We're open! The 2013 Yoga Retreat Season begins.

After all the preparation over the last 3 months, we finally began our new yoga season last week. It was a close one. We had to battle with constant rain for most of February and March. Record breaking rainfall. Our elderly neighbours cannot ever remember living through a wetter winter. And that follows last year's dryest ever winter. The world's weather, it sure is a changing.

For those of you new to this blog, now and again we take some very home made videos of our restoration and landscaping work here at Vale de Moses. And as a bit of fun we call it We Love Moses TV and upload them to Youtube. Below are the latest 4 episodes documenting our last building project - converting the veranda into a more appropriate space to practice.  I wish I had had the time to take a video every day, but there simply wasn't the time. We were flat out helping the carpenters, blacksmiths and stone masons get it built. And boy, was it close.

We're still waiting for a couple of things to be installed, like doors and some of the railings, but they'll be in place in the next week or so. What was a big relief was that we had an enclosed practice space ready for when our first guests of the year arrived last Saturday. And what an incredible group they were. Even though it poured with rain nearly all week, when the sun did burst through, a few still managed to take dips in the white water rivers running through the land and brave a full swim in the Rio Zêzere on our river trip. Once the sun comes out in full, those waters heat up quickly and it will be a little more comfortable. But hats off. No holding back.

This Rainbows on your Eyelashes group also took some beautiful photos of their stay with us, today's post has a few but I am uploading a bigger album to a Spring Retreat album Facebook. I had forgotten how wonderful it is to see this place through other people's eyes and lenses. Special.

I could write a hundred stories of our experience this week. Each of our guests was a real character and threw themselves whole heartedly into their yoga practice, their treatments and for some experimented with a completely new diet for the week. And they did so with a joyful openness to the elements of life out here on the edge of wilderness. When the water falls like it has done, rivers and waterfalls open up all over the valley. The  energy of all those rushing waters is invigorating. And obviously very wet.

It was a real treat for us to meet such wonderful people from all over Europe and beyond. They came for a week's break to our home in the forest. I was chatting to Josh the other day after his acupuncture session with Mama bear, and we agreed how amazing it is that even though we've moved so far away from the bustling multi cultural life of London, we still get to meet so many great people and hear about their tales from foreign lands.

This morning came round very quickly, bright and early at 7am we loaded everyone and their bags into the cars and drove into Oleiros to buy coach tickets from the sweetest old man in the café and had time for a quick tea and coffee and fresh home made pastries straight out of the oven at another café, before saying our goodbyes.

To Marianna, Nolene, Edgar, Sue, Bob, Jane, Oksana, Vicky, Laura and Per, that was an absolute honour to have you with us this week. God's wind in your sails you lovely, lovely people.

Peace and love and all good things.


Thanks for tuning in.

Memphis

Nature doesn't hurry...

The sun is shining. The sap in the trees is rising. The mimosas are in full, gloriously-scented, yellow bloom. And the tiny daffodils are peeping out on the forest floor. Signs that Spring is emerging. Graças a Deus that we've had a winter of rain to fill up the water tables after last winter's 5 month drought. The appearance of Spring holds an even more poignant message for us this year.

The forest fires at the end of last summer charred a sizeable chunk of the surrounding landscape. Paradoxically, fire destroys and rejuvenates simultaneously. The contrast between the wee forest flowers breaking through the rich black pot ash is remarkable. I was heartened by Tameera at Light Stays Retreats for her Lau Tzu quote this week on FB. Good to be reminded....

"Nature doesn't hurry, 

yet everything is accomplished." 

Lau Tzu.

Big thanks to our wonderful volunteer Christian Steiger, who has been working tirelessly over the last month, helping us prepare the houses and the land for our yoga retreat season opening in a few weeks. Clearing up some of the fallen trees and debris of the winter storms, weeding the kitchen gardens ready for planting out this year's herbs and salads, rearranging and tidying spaces, deep Spring cleaning and to top it off playing around in the kitchen with me inventing new dishes for the retreats. Exploring the taste-scape of our pallets.  It's been a lot of fun and inspiring to have another chef to cook with.

