Did we move in already?

Dear all, here we are again!
I am just on the sofa, inside of the Tiny House!
Yes we have moved in... last week.
Can we believe it? Yes! Very much!

Here are the last videos that we recorded, few weeks before moving in:





 

A lot more has happened, but for now, I would like to share our experience living here.

1 week and 1/2 has gone by and we are living a dream.
Dreams come true.
Around October of 2016 we started the building of our home and going back to the first post of this blog, we started with gratitude.
And we continue in the same line.
Everytime that we turn on a light, lay down in bed, cook a meal, get dressed, move inside of the Tiny House, sit on the sofa looking at the landscape, sit on our meditation cushions to meditate, wash our dishes, look at the cats sleeping in thei step houses, everytime we open the entrance door and look outside we feel and we are grateful for this house.
For all the time that we spent designing and building it, for all the friends that helped us building it, for all the family support, for the resiliency of our souls and for the house itself.
We are in total bliss.
Even with so many things to finish yet, we are blissed out.
There is a deep knowing of being right that takes me to tears.
It is the path and the goal and both are the same.
The path is still happening and the goal, who knows what is it?!
It doesn't finish with moving in.
It's life and discovery.
It's change and transformation.
People keep saying that they don't know how we, as a couple, survived living for so many years in a BUS and then in a Caravan.
Well, nobody says it was easy, but what we know is that we look back and we laugh and we remember the challenges and what stays is gratitude - for the previous homes.
the BUS is gone as you know and the Caravan is turning into my work space.I started moving things and turning it into a beautiful workshop.
I will post pictures of it soon.
I want to acknowledge David's love and persistence during all this time so we could get to this point of the journey. Without that, without you my love, this couldn't be possible in this way. I love all that you have put in this house so far. 

We would like to share more pictures from these last months and a tour of how the house is now that we moved in.But you have to wait for the next post.

For now, I am just going to listen to some music, brew a delicious tea and seat on the sofa.

Wishing you all a wonderful week and sending a big hug,
with love,

Raquel

Cork Insulation

Amazing cork!

A few days ago we received our order of cork. We decided to use cork for all of our insulation as it has many benefits over other types of insulation available. Firstly it is produced in Portugal, which is fantastic as it doesn't have to travel far to be with us. Secondly it is just cork, which is bark taken from the cork oak. This is a process that involves removing the bark of a tree, the cork is then steamed which expands it and helps it stick together and then it is cut into boards. Apparently no harm is done to the trees and the bark grows back in a nine year cycle. It is fully biodegradable and has no added chemicals. It is quite a bit more expensive than polystyrene equivalents but for us with that we are trying to create it was the only choice. I was just reading that because bottles are being capped with more plastic and metal these days, the cork manufactures are looking at ways that it can be used in the building industry, this seems to be a really good one.

A+ efficiency rating!

The delivery driver wasn't able to make it to the Quinta so we met him just outside Benfeita, our local village and did the deal.

Thanks to Marko & Laura for lending us Brun Hilder(the name of their truck)

We quickly loaded up the truck before the rain came.

  

Loaded and ready to go!

 

Posing for yet another selfie! This one with the cork. 

Thanks for tuning in!
David

Which wood burner?

While we are waiting for the wood to come, so we can start with the frame, we keep doing research and do everything that can be done now.
So, one of the things that we are looking for is a wood burner. People keep telling us that an old burner is not a good business. Specially is it is a very old one. They can be very rusty and have a lot of leaks.
Again the question of what is the most sustainable choice comes. Is it better a new one, robust made with good materials and national or an used one?

We have been looking at several used ones, either in facebook pages/groups, websites with second hand materials like Olx, Custo Justo and Segunda Mão and when we went to Santarém, the person that was selling windows was selling second-hand wood burners as well.

We haven't made a decision yet and the right one didn't appear yet.

We looked at new ones in Cercol and we found a shop in Santa Comba Dão only by chance when we went to the veterinary with Sam. The prices vary between 100€ to 400€ and the quality of the cheapest ones is not good at all! They seem very fragile!

 This is the contact of the shop in Santa Comba Dão - very good prices and the owner is a very nice old man

 

I remembered that my favorite factory in Porto (CIF) does, what we call in Portugal,  Salamandras. Very good quality, but, again, not the right ones.

What wood burner will we have?
Another dip into the unknown!

With love,
Raquel