time at the convent

The convent that I stayed in next was on the edge of a large village up in the hills behind Tarragona, about 20 minutes from the sea.  It was the first time I had visited the area and I was pleasantly surprised by the natural landscape.  There were high hills/mountains inland, lush hillsides and vineyards, I use lush loosely and to compare it with other areas of Spain, it was still fairly arid and dry compared to the UK or my little patch of France, but pleasing none the less.  

Disappointing though, plenty of industrial areas with huge huge warehouses, factories and commercial buildings.  They tend now to be gathered into specific areas which is good news but due to the giant oil refinery on the coast there is bound to be a large amount of associated manufacturing in the area.  I didn’t let all of that put me off as the landscape undulated and there are still many beautiful areas with unspoiled views, interesting villages and properties to be found.

My hosts are in the process of partially restoring the convent which had been abandoned for many decades.  The plan is to renovate the two side aisles of the building, shaped like a church, leaving the central nave roofless as a courtyard within.  There had been some work unsympathetic done, before the building was protected as a historic monument, by a recent previous owner, that has to stay.  But the rest will continue in a more harmonious style, mainly to consolidate and secure what remains of the building.

The land around the building had long been a dumping ground for the neighbourhood, fly tipping and an accumulation of years of junk has already been cleared and the transformation back into a garden has begun.  I was tasked with weeding, strimming the waist high vegetation and to help guide my hosts into planning a suitable garden for the convent.  

I toiled each morning, took a short break then trawled estate agent web sites and their offices during the afternoons.  Timings in Spain are different again to france, with the majority of shops and offices closing at around 13.00 and reopening anywhere between 16.00 and 17.30 through till 20.00 or 21.00.  I began to take full advantage of a mini siesta, even though the weather was not that warm, to ward off the tiredness of constant late nights, easy to adapt too and very useful.

Discovering houses all over the region gave me an excellent opportunity to find out where felt good and what I was really looking for.  I soon became aware of the eye sores and the unattractiveness of the local industry as well as the quiet hidden villages nestling in the countryside.  Unfortunately the houses that I was drawn to on paper were not in appropriate places for what I have planned for the future.  Access along miles of dirt track or through industrial zones won’t be conducive to people visiting for holidays or to attend gardening courses, not the appealing to me either with my quest for easy access and involvement with local community.  I saw some lovely and very reasonable properties but my quest continues.

pretty, but rather weedy

what is supposed to be there

amazing courtyard

spring in sitges

I’m having a bit of time away after the winter, partly holiday and also a bit more of a nose into the possibilities in Spain.  I have mentioned my ideas in previous posts from last autumn.

For this trip I have decided to HelpX again, It’s been a while since I gave a hand to folk and decided that it would also be a better way of getting to know the area in a bit more detail.  Thankfully I had made arrangements in advance, as Percy was still in the garage, waiting for a new wheel bearing to be fixed, when I was due to leave.  

I am away in my new, old Golf, a great vehicle and a joy to drive.  Nippy, easy to park, more economical and much less stressful than the van for the journey I am making this time.

My first stop was in Sitges, with a german family who relocated to Spain many years ago.  It was good to hear the stories of settling in and integration into a new way of life and to marvel at the flexibility of languages, with the family speaking german or spanish together, the two boys tended to use catalan between themselves and everyone spoke amazingly good english whenever I was to included in the conversation.

I painted for them, firstly the front facade of the house, which wasn’t at all difficult, just the distance from the ground in some instances, the house is built into a steep hillside so it feels high up even before climbing a ladder.  It was great to make such a fast transformation to a property and the results were immediately appreciated.  Then, after, refreshed one of the guest bedrooms in the house.  I discovered quite how poor low cost paint can be, it was taking five or six coats to give decent coverage so it was soon replaced with a higher quality product and progress was much faster.  I easily got everything done within the week that I was staying.

