The Yurt is Up!
The first structure is completed at Quinta da Mizarela!
We ordered a beautiful Mongolian yurt from Sophie and Andy at Pure Portugal. It was built in Mongolia, shipped to the UK and then on to Portugal, eventually arriving at the top our track about a month and a half ago.
So you are probably wondering why did it take us a month and a half to set up a yurt! Ahhhhh because setting it up is only part of the picture!
First we had to get all the bits down the track. There were 9 different bundles and some of them weighed a ton!
Then we had to build a huge deck for the yurt to sit on. We hired Reg, the yurt deck specialist in this area that came recommended to us by Sophie and Andy. He told us what wood to order and we did. To make a long story short the wood took a very long time to arrive. In the end we aren´t quite sure how it all happened but somehow someone showed up with a truckload of planks and poles.
Over the next 10 days the deck continued to materialize. I remember one day looking down on it and I thought, ´what were we thinking building a deck this high, we must be crazy´ Thank goodness it was too late to turn back so I just hoped for the best.
Our volunteer Andrea spent hours painting the wood so the insects wouldn’t eat it before we had a chance to use it. She had some help from me, Pete, her boyfriend Al, and another friend Ana but Andrea was the driving force in getting this completed. Thank you Andrea!
Painting the wood was one thing but then we had to move it all down the terraces to the deck below. This is no small task and again we were lucky to have friends help us.
Reg worked tirelessly, sometimes in extreme heat to get the deck completed. The wood came in all different widths and lengths. It was quite a job for him to make this all fit which he did. I think he used about 10,000 nails and screws!
Once Reg finished the deck we moved in with a highly specialized team of 7 yurt assemblers. 6 of the 7 had actually never done this before but we were full of enthusiasm and optimism so in our eyes we were highly specialized. Our friends Danny and Anna from Ibiza from Greenheart just happened to call a few days ago and tell us they were in the area and asked if they could come and see us. Danny had put up the exact same yurt in Ibiza so the timing of their visit couldn’t have been better. Danny was elected the yurt assembly leader and it made it a lot easier to have his experience at the helm.
Our other team members included Pete, Andrea (volunteer and master painter mentioned above), Paul and Nathan (friends who run meditation retreats and are trying to buy a quinta close to us and will soon be putting up their own yurt!) and me.
To start things off we formed a human circle about where we thought the yurt would sit. We decided this probably wasn’t exact enough so we followed it up with a tape measure and pencil markings.
In 3 short hours we had the base completed.
We probably could have gotten it done a bit quicker but we had to stop for the Mongolian Blues Band to play a few tunes. We had Pete on guitar, Paul on bass, Danny on drums, Nathan as the roadie, Andrea and Anna were the groupies and I was the official band photographer.
We took a short break and with only an hour left to work we sprung into action and the roof emerged!
Just when we hit our stride we had to stop as we were all headed off to Pete’s Friday night meditation/conversation group. Danny and Ana had to leave the next morning but the remainder of the team was ready to go bright and early (OK maybe not so early, more like around noon) the next day.
Just as Danny, our fearless leader had said, the hardest part (the lattice framework) was already done. The Yurt has 4 layers of sides and top. The inside layer is white cotton, the next is a very thick felt for insulation, then on top of that is a really think canvas and then a beautiful white and blue top cover.
We had a great time figuring out how all the bits fit on and then getting them to cover the whole yurt. In a couple of hours we had a beautiful yurt fully assembled, sitting majestically on its base overlooking the gorgeous mountains that surround the quinta. It looks amazing!
With our work completed we were off for a dip in the waterfall below the quinta.
This project was so much fun and working with everyone was a complete joy. If Pete and I had to put this together by ourselves I know it would have taken us at least 10 times longer. Thank you everyone!
Today is Saturday, on Tuesday Pete and I will be moving into the yurt. It will be the first time in over 60 years that someone will be living at Quinta da Mizarela! We are hoping our house will be done in a couple of weeks and Andrea will be the next inhabitant of our beautiful yurt.
Stay tuned for the a post on the progress of our house and also of Jacqueline´s house! By the end of the year we should have 3 finished buildings sitting above the yurt!
Cheers,
Cynthia
No commentsGrupo Vida Desperta: Meditação Semanal e Conversa Consciente
Qualquer pessoa sinceramente interessada no crescimento espiritual, evolução e meditação é bem-vindo.
Encontrar-nos-emos todas as sextas-feiras às 19h30 na Eco-Casa da Quinta Cabeça do Mato. Terminaremos por volta das 22h15.
Chegue em silêncio, por favor, e sente-se. Quando toda a gente estiver já reunida, meditaremos juntos durante cerca de 45 minutos.
