Settled on the farm

It’s been some time since I’ve written a blog. Somehow, the time we spend in Amsterdam doesn’t inspire me to write. At least not blogs. Probably because our life in Amsterdam isn’t that adventurous. Like last year, our time in Amsterdam was very good, and we had a great time meeting up with friends and family. Except for the little things that annoy me while living in a big city like Amsterdam (I’ll save you the details), there’s not a lot about it to inspire me to share our experiences.

But now that we are settled on our new spot, in central Portugal, I’ve decided to give writing blogs another chance, and share with you, our experiences of life on the farm. The plan is to stay here at least for six months, and find out whether we like it enough to stay for a lot longer – mainly because it’s such a different lifestyle to travelling around, something we’ve done for so long.

Instant attraction

It was on our way back from the Algarve to the Netherlands, last March, that we came across Peter and Ute’s farm.

It was like love at first sight. From the day we arrived we started dreaming of staying. At first, we had hired the spare house on their property for a week, which we quickly extended for another week. And it was only because we had to journey back to the Netherlands, or we might have stayed at least a month, or maybe not have left at all. Even though it was cold and rainy then, we had a great time, just being here on the farm, exploring the area, going for walks, getting on with our work, writing and meeting new people.

And before we knew it, we were talking about staying for longer, about working on the farm, and started to inquire whether we could stay for several months to help out. Within less than a week, the plan for this winter was made and we agreed with Peter and Ute that we would stay at least for five or six months before we decide to permanently settle, maybe here, or maybe somewhere in the neighborhood.

Settling down

So, this is us for the coming months. Instead of exploring new cultures and places, places we have never been to, far away from where we come from, something we have done for the last four winters, we are now settled in one place.

Of course, I know how it is when you live in one place, go to the same office and see the same faces all day every day. But how will it be now that we live far away from others, mainly surrounded by trees, relying only on your partner and a few neighbors for your daily conversation? Will I get bored? Will I miss seeing my friends, going to the pub around the corner, the cinema, theater or café for a coffee? And will I like working on the farm?

For now, all is good. The sun is shining, although that’s a worry for the land since it’s already so dry and the rain still seems so far off, but it’s a treat for us, now that we’re building up a routine on the farm. People we met in March have invited us for lunch, Peter and Ute are happy to have us around, and it seems a lot of our friends and family will be coming to visit us.

But how will it be when it’s cold and rainy, and we still have to work outside, and when the evenings are long? I’m not sure, but we’ll soon find out. And, of course, I hope that you’ll be interested enough to continue to follow this blog, even though our adventures might seem less exciting, they are at least as exciting for me. Will this be the beginning of a new long-term project? Settling on a small-scale farm in central Portugal, growing and processing some of our own food while writing and editing, hoping for lots of friends to come and visit us over the years? Let’s see. More to follow soon…

Tagged as: Central Portugal, ecological farming, environment, home, Portugal