Our weekly round up of what volunteers have been working on at Casalinho, our developing permaculture project in central Portugal.
Once again our activities have been largely dictated by the weather, but we’ve been very lucky and had dry mornings most days in which to get the essentials done. As I write though, it’s a balmy morning and we’re due some blue skies again.
Left to right, top to bottom:
1) Another amazing sunset.
2) Rain means that we’ve had to take down the dam which makes our little bathing pool. Josh came prepared for such an eventuality with an interesting wet suit and wellies combo.
3) After heavy rain our animal shed composting system became waterlogged. A trench to catch run off from the roof, re-emergence of the pond and removal of lots of material has allowed it to dry out.
4) Bad weather illustrates how important it is for volunteers to arrive equipped with decent footwear and waterproofs. Here, Boy models borrowed pink Crocs as his own blatantly unsuitable suede trainers dry off.
5) Kittens appear not to be at all bothered by my own wet socks and boots. Possibly because they’re in front of the stove?
6) If there is any warmth about then you can bet your bottom dollar (euro?) that there’s a kitten asleep in it. Bottles of newly bottled pear purée cooling present such an opportunity.
7) Broken wheelbarrows have been utilised as feeders in the animal shed. Or day beds. Take your pick.
8) This photo is rubbish but if you squint you can perhaps see that this spider has hundreds of babies all over her body.
9) In previous years we’ve made jars and jars of blackberry jam. This year the blackberries went from hard and sour to squashy and watery seemingly overnight.
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