Duck, duck, fox
In the middle of the night on Monday, Francois and I were startled awake by one of the dogs barking inside the tiny house. I was about to tell them to be quiet when I heard the ducks quacking – unusual at best, as they usually sleep through the night (as do the chickens, and contrary to the goats). I let the two dogs out and they raced off, barking at the top of their lungs. The next day, I noticed that our white duck Marilyn (her name might change)
The Magic of Grafting
Imagine finding the most delicious, crunchy, slightly tart yet still sweet, apple. Wouldn’t it be amazing to have a tree that produces such fruit? The trouble is, apple - and many other fruits - seeds are a genetic gamble - no seed will ever produce the same fruit as it came from. This is why fruit producers use often grafting to reproduce winning fruit. Grafting is both a simple and surreal concept. You cut a branch off one tree (the "scion"), and stick it on another tree (the "rootstock"). Done
Lessons from our first season in the new vegetable garden
When I was eight or nine years old and living in Switzerland, I asked my parents if I could dig up a patch in the garden to grow things. I’m not sure where the idea came from, but the response was “of course!”. Somehow, my idea of growing vegetables morphed into a little rectangle under the kitchen window. Half was planted with basil, and half with mint. The basil died, and the mint took over (knowing what I know now… duh). Last year, I finally got my wish! Starting our
We bought land! Now What?
Almost a year. That’s how long it took us from the moment we first saw the property we fell in love with to the moment we signed the papers that made us its official new owners. Well, 11 months to be exact. Ten, maybe, if you count from the moment we decided we wanted to buy the place. No matter how you look at it, it has taken quite a while. We are partly at fault, because we wanted to cross all the T’s and dot all the I’s –
The Chicken Learning Curve
A few days ago, we lost Jackie Sparrow, our beautiful black chicken with green shimmers in her feathers, a friendly personality, and the ability to lay a delicious big egg each and every day. She’s the third chicken we lose, which makes this a particularly difficult blog to write. Should we stop having chickens until we have progressed with our project and can build a permanent chicken coop, giving up on letting chickens free-range? Having chickens was one of the things Francois and I were the most excited about as we
A Day in the Life
From recent conversations with friends, it has become clear that many of you wonder what in the world we are doing, not big picture but on a daily basis. So, here’s a taste of what a Cramooz day sort of looks like-ish… Ever since the arrival of “Mojito the mutt” – our adorable puppy born Feb 14 and adopted by us April 23 this year – into our lives, my daily routine begins around 6am. I get up, let the puppy out so he can respond to the call
The Rain Paradox
The pitter-patter of raindrops on the roof sounds just the way my inner voices would if they could dance for joy at the fact that it is raining. My imagination thinks up little fairies distributing water to every blade of grass, seedling, and tree, showering them with the promise of life, and growth. It’s raining! But I am getting ahead of myself. When we got to Portugal for the first time in May 2016, we were told that one of the wettest winters was only just giving way to sunshine.
The Olive Harvest
When we agreed to participate in the Vinha da Manta olive harvest, my mind conjured bucolic images of a team of volunteers bundled up in the cold November mornings but stripping down to t-shirts as we worked in the warm sun throughout the day, shaking down olive trees and gathering the fruit they delivered on nets placed on the ground. We had a great team, with eight people flying in to help for the week. Most were Dutch, with two Canadians thrown into the mix – and us, of
The Ups & Downs of Living the Dream
Are you wondering what we’re up to? Curious as to what has been going on after the year of traveling around the world and the summer spent learning new skills & volunteering on glamping sites in Portugal? Fair enough. Looking back, I notice that I have been posting very irregularly. Once, maaaybe twice a month. I harbor no misconceptions that this blog is going to turn into daily reflections (we can both breathe a sigh of relief now) but I think I can do better. I want to do better. With that
Senses Camping: Riverside glamping, woodworking, and wedding planning Senses camping
Senses is a camping and glamour camping (or “glamping”) site that sits between the village of Faia and the Mondego River (coincidentally, they are almost neighbors with our last epic hosts Vinha da Manta! #smallworld). Run by Michel, a sand and ice sculptor, and Natasha, a hairdresser, DJ, and yoga instructor, it is a study in contrasts. The pool area looks like it came straight out of a design magazine, with a weeping willow watching over the kiddie and adult pools, and wicker lounge chairs with white cushions and