by clare | Sep 27, 2020 | Forest Alchemy, herbal medicine, trees
Back in May I made a new flower essence, from the beautiful big Mulberry tree in our valley (Morus nigra). This is one of my favourite trees here, with its large heart-shaped leaves, and its generous abundance of juicy black mulberries throughout the summer...
by clare | May 1, 2019 | awareness, interbeing, land, nature
I stepped out on to my deck today, and something struck me. The words arose in my mind – “the wasps have gone”, and I said them out loud in wonder. For the past four years I have experienced a wasp invasion in and around my yurt during the summer...
by clare | Dec 29, 2018 | economy, herbal medicine, land, nature, plants, trees, Uncategorized
Listening It was year ago when I was here on the land in Portugal on my own for a couple of weeks retreat time from the Solstice into the New Year, that I received the message loud and clear to start making essences from the trees, ( “with the trees” feels...
by clare | Aug 28, 2018 | culture, land, nature, plants
This year we harvested some cork from our forest for the first time. https://montedavida.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/MAH02243.mp4 Cork is widely regarded as one of the most ecological and sustainable materials available. Here in the Alentejo region of...
by clare | Oct 11, 2016 | land, nature, plants, water
This is my third summer here at Monte da Vida, and the driest and hottest so far. It is now early October and we have had one proper day of rain since May. Our stream only ran for a few weeks in the spring. I read that the local reservoir has dropped to 17 percent of...
by clare | Jun 18, 2016 | herbal medicine, land, nature, plants
Today I took my scythe and cleared a path through the long grass across to the other side of the main valley here. It’s an area of the land I have not visited for a while, on the north side of our little seasonal stream. There is a beautiful bit of old cork oak...
by clare | Dec 24, 2013 | land, natural building
It’s now been about six weeks since Steven the Scottish stone master started working with us, and we have become somewhat stone-crazy at Monte da Vida. Steven’s enthusiasm for stone is infectious, and also makes a lot of sense. Stone is abundant, cheap and...
by clare | Aug 28, 2013 | land, nature, pictures
by clare | May 16, 2013 | land, nature, pictures, water
Here are some pictures of the land that were taken in March, after heavy rains left water flowing everywhere and everything was green and lush.