I made full use of my free time, heading to the beach most days to soak up a bit of sun and for a glorious swim in the sea, I spent much time touring estate agents, checking property websites and heading out to visit potential properties.  It’s interesting to see how different planning laws have affected housing here and how the enthusiasm (greed) of the last property boom has changed the landscape, particularly as it was stopped in full flow when the most recent financial crash hit the shores.  There are unfinished estates of houses all over the place, strange zones of cramped housing where the city folk once had allotments and a tiny shed that have since been developed, often without permission, over the decades, leading to fairly smart, pricy properties squashed together with completely inadequate vehicle access and an almost shanty feel.  Not cheap either, until you discover that there is little other alternative in many places without being completely out in the sticks.  I found nothing that fitted my criterion during the week that I was there, so headed off, as planned to my next host an hour or so further south.

woody, my golf on holiday in the sun

the sun setting over the catalan hills

freshly painted facade 

architect visits

With several failed attempts to engage an architect, I now have a good ‘un, or so he seems for now.  We’ve had two productive discussions in his offices and a very useful visit to site.  He was impressed with the location and am very proud with the fact that he thinks my plans should fit in very well with what remains of the old farm.  We tiddled about with a few details inside and even moved the house  by a few metres, from it’s initial location.  I think it’ll be a much better arrangement now.

For his visit I had cleared the front of the old house of all the brambles and mess of collapsed walls and detritus that has gathered over the last thirty or so years.  The building looks a bit more proud than it has done up till now, and definitely worth keeping, even if it is going to become a workshop rather than a home.  There is a concrete path running along its length which will marry in well with the proposed covered terrace and has set levels for the whole project.

Not much treasure yet, just some lovely old bottles and a couple of pan lids.  The rest is tiles, mainly broken, which is no surprise, along with roots of brambles, brambles and more roots.  Stupidly or otherwise I am taking the time to sort the rubble as I go.  The tile fragments will be ideal hardcore for later use or even rough track grade for more solid access around the site.  The beams, rafters and other timbers are fairly rotten to date, but still coming in useful for raised bed construction and any excess will be put to one side for future projects.  I’m still waiting for some decent bits to construct a frame for a fruiting arbour.

in need of attention

beardy man clearing brambles in french farmers uniform

my first treasure

concrete.  a bit of a rarety here

all clean and tidy

The ruin is going to be saved in part.  The walls are going to come down to the height of the window sills on the first floor then a structure is going to be erected within the footprint of the building which will support a new roof.  The walls will be left intact but will not be expected to bear the weight of the new roof.  Facing due south, an excellent place for a few/plenty of solar panels. 

tom's drone

A friend of Heathers, Tom, enthused about his recent new toy, a drone equipped with a camera, one afternoon whilst we were indulging in tea and cake.  It sounded fascinating.  

It's a little, remote controlled, battery powered helicopter with a range of several hundred metres and a top speed of around 30kmph with a still and video camera mounted on the undercarriage.  He didn’t take much encouraging and the following day returned with it and we spent a fascinating hour or so looking down on my plot from above.  Hopefully the videos upload and work as well as they do on my computer.  Here goes.

my temporary home

kitchen, dining corner 

library, planning and tool area

double doors with tools accessible from outside.
(keeps the floor cleaner) 

sunset from the kitchen window

getting more and more organised 

evening light

winter squash and nuts drying 

what to say next.....

Just thinking of all that has happened during the last couple of weeks and don’t really know where to start.  It’s been full on and a bit all over the place, now I’m not at home again and have time to sit, think and plan some more.  

Three nights of house and dog sitting in comfort.  My washing is on the line drying, I’ll enjoy a long warm bath later on and slip back into the world of electricity and indoor running water without a thought, life is good and the weather is being kind for the better part.  I got caught in an torrential downpour the other afternoon, had to check the van windows were closed and got absolutely drenched in the process.  Percy then got stuck in the mud and I had to get a local farmer to pull him out with a tractor.  Lesson learned.  Other than that, warm autumnal sunshine, the ground is more workable after the rain and I’m getting on with preparations for planting fruit trees and hedges this autumn and space for next years veggie patch.  

an arty one of me taken by Bert at the weekend

Once it has rained for a week it will be too late to work the soil as the ground here is almost solid, sticky clay that clings to tools, boots and clothing alike.  It’ll need a few days to dry off after each storm and the time in between will have to be filled with other tasks.  Oh, I momentarily forgot the 7500m2 of brambles to be cleared, the ruin and all the planning that has to happen.  No, I shan’t be short of things to do for some time to come.

