We've been working hard on the house, trying to get it finished for Christmas. Lots of things happening, and we're not quite there yet but we've done really well.
Our mission should we like to accept it is to get a fully fitted guest suite up and running! (consisting of two bedrooms and shower-room). We've had some help with the plastering and friends have helped us paint and tile and we're nearly there!!
We've also plastered and painted the atrium
Built a Pump House and installed the borehole water system
and started on our main living area floor
(oh and plastered the staircase!)
so now its final touches and preparing for Christmas!
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Remember the sloping garden we made from this earlier blog
It was a hard job- after the retaining walls and steps had been constructed, we needed to bring in plenty of fresh compost.
Irrigation pipes were installed and weedguard material laid- all the time we are resembling mountain goats- hopping up and down this very steep slope!
Then the fun bit- planting!! I chose mainly drought tolerant plants- knifhofia, agapanthus, and mixed them up with some architectural grasses and Phormiums, Crocosmia, and a few cactus-style plants- Echeverias, Sedum etc.
The prime spot, where the soil is deepest, was the perfect spot for a lovely Japanese Acer which was a present from Joan and balances out the bamboo at the bottom of the slope nicely!
Finally a layer of gravel
and now.... a year on- amazing how it looks like it's always been there- the plants are filling out brilliantly
and we now have a lovely view from inside the house
one more garden area done and we can start thinking about the next one!
The pigs were let out of the small run last weekend. Although we strimmed the paddock down when they arrived, it's all shot up and they were lost in the long grass and wild flowers!
These ones seem really shy- perhaps it's because of the higher percentage of wild boar in the breed, but as soon as the fence was taken down, they were in their element, confidently running about and exploring!
We popped up to the village afterwards to watch the Fanfarras - the marches of the bombeiros/fire brigade bands
May has to be my favourite month of the year here. Everything is lush and green and the wild flowers are amazing.
The few garden areas we have built come to life with wonderful colour and scent.
Peony Duchesse de Nemours, Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus and Iris germanica
Along with the lovely gardens and wildflowers the grass is growing by the minute! It's this time of year we really struggle to keep up with the land- strimming and mowing, weeding and watering!
The thunderbirds house is blending in nicely to the landscape now!
Today we said goodbye to our lovely Pip! Primrose Goldberry :-) we were with her from when she popped out from under the stairs in Pirbright, 'til the end. She had a lovely life and was a wonderful companion.
The wet weather has finally broken and we're so busy all of a sudden!
Preparing for 3 new piglies coming soon- they are a Wild boar/Iberian black pig mix.
We've also got 6 new goslings- hatched a couple of days ago- enjoying being out in the sunshine aswell!
All the trees are coming into leaf and its a pleasure to get out on the land finally!
Well despite all the rain recently we need to prepare for our future summer droughts and we've finally got round to having a bore-hole installed. It's been on our 'to do' list since we came here as although we have loads of water though the winter, we have to be very very careful with our water when the summer months come.
The arrival of our borehole license (7 months after applying) brought the engineer who carried out an in-depth survey - well not quite- it was a guy with a twangy bit of metal who wandered about in a strange slow zigzag with many 'hmmm's and ahhhhh's'. They decided where they wanted to drill and turned up with all their kit (taking out the odd pine tree, olive and terrace wall in the process).
We both found this apsolutely fascinating- i guess when you've seen one bore-hole drilled you've seen them all- but for us- it was a monumental day at Velagota and we were glued to the spot- waiting expectantly for the huge gush of water which our neighbours had promised us!
Drilling starts
The installation of all the gear and the drilling took two days in total.
They have the truck close with all the core-bits (i like to call them 'Ronnies'- Ronnie Corbett- oh never mind!)- these core-bits are 3metres long which can give us an idea of how deep they are going- (and how much its going to cost us -roughly €75 every time they load a new one on-gulp!)
First the soil layer, then things get very dusty when they hit rock, and then after what seemed like forever they hit water! (at around 60-70metres)
(and yes we weren't disappointed it really did whoosh out- filling the air with spray! although i think most of it was pressure releasing from the drilling machine!)
When they eventually got to a depth that everyone was happy with (they continued to 136 metres in the end)- they put in the rigid blue pipe.
Then they packed up all their gear- and we were left with a big mess, but big smiles on our faces!
Paul will be carrying out stage two of the process (watch this space!) with the installation of the pumps and the plumbing etc, and hopefully soon we will have our very own water supply to the house and we will be able to drink straight from the tap.
No more having to go out on a rainy Sunday evening to get drinking water from the village spring, and we can use our current well for irrigating the land and garden (yes I'm already designing the next planting areas!).
So overall a big investment, but a good one hopefully for the future of our house and quinta!
All the trees are coming into leaf and its a pleasure to get out on the land finally!