Eloise turned 14 in January and Joshua 16 last week. They grow fast. And we observe them change once more, this time into adults, young, energetic and magnificent. Flapping their perfectly formed wings on the edge of the proverbial nest, eyeing that tantalizing horizon of destiny, wherever it may lie for them. The world is their oyster. 2 languages mastered and more coming, they'll be able to navigate their way through. They're not ready to leave just yet, but they're beginning to imagine what that might look like. Imagination and Vision. Such precious and powerful human attributes.

Now the winter rains seem to have passed, we'll be starting the improvements to the yoga platform next week in the sunshine. Strengthening the wooden pillars beneath the veranda with a metal structure that will double as a frame for the wisteria,  roses and jasmines to grow up through. We'll also be enclosing it from the fresh morning valley autumn breezes and the fierce summer sun. We'll keep you updated with a couple of vids to show work in progress. It'll be sad in someways to loose the openness of the practice space, but with more guests and children coming this year, that experience of floating above the forest is not as important as taking care that our guests are safe and don't fall to injury.

And while all that is happening we also have 4 families from the UK with us to explore the possibility of making the jump out to this part of the world. Nice to be able to provide a comfortable base from which they can travel off every day to hunt for similar abandoned hamlets in this beautiful, mountainous and relatively "undiscovered" central part of Portugal.

After these lovely families and their oh so very cute kids leave, my Mum and Dad are popping over for a fortnight from the UK before Easter and then we start our first retreat of the year. Which, Merci Papa, is already fully booked. Places on our retreats are booking so fast this year we can hardly believe it. We've had over 5000 likes for our Facebook page in 12 months. Staggering. Guests are coming in from all over the world - America, Australia, United Arab Emirates, Italy, India, the UK, Thailand and Norway. And that's just for the first 2 retreats of the year. Amazing.

We are really touched by how people have responded to our invitation to come spend a week with us in the forest. And by how many people are helping us in this little quest - Ellie and Rosy at Responsible Travel, Will at Yoga Travel, Filipe at Seegno, among many others. Thanks. We really do appreciate all you're doing for us.

Peace, love and Spring hope to you, whatever the weather outside your window today.

Memphis x

p.s. Respect is due to Josh for these photos on the blog, he took them for me this morning. Lad, you sure got an eye.

Yoga at Moses went on holiday. By River

Hey guys

As some of you might know I get a little homesick from time to time for the little gem of an island on which I was born.  The island of Barbados. This small 14 x 21 miles bit of coral protruding miraculously from the Caribbean and Atlantic seas is a Tropical Paradise.  From the moment you get off the plane the heat hits you, slam.  Warm and moist, every muscle relaxes.

The tropical heat brings a sinuous ease to your practice. Twists, backbends, forward bends, hip openers all come so easily.   Tensions of the mind and body melt away assisted by the sultry tropical days and frequent sudden intense and short rain showers to warm and moisten the sinews. Imagine getting into those forward bends and impossible twists just because your body temperature is constant all day. Or, resting after a sweat inducing practice in Shavasana with the sound of the ocean. Surpasses the ticking of the clock or the desire for more. When your eyes open they are hit with big blue sky, big blue sea, huge big leaved big bodied vegetation and blousy flowers and people who like me, embody the phrase, “Soon come.”

My Dad (in the photo with Josh below) has this intimate little coral stone villa that he renovated as a young man on the South Coast of the island. The villa is adorable, with its own sundeck, overlooking a gently curved stretch of cove.  It's called Jarrow and people go back year after year cos it's so lovely. The entire South Coast is known for its tranquil seas and vibrant night life, just a short walk across the beach and you enter St Lawrence Gap, a bustling mile long stretch of bars, resorts, clubs along a stretch of the softest white sand and sparkling blue sea on the island.

The island is one heaving rock of activity and there is so much to do.  A mid morning practice of cleansing asanas easily prepares for afternoons snorkeling with Sea turtles, boogie and surf boarding in the waves or gently swimming in the clear and warm Caribbean Sea, water the same temperature as the air around.

