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We stripped the container of it's rotty, warped sheet lining, to give it a good clean and check for holes. No holes found, just some very confused geccos. We cut two nerve-rackingly large holes for windows, and patchwork-fitted recycled insulation panels on the walls and floor. Trying to find something eco, cheap and bug-proof to line the place with we settled on eco-OSB and treated it with homemade wood treatment, linseed oil heated up with bees wax. Yummy. A temporary kitchen was thrown together in one of the leaky animal sheds, the mice were very happy.
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The Summer of the worst fires in Portugal's history. Further inland was hit much worse than our area, but at 11:30pm one evening, looking West we saw the whole Atlantic ridge ablaze. All that forest, all those creatures. Too sad for words.
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Aldous (Huxley) and Fridha (Kahlo).
We went to the local rescue centre to see a room full of kittens; friendly little fur-babies that climbed all over us. Two big-eared, wild-eyed kitten faces glared out from the back of a cage in the corner of the room, "Ferals, they need more time with humans but I got bitten last week and I'm too scared to put my hand in there...", said the lady.
Somehow we couldn't resist. Two weeks later they'd become tummy-stroke-loving purr-machines.
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We got started on construction of the compost-shitter, and container no.2 AKA the tool shed arrived. A few tons heavier, it's journey from the road and across the land was a few tons more precarious.
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The toilet was completed and named:
Otter Sanctuary AKA Battle-Shit Galactica AKA Trout Farm.
And work on the kitchen begun. Must have kitchen by Christmas...
Otter Sanctuary AKA Battle-Shit Galactica AKA Trout Farm.
And work on the kitchen begun. Must have kitchen by Christmas...
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Through Summer and Autumn we'd gained a lot: two hilarious felines, a bedroom, a tool shed, kitchen mark I, kitchen mark II, shower mark I, shower mark II, another's unwanted washing machine, dozens of windows and a fridge-freezer that fell from the sky and landed next to our car.
As the wheel of the year turned, Winter came to balance with loss: we said goodbye to our good friend Bob who died after a short battle with cancer, to Washing Basket the injured barn-owl, and to Fridha the cat, who'd chomped her way through half of a death-cap mushroom.
Fri Fri, you'll always be following us on the dog walks around the orchards with your brother, and screaming like a banshee at feeding time.
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