heavy machinery digging holes and trenches and scraping out roads. It may be because I like playing in dirt—one reason I garden, I think—and maybe because as a toddler I used to eat clods of dirt! (My mother assured me I had a nutritious diet back then: they ascribed it to my being an odd child.) Anyway I liked your photos of all the work you did on the quinta, though I found myself rubbing my shoulders and back in reaction to them. What a huge project! I’m sure it will pay off in the (hopefully) near future, but it looks grueling and laborious. Hopefully you and Michael had an opportunity to rest and soak in a hot tub afterwards. I read about the power outages in Spain and Portugal and wondered how you were doing. That may have been one great advantage of living in the country: Imagine living in an urban skyscraper and not being able to use the elevator to get out of your building. Take care!
I love that you like playing with dirt, Hangaku. Not to mention watching heavy machinary. I must admit that it is quite mesmerising. Like you, I also used to eat heaps of soil when I was little. My two older brothers thought it was funny to give me a teaspoon to eat with. Much to my mother’s annoyance, of course. 😅
Michael and I often push our bodies past where we perhaps should with some of these projects. “Healthy” aches and pains as a result of a day of physical labour is one thing, but when one works against a deadline, it often becomes problematic, as one tends to injure oneself in the process. And like you know, the older one gets, the longer it takes for the body to recover. I cannot wait for all these big projects to come to an end. At least I don’t think we have anything big planned for his next visit in June. – Jolandi
Jolandi, your honesty here with the plain facts of life is compelling. You sound tired, and you should be, with the physical and emotional burdens you have carried and the amount of time you have carried them – adding more things to carry before you have even cleared away the list of tasks already on your mind. I fear you are right in the middle of the struggle and that obscures the clear picture at times.
What I kept seeing while gazing at your photos is your achievements. “Look how far they have come!” I whispered to myself. The quinta is transformed; a bountiful and restorative home for you all. I noticed so many details that have changed since you arrived: the road, the walls, the trees, the paths, the patio, the shop…. the list is endless (things not in the photos: the sharka, the garden, your home…). I am in awe of the transformation, and your thoughtful, careful progress to do this work within the forms of the earth, with beauty, with deep forethought to a long future there. If your land had a personality, it would be smiling, and grateful for stewards such as you and Michael.
Years ago, in France, I learned how to build a dry wall properly, so that it would stand for generations. I have since been intrigued with rock wall building. It’s a gift that Sil can do it, and the wall around the olive tree is just gorgeous. You and Michael have been blessed with some valuable help there – it’s like winning a prize for homeowners. We found an electrician that can do anything and do it well, and will come quickly, and charges a fair price, and is super friendly…I cherish him, ha ha!
I felt engaged with so many comments this time! Randall particularly touched the things I noticed: the perfect quote, the acknowledgement of the amount of work you have done and continue to do. The comments about age resonate, because I was just thinking it yesterday as I hauled yard debris back and forth to the bin. A task that only 5 years ago would have invigorated me, instead wipes me out and makes me grumpy. Hangaku’s comment about watching dirt movers reminds me of how I found that I enjoy watching lawn maintenance people trim and mow an overgrown lawn. I find videos on TikTok and I can watch them entirely rapt, ha ha. Both of you ate dirt and so did I! It must be an inherent human thing. Only I wasn’t fed dirt by siblings, but was the one feeding dirt to my little brother. Mom was so irritated, and couldn’t get me to stop it for a while.
I am happy to see Midnight and Lily close enough to each other to be in the same photograph. 🙂 Speaking of cats, Pedro and I have been able to have discussions about bringing one into our home soon. After months of healing from losing Racecar, we are ready to fall in love again with a new fuzzy belly.
I am thrilled to hear that you and Pedro have decided that you are ready for ‘a new fuzzy belly’, Crystal. Life is definitely more interestingg when shared with a cat or cats. 😁 It is fascinating to learn that you know how to build a proper dry stone wall, love wathing lawn maintenance videos, and have eaten your fair share of dirt as a child. Your comments are always such an interesting exchange that it feels like a real conversation. I’ve vowed from the beginning that I would try to give an honest account of what it takes to do what we do here on the quinta and in Portugal, as so often a skewed picture is presented. It is definitely much harder than I thought it would be, yet, the moments of beauty and peace are also far more intense than I ever thought I’ll experience. And like you say, when one is in the middle of it all, the final picture and end result is obscured. Patience, right? – Jolandi