So, in no particular order, some of the things that I have achieved and have happened since I returned home.  Post by post.

better prepared

Nearly three weeks in the UK and I haven’t thought of blogging.  It’s been a busy visit what with visits to the dentist and opticians for me, a service, MOT, welding work, wheel alignment new windscreen and failed attempt for new music system for Percy, it all takes time and is absolutely necessary.

Those were the obligatory chores, the fun times were spending most of the time with friends and family, catching up with folk that I haven’t seen for years, swapping stories, good food and wine and generally being with the people that I love and that matter to me in the UK.  I never get to see everyone, there just isn’t time but I try to ring the changes and make the most of every visit.  

It’s never really a time that I think of blogging, not intentionally, it’s just how it is.  It’s time being ‘at home’ even though I flit from place to place and am never static for that long.  Perhaps that will change now that I have a longer term project on the go.  My trips back to the UK being more like travel and the periods in my new home being more settled.  That’ll take time to come true whatever as there is a massive journey to undertake on that plot of land without going anywhere.

I am more prepared, now that I am on my way back to france.  Percy arrived back with empty cupboards, feeling lighter than he had done since we set off over a year ago, most of his load stored in a neighbours barn whilst we are away.  During the last few days I have emptied all my possessions from Dad’s garage, thoroughly sorted them and chosen those items that I think shall be the most useful.  Tools and equipment, tents and camping furniture, books from the loft and bedding for guests, my own strimmer for cutting down the weeds and a hammock for lounging under the big oak tree when it’s too hot in the heat of the day.  

Poor Percy is fuller with things that I have ever seen, hopefully not excessively, he is a transit van after all, but the journey back to Vieuzos will be quicker and more direct.  I’ll be on a mission to get there, with a mission to continue once I arrive.  I may be gone from these pages for a while, until I get power and a phone line, not that on the odd occasion I won’t think to use the internet cafe up the road or a visit to friends and have a sneaky ten minutes on line.  

ten days in....

ten days in and I find myself unexpectedly in an internet cafe, having read loads of comments on my last post asking how I am getting on, so a quick visual tour of things I have done and I shall write further now that I have charged my computer.  Life is rather basic, but very enjoyable here for the moment.

Strimmed everywhere just to get in

the veggie plot I dug this spring

cleared of weeds, the fruit bushes survived (to left)

with these, that I planted earlier

turned into this in a couple of days

from this

to this, an old pig shed

thrown in for nothing,  completely hidden with brambles

outdoor living

5 june 15:00 2014

Tomorrow is a big day.

My nomadic lifestyle comes to a close.  For a while anyway.  I don’t imagine that I shall never venture again, but not again for a while, right now.

I pay and sign for that lovely piece of land that I found all those months ago, that land I have been looking for, more or less seriously, for the last four years.  The land where numerous projects may start and end, hours of deliberating, of clearing, planting, building, laughing, cooking, sharing and sleeping.   The land that I plan to call home, the last time I lived in my home was in October 2006, (it seems like a thousand years ago now), when a very different person left to travel for a year to find focus, regroup and start over.  It’s taken a while, been the most amazing journey of discovery, amazement, wonderful people and places, revelations and realisations, courage to go on time and time again.  

Now I stop and start to think, it really has been a remarkable period of my life, a time for which I am very grateful.  How ever-so fortunate to have realised the funding, to have been unencumbered with dependents or relationships or other commitments to allow me the freedom to wander our planet.  There is still the vast majority of everywhere to see, I was curious, but not ever so.  It wasn’t the time to be cramming everything in, but a time to dwell, to take note and to follow intuition and instinct, for I knew not where the journey would lead me or mould me or teach me. But I let it take me anyway.

So tomorrow I arrive, for the time being anyway, at a new beginning.  The start of new projects and discoveries, with a plan well formulated yet still fluid in my head, some aims and objectives decided and others waiting in the wings for when the time is right.  

I feel good, no, great.  Excited and eager to get started, pretty well equipped from my years of HelpX volunteering to begin.  Confident that I am doing the right thing, for the here and the now, in the knowledge that life changes and there is no knowing what may be in store.  With good friends close by and further afield to turn to for support.  It’s going to be amazing, planning a site from scratch.  My garden, my house, my latest dreams and ambitions.   I will find the energy and determination when the going gets tough, and enjoy the achievements as they arrive, however large or small.  I will enjoy the process and share it with many others in the hope that some may even be inspired themselves.  I will take the time to relax and savour the down time too,  life is for living, there’s plenty of that to be done too.

