Portugal from Scratch - Follow along as I attempt to build a life in Portugal from the ground up.
  • Building
  • Earning
  • Learning
  • Planning
  • Pondering
  • Volunteering
Portugal from Scratch - Follow along as I attempt to build a life in Portugal from the ground up.
Building
Earning
Learning
Planning
Pondering
Volunteering
  • Building
  • Earning
  • Learning
  • Planning
  • Pondering
  • Volunteering
Volunteering

Work Exchange at Friend’s Place Near Alpedrinha

Natural Building in Portugal

This is my third year in a row of coming to Portugal and I’ve decided to put myself to work once again in an effort to keep learning as much as possible about building while keeping my living costs low. I keep coming back to the same area not far from Alpedrinha and Vale de Prazeres in the Fundao region, south of the Serra de Gardunhas. Since I’ve spent a bunch of time in this area over the past few years, I’ve met a lot of people and I feel like I’ve started to become a small part of the community.

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June 19, 2019by Kirsty
Pondering

The Importance of Community

Importance of Community, Portugal

I’m back in the Fundão area of Central Portugal for the third year in a row, this time with the possibility of buying land a little closer on the horizon. I’m not sure I’ll be in a position to buy anything until around November, but I’m keeping my eyes open and if something great crosses my path, maybe I’ll find a way to make it work. In the meantime I bought a rather glorious bicycle, I’m reluctantly on the lookout for a car, and I’m slowly accumulating tools.

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June 4, 2019by Kirsty
Volunteering

Work Exchange at Keela Yoga Farm

Work Exchange at Keela Yoga Farm

I’ve spent a good amount of time at Keela Yoga Farm over the past couple of years, first arriving as a total stranger in 2017 for six weeks and then returning as a friend in 2018 for three months. Half of that three months in 2018 was spent doing a natural building internship (focused specifically on working on their awesome new community building) and the rest of my time was spent starting to paint a mural of a map of their land and also attempting to construct a compost toilet.

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February 25, 2019by Kirsty
Earning

A Change of Plans and a Clarity of Future Plans

Map of Nairobi, Nairobi Map

Back in May I posted about my grand plans for funding my future Portugal land purchase and all of the adventures that will come along with it. Ah May… back when life seemed so clear and simple! Back then, I was 99.4% certain that a partnership I’d been working on with a business dude I know in Kenya was in the bag. We’ve worked together in the past and when he saw my first Kigali map, he seemed keen on helping me bring one to Nairobi.

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December 3, 2018by Kirsty
Volunteering

Fence and Firewood Fun with Friends

After about five or six weeks at Keela Yoga Farm living communally, working hard every day, drinking copious amounts of red wine, pooping into a bucket, and having cold showers I think I was due a bit of a break. Happily, Sinead and I had the opportunity to head over to my friend Keri’s place for a few days to help out and hang out. She’s been living in Portugal for a couple of years (making awesome natural products) and building up her property and her business and I was curious to see what life was like over at hers, at least for a few days. I felt a bit of time off the farm would be good opportunity to gain a bit of perspective, try some different work, enjoy a hot shower and sleeping in an actual bed, and to go back with a renewed appreciation for the Keela experience.

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November 4, 2018by Kirsty
Learning

Natural Building Internship at Keela Yoga Farm

Natural Building Internship at Keela Yoga Farm

I’ve been back at Keela Yoga Farm since the end of July, just wrapping up a six week natural building internship a couple of weeks ago. I was was here for seven weeks this time last year and I had so much fun that I decided to come back. They’ve been up and running for a couple of years and it’s an awesome place full of building and gardening projects and they bring in volunteers to help out. I actually didn’t know there was an organised internship type thing happening until my friend mentioned seeing it on the website. Since it was my intention to cram in as much building experience as possible into my time at Keela, I was happy to hear that it would be a set period of six weeks of building fun!

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September 23, 2018by Kirsty
Learning

Natural Building with Barbara Da Nova Leite

Natural Building at Keela Yoga Farm with Barbara Da Nova Leite

I’ve been back at Keela Yoga Farm for almost a month and life is good! I was here back in 2017 too at around the same time of year for six weeks and I’m very happy to be back in this beautiful, fun place. Both times, I’ve been lucky to be a volunteer at Keela while they had natural building courses running. The course back in 2017 was run while working on their new straw bale house. This time around the course was run while building a fairly massive community building. I’ve spent a decent amount of time at Keela over the past couple of years and I’ll write later about this wonderful spot but, in the meantime, here’s my take on the courses.

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August 25, 2018by Kirsty
Building

I Want to be a Roundwood Timber Framer When I Grow Up

Roundwood TImber Framing, Portugal

I’ve been back in Portugal since July 15th but I’ve been having so much fun catching up with friends and doing non-computer-y things that sitting down to write has been a huge struggle. I’ve basically been spending time with some of my favourite people doing some of my favourite things and I haven’t managed to plop myself down in front of my computer for about a month. The horror! My Kigali website has basically been neglected, my Nairobi map is stalled, somewhat important emails have been ignored, and I’ve been a bit crap at staying in touch with family and friends. But how can computer life compete with sawing and chiseling? It can’t! At least not at the moment.

