Here are a couple of areas I've been working on recently, the wild vines enclave...
...and the new sugar-canes lagoons, with good help from Anthony (yes the little family is still here!)...
- at last some proper bamboo sprouting too (don't try them from cuttings by the way, you need roots - they are a very different animal to our rampant canna by the rivers).
Garden's looking NICE! and this is just the beginning of the new system, which is amazing. Here's Dan....
Here's a latest snapshot of the veg garden - though photos of veg gardens never really show the story...
We had our Open Day not so long ago, which was a great multi-cultural day - the west Algarve is melting pot of nationalities and cultures, in general on the alternative side of living but in general also with very much a practical edge.
There were lots of activities for kids, and some nice workshops for grown-ups, films and good info and idea exchanges.
Neighbour Ruben did capoeira games,
... and we made adobe bricks..
Our resident anthropologist Alex did a great slide-show and talk on the Nishi people in the Himalayas, with whom he lived for 3 years.
Tours and treasure hunts. a nice after-party till early hours.
All good stuff.
Parking was limited, but we got by....
August's always a time of taking it easy, the one month where there is a de-focussing, and then getting some perspective on the future.
Here is a nice picture of our long-term guests, just sadly departed, who gave so much wholehearted, honest spirit to the Várzea for the last two months...
... from left, Alex (as already been mentioned on the bit about Open Day), Phoenix, Nicky, and Theo - with, on the right, Megan and mum Kris - now back at Várzea after a year's sojourn to the Serra d'Estrella. The best news (apart from that Kris is back to stay) is that these splendid people are coming back in February for several months!
Daphna masterminded the new earthen floor of the Pit... from collecting the clay at the local barragem.... (honest!) to mixing and applying... can't seem to get these pics where I want them, but I'm sure you can work out the sequence... (thanks to our guest Jarmila for the photos)
The relaxed mood of August is a good time for putting plans together. This is a nice discipline, a motive to properly focus on designs for the Várzea for the coming years, putting ideas into sharp focus and developing them coherently. Fun!
Nature doesn't do harmony, it is harmony.
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