So tomorrow at three I become the new owner.  I shall prepare a picnic and a bottle of fizz ready for the evening, I shall drive there and set up camp.  I don’t intend to do anything at all, just sit and contemplate and listen to the birds singing in the trees, get a feel for being there and enjoy the moment, in preparation for a big new start the following day.  

May the sun shine on you where ever you are, it’s going to be a wonderful day.

finding things

Perhaps it’s time to change tack a bit here on the blog, focus a bit more on lifestyle than travel as I appear to be settling down for a while.

I’ve spent plenty of time in Vieuzos on the land, musing and dreaming and trying to decide what to do, how, when and in what order.  Until I am actually there I don’t think I can really get stuck in, but I have made some interesting discoveries.

There are an amazing variety of plants growing in this abandoned plot, a good few of them good forager fare:

nettles

dandelion

hairy bitter cress

I tried to get a close up but it obviously didn’t work.  So here’s a link to a fascinating blog that explains how it can be used and has some helpful pictures to help with identification  http://huntergathercook.typepad.com/huntergathering_wild_fres/2013/01/hairy-bittercress-pesto.html

lime

beech

fig

apple

pear

sloe

elder - flower and of course berry

wild strawberry

blackberry (a few too many)

to name a few.

I really must make a list and make sure that they are well used in season.

Another time I started clearing the brambles a bit, in the hope of finding some hardstanding to put a shed on.  I chopped and pulled at branches for several hours, though with the amount of fallen debris, had difficulty in reaching solid ground.  I did, however find the remains of a car, some pig sties and enough abandoned knick-knacks to start a museum.....

pig sties

signed, sealed and delivered

On the 26th February I signed my deal and am on the way to being a property owner in France.  

Sealed and delivered, this morning the postman delivered a sealed bundle of papers that I had to sign for in person.  It’s the dossier of paperwork that accompanies the proposed purchase.  All 113 pages of it.  

There are only two possible hurdles to cross that would negate the purchase.  

The first is that the Mayor has the right to cancel planning permission on land as it changes hands, I doubt she will as in such a small village an extra inhabitant increases the population by 2% and the village revenue similarly.  I shall be asking to renew the outline planning permission in due course.

The second is the work of SAFER, a government sponsored agency that is responsible for keeping as much land in agriculture as possible.  It has three months to check that none of the local farmers want to buy the property.  This is only happening because I am purchasing some adjoining land which is agricultural .  Thankfully, any interested party would have to buy the whole lot, not just the fields and with the planning permission it works out rather expensive for a farmer to acquire an additional couple of acres.

Fingers crossed until mid May.....................

I spoke to one of the owners after the signing and he is more than happy if I make a start on clearing the brambles, turning a bit of soil and starting a vegetable garden.  Just as well, as earlier in the week I bought a huge collection of seeds on offer in the local supermarket.  They’ll get to grow this year some way or another.

I can also get on and apply for connection to electricity, water and phone, arranged for after the completion date, and also make provisions to insure the land from when I take possession ( a legal necessity here in France).  I need to ask the mayor too, for permission to put up a temporary cabin until such time as my house is built, apparently is it normal practice and permission is often granted for four years, I don’t imagine using it for that long.  There’s plenty to be getting on with in the mean time.

We, me and my current hosts, celebrated with a lovely meal and a bottle of champagne amidst the chaos of their moving.  Five more days and everything will be moved, the house cleaned and the keys ready to hand over.  That’ll be the end of my time here, onto the next.

a date

I have a date.

No, a date for signing the initial agreement for my land.  Not a date date, though that would be good too.

On the 26th february I shall visit the notaires office, pay a deposit and sign the agreement to buy.  The discussions with the neighbouring farmer have been formalised and are now legally binding, the owners are still keen to sell and the date is getting closer.  I am so excited.

I’m not entirely sure which way to turn or what to do first/next or in what order or when.  So I started with a list, this is now a list of lists and is gaining some semblance of order.  I’m not concerned yet about how it will pan out, I am trying to get as many thoughts down on paper as I can, so that as my thoughts evolve the order can be changed and things added and moved as a timescale becomes apparent. 

Thankfully I’m being kept busy with the move, otherwise time could be passing rather slowly.   I’m learning plenty there too, namely, to throw unnecessary things away, declutter and keep life simple.  Their collection of belongings is an enormous gathering from previous houses and marriages.  Things that have been packed away in the rush of moving last time and never  since sorted, they move again with the same promise and join more belongings from parents and items, the story goes on. Plan ahead so things don’t need moved several times, pack non essentials well in advance to lessen stress in the weeks before moving and remember that everything takes longer than expected.  

I get to escape to the garden too, preparing the veggie plot, pruning and tidying and planting the seemingly never ending trickle of plants that keep arriving.  I’ll be back when the time is right later on for a few cuttings and divisions when they have had time to grow.

My latest reading is a book on Permaculture gardening, the subject is fascinating and turns on it’s head much of the theories that I learned back at horticultural college all those years ago.  I’m not sure that I’ll be following every morsel of advice, but know for sure that things’ll be done differently than before once I get going.  When I put learning into practice, I’ll be letting you know.  For the moment all that is growing is my beard.

It's starting well, 2014

I know, I know, it’s been over a month since I last wrote and I am starting to get emails from close friends checking that I am OK.  Yes, all is well with me, I’ve just been rather busy and not often with internet access.  

The second week of January, I stayed with my good friend Pierre in the mountains, we skied twice, went out on racquets in the snow and generally enjoyed a few cold and sunny days in winter wonderland, though, after November the scenery wasn’t quite as spectacularly snowy.  We even spent a day at Chalet Lou Rider with Clare and her team which was great.  A really good crowd, great fun, but with all that is going on with my land purchase, I am glad that I’m not there this year. 

On that front, things are progressing slowly.  Problems with a farmer neighbour (involving the present owner) have been sorted and all that is needed now is a reply to a legal letter confirming the outcome.  I met the farmer a couple of weeks ago and we have agreed ongoing rights of passage and his use of part of my future land, for an indeterminate period of time, this is an additional area that the present owners are pleased to sell rather than the initial plot.  

For two weeks I have been working flat out with a semi professional team, endeavoring to finish the ground floor plastering of Pierlo and Sandrine’s house as quickly as possible due to a change in family circumstances..  I’ve helped them periodically during the last four years and when I discovered that their son, Jules, had been in a swimming accident last autumn and is still quite disabled, decided to lend a hand.  He suffered an apnea attack as he dived into the pool and was without air for some time before he was rescued.  His lungs did not fill with water, so he had not drowned, but still, spent a couple of months in a coma.  He is slowly gaining his senses, movement and comprehension, but it appears that it may take several years before he returns to some sort of normality.  A huge shock and life changing for the family.  They hope to get Jules home as soon as it is in a fit state to receive him and a great group of friends are rallying round to give support. I’ll no doubt be back to help from time to time, but for the moment have committed myself to another project.

I am back with Cherry and Chris, where I stayed over Christmas and the New Year, where I planted over a hundred trees in the autumn and house sat on a couple of occasions.  They move house at the start of March and have an enormous list of chores.  The offer of £££ for extra hours was a tempting one, so I am working more than full time for them till the end of the month.  The new house is in the process of being renovated and will be no where near ready , so I shall be heading back to  give Pierlo a hand when I finish here.

Looking further into the spring, hopefully I will have signed for the purchase of the land by then, I have 2-4 months for searches and official paperwork before completion.   There are already three possible straw bale building projects available that want help (more arrive as we get closer to spring) and with Percy at the ready I am easily able to move from place to place to head off and lend a hand, learn still more skills and better formulate how I plan to proceed.  Hopefully the current owners will allow me to plant a vegetable plot during the transition period so I am not too far behind with the season and then in early summer there is the possibility of a 6 day professional course in straw bale building near La Rochelle.  I can use the trip north to visit other friends on route and then head back to the UK for Percy’s MOT and a long awaited visit.

Not sure how it’s all going to pan out and in what order it’s all going to happen but its going to be a challenging, exciting and demanding year.  I am almost bursting with anticipation and am finding it difficult to hold back on planning and getting stuck in to my next chapter.  I must be patient and bide my time until the formalities are over.  There’ll be plenty of time afterwards for it all to unfold.

snow capped Pyrénées

winter sunset

my current abode

Suzy, the bestest french dog I know

stripey

Suzy

newly planted beech hedge

the new residence

no skiing this christmas

My plans haven’t been going to plan since I last wrote, but it’s all worked out extraordinarily well.  I had been invited to work on constructing a wooden house back in October, but a few days before I was due to arrive, heard that the owner wasn’t there at all, but working away on a humanitarian project on an island in the Indian Ocean.  Thankfully I emailed to confirm.