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August 11, 2018by Kirsty
Building

Adventures in Roundwood Timber Framing Tools

Round Wood Timber Framing Tools - Chisels in roll.

I’m in Canada at the moment, hanging out with family and friends, enjoying the toasty weather, riding my bike, and having a few weeks of laid back summer-y fun. I’m supposed to be working on my Nairobi map to get as much done as possible before I head back to Portugal in mid-July (and then onto Nairobi in late October), but it seems like most of my time is going towards navigating the wonderful and rather overwhelming world of hand tools.

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July 4, 2018by Kirsty
Learning

Wholewoods Build Camp

Wholewoods Build Camp

When I flew from East Africa to Portugal in late March my intention was to stay in Portugal for most of that time. Really, truly, it was! I keep saying I’m moving to Portugal and I keep popping up in various other spots around the globe. I promise I’m moving there but I seem to keep getting distracted.

My plan in 2018 was to travel around Portugal, check out certain areas that might be nice to live in, do some work exchanges, meet some people, and learn some new skills. One of the main skills I want to learn more about is timber framing using round wood (recently felled trees, basically) and, during my rather brief research I came to the conclusion that most of the people doing this sort of building seem to be in the UK.

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June 29, 2018by Kirsty
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portugalfromscratch

Instagram post 2193694055626630566_7289800994 I’ve been reunited with my spoon carving knives and I’m having another crack at it. Spoon number three is coming along nicely and it seems like a ratchet strap makes a fine clamp.
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Have I ever mentioned how much I love ratchet straps? No? Well... I love ratchet straps.
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Spoon carving is more of a love / hate thing so far but I’m slowly getting the hang of it, I think.
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Anyways it’s a gorgeous day here in Central Portugal and sitting in the sun doing a bit of carving is a fine way to spend some time, I think!
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#portugal #centralportugal #alpedrinha #valedeprazeres #carving #spooncarving #spoon #spoons #woodenspoon #greenwoodworking #perfectday #relaxing #meditation #sunny #sunshine #learning #learningbydoing #buildlikeagirl
Instagram post 2193066813292655667_7289800994 Donkey!!!
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My friend and I spent some of today helping at a nearby friend’s farm and she has donkeys! I love donkeys. This guy was a bit of a pain in that he tried to eat my hat and sort of chomped on my head, but I forgive him.
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We spent about three hours dragging, breaking, and burning the branches of some almond trees that were pruned and laying on the ground. Four of us got it done reasonably quickly and it was awesome to help out, visit another farm, meet some new people, and get hot and sweaty doing some fun manual work.
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I love the idea of neighbours helping each other and it seems like it’s a fairly common thing in this area. We had fun doing the work all together, were fed a yummy lunch, and we even went away with some farm eggs and olive oil. Win!
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#portugal #centralportugal #donkey #donkeysofinstagram #farm #quinta #clearing #burning #tractor #friends #friendshelpingfriends #neighbours #neighbors #helpingout #funday #fundayofwork #workexchange #manyhands @kerimillard
Instagram post 2190939558697243597_7289800994 I’m back in Portugal visiting a friend and seeing the area in a whole new season. So far I’ve been here in every season except the winter so this is a new test for me and my wimpy cold weather ways. It’s a bit chilly but when the sun shines it’s lovely.
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This time around I’ll be tucked inside the house in a cozy bed with the fire roaring instead of bundled up enduring freezing tent hell inside my summer sleeping bag. Related - I need a better sleeping bag.
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There won’t be any house building this time around but I’m looking forward to possibly joining in on some olive picking and small jobs around the area, visiting some friends in the area, and mucking around with some small woodworking projects.
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It’s always great to be back and it’ll be nice to spend some time outside after a lot of computer work these past few months.
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#portugal #centralportugal #alpedrinha #livinginportugal #pureportugal #portugal🇵🇹 #portugal_places #portugalnature #offgrid #homesteading #dogs #dogsofinstagram #autumn #fall #outsidetime
Instagram post 2188646071276869370_7289800994 This is not a photo of a rolled up piece of newspaper... no! Well, I guess it is. But if you look closely you’ll see a roasted chestnut poking out the top. This seems to be a popular winter snack here and they’re delicious.
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Oh and I’m back! Just for a couple of weeks but it feels great and I’m looking forward to getting back to Central Portugal to see some friends, see what’s up, and to see what it’s like in December. My expectation is... brrrr! I’ll just need to toughen up.
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#portugal #lisbon #snack #snackfood #chestnuts #chestnutsroastingonanopenfire #tasty #tastytreat #bus #onmyway #maninapapercone #weirdphoto #goodtobeback
Instagram post 2182523156462521936_7289800994 Baby bananas! I love banana trees.
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Unrelated to banana trees... I’ll be leaving the climate of tropical fruit and sunshine late tonight and heading to the UK for a week to visit friends. Sadly, my winter jacket and other warm clothes currently live in a bag in Portugal. I’ll be reunited with them in a week but, until then, I shall wear everything I  own - all at once.
