Things were going so well, until that is i spotted a huge mistake at the final stage of the flooring for my new home and the start of ecoVillages. If there was one thing i learned building and living in India for 15 years it was that i trusted people who didn’t do good work and in the end i should have just done it myself! I was rather hoping to rely on a few local people to take me through the process of making this base, which is an 8 sided octagon. The problem was , as you can see in the thumbnail image... one of the corners is sticking out by a whole 10cm! This is not good at all, since the cloth wall of the yurt needs to drape down to make sure water does not come in. I scratched my head in disbelief, that corner has been hidden by plastic and even though i would have assumed my friend and guide would have got this very important thing right, it definitely wasn’t! After some measuring and checking i realised the problem originated from the very first step, cutting the 8 pieces of wood to exactly the same length. They were off by as much as 3cm, and there was no way i was going to undo all that work!

I spend most of yesterday pondering and was quite upset. I didn’t get angry with my friend, even though i am even paying him to help me.. and just tried to stay cool. Surely it would be OK to cut it and then make that corner go in a bit. Since i have no experience with octagons and wood i really wasn’t sure.. but luckily i had my very good friend and brother @naturejon to call! Jon is a dear friend and has many years of experience building yurts and eco homes. He said it should be totally fine to cut it and put some supports back in and not to worry. Phewph! That was a relief. After 2 months or more of extreme hard work it was pretty crushing to have been looking at the potential of having to undo a lot of work.

I just came back from the land, and im very pleased to say that the surgery is complete! It don't look pretty but you wont see it when it is finished, and i just put SO many supports in that i think this base is Super strong.. might even hold an elephant.. although that’s not something i hope to ever try!

Its good to learn lessons in these early stages of building in a new location. In India i learned a lot building a geodesic dome, and now im learning here with this yurt! I have already decided that I will put the yurt up myself with a friend.. rather than to have to painfully watch someone butcher my new home and hard work! That i hope to start within a week.. Very exciting!!!

What's is also very exciting is that tomorrow we DIG A WELL! If you saw my previous update you will know we doused for water over a month ago now, and we had an amazing result with the dousing stick bending strongly in two locations on our land. On one spot the stick literally split and almost exploded in front of us! So let us see if tomorrow our land gifts me with a beautiful birthday present.. WATER! (yes tomorrow also happens to be my birthday but Shhh. don’t tell anyone!)

Dousing For Water!

ECOVILLAGES:

THE UGENCY HAS NEVER BEFORE BEEN SO GREAT!

Once I have finally established myself on our land, I will be ready to start manifesting ecoVillages Phase 1, building a new earthship model for the region. We have the funds secured, the land is beautiful and ripe for this, as is the entire local area. Penamacor is a very special place folks. Its nothing like fancy Portugal, its rural, rustic, simple, and very special. I never expected to see so many people ready to work together, help each other, and live such an alternative lifestyle. There is a HUGE flow of people already coming here, and most have no clue how to start building or even buying land.

Very soon I hope we are ready, the ecoVillages crew, to take this world FAST tracked to a new and wonderful paradigm. I could never have imagined as we turned a new decade what the world had in store for us. TO me it already feels like there is nothing left in cities. Whatever people used to gravitate to them for, times have changed. It will take time for us all to catch up and find a way to move on and into a new world that is waiting for us. There is not other sensible path left other than to get self sufficient, and secure and as SOON as possible.

You wont hear it on the news unit it is too late. When the BIG crash happens it is going to be the one that catches everyone out. Wherever you are when it happens, expect to stay there! This is my feeling, my intuition, and right now I am doing everything i can to make this alternative work, and to help as many people as possible to do the same!

Disrupting the "Cost of Living" Industry
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AND FINALLY:

You can of COURSE send any amount of BTC to
3G9HzExMa5KAwNdL9B7ve5UuFCuWkqyKqu

It's heart-warming to see a few people did send me some BTC in a previous post, which is a great honour as I know how valuable it is!
Whoever you are, THANK YOU!!

THANK YOU FOR MAKING IT THIS FAR AND FOR YOUR SUPPORT! IT MEANS EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW