We started the day with a visit to our English neighbours ‘two doors away’. When I say ‘two doors away’, it is actually about a 12 minute walk away from us down a sandy dirt track in the middle of a beautiful eucalyptus forest which feels like you’ve entered another world. George and Kate bought their land nearly five years ago and, like us, they lived in their campervan to start with as the land had a stone barn in need of renovation. Over the years they have lovingly turned it into a gorgeous little home with a wonderful covered verandah for them and their now one year old son. It’s given us ideas and inspiration for our home.
When we bought the land, it was a surprise to us to discover that most of our immediate neighbours are from European countries – not Portugal – but they share a common desire for a simpler life. We have Israeli, German, Dutch, Swiss and English neighbours. They have all bought parcels of rural land with ruins to restore. The nearest little village to us is inhabited by mainly Portuguese people and it’s fair to say that it’s an older population. Many have owned the land around us for years and what happens is, when the parents die, the land passes to the children. However, most of the children move to the big cities on the west coast of Portugal for work and don’t want to return to farm the land they’ve inherited. It must be sad for the older Portuguese to feel the area becoming ‘less Portuguese’ but on the other hand, the immigrants like us who have chosen to live here are restoring buildings and land that have fallen into disrepair or neglect. We are made very welcome though by everyone who passes by with a big wave and a smile.
One exception to this trend of moving away is our friend André who lives further down the road about a mile away. He is Portuguese and chose to move back with his young family to take over his grandfather’s land and live off grid (meaning not connected to the national electric or water supply so reliant on a well and solar power). He’s already helped us so much giving us advice on what to do when to care for our land. He also brought his tractor over to mow the land while we’ve been in the UK.
Towards the end of the afternoon, we heard the familiar clanging of bells on the goat herd that passes by us most days. Their owner, who travels on his donkey and cart, and is the grand old age of 92 and still working on his land every day, speaks both Portuguese and French as he worked in France for about 30 years. He stopped to tell me something that included the words dog, well, pump, died and water. However I didn’t manage to put the words together in a meaningful way so it could have several interpretations! Did a dog die from falling into the well? Did a dog die from drinking the water from a well? Who knows! We don’t yet have a proper pump and our well is covered so I think I’ll have to ask André to find out for us until my Portuguese is good enough to make sense of it myself!
Finally tonight the rain came down for a couple of hours. I love the sound of rain. A perfect end to a lovely day reconnecting with people. Good night all.
