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Doing the Transfag

When I first heard about the Transfagarasan road it was described with a sense of awe, as “the higest road in Europe”

One Week in Scotland

Sometime in June we realised that we might find, could spare, did have and would like one week to spend in Scotland. Drive north through Spain, take a ferry to England, drive north again. One frantic week filling the van with our wish-list of things we ‘need’ in Portugal. A big party, catch up with [...]

Digging a hole

Making films is probably the most boring profession in the world — as well as the most glamorous.  They say making films is like going to war: lots of hanging around while not knowing what the hell is going on; and then a sudden, brief, unsatisfactory burst of action.

March to May

This could go on forever, but we all need to keep busy and sane, hence the rule: one paragraph per topic. 1.TIME UNDER THE BRIDGE. It was March and now it’s May. Last day of May and then it’s June. How can this be happening? Each day used to be bright and interesting, each day [...]

A hospital diary

It’s Wednesday. My third day in hospital. On Monday I had a breast operation. The doctor took out a lump that – he said – was as big as a ping-pong ball. By all accounts it’s a benign tumor, but the final results will come in two weeks. It’s horrible being in hospital. It’s not [...]

Stephanie in Africa

It’s 6.45, Monday night, my birthday. I’ve told no-one. The rain on the corrugated iron roof sounds like a large, angry waterfall crashing to earth. It’s only completely dark because the clouds are blackl It almost feels as if the world is coming to an end in this most Christian of countries. After a lunch [...]

Coming up for air

It’s been almost a month since Paulo (straw and earth building maestro / permaculture teacher) and Ruth (desert environmental school and permaculture student) arrived to help get our field camp up and running. This is supposed to be an area to accommodate a few people. A proper outdoor kitchen, somewhere to keep things clean. A [...]

Seminars suck

I am sitting in a Ministry of Culture seminar about film making and it has all the hallmarks of a rotten event: a huge queue at the registry desk (but nobody saying hello), nowhere for coats, coffee servers arguing among themselves, an electrical fault that the secretary of state loudly complains about, doors that squeak [...]

Cycling to St Tropez

By Andrew Wolfe Murray I want to let you know about something that Jamie Hockin and I will do in September. Please visit this website for full details, but the premise is to do 1000 miles in 10 days: London to St Tropez. Why?

Impressions of Edinburgh

Click here to see Rupert’s photos of Edinburgh When I went to Edinburgh recently I expected to see high street shops selling off their stocks at huge discounts and “everything must go” signs.  But I was surprised to find that it looked like “business as usual” and I didn’t see any boarded up windows,  stray [...]

Alentejo Acrostic

We were in Alentejo last week for a short holiday; two days’ drive, three days there; distilled below, a taste of sunny South. A – Alentejo stone. Alentejo, the sun-baked humpback, crumbles into a multitude of coloured pebbles. A first step into desert? Crumbs for poets and painters? Warm slate shines from fists of dry [...]

Our house and land project in Troporiz

This starts a series of posts I will do about our house and land project in Troporiz, Alto Minho, way up North Portugal. I will separate them out by sector, so they are not too long, but the title should show what they cover. I will endeavour to put a time frame beside each theme, [...]