I guess this little piece of coastline has some sentimental value for me.  I practically grew up along this stretch of the island, Mum worked on one of the Hotels and to me life was all about bustling and smiling and hearing the music of people dancing until 3am in the morning.   The Gap is a little quieter these days, but it is still a great place to shake down a little and drink one of Barbados’ famous and delicious Banks Beers or tasty Rum punches (ask Andy!).  He loves this area too and managed to remind me every day that he once scored a century at the local Cricket ground when he was 18 on a school tour.

I really enjoyed staying a week in my Dad's place by the beach, waking up and practicing mid-morning, lounging and snorkeling with the kids in the afternoons and spending the evenings watching the little fishing boats, dancing all night with the family on the deck or with Andy in a bar and walking back bare foot along the beach swinging hands in the early hours.

The sunlight, ocean air and warmth, huge boosts to health requiring no effort on our part.  An island heated yoga practice seriously cleanses the body of all previous forays.  It’s been 7 years in Europe since I was back last and I forgot just how naturally healing a Caribbean island climate can be. I am not complaining about the European climate (currently loving the endless rain here filling up the water tables ready for the summer heat plus the cold killing the bugs!) It was just interesting to notice the natural healing properties of my little tropical island.

So, it got me thinking. There are probably quite a few people I know back in Europe that would really benefit from a week or 2 in Barbados. Maybe we should run retreats there during our winter off season. Share the joy of the island I am from.   Hang out in the Caribbean with us, stay in a cute coral stone and wooden villa on the beach, practice a little yoga, have some deeply therapeutic massage in the tropical heat, eat my Mum’s home cooked healthy scrumptiousness of freshly picked local fruit and veg and daily catch from the sea, sunbathe on the beach then snorkel on the reef to cool off,  jiggle a dance or two in the Reggae Lounge at night, go see the world renowned Harrison’s Caves and take a dive to Finding Nemo land in a submarine.

In fact that's exactly the holiday we just took and it’s done us the world of good. It would be downright mean not to share the experience. So watch this space. We’re toying with the idea of something like this for Christmas 2013.

Yoga Retreat in Barbados, December 2013

Sharing twin room in beach front Jarrow villa, my Mum’s Island Brunch and Light Supper, 6 Morning Yoga Classes  on the veranda and one full body massage treatment with Acupuncture, Airport transfers – US$1, 000 per person per week (not incl. flights) 

There’ll only be 6 spaces per week. And it would be an awesome yoga holiday for a group of 6 too.  So email me at vonettawinter@gmail.com if you think you might like to come this Christmas. When we get dates finalised, I’ll write to you first before we advertise it on the web.

A happy new year to you all.

Vonetta

P.S. Don’t forget your ear plugs, we islanders like to dance until 3am on account of the fact we don’t leave the house for a night out before 10pm!

Yoga Retreats Portugal 2013

Thanks to the great team at Seegno for updating our Vale de Moses Yoga Retreat website ready for our 2013 season here in Portugal, including an online booking system. Top job guys. We really appreciate all the extra time you put in to make it work.

Cinco estrellas Seegno!

And thanks also goes out to the lovely Andi and Olly who have spent the last 3 weeks planting in half of the garden centre that we bought last month for our anniversary present. We'll show some pics of the grounds around the houses next week. It's lush.

Memphis

New Kitchen Garden, Road and River Pools

As promised here are a couple of update videos showing the progress of the new kitchen garden makeover (take a peak at what it used to look like here for comparison), meet Fanny and Felipe, and take a first glimpse of the new road leading to the river pools at the bottom of the valley.

Enjoy.  Memphis.

New kitchen terrace garden makeover



Introducing Felipe and Fanny



New road down to the rivers




Natural river swimming pools

We bought a Garden Centre!

Last week River and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary. Felt proper grown up. Almost. We nipped over to Sertã for a little lunch and, as we normally do when we go there, popped by the lovely garden centre run by a Brazilian family. Only to sadly find that they had closed down. We drove round the back to find a charming young man, Luciano, who explained he was looking after the house and grounds while the owners were back in Brasil. They'd be back but not for a while.