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This trip to Kigali has been a lot of work but also lots of fun. The map is still popular, maybe even more than ever, and it’s a great little one person business. The website is still in shambles but hopefully I can work on that in the coming weeks when I’m hibernating inside. It’s been great catching up with friends and the trip was a perfect length so I wasn’t rushed like last time I was here.
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I’m heading back to Portugal in December then onto Canada, so I’ll have to suck it up and stop being such a wimp in relation to cold weather. Kigali spoils a person... the weather is basically perfect.
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But it’s time to head off and I’m looking forward to seeing what fun challenges and learning opportunities lie ahead! My 2020 is shaping up to be quite interesting if all goes to plan.
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#kigali #kigalirwanda #rwanda #livinginkigali #livinginrwanda #visitrwanda #discoverrwanda #rwandaful #my250 #banana #bananas #bananatree #bananaplant #fruit #tropical #tropicalfruit #sunshine #illmissthisplace #secondhome #headingnorth @livinginkigali @africaguidemaps
Instagram post 2179236201943366062_7289800994 Mud bricks! A friend and I went to look at a nearby house and piece of land here in Kigali and discovered that this house (and most in the area) are made from adobe bricks. Unfortunately they’re plastered with concrete which is pretty standard here.
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I’ve heard a lot about the Rwandan government phasing out naturally built homes over the past few years. They eliminated grass roofs shortly after I arrived in 2010 (excepted for tourism-related buildings), which was sad. But I was chatting to an architect the other day who tells me that natural materials are having a bit of a comeback and are being written into the code. I hope that’s the case!
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I’d love to learn more about how things are built here in Rwanda. I saw a bunch of dudes the other day mixing concrete using soil instead of sand which is terrifying. So maybe I’ll stick to seeing how they build naturally.
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I loved seeing these bricks today and the conversation I had with the architect was quite exciting. But the reality is that people with money build giant houses with ridiculously huge and pointy roofs just to show off their wealth, so I’d say building with natural materials isn’t going to be back in fashion anytime soon, but I do love seeing it!
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#kigali #rwanda #kigalirwanda #discoverrwanda #africa #eastafrica #naturalbuilding #adobebrick #cob #mudbrick #clay #claybrick #claybricks #buildnaturally #earth #earthbrick #naturalhome #naturalmaterials
Instagram post 2176221545473720217_7289800994 I’ve been pretty quiet over here but things are wrapping up here in Kigali and I’ll be back into the swing of things soon! I got the 3rd edition of my Kigali map delivered last week and I’ve been hard at work distributing and selling it around town. I’m even having a little launch party on Friday which could either be super fun or super awkward... time will tell!
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It was a lot of work getting this map done within the ridiculous deadline I gave myself and I’m really proud of it... but I also never want to look at it again.
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I’m heading back to Portugal via the UK in a couple of weeks but just for a short time to hang out with friends and maybe do a bit of building work if it’s still going. Then off home to Canada for Christmas.
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I’m ready to get away from my computer and to use my hands for something other than typing and dragging a mouse around. I’ve already booked a couple of building courses in Costa Rica in January / February (timber framing and natural building using bamboo) and I’m excited to get back to it!
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#kigali #kigalirwanda #eastafrica #rwanda #my250 #livinginkigali #livinginrwanda #kigalilife #map #maps #mapmaker #cartographer #cartography #entrepreneur #smallbusiness #maker #newproduct #finallydone #streetmap #touristmap #visitrwanda #rwandaful #2020plans @livinginkigali @africaguidemaps
Instagram post 2158135551352448572_7289800994 There’s a basil forest growing in the garden! The rich volcanic soil combined with the sweet skills of my friend Theo who looks after the plants, equals an incredibly impressive garden, no matter the conditions.
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Beyond the basil jungle lies a huge rosemary bush and after that is a lemon tree that I planted from seed about six years ago that is now producing something a lot more like limes. Curious.
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Now that my map project is finished I’ve started doing more research again about permaculture, natural building, and all of that fun stuff. Theo has everything under control here and I’m looking forward to getting back to Portugal soonish to get my hands dirty again!
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#kigali #kigalirwanda #rwanda #eastafrica #africa #mountkigali #basil #basilplant #pestofordays #garden #gardening #organicgardening #localknowledge #localskills #africanpermaculture #volcanicsoil #healthysoil #healthygarden #happyplants #rainyseason
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About Me

Hi! My name is Kirsty and I want to build my own house naturally, grow a garden, ride my bike, and enjoy a simple way of living. I’m hoping to buy and renovate a ruin in Portugal but I work in East Africa, which is a hell of a commute. It’s all a work in progress with a lot to figure out. I’m not really totally sure what I’m doing, but I love a challenge! Learn More

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