Após a meditação, haverá um pequeno intervalo, também em silêncio. Juntos vamos, em seguida, ligar-nos numa forma específica de conversa direccionada para uma prática/exploração espiritual.
Inicio este grupo com o objectivo de realizar uma experiência no âmbito da evolução da consciência. Tudo será novo em cada encontro. Não sabemos o que é possível. Tudo dependerá do grau de interesse, confiança e compromisso para irmos além dos enquadramentos de referência habituais.
Não vamos tentar resolver nenhum problema. Não vamos tentar curar os nossos traumas. Tudo isso tem o seu lugar, mas esta é uma experiência diferente.
Vou arriscar imenso nestes encontros e vou pedir a todos que arrisquem comigo…
Esse risco passa por deixar lá fora o pessoal, o familiar e tudo o que pensa saber sobre quem você é, como você funciona, o que precisa para se sentir seguro ou participar num grupo, o que são os grupos e como estes funcionam.
Convido-o a abandonar tudo isso em benefício desta curta janela no tempo. Vou pedir-lhe que se junte a mim no desconhecido. E o que é o desconhecido? Acredito que vamos descobrir, quando nos encontrarmos!
O propósito deste grupo é experimentar e fortalecer quem REALMENTE somos, o Eu Verdadeiro, normalmente escondido atrás do véu das nossas ideias rígidas, identidades, medos e desejos. É a parte de nós que nunca foi ferida nem traumatizada e, por isso, não precisa de ser ouvida, curada ou educada. Esse Eu é livre. É a parte de si já unicamente interessada no Bem, na Verdade e na Beleza. Esse Eu não toma as coisas pessoalmente, porque não se identifica com a personalidade.
E, mais importante ainda, interessa-se apenas pelo Despertar e pela Evolução. Não quer descansar para se sentir seguro. Quer mergulhar no desconhecido, no que vem a seguir, no que ainda não aconteceu.
É a fonte da Vida e do Amor. Tudo o que é necessário para expressar este Eu Verdadeiro é ser completamente honesto na profunda, verdadeira e mais elevada porção da experiência… e ignorar tudo o resto!
Quero dar as boas-vindas a qualquer pessoa que se sinta inspirada a participar no início daquilo que espero vir a ser uma grande aventura.
Pete
No commentsAwakened Life Group Fridays 7.30pm – Meditation & the Emergence of a Collective Awakened Consciousness
All kinds of things have been written and said about meditation. But TRUE meditation is so utterly simple. By true meditation I mean when it is practiced with the sincere intention to awaken to our true nature, not just for stress relief, for visualization, or to get something for ourselves. And what does the intention to awaken mean? It means we want to GIVE ourselves to the Mystery of Life.
The way we give ourselves in meditation is by doing absolutely NOTHING because we already ARE that Mystery. And that is the challenge! If we are willing to let everything be exactly as it is, regardless of the movement of mind, emotion, and everything we think we are, over and over and over again, a door begins to open, and we begin to uncoil and merge into the ocean of vast, original, infinite Being…
When that infinite Being is the consciousness in which we then come together it is like the light of the new dawn breaking into this world. It is a Consciousness from which a new world and a new humanity can be created, free from the taint of ego. All that is required is a willingness to awaken to our life as an expression of the One Life that animates all and everything.
So if you are interested in joining us for meditation and exploring this potential please come along to the Roundhouse at 7.30pm Fridays.
Love Pete
No commentsThe Secret Arts of Slate Stone
Here I am learning the secret Portuguese arts of creating beautiful walls of slate stone from the masters! Wielding brush and damp sponge I was soon delicately revealing the choicest stones from under the layer of cement that was applied to fill in all the holes.
With expert instruction from Fernando and Philippe I was learning fast. However, it was only after they insisted I stop for a brief copo de vinho/redwine break with them, that my stone polishing flair went to another level. I joked with them saying now I knew the secret of their art!
Next day they were busy laying the stone floors, which they laid with passion and precision in hardly any time at all. They gathered huge slabs of slate from the nearby ruins and carefully crafted the different shapes and size together.
The whole house is looking so amazing we can hardly believe it. Here are some views from above the house and valley…
Sustainable Living Project in Central Portugal
Here is a message and invitation from fellow eco-warriors in the area, Sophie and Andy at the Farm of the Bees…
Eco-Living Central Portugal has a new focus! We (Quinta das Abelhas) set up the eco-living project with the intention of offering courses, workshops and practical experience of sustainable living on a large riverside quinta we planned to buy. Unfortunately the purchase of this new quinta fell through and we no longer feel we have sufficient space, time and energy to devote to the project. Thus we have, after much consideration, decided that the best use of this website and the funds we have already been kindly donated is to promote and support other sustainable projects in the local area (Central Portugal).