By chance I had called in to see Cherry and Chris the week before, hosts that I had stayed with in 2010, just to see how they were and they said that they were in need of help should I become free. I said I’d let them know but didn’t imagine things would change before early next year.  One mail later my plans changed and I returned to Las Bourges and a new project that is probably going to last me well into 2014.

More tree planting to start with, along with remodeling a garden, putting in hedges and reclaiming the potager from an autumn of neglect.  I initially suggested a couple of weeks, but their location is excellent in regards to my proposed purchase.  About half an hour away from the land, twenty minutes from the notaires and in the right area for discovering everything I may need in the future.  In addition, Cherry used to be a property dealer, so knows all the ins and outs of buying land, how to approach negotiations and speaks very well the french.  We have had plenty of interesting discussions and I have modified my requirements for proceeding with the purchase with her guidance.  To keep me here for longer, there are a variety of interesting and challenging opportunities to help on their latest venture.

Their project is half an hour away in the other direction.  A new house purchase, well, an old farmhouse in need of much renovation and alteration that they intend to move to next spring.  Initially they’ll live in a converted outbuilding whilst being on site to oversee renovations and keep an eye on things as work progresses.  Their current address is sold, so will need to be vacated fairly early in 2014.  Once I’ve got the major planting and garden maintenance up to date, I’m hoping to work along side Ben and Mattieu as they install wiring and plumbing in the barn conversion, help with continued construction work and maybe even finishing if I stay around long enough.  I’ll learn plenty, get to practice my french whilst on the building site and have time to concentrate on my own project.  The woodworking’ll have to come at a later date.

It’s slightly unnerving being so calm and relaxed over Christmas after the last four years in the chalet.  I do wonder how they’re all getting on up there in the mountains and the snow and have the occasional pang of nostalgia, though with my long term project about to start feel happy to have the mountains in the distance and a calmer workload to contend with.  No mornings with thirty beds to change, or sacks of spuds to peel, or mountains of ironing to contend with, no digging snow and waiting tables or mending broken toilets and taps.  I've been missing the camaraderie, the clients, the snow and the skiing, but the calm is lovely.

Instead I have a more regular timetable, with chickens to feed, Suzy the dog to walk, wood to fetch and frequently, a house to mind, as Chris and Cherry travel frequently for business and are often away.  Free time to chill with a book or walk in the countryside, the weather has been amazing.  Cold and clear with wonderfully warm afternoons in the sunshine, great for gardening and getting things planted.

Christmas has been great, christmas day, a family affair, with a smoked salmon, scrambled egg and bucks fizz breakfast, plenty of snacking and a delicious main meal starting with a hot asian prawn salad, followed by beef wellington and finished off with traditional english christmas pudding all washed down with plenty of suitable wine chosen by Chris, a veritable connoisseur.  That saw us good for the rest of the day save a slice of cake early evening when other members of the family arrived for present exchanging.  A lovely relaxed time with folk coming and going, popping out with Chris and Cherry to shop for plants whilst the weather is being kind and the bare root stock is still available.  More delicious meals, a choice of english or french TV, a real treat as I hardly see the screen whilst I’m away, walks, chats and plenty of fresh air.

It’s been quiet on the property purchase front, I expect that everyone is otherwise occupied through the festive season, but I do hope to have news as we head into January that things are proceeding. 

It’s New year’s Eve as I write.  Home alone again just with the dog for company.  We’ve had a good long walk in the sunshine this morning, I’ve prepared dessert and Simon, who I’ve probably mentioned before in my writings, a great english guy who keeps himself busy on building projects and traditional style restorations, is turning up in a while to welcome the New Year in.  He’s picking up a rabbit on the way, we’ll drink and prepare and cook and drink, chat about allsorts and probably watch a bit of TV and toast 2014 as it arrives.  Happy New Year to each and every one of you, may you be healthy, wealthy and wiser through the coming year.  Embrace and enjoy it all with my love.  xx