Work continued on the buildings at Chumbaria in July. Nelson and Rodrigo have been finishing off the holes for doors and windows and we just made it to the deadline for the window fitters to come and measure up. The plumber and electrician have been installing pipes and cables and Leonel completed his part of the roof work. The tiles arrived for both roofs and although there were some heart stopping moments with pallets of tiles swaying about on the crane, the delivery went smoothly. Nelson then started on the tiling and it was finished soon. The cement trucks came through the village again, only this time for the pouring of the special concrete for the polished floors. As soon as the cement was pumped into place, 2 guys with weird hovering machines worked from 7.30am to 7.30pm and the results were beautiful. Once they have had their final polish at the end they’ll look like glass.
We continued to harvest our produce, with great results in some cases and not in others. The weather here this year is the total opposite of the weather we experienced last year, so it’s a bit hit and miss with what plants and vegetables are doing well. Although for the most part, it’s all good. We got some friends to come and try out our new one day workshop ‘An introduction to Permaculture’ and the feedback was both constructive and encouraging. We aim to run a variety of workshops here at Chumbaria, this one will run on a regular basis and is very informative.
July marked the 4 year anniversary of our purchase of Chumbaria, what an eventful 4 years they’ve been! We’ve certainly faced some hurdles along the way, the fire on July 12th 2022, that wiped out most of our land and 90% of our district was a very low moment for us. However we’ve risen from the proverbial ashes and come a long way in a year. We made a little YouTube video to mark the anniversary and it’s had nearly 5,000 views, which is phenomenal. The tv production company calls us the ‘Bounce Back’ couple, we’ve certainly had a lot to bounce back from!
On a positive note we had been waiting a long time to see the ‘Festas dos Tabuleiros’ in Tomar, which isn’t too far from us, as it only takes place once every 4 years. We snuck into town early in the morning and it was a magical experience. The community comes together to dress the streets in flowers, ready for the procession of the Trays at the weekend. The themes, colours, attention to detail, humour and hope expressed in the decorations was incredible. We are definitely going to the next one.
On the social front, we also got to enjoy the Medieval Festival in Leiria, which is an annual event and lots of fun. Good atmosphere, lots going on, great food and sangria, we thoroughly recommend a visit. One of the reasons we love living so close to Leiria, is because there is always something going on. Every weekend there’s an event, festa, concert or fair going on. It’s nice to remember there is a world out there, when you live in a little abandoned village!
July was extra busy filming for the 2nd series of ‘Help! We Bought a Village’, but we’ve finished now and it will be aired on Channel 4 in the UK in the Autumn. We were featured in an online Portugal Daily Newspaper ‘Portugal Living Magazine’ and Sarah got interviewed on a YouTube daily programme ‘Good Morning Portugal’. Seems word of Chumbaria is spreading!
We had a returning WWOOFer from last year Kristian, here helping again and also the lovely Martin and Esther from Jordan, so we’ve been busy creating new vegetable beds, planting, weeding, watering, the usual stuff. A rather busy month at Chumbaria, but a very good one and especially poignant, because this time last year, we questioned whether to continue with the project. We’re both happy we did.
