“There are the places you wish to go, there are the places you desperately wish you never left, there are the places you imagine you should be, and there is the place called here.” – Padraig O Tuama from his beautiful book In the Shelter The Electrician promised us in an e-mail that he will […]
Category Archives: Our Journey
Building a Real Bathroom
“Slow and steady wins the race.” – Aesop In November last year Michael installed the channels and studs for the bathroom wall, and hung the door. Instantly the space looked and felt different. Having had to make do with a temporary outside bathroom, this first step to build our indoor bathroom felt huge. To accommodate […]
Beauty in the Little Things
“Whether the road is great or not, whether the speed is fast or slow, becomes a small thing when we are in the right company and are moving in the right direction.” – Gaur Gopal Das After not being on the land for eleven months it felt strangely familiar and comforting to drive down the […]
A Bump in the Road
“You don’t get over the shadows inside you simply by walking away from them.” – Pico Iyer I pried my eyes open and tried to focus on the white doctor’s jacket that swam into my vision. “You are a tough woman.” He said. I didn’t feel tough, but I was alive. The pain I experienced […]
On Showering
“Happiness does not depend on outer things, but on the way we see them.” – Leo Tolstoy With our tickets booked for our June visit to the land, I’ve done some research to see what we can expect temperature wise, especially as none of the future comforts and conveniences are yet in place. It seems […]
An Exercise in Patience
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius- The most important thing we are learning with our project in Portugal is to cultivate patience. Not easy, but definitely crucial, as there is not much else we can do, living so far away. Since Michael’s visit in […]
Blisters and Cold
“In a very cold night, even houses want to have houses of their own to enter inside them and feel warm!” – Mehmet Murat Ildan My wife , many years ago when we first moved to the UAE, wrote a blog post titled “I love winter”, and in that article she says she never thought […]
Drilling A Borehole
“Filthy water cannot be washed.” – An African Proverb The importance of fresh drinking water cannot be overstated, and as we get our small piece of paradise ready for our eventual habitation, we realized that we need more than an open well for a source of clean drinking water. After a long deliberation, and […]
Land Clearing as it Should be Done
“We have forgotten how to be good guests, how to walk lightly on the earth as its other creatures do. “– Barbara Ward – We learned in April that land clearing is not the same as gardening, and that we will have to approach it in a more efficient way. Our visits are short, and […]
A Temporary Splash Pool
“It all comes with the cold water.” – An Islandic saying to remind someone that if you are patient, things will fall into place. As the temperatures in Portugal are plummeting, and Michael is heading there tonight, it may seem rather ironic and perhaps a tad cruel that I would reflect on the warmth of […]
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