Large Leca sacks and iron oxide pigments arrive

Just a couple of quick videos today. We have been manically painting for the last fortnight, as you know, with paint made from 18 month old slaked lime. Each wall needs at least 4 to 6 layers and we have a lot of walls. Arms are a bit tired as you can imagine. The tiles for the bathroom and kitchen walls and the slate for all the ground floors should be delivered this afternoon too. So next week we'll be tiling and laying floors and building walls to support the granite worktops. Not long to go now before we're in.





(In the vid above I promised to link to the blog post where Von started slaking the lime way back in November 2008 "Horses and Nuclear Waste Monkey Suits")

Von's mum Arlene finally made it on a plane back to London last weekend after the craziness of Iceland's revenge on the rest of Europe. It was so lovely to have her for one more week enjoying the grandchildren and the gardens and the cooking. Come back soon Mum.

Josh and I are off to play our first cricket game of the season tomorrow. We'll post up some video action of the boy. All very surreal. A delightful white picket fenced cricket field in the middle of the Portuguese countryside about 2 hours drive south of here with a real multicultural bunch of fanatics messing about with a bit of leather and some willow. Can't wait.

While we're away, Eli and Von will be at home having fun with the new iron oxide pigments making deliciously coloured wall paints. (I tried to make that sound like there might be some kind of equilibrium or reciprocity in this weekends' activities, but failed miserably. The boys will in fact be playing while the girls are working. "But Cricket is so much more than just a game ma cherie...")

Toodaloo. Té já.

Memphis

Green Roof, Wooden Floors and Lime Paint

We can make out the finishing line, we sense the day we will live in the houses we bought in the Autumn of 2007, is just round the corner. Still an enormous amount of work left to do. But the structure is in place and the rest is really a matter of decoration: laying stone floors, tiling, building the kitchen and bathrooms, painting. And yesterday was a big day cos we made our first lime paint after slaking it over 18 months ago.

Anyway have a butchers, we're off to Tia Laurinda's Café now to buy some local goodies for Arlene to take back to London with her tomorrow.

Memphis

Grand Designs in Portugal

Hey peeps. Hope you like the new look to the blog. Felt it needed a little refreshing and chose autumn leaves cos one day its gonna feel like that here with the new forest Von just planted!

Anyhow, big news this week is that Von's mum Arlene is with us. And its fabulous to have her here. The kids are stuck to her 24 7 like little fluffy limpets. Adorable. Well just look...




Other big news is that we began the green roof today. It's been so so long since we first imagined a green roof and it was beginning to feel like it might never happen. But then today came. And all doubt dissipated into thin air.

Von and I watched the Grand Design series back when we were in London, always fascinated by the way people with a passion could, sometimes against all odds, transform ruins into beautiful homes and works of art with the same stroke. Today felt like one of those episodes. Except we were the stars of the show and, thank God, no one was watching. A most excellent day. One to be cherished for a very long time. 3 vids below let you take a peak. Middle one's in Portuguese but you'll catch the sentiment.








Von will post up something on her rampant gardening endeavours. As soon as I can actually get her to come inside. She's weeding the veggie patch as I write. Don't expect to see her before sunset. A taste of things to come me thinks. And quite rightly so. She's pouring herself into this land with every bit of strength and love she has to offer. Enabling nature to put on such a show, the like of which I don't think we will have seen before.

Peace and love and all good things


Memphis