…and a moment of tranquility is found.
There are a myriad of beautiful moments during the lengthy and arduous process of building your own house – when the roof is pitched and the rain is turned away, or when the electricity is connected and light fills the previously dark corners. The windows turn a shell into [...]
February 15, 2009 – 12:54 pm
Things were looking pretty grim at Quinta do Cabril for a while. Since the robberies last summer morale has been low and the work to sofa ratio quite high. Of course my ridiculously inconvenient sinus weevils have hampered things somewhat but things have changed – the sun is shining, the birds are tweeting and the [...]
January 31, 2009 – 10:47 am
For a brief moment earlier this week I could see an end in sight for work at Quinta do Cabril. The eternal struggle of man to create a place of shelter could one day be over. One man battling to keep the veracious forces of nature from the delicate skin of his family and have [...]
August 29, 2008 – 7:08 pm
1,246 screws
722 pieces of timber
36 litres of cuprinol
47 sheets of polystyrene insulation board
1,438 roof tiles
2 splinters
1 mystery bruise on my left elbow
…the final result being a roof (and a ceiling depending on where you’re standing) – a huge psychological barrier broken and protection from sun and rain to continue the work inside.
More photos (inside and [...]
August 21, 2008 – 5:49 pm
…if you want it to rain just follow a few simple guidelines:
First cut some fresh garlic picked on the full moon, then carefully slice some newly slaughtered flesh (bacon or ham will do), wash some lettuce and a tomato then get some mayonaise (preferably Hellmans) from the fridge. None of this will make it rain [...]
August 19, 2008 – 5:40 pm
…I received another chain email today professing great kharmic reward for the simple action of forwarding it’s life lessons to others. Maybe the author of this message could explain to me (as I sat amidst the dust and rubble of my new ‘house’ in tears this morning) why my door had been kicked down and [...]
…I am a rubbish son.
My mother often asks me to take photos of work so that she can check up on me see what I’ve been doing (in a loving, maternal type way). I have not performed this simple task for quite some time so here are a few pics of ‘Quinta do Cabril’.
It’s a [...]
January 22, 2008 – 8:07 pm
…things have finally started to make sense at Quinta da Cabril. All the underground nonsense is done. All major groundwork, drainage and foundations are in so things are starting to go upwards. I’ve cut and fitted all the major roof beams so the main shape of the house is now apparent – and it’s going [...]
January 22, 2008 – 9:05 am
…nobody told me that yesterday was the most depressing day of the year. Personally I had a fine day doing manly buildery type antics and frollicking around with large timbers, concrete blocks and barrows full of cement.
I’ll make more of an effort to be miserable today…
I probably won’t surf today…. *sniff*
December 11, 2007 – 7:00 pm
There is a reason that I’m not a plumber. It’s not that I can’t do it because I can – it’s hardly rocket science (that as we all know is the study of a jet-propulsion device that uses either solid or liquid propellants to provide the fuel and oxidizer needed for combustion. The hot gases [...]
