Oh Gosh you guys, I wish I had some good weather to send... kind of cloudy and cold today, have had the fire going all day! Soon as we get some, it's yours!

All about me?! Goodness... long story short... grew up in Devon, UK... left on a boat in '98... travelled and worked on boats as anything from deckhand, slave, chef, captain... decided I'd had enough and bought my property June last year... I'm 28 years old.

I plan (dream?!) is to grow veg, keep chickens, bees, horses, dogs, cats, sheep or goats (undecided).

Still in the process of setting it up and building fences etc... chicken run almost done... horse paddock almost done... vege patch cleared ready for whatever it needs next... herbs planted... bees arrive next month (a very nice local man is building me 3 hives)... lots of almost!! Have rescued 2 horses, 2 dogs and 1 cat... another cat came with the house and I already had a little dog.

Am totally off-grid - systems not all that different from a yacht!

I certainly feel like there's a lot more to worry about - like I just entered 'real life' complete with responsibilities!

It's funny really, I didn't really mean to buy a house, I was offered this place at a great price and 30 minutes later I'm making a bank transfer! It just felt like the right thing to do!

Thank you for the warm welcome... I'll be sticking around here sharing the highs and lows of it all (and probably begging for advice from time to time - eventually giving advice too!!)

Heather E said:

Hi Emma, and welcome.  I have fond memories of Portugal (just holidays) - especially the markets and the cakes!  I hope you settle in well and have enormous fun on your new venture.  Lots of hard work, but it will be worth it if you can make your dream happen.  I'm hoping to learn a bit about bees this year, so I'll be interested to hear how you get on.

Hi Heather... Oh my yes the cakes.. they take a lot of resisiting!

Thank you, it will be an huge learning curve and I'm looking forward to the challenge... I was just talking to the shepheard who is walking 200 sheep around the countryside and passes by my place and he's giving me a lot of great tips.

Bees are of great interest to me and I can't wait to share my experiences with them. The 'bee man' from the market says next month is the best time to buy.

See you around!