The project’s aims remain the same, and we will now be adding to the funding by sharing the profits from our business Pure Portugal Ltd to help meet those aims:
- To support and promote local ecological and sustainable projects, courses and events;
- To encourage visitors to gain practical experience of eco-living;
- To inspire, empower, & enable people to reduce their ecological footprint;
- To bring together communities and individuals working for sustainability, self-sufficiency, and low-impact living;
- To collaborate on various projects and share ideas and experiences;
- To network with national and international projects on sustainability.
Check out the website at www.ecolivingportugal.org
Awakened Life Group: Weekly Meditation & Conscious Conversation
Anyone who is sincerely interested in spiritual awakening and the evolution of consciousness is welcome to attend.
We will meet at 7.30pm on Fridays at the Roundhouse at Quinta Cabeca do Mato. We will finish around 10.15pm.
Please arrive in silence and sit down. When everyone has arrived we will meditate together for about 45mins. After the meditation there will be a short break also in silence. Then we will gather together and engage in a specific form of conversation as a spiritual practice/exploration.
By meditating together in a circle we generate a powerful field of charged consciousness and intimacy with each other, even if we do not know each other personally. This connection provides a new foundation for communication and what happens as we open our hearts and share our experience depends on the degree of our own interest, trust and commitment to go beyond our habitual frames of reference.
This group is not about trying to solve any problems or about healing our traumas. The emphasis in this gathering is to explore the dimensions of ourselves that are universal and in so doing transcend our personal concerns and history.
For the gathering to genuinely come alive we have to be willing to take a big risk together…
The risk is to let go of the personality, let go of the familiar, let go of everything you think you know about who you are, how you operate, about what you need to feel safe or participate in a group, about what groups are and how groups work. Let us abandon it all for this brief window in time and dare to come together in real vulnerability and transparency. I’m going to ask you to join me in the unknown. And what is the unknown? I guess we will all find out when we meet there!
My purpose in initiating this group is to provide a time and a place in which people can experience the True Self, that ordinarily remains hidden beneath the veils of our rigid ideas, identities, fears and desires. It is the part of ourself that was never wounded or traumatized, that therefore does not need to be heard, healed, or nurtured. That Self is already originally Free. It is the part of you that is already only interested in the Good, the True, and the Beautiful. That Self doesn’t take things personally, because it is not identified with the personality. And more importantly, it is interested only in Awakening and Evolution. It is the wellspring of Life and Love. All that is required to express this True Self is to be completely true to the deepest, highest part of your experience…and to ignore everything else! I look forward to welcoming all who are interested in living an awakened human life in the tipping point times that we are living in.
Pete
Please call 966333187 if you have any questions.
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Schist House Renovation at the Quinta
The water tank is completed and the house is well on its way!
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Here is Juliano proudly introducing his handiwork!
We are at the quinta everyday now planting and clearing the land and it’s such a joy to look up and see our house appearing before our very eyes stone by stone! The original house was 2 rooms, one up and one down. The original room upstairs is now our living room (sala) and downstairs is the kitchen. We have added an extension on, the top room is our bedroom and the bottom is the bathroom with a little wood storage/dog house space next to it.
The whole house will be in slate stone. Where there are bricks (on the new section) it is being stone faced. The walls on the original part had to be raised as the bottom floor was very low. These walls are being done all in stone.
We are getting estimates on the solar hot water system, wood burner central heating system and the general solar system. Then all that’s left is getting the water pump and the pipes in place!
The pictures will tell the rest of the story! If are looking for a builder we can wholeheartedly recommend Eusebio Santos and his crew. They are efficient, the price is good, they are great guys to have on ones land and they do a great job.
Stay tuned, will post more photos as the job continues!
Cheers,
Cynthia
1 commentExploding After Rain
After plentiful and much needed rain in April the dry stream is now gushing pure mountain water across the Quinta and over our waterfall. It is a wondrous sight to behold and also wondrously bracing to take a dip in!
Down from this waterfall which borders the Project stretches the amazing gorge of Fraga da Pena. It means Gorge of Pity in Portuguese, which must have been some medieval morbid Catholic interpretation of this gorgeous gorge, so we are renaming it Fraga de Alegria or Gorge of Joy!
It was voted one of the top 10 beauty spots in Portugal recently and after the rains it is echoing with raw elemental splendour.
There is something about waterfalls I find completely captivating. If Nature is a mirror then the rushing waters and explosive fronds of incandescent spray evoke the Uncontainable Mystery of Life in all its wild glory…
Crashing clear cascades
Seething dance of the cosmos
Freefalling abandon
White light
Ever mounting crescendo
Fount of Life
Bestowing
Becoming
Shouts I AM…
Forever ungraspable
Forever flowing
Forever felt in the Soul
May you find the fount of freefall!