We noticed a few plants still in the front and inquired if they were still for sale. How delighted were we to find that they still were, and at very low prices too, even for the mature palms, yukkas, cactii, succulents, roses, hedges, olives and trees. I looked at River. She at me. Then I asked the guy for a price to buy every plant they had left and some of that good soil and chicken poop round the back.

It was our anniversary. We felt a rush of blood to the head. A 'once in a lifetime' price offered and agreed, delivery date set, and lo and behold, just like that, we had bought the whole stock of this wonderful little Garden Centre. 900 plants plus soil. Love is such a crazy thing. A garden centre's worth of plants seemed so much more fitting to our 18 years of marriage than a ring or watch could ever be.

To give all these lovingly grown and cared for plants the very best of homes at Vale de Moses. What a thing. The plants will be together forever! As we hope we will be too. Now all we need to do is figure out where to plant them all!

On the drive home:

"Memphis, do you think we are ever going to start living a little more sensibly one day, a tad more sanely?"

"I hope not babe. We only get one shot at this life. Might as well make the absolute most of it, não é."

"Feared you might say that.", with that oh so cute smile of hers as wide as the ocean.

Drove all the way back to Amieira dreaming of the fecundity to come.

We're just finishing our last retreat of the year today. A wonderful week to end an incredible 2012 season. The lovely Paul and Sally celebrated their 20 years of marriage here along with the amazing Georg and Amy, Aussies from Saudi Arabia, the sweetest Rosie, florest from England and the enigmatic gardening astrologer Alea from California. Felipe from Brazil and his girlfriend Fanny from Sweden celebrated his 31st birthday Portuguese styley with cake and brigadeiro on the day our good friends Bill and Becky arrived on their travels round Portugal.

14 of us in total. Felt like a week of proverbial fireworks going off. Rounding off our retreat season with a marvelous bang topped indeed by being constantly surrounded by such beautiful plants in pots sitting in every available space around the farmhouse. Simply glorious. Thanks guys for making it such a special finale.

Tomorrow we head off to Gois for Eloise's second horse riding lesson at a stunning little family run riding school and holiday centre, followed by a hack through the forested valleys there for River, Felipe, Fanny and Rosie. Last weekend Eli and I drove the 90 minute road across the mountains with jaw droppingly stunning views to the stables run by Steve and Sandra with first class lessons given by their daughter Mella. They've been here in Portugal 18 years now, arrived about the same time River and I were getting married, and have created a charming riding holiday spot next to a river with 7 horses and a menagerie of dogs. "Too sweet" as the Bajans say.

It was an emotional day for Eli's first lesson. It had been a long long time since her last sit in the saddle at her 6th birthday party with her friends in London. We'd been looking for stables near us for the last few years and talked to the one or two people who own horses around here but nothing ever got going. Eventually, we looked further afield and decided the 90 minute drive over the mountain was worth it and booked in her lesson with Mella and a tall elegant mare called Puff.

To see my daughter trotting confidently, hands free round the sand school, with an ever constant beam of pure joy on her pretty face, actually brought a tear or two out of her proud old Dad's eyes. A sério.

She had waited patiently for 7 years to have another go on a horse. And there she was grooming Puff, tying on her saddle, becoming friends and learning to ride her. Too incredible for words. She'll be exploring the valleys and villages there in no time at all. "Awesomeness" in Eloise's inimitable own word.

There's more. 2 weeks ago our 15 year old Joshua arranged his first job. Check this out. Playing a baby grand piano in the lobby of the newly built 4 star Hotel Santa Margarida in our local town of Oleiros, while their guests dine on Friday and Saturday nights. A bit of pocket money for the lad plus a lush dinner prepared by a wonderfully talented chef and waitress served on his own table in the restaurant.

And there is nothing better to improve one's playing than live in front of an audience. Gives great inspiration to practice and learn more pieces. The sound a baby grand produces in that lobby is delicious. Music fills the hotel. Lifts the ambience to life. Keeps people a little longer, for just one more drink. We hope he gets to play there as often as possible. Maybe start a little band, who knows. What a first gig!

