April in the garden

The month was – for the most part at least – as perfect an April as could be.  For ten days we had gentle warm weather, when everything was so still that you could hear the buds bursting if you listened carefully and all was bathed in a warm spring sunshine.  The air felt warm, soft and moist and all around was lush green and washed in birdsong – a real treat.

Early morning was of course the best time for birdsong and pottering about cutting asparagus for breakfast was always accompanied by song from hoopoes, cuckoos, our resident black redstarts and great tits.

During December, I had repaired the nestbox that the great tits so often use and it was gratifying to see that they had appreciated my efforts to provide a less draughty abode.

Every day, the leaves on the sweet chestnut outside the kitchen burst out of their buds – starting on the lower branches and spreading rapidly upwards.  The weight of the leaves and fruits mean that by early October, the branches will hang about a metre lower – and the sheer volume of flowers, leaves and fruits are  very easy to appreciate when it comes time to rake them up!

The swallow catcher - in lathargic mode

The dear cat excelled herself and brought in a swallow one afternoon – very much alive and it was quickly rescued and set free.  For those of you who have never had the privilege of holding a swallow in your hand, they are incredible – so slight and incredibly light (about 20 gms) and seem to be all wings.  How such a tiny bird could fly all the way to southern Africa and back every year is incredible.

We are very protective of our swallows, they used to nest downstairs in the bodega, but sadly can not be given access there now as it is now a bedroom – they still nest in the outbuildings next door though.  How the cat managed to catch one, I do not know – but it was a story with a happy ending as it was later sitting preening on the wires beside the house – hopefully a wiser swallow.

A small carbon footprint is what we are aiming for

We have tried hard to make our home – and the accommodation at the Guesthouse – as environmentally friendly as we can and for those of you who are interested – this is what we have done.

Hot water

This comes straight off the roof for most of the year and provides most of our water heating.

Solar hot water panels

Electricity

We have sixteen solar panels in the vegetable garden at the edge of a four metre terrace wall – which faces south.  There was nothing we could grow so close to the wall as it was too dry – so we decided to put the panels there.  They provide shelter from wind and are more or less invisible from everywhere in the garden – except the vegetable garden and not visible from most of the village.

The panels at the left of the photo

Portugal is a wonderful place to use solar and we sell what we generate back to EDP – Energias de Portugal, and we have also made a great deal of effort to use energy efficient devices in the home.

Sixteen panels along the garden wall

Initially we used a local company called EnergyInform and they installed the panels, but after that, the company  did not respond to phone calls or emails.  We ended up waiting for months to be inspected and connected and I would not be able to recommend their services at all.  By contrast, the company, Energicoura,  who completed the work for us was  reliable and we would use them again.

There are many wind farms on the mountains around us too – and despite the controversy that wind farms generate in many countries, they fit into this landscape well.

Keeping the heat where we want it

Portugal – at least the Alto Minho – is surprisingly cold in the winter and hot in the summer.  We have tried hard to ensure we have insulation where we need it – twenty four centimetres in the attic  to be precise.

Twenty four centimetres of insulation in the attic

Then on all the walls we have put insulation on the outside walls  – on the old stone built part of the house and on the new modern extension.

The polystyrene on the left and reinforcing on the corners

We have used three centimetres of polystyrene which is “glued” to the walls and then covered with a thin layer of white render which does not need painting.  We are assured it will outlast us!

The insulation on and ready for the render

Thus, in the winter we keep the warmth in and in the summer, the heat out.

The old style windows - the skylights and the big windows below are all double glazed

All the windows – both the older style traditional windows and the new large windows – are double glazed.

The down side is that we still use oil – we wanted to use a wood pellet boiler for the central heating, but while it is possible to get deliveries of sacks of pellets, getting bulk deliveries in this part of Portugal is not economical yet.  When it becomes reliable and economical then we will look at changing.  We also use local firewood in a wood burning stove which is very effective and helps to reduce the oil consumption.

Food, recycling, rubbish, compost and water!

We use the local recycling system and try hard to minimise the rubbish we throw out – composting is high on the agenda!  We have used this design from the Greater Vancouver Regional District – the plans for construction are detailed and easy to follow and it works well for us – you can download the plans on the internet.

We still throw away more rubbish than we would like – although we try hard to recycle as much as we can – the traders at the market in Caminha are now used to us bringing our second hand plastic bags to fill with nuts and dried fruit!  It is noticeable that more people are using shopping bags nowadays in Portugal.

Three bin compost system

The soil in the area is sandy and in the summer it often does not rain for weeks – so we use lots of mulch (from the local sawmill) in the form of bark.  This cuts down our water use.

We have a watering system that waters at night and right to the plants!

We try hard to watch the carbon footprint of everything we eat – and grow much of what we use – especially the treats like raspberries, strawberries and asparagus.  We eat “in season” and you will too if we provide food for you.

There is lots more we could do – but you have to leave something for tomorrow!

Nesi and Kisa

We have a dog and a cat – like many other people.  Nesi is an American Cocker Spaniel – he was born in Spain on 21st May 2008 and came to live with us on 23rd July that year.

One year later, a very small Tabby kitten – came wandering down the lane – a tiny little bag of bones, that we really did not think would live more than a couple of days.  But she was a real fighter from the start and soon after we named her Kisa.  For simplicity’s sake, we decided that she would share Nesi’s birth date, 21st May – but she was a year younger, very convenient that they have the same birthday!

Skin and bones and hungry

I suspect you are thinking that there is nothing very strange in this – and you are correct, but that was just the start.