Love Pete
1 commentWow, We’re Really Doing This!
The Awakened Life Project has been in the making for a long time. I’m not sure exactly how long but it started to come into our consciousness about 2 years ago. 8 months ago we found the land; 4 months ago we bought a big chunk of it, we started our blog and many friends have visited and supported what we are doing over time. So in practical terms the project has been well underway for quite a while! I think that’s why it was so surprising to me that it wasn’t until a 12 ton bulldozer showed up to put in a track & a couple of local friends came to help us burn the branches from the fire that I thought to myself, ‘Wow, we’re really doing this!”
It was a Monday at 8:30 am we met Joao and Elsa (one of the owners we bought the land from) at the quinta. They got there early and had already begun working. It was pouring down rain but they had still managed to get a fire started to burn the brush we needed to clear. We were happy to get the last remnants of the fire cleaned up and to prepare the hillside for planting new trees.
About 9am we heard a rumbling from down the valley and sure enough Joao (yet another Joao) and Pedro and a really big bulldozer showed up as scheduled. We had a lot of things we needed the bulldozer to do and we were a bit nervous on the effect it would have on the look and feel of the quinta
First we needed to put a track down to the first house we are renovating and it wasn’t clear if it would be possible. We didn’t have a lot of width and the incline was quite steep so it was bit dodgy from the beginning. Not only were we putting in a track but also we needed to dig out a space for the 10,000 liter water tank that will gravity feed all the buildings, as well as needing to dig out another space for a car turn-around, and yet another space for our bathroom and kitchen!! An idea that came at the last moment was to put in a terrace to the side of the house for a patio, greenhouse and a good sunny spot (in Zone 1) for some orange and lemon trees so we needed this done too!
Joao was recommended to us as the best digger in the area. Once he got there I could see that he was fearless and operated the bulldozer with precision and determination. Pedro hadn’t worked in the mountains as much and was less of a daredevil and sometimes looked at Joao as if he was a bit crazy. I have to admit that if I hadn’t been so completely confident in Joao’s expertise I would have thought he was a bit crazy too! We needed every bit of his nerve to accomplish what we needed to have done.
So as Joao and Pedro worked below the rest of us were working above the houses clearing and burning brush on the mountainside.
Every time we’ve had Portuguese people help us on the land I’ve been amazed at how happy they are while they are doing really hard work. Working with Joao and Elsa was like this. There was so much joy coming from them as they worked and such a sense of family and communion as we worked together. Even in the pouring rain on a steep slope they didn’t hold back and I found myself inspired to keep up with them – well maybe not keep up with them but at least not look like some city slicker that didn’t have a clue about what she was doing! In fact I do have to admit this was my first conscious fire/burning experience. And another confession before I go on is that after the fire we had I was very nervous about purposefully starting another one, so when I woke up and it was raining I was a bit relieved. In the end I didn’t need to worry as Elsa and Joao knew what they were doing and were very conscious of safety.
After about 4 hours of slip sliding around and numerous attempts at trying to light another fire we surrendered that we needed to stop and try again on a dryer day. Even though we were wet and cold our spirits weren’t dampened and we ended up finishing clearing the hillside about a week later, which is great.
Meanwhile Pedro and Joao were moving A LOT of dirt.
It was quite something to see the land transform. As I mentioned Pete and I were both a bit nervous about how these changes that we needed were going to affect the quinta so over the next 4 days we spent a lot of time watching what was being done.
Parking space & turnaround
After the first day I started to relax as the track didn’t leave the horrible scar I was expecting.
In fact something surprising emerged. Because we didn’t have to destroy any existing slate terrace walls or any other existing structures it became clear that we were actually ‘extending’ the quinta, something new was being created without disturbing anything old. It turned out to be the perfect blend of old and new coming together to create something different that fully embraced both. I think this is the first time that I felt that we are not only reviving the old but we are bringing something new to this amazing place. I’ve always felt the presence of all those who have contributed to creating this extraordinary place but somehow I hadn’t seen myself as one of them! Now I see that we are not only caretakers of the old but are the conscious creators of what is to come.
By the end of the week everyone had gone and Pete and I stood looking at all that had been done. It’s hard to express but there was something very moving about having so many people on the project at one time working to help make it a reality. We’ve had friends come and help in the past but somehow this was different. I don’t know if it was because the Portuguese were there or because so many major structural things were put into motion, all I know is that ‘Wow this is really happening!’
From LA to a farm in Portugal…Diggin’ a carrot patch!
Stay tuned for updates as the water tank is built, the house renovation starts, we figure out our solar and water system. If you have any suggestions on any of these they are greatly appreciated!
Cheers,
Cynthia
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