The death of DIY … and rise of the craft project
Completing big building projects anywhere in the world increases the stress levels and can really wear you down – especially if you don’t know what you’re doing.
Our previous lives as a journalist and diplomat couple didn’t necessarily provide all the skills necessary to build an off-grid eco-luxe lodge.
But after a bit of self-reflection and a little “enough already” advice from regular readers, I would like to announce the official end to my searing negativity.
Positivity now rules – helped by a piece of important news in Vale das Estrelas this month, which has lifted a heavy weight from our shoulders.
Like the morning mists that sometimes shroud our valley, the doom and gloom has been