The Peace Process

by Brian

Building an image in rock requires a lot of patience. I was lucky enough to have everything I needed at my disposal: a wall, on which to render the image, the requisite tools, good weather, and most of all, time.

Here you can see the outline of the peace symbol, in paint.

The best part of this adventure was that I didn't have any idea I was going to do it until just before I started the project. I literally had an idea in my head when I woke up one morning and took it from there.

I'd like to mention a few people here without whom this wouldn't have been possible.

Tom was the person who had begun working on the rock and whom I'd asked about the possibility of doing the project. By watching him I learned how to prepare the wall, use pebbles to put the spaces between the rocks, and actually apply the rock to the wall. He was encouraging at first and then backed-off. That´s when I began to comprehend how much work would be involved in the task I had undertaken.

Houston and Maria provided the canvas and the tools and were conveniently absent while this idea materialized so that I didn't second guess myself- too much.

Finally, Annie was there for encouragement and support and for no small amount of the work. If it were not for her it wouldn't have been completed in the given time frame- 5 days. She was responsible for the detail work- the cement between the rock panels.

I'm excited to say that everyone is happy with the result, myself included. I especially like the fact that the symbol is not too obvious. People may find that it requires a second glance before they notice an image.

It seems fitting the final product is a peace symbol. At a certain point it may have become a smiley face or an open mouthed grin with teeth. I decided to make it more sincere because it sort of reflects the intention that Houston and Maria would like to offer people who will visit their finca.

Farewell Finca

by annie

We've been living and working on this finca for a month now, and it's given us the chance to grow accustomed to the ways of living off the grid. We know to check the little green lights that indicate electricity levels before using certain appliances (luckily, it's pretty sunny here, so most of the time there is a power surplus). We've also gotten used to the compost toilet, with it's one section for the 'ol number one, and a big hole for the 'ol number two. The urine feeds the trees, and the poo turns to compost. Heating water for the shower requires three buttons to be pushed in just the right order and no other water or gas appliances can be used at the same time. We wash our clothes by hand and dry them in the sun. And our bed and bathroom are lit by candles and LED light sticks. It all works quite well, once you get used to it.

And now that we're used to it, it's time to move on. We learned a lot during our time here and will be able to use these skills again. We eagerly await the next stage of our journey. First, we return to Madrid for two days, then on to Granada for three and finally to a farm-stay in las Alpujarras.


A view of the surrounding area














The local resevoir- we weren't daring enough to go for a swim.














Joining Tom for dinner at his new house-sitting gig

A Day in the Life

by annie

We wake up each day on the finca around 10am, in a relaxed and mellow fashion. We generally pull on the same clothes we wore the day before, borrowed from our host, and head to the kitchen to make our breakfast. This is usually the only meal we cook ourselves; our host, Houston, cooks lunch and dinner and does all the dishes too!

After breakfast, we head outside and start work around 11am. Brian and I each have our own daily tasks. Brian is in charge of making four cement planter/protectors to surround veggie plants in the raised beds. They ward off pests and weeds. My task is to water baby pine seedlings, potted plants and growing veggies. Ocassionally, I also water the four dogs and various grape vines scattered about the finca. After that, our tasks vary greatly. In any given day, we might be planting veggies in the raised beds, building new raised beds with rocks and concrete, or hauling rocks. We could be sorting sticks for bio-char, de-seeding pine cones and planting the seeds, or weeding the property. Or we could be pruning grape vines and almond trees, shoveling, digging, cutting, spreading, and otherwise preparing for all kinds of projects.


After three or four hours of work, we sit down to a big lunch before heading back outside. Houston is very generous to cook for us. He usually cooks meals focused on carbohydrates, less balanced meals than we are used to. He might prepare pasta salad, french fries, pancakes or mashed potatoes for lunch. Last night he made really yummy burritos with beans, homemade guacamole and homemade salsa. He is just starting the veggie garden, so all the produce is delivered graciously from Houston's mother, once a week.

After lunch we head back to work for as long as we please. We set our own schedules, as long as we work 30 hours each week. We usually head back inside around 6 or 7 for tea, light reading and the ocassional card game. We don't eat dinner until 10:30, and often sit around the table until midnight, comparing Irish, Spanish, Finnish and American cultures.


We are joined here by Tom, a fellow helper from Ireland. Houston's wife, Maria, is back in her homeland of Finland for the entire month we are here. On days off, we can bike or walk into one of the nearest towns: Cadalso or Almorox. Both take over an hour by foot. Houston's neighborhood is beautful, full of good walks, great scenery and solitude. He lives near an abandoned Buddhist retreat center and still has two Buddhist neighbors, Sean and Manfred. Both are a delight to talk to, especially when discussing enlightenment with Manfred. Twenty years ago, a fortune-teller told him that he would reach enlightenment at the age of 50 (he turns 50 this October). He has been living in a 6 square meter metal box for the past ten years, meditating intently. In Buddhist terminology, one could say I'm "attached"to finding out if the fortune teller was right. Manfred is a hilarious, sweet and loving soul- it's hard not to notice that his meditations have been fruitful.


We've had excellent weather most of our stay, apart from a rainy day or two. We've been warned about scorpions, snakes and poisonous cenepedes, but I've only seen two snakes so far. Brian has yet to encounter the riskier species. We are learning a lot and also have plenty of down time to reflect and plan the next step in our adventure. We'll be here until May 15th before we head to a couple of one-week farmstays near Granada.


Brian's handywork on the raised bed:





























Chuki! One of their four dogs:






















Brian and Tom in Almorox:



















Happily planting spinach (you can see Brian's planters in the background):



















Almorox from afar: