What we have been up to...

Life on the land has been intense in every way.

There are beautiful sunsets, unbelievable starry skies, amazing silence and such peacefulness.

Of course there is also ridiculous amounts of mosquitos and black flies (that bite even worse),

unending amounts of dust in the house, and all the inconveniences that come along with living

without a toilet, electricity and hot water.

There are moments when I want to scream out of frustration, (plenty of times I actually do scream); from the constant mess, the dirt, the food floating around wet in the cooler, the constant itching from bites and so forth. I remind myself, and the children that it is temporary and keep on going...

But I can honestly say that overall, even with all the little inconveniences,

life on the land is wonderful. 

It is so rich, so alive, so full of "real" work.

The days never seem long enough, so much to do, so much to create.

It is a canvas, a blank canvas, with unending amounts of possibilities, 

and we all love it for this. 

Living so in the middle of the raw nature, it absorbs me and full fills me so wonderfully.

This week we created a new bed. 

Nothing here is just like that, first finding the spot, the removing all rocks and roots.

 Then finding large rocks and building the walls around.

 Creating the pathways around the beds.

 Then adding the soil. We used a few different composts and some of our Bokashi ferment.

 I planted tomato seedligns that were ready for their permanent location, as well as some Kale and Basil.

 Keenan was a great help as usual...

 We harvested lettuce greens from the garden and made a yummy salad...

 with dates, onion, mango and cranberries.

The dressing was olive oil, balsamic vinaigrette, some juice from an orange and crushed garlic.

It was very delicious!!

 In a random space created by the making of a path and the roots of an old tree I planted some 

radish seedlings looking for a home.

 Kaleena enjoys helping with the watering...

Look a those broccoli plants..

 Repositioning our seedlings and tree cuttings to a more sunny spot.

I see a nursery in our future...

 The children were determined that we should have a christmas tree.

We found a last one a the local super market, so extremely dry that Keenan could easily carry it all on his own, and very proud to do so.

 And Sunday we finally had the house "clean" enough to bring it in and decorate it.

We will have Christmas in this house even if the dinner is on the floor, with the mosquitos and the dust

and no light :)

 Will you look at this spider eating a dragon fly for breakfast right outside our door,

no not door of course, because we don't have any doors, but the door opening.

 And of course I must have a few banana palm pictures too

 and the other day while watering, it started drizzling and this gorgeous rainbow grazed me with

its presence...beauty, beauty, beauty....

It really makes all the difference when everything else can seem momentarily overwhelming!

~Blessings~

Around the Land

Given that we do not have internet at the land yet, and probably not for a while, my posting here will be sporadic and short. I thought I would share a few pictures from this morning, we had a lot of rain last night and everything was fresh and filled with dew. So beautiful and peaceful!

Adjusting to life on the land is certainly not without its challenges.

We spent the weekend in Playa del carmen celebrating two birthdays, and when we returned

the dog of the land, Suzi, had gotten into my wool stash and spread all over, she had also eaten the hand and foot of Kaleena's doll and taken Keenan's doll off somewhere in the woods, we found him this morning, thankfully in one piece but very dirty. The little gnomes I posted a pictures of in the last post were also destroyed, enough to make even the most patient soul loose it I think, and I am not that patient.

Today Miguel has been ordered to seal off the house, first with mosquito nets so that no uninvited animals can enter and later we will add the doors.

We have also realized the importance of getting ourselves organized, in terms of how we spend our time, so that we might get the house in order as soon as absolutely possible.

But look at this beauty, it is very hard to stay upset for too long....

~Blessings~

Around the land, and the first couple of days

The banana palm has me fascinated these day, watching how the leafs peal away one by one to give birth to a cluster of bananas complete with tiny orchid like flowers at their tip, 

it is beauty and nature at its best.

 We have now been on the land for two nights, and we are still very much camping and I expect that we will be for a while. This means that we cook over open fire outside, a task that the children especially Keenan takes very seriously, he is the fire keeper for sure.

Kaleena takes great pleasure in cleaning up around the house, which of course is a mess of construction debris, she has many plans for gardens and beauty all around.

Inside the house is still a mess, very dirty and dusty and we still have workers sleeping in hammocks outside. We sleep on mattress on the floor, tucked under mosquito nets and lots of clothes, without windows it is really very cold at night, and humid so it can be felt in the bones.

We still do not have a toilet nor shower, so we are not exactly clean.

Yet with all the chaos around us, the lack of quiet and privacy we are all really enjoying it.

When all are a sleep the night sounds are of pure nature, not a car can be heard, nor airplane or any such thing. Last night Miguel and I sat, well wrapped in wool, and well covered from mosquitos, on the door step of the front door, the moon was almost full and the light was almost bright. Right by our front door there is a small clearing that allows for a wonderful view of the night sky, it was blissful and beautiful.

I am most certainly looking forward to be able to unpack and be able to find things, to have a shower even if a cold one, and to have doors and a completely mosquito sealed house, yet

I am really enjoying this stage of the process for what it is. 

We all are....

 In the garden certain things are looking really great while others are struggling.

The Pak Choy is doing great, as is surprisingly the lettuce greens, the tomatoes however are not doing so well, given the high pH that is much as I expected it...

 and finally there are signs of Christmas, even if only a couple. On our first night Miguel and I managed to hang the advent bags, 7 days late but better late than never right?

 And the little needle felted gnomes or nisser as we say in danish, that I made last year were also found and set in the window sill. 

It is hard to imagine Christmas just around the corner, usually I would be in midst of preparations

every day now, but this year it will be a different kind of Christmas, and I think that that is ok

~Blessings~