Will try to take a video this weekend of the new kitchen gardens. Lawn is sown and the grass is already 2 inches high. Beds are ready for the influx of new flowers and the smaller herb garden ready for seedlings through the winter. We've also cleared and built a new access path down to the river ready for restoring the little stone dams. That'll need a video too. It's magical along the river. Timeless.

And finally, our Vale de Moses yoga retreat website should be ready for making online bookings for the 2013 season in a week or so. You'll hear it here first.

Thanks for tuning in peeps.

Namasté

Memphis

Autumn at Vale de Moses

Hey peeps. Finally the rains have come, and the forest has drunk deeply from the soaking. As have we. The water table is rising. The bore hole is refilling and the old Moorish water mine is once again overflowing. The mornings are crisp and misty and the evenings cold enough for us to light up the wood burning stoves in the houses. That long hot Portuguese Summer has passed and Autumn has arrived. Graças a Deus.

At the start of October we were most honoured to host a lovely group from Holland who came with their yoga teacher Mijke Linders. It was the first time we have had a Yoga teacher bring their students on retreat here and it is something we hope to do much more of in 2013. Mijke led the morning classes and a few afternoon workshops, I cooked and Vonetta massaged. Twas a truly wonderful week and we are particularly thankful to one of the group, Mirande Phernambucq, who took some stunning photos during her stay.

We have one more small retreat to run this year and then we will be hibernating as a family for winter (including Christmas with Von's family in Barbados - not been back for 7 years, way too long!). But before that, we are taking advantage of the still hot sunny afternoons to look after the land. Putting the kitchen gardens to bed for the winter, clearing more of the forest scrub around the houses, and attacking the jungle of brambles and shrubs on the terraces along the 2 rivers that run at the bottom of the valley.

To help us do this we have a beautiful young couple wwoofing until November, Fanny from Sweden and Felipe from Brasil,  who are with us for a few weeks on the start of a year long adventure. They are both avid photographers and we're enjoying their view of our home in the forest through the lenses of their cameras, through their eyes. Thanks guys.

We also said goodbye to Chris and Anette who after 3 months with us to deepen their practice of Suikido, have moved on to another forest wilderness retreat space, Inner Peace, further south in the Algarve. It was a privilege to have them here with us this summer and we wish them all the best in their journey here in Portugal. Força Suikido!

In between all the people coming and going, it's Vindima time in Amieira. Grape picking wine making fun with our neighbours Laurinda and José & Eugenia. It's a harvest festival season. Families and friends returning from all over the world to gather in the sweet abundance of the vines and ensure the rivers of juice that flow are preserved in the ancient art of making wine in Portuguese Adegas.

So glorious to be able to share this experience once again (was our fifth year of vindimas), especially as we won't be making wine from our own grapes this year (half the vines unfortunately were burnt in the August fires). But we will again one day.

One day I'll make another Adega here. One day I'll get round to grafting all the old vines with new ones. One day Vale de Moses will produce wine, not the 8000 litres a year they used to make here, but enough to share with friends, guests and visitors in the winters, springs and summers that will follow.

I'll leave you with a video below on our YouTube channel, a wee Autumn update showing the charred forest landscape and introducing just one of our jobs for this season - putting the kitchen garden to bed. Instead of veggies next year, we're going to lay a lawn! After 4 years of crop planting we're gonna have grass to lie on. Under the shade of fruit and olive trees. Plus some new big beds for flowers and keeping the smaller kitchen garden beds for salads, tomatoes and herbs. Exciting to move things around again. Constantly creating. Never stops.

The veggies are moving down to the river terraces where we'll be able to irrigate them better using the water collected by the açudes (little stone dams) that we'll be restoring over the next few weeks. The açudes also mean that in the soaring heat of next summer, we'll have some long cascading shady natural river pools for us, our guests and, of course, Moses to swim and cool down in. Delicious.

Thanks for tuning in.

Memphis.