Help needed to continue with our DIY project of a Rammed Earth quinta, near Odeceixe, Portugal

Detalhes

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  Descrição

  We are Rob and Cate, both from England, age 60. We left the UK in a van in 2011 to come to Portugal as volunteer workers ourselves, via Workaway.
  When we visited our place it was love at first sight! We have been here coming up to 7 years and probably could have used help right from the start! But we have had time to settle and get a sense of what fits here...
  The land hasn't been worked for many decades, and you can see from the pics the house was not much of a home. We had no plans to rebuild, thinking we would live in the caravan we brought with us.
  Not that we didn't want a house, but we didn't have a budget for one. But soon we began to see it was still more Rammed Earth than it was cracks, and decided to dedicate ourselves to turning it back into a habitation for us. So, we are aiming to complete our home here!
  One of our neighbours in the hamlet says we are building our house out of "lixo"= rubbish, that's not a bad thing at all, in our book!
  If we HAD a bigger budget I think we'd still aim to incorporate serviceable items that have been unwisely thrown out.
  
  UPDATE: We finished renovating our beautiful home about 4 years ago now and the land was just beginning to feel under control, well, as much as we wanted! But in August 2023, tragedy struck. There was a huge forest fire in our beautiful valley that swept through our land and that of all our neighbours, reaching even Odeceixe itself. Very fortunately for us, the firefighters saved our home, but our land has been ravaged and all our infrastructures were destroyed.
  Nature is amazing and the signs of recovery are good, but we now need help with managing and clearing burnt woodland, improving our infrastructure (water and electricity) and restoring our beautiful land to the piece of paradise it once was.

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  Tipos de ajuda e oportunidades de aprendizado

  Ajuda em projetos ambientais

  Jardinagem geral

  Projetos DIY criativos

  Manutenção geral
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  Oportunidades de intercâmbio cultural e aprendizado

  Travellers will benefit from the opportunity to stay in a beautiful place, in nature and off grid. The property is in a rural location with the river Seixe it's border. The river is swimmable all year round.
  
  Team working and problem solving are normal part of daily life and we are open to sharing and receiving knowledge and ideas.
  
  We have previously really enjoyed the cultural exchange when hosting volunteers and like to spend meal times together getting to know each other. We have made some great friends through this process, friends that we still are in touch with now. (You Know who you are!)

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  Ajuda

  We mainly need help with land work, but there will be other work on the agenda too, such as improving infrastructures that were destroyed in the fire, rebuilding our barn, also destroyed and other maintenance tasks.
  
  Therefore we are looking for folk who enjoy the pleasure of physical work.
  But we aren't maniacs either and don't want to crack the whip for 10 hours a day, though we may continue working longer than we expect you to.
  
  We welcome visitors with enthusiasm, ideally experienced, particularly with any skills appropriate for land work/forestry management, but we would be happy to receive any relevant skills that you might bring.
  
  
  We would prefer you to stay for a minimum of two weeks if we all get along.

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  Idiomas

  Inglês: Fluente
  Alemão: Intermediário
  Francês: Intermediário
  Português: Iniciante

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  Acomodação

  We can offer a room in our house as our previous accommodations for guests and volunteers were also sadly destroyed. We would share a bathroom and kitchen facilities.
  Volunteers with their own van would be very welcome too.
  We offer mainly vegetarian food but cannot cater for vegans.

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  Algo mais...

  We are situated in a beautiful part of the Northern Algarve countryside with access to some fantastic beaches, including award winning Odeceixe beach.
  
  The local villages host cafes, bars and restaurants. We can loan bicycles or you can hitch a ride with us when we go.
  
  There is a cheap bus to Lisbon if you fancy going further afield. You can also get local buses from the same village (about 10 minute drive).
  Visitors are welcome to explore the local countryside, the Rota Vicentina network of walking paths is close by.
  
  We have 1 very friendly and handsome cat, Terence who likes to keep you company on walks on the land.
  
  We like to live quite simply and quietly and we get a lot of satisfaction from being on the land. We do like to socialise, meet friends, go to beaches and are also involved with our local communty. (The community has really come together to help each other since the fire, with many supportive initiatives going on.)
  Our place would suit volunteers that enjoy the simple pleasures in life, nature, good food, conversation and the odd game of Yahtzee!
  
  We would also hope that our visitors would be respectful to the nature around them and sensitive to other people they are staying with.

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  Mais alguns detalhes

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    Acesso à internet

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    Acesso à internet limitado

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    Temos mascotes

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    Somos fumantes

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    Pode hospedar famílias

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  Espaço para estacionar campervans

  We have a parking spot near the house where a reasonable sized campervan can park (Transporter size). Anything larger can be accommodated slightly futher from the house.

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  Quantos Workawayers pode acomodar?

  2

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  Meus animais / animais de estimação

Segurança do site

Converse com Workawayers que já visitaram este anfitrião

+9

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