Here we are!
Men plan, God Laughs!
If I recall, the last thing I wrote on this blog was, “From now on I’ll be blogging regularly”. Do I hear the gods laugh?
I’m afraid I grossly underestimated the time and energy required to build a home from scratch. And I mean scratch: no water, no electricity, no habitable dwelling for man or beast.
It’s been a time of intensity. Body, mind, emotions stretched waaaay out of their comfort zone. Luckily, that’s what I call fun!
From vision to reality
It’s been a year of creativity and growth. We went from the barest necessities – water, shelter, basic amenities – to beautiful, functional buildings, which form the first permanent camp (human headquarters).
Our herd has grown from 4 horses to 10, and watching the herd building has been a fascinating process. Slowly we have expanded the horse territory. Now they have the whole 30 hectares to roam. I spend a lot of time watching where they go, what they eat, how they use the land, as I study how best to care for them and the land.
Peaks and troughs
I love this land, and the adventure we are on. The insecurity and the not-knowing make me alive. My senses are finely tuned, my mind open. But, at times, I have felt overwhelmed with what we have set under way here. Waking in the middle of the night, fears and anxieties spin around the mind.
There is so much to learn. So many things that need to be done. Every time we come to a peak, where we could maybe rest for a moment, along comes another wave. All I can do in these moments is breathe, open my arms wide and surrender myself again. Feel my feet firmly on the ground, right here, right now, and take one more step over the edge.
New Home, Same Obsessions…
So here we are, on this rain-blessed day in February. A new home, a new herd, a new-look blog, and a new name. But the same obsessions. The same never-ending interest in the whys and hows of horses, horse care and the nature of horses, humans, life. The continuing exploration of how we can give horses what they need within the constraints of domestication.
I have learnt so much in the last 10 months. Or perhaps better to say unlearned! I don’t know where to start sharing. So I decided a short pictorial review would be fun before we get down to “serious” business. Because this time I mean it, I will be blogging regularly now, sharing all the herd teaches me. Because this is my way to kneel and kiss the ground.
“…… let the beauty of what you love be what you do. There are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the ground, there are a thousand ways to go home again.” – Rumi
The Illustrated History of Over The Edge Farm.
April 20th, we signed a piece of paper and guardianship of this land passed to us, from this family, who have loved it well.
So now what?
The Book of Ideas and Sketches!
First, water. Digging the pipe was our first mark upon the land. The first cut is the deepest for sure!
Then a fence
20th May, the horses can move in
Then find a shady spot
And we have a house for humans
A toilet…
..and a shower. We are all set
Just as we get settled….
Horse number 5 arrives from France
With Zena, who must have a kitchen.
And plant things
By June, it’s heating up and drying up as the first building gets going
What’s it going to be?
Tack room and feed shed of course!
Complete with herb bar for horses
Meanwhile things grow
And we eat some
It was a bit traumatic flattening earth for an arena, moving earth always feels aggressive! But everyone’s enjoying it now it’s done.
And then Aug 2nd, when it’s impossibly dry and dusty, here come 5 more horses
Shanti’s crew
Not a very warm welcome from the home gang…
Then just as that was settling down….
We brought in a bulldozer to create more dust and….
…a great big hole in the ground! It will one day be a lake.
Then just to add to the fun, we invited Nick Hill, barefoot expert, to check our feet.
We decided we shouldn’t keep him to ourselves, so we made it a workshop and a great bunch of people came to learn about barefoot stuff from Nick and essential oils from myself
While he was here, Nick encouraged us to think about who we are and how to present ourselves. We came up with the name Over the Edge Farm, because we’re always taking one more step in our quest for the answer to the important questions, like, “What do horses really need?” So, we live over the edge of the known world most of the time!
He also convinced me to let the horses go over the edge and play in the big hole, which was starting to fill with water. “Thanks Nick” say the herd.
And then September arrived and we decided it was time to get serious, before the rains started….
The bathroom goes up
And a kitchen/living space (Bodhi is very helpful)
Lots of friends helped and we busted a***
The cantina nearly has a roof
Caravan gets a mud room
And wow!
Just beat the rain
So exciting to see all that water after the months of dryness
But it didn’t take long for the sun to return and shine down on the almost lake.
Grasses start to grow
the green returns
And look! We got ourselves a village
with a fabulous cantina
The horses are happy as we fence in the whole 30 hectares
This is the view today. Horses living as they were meant to, roaming together as a herd. They enjoy the benefits of human management without the hassle. So that’s where we’re at.
I loved reading about every step of your journey. And it is all looking beautiful and loved. What part of the country are you in?
HI Sarah, glad you enjoyed 🙂 We are in southern Alentejo, about an hour to the south coast, and 40 mins to the west coast.