The amazing thing has been the relationship they have developed since then.  Naturally, Kisa was scared for the first day or so – but almost immediately Nesi started to mother her – he would play with her – lick her and carry her around by the scruff of her neck.  She just accepted this and would seek him out so she could curl up with him – or play with him.

As she got bigger the games got rougher – they would literally roll about and chase each other – taking it in turns to be the one doing the chasing!  Kisa is normally out at night, but when she comes in she (like all cats) demands to be fed – but that is not good enough – she demands that Nesi is also fed and will not eat her breakfast unless he gets his breakfast too – and we have to stand there watching or she will come and get us!

Best of friends

On the nights when she is allowed to stay in – cold wet windy nights – she normally decides she wants to go out at some unearthly hour of the morning.  When she decides to wake us, she makes a tiny meow – as if trying very hard not to wake us up too much!!  We often do not hear and in that case, Nesi comes into the bedroom – where she is not really allowed and wakes us up – for her!

A rare occasion - each in their own bed

And of course, they still sleep together – they have identical beds side by side – but no matter – they are usually found in the same bed – especially if it is cold.  They are totally spoiled and allowed on the sofa – where they normally curl up together – he is less appreciative of this than she is though.  She always comes in and gives his face a good wash and he never complains, just looks rather fed up – but he is too polite to refuse.

"My dog"!

In the garden – they hang out together – watching the goings on in the village.  They really are quite incredible – two good friends.

Checking out the evening sounds from the doorstep

From an animal behavioural point of view, it is not easy to see quite what is going on – he is a male, but “mothered” her.  She enjoyed him when she was young – but if anything, her attachment has grown and his somewhat diminished – not at all what we expected.  They are never unkind to each other – he occasionally grunts at her if she becomes “too much” and takes over all the bed – but for the most part, never a cross word.

Kisa asleep on an old beehive made from cork oak

Spring has arrived in Covas

Please do not take our word for granted – look at what other people are writing about the area too!  Porto is only an hour and a half from Covas on a very easy road that winds through some beautiful scenery for the first half of the journey.  Then you are in the historic city of Porto – and if you have not been before, it is a real treat!

Today, the Independent on Sunday has an article about hotels with a port wine taste and then a few days ago, the Independent had a lovely suggestion for what to do for a couple of days in Porto and it also has a good map to go with the article – and then drive up to visit us in Covas for a really peaceful week – these days we could all do with some quiet and a chance to get away from it all!

But if that is not enough – the Guardian also had a nice piece about Porto last year too – so read up and you will be surprised by how lovely the city is.

Guesthouse Gallery Covas

Open 1st May

When we bought the house, the downstairs areas were used as a store, as the bodega (complete with wine press) and another room had been used for animals.  We had always thought we would convert this area and since we completed the work, many people have told us what a wonderful guesthouse it would make – well, now we have completed it and you can look it up in the link above – or check out the Facebook  page - or look us up on Owners Direct,  where you can also make a booking.

Hjördís and Robin in the garden - with Nesi and Kisa - portrait by Sian!

We are also planning to create an on line shop for Gallery Covas – so hopefully you will see more about that in the coming posts.  Meanwhile, always feel free to pay us a visit.

The roses seem to have enjoyed being covered in stone dust and are wonderful as always

First an apology for the fact that we have not updated the site for a long time now.  Although we have had visitors to the gallery, we have been up to our ears in building work – and that in turn has meant a huge disturbance to the gallery.

Now we are nearly through with the work and we have an enlarged space which we hope visitors will enjoy.

People have asked if we have guest rooms – well, the good news is that now we do and some time in late August, these are available for booking – just drop us a line to inquire please or call us at +351 252 943 015.

If you are looking for peace and quiet – a rare taste of rural Portugal as it used to be and wonderful surroundings, look no further than Covas – an hour north of Porto Airport and half an hour form Spain to the north.

As we all know Christmas is coming soon.  We will be putting on our web-page more of the art and craft we have for sale so you can look and shop here.  If you look at our Photo page, it is all there.

But you are also very welcome to Covas.

Here you can take a look at our handmade Jewellery, just click on the image below to take a closer look or go to our Photo page.
Please send us an  email to order, for further information or requests.

As you can see in the post below we have finally put in photos of our bottle stoppers.  This we said we would do a long time ago. But here they are.

These last days in Covas have been rainy, it is getting cooler and we realized that December is actually coming very soon – and so is Christmas.

We have got a lot of new things in the gallery and will be putting photos on the web in the next few days.  Here are the Angels from Iceland, handmade from Icelandic wool.

Click on the image below to take a closer look or go to our photo page.

Please send us an  email to order, for further information or requests.

Here is a selection of our wine bottle stoppers, some made from local wood like; orange, oak and magnolia and some from other parts of the world.  They all come in nice soft bags, perfect as a present or just for yourself.  Click on the images below to take a closer look or go to our photo page.
Please send us an  email to order, for further information or requests.

Linen, Lavender and Lace

September means we have got this year´s lavender cut, dried and ready to be made into all kinds of lavender produce.  We have started by making lavender bags as they had all sold out.  As before we use linen and lace for the bags and fill them with our wonderful lavender.

This season´s lavender bags - € 6.50

Jewellery

We are using the stones (schist) from the mountains around Covas in our jewellery.  The schist is golden-brown and shiny and very delicate which makes it hard to work with, but we think the end result is well worth it.  As well as the schist we use silver, lava, porcelain beads (which we make at the Yavanna Studio) and various beads some of which we have collected our self´s from different parts of the world.

Locally made jewellery

Jewellery with schist

Wood

Robin has been busy with his woodturning and we have lots more of wonderful wine-bottles-stoppers and bowls, big and small.  We will be putting photos on the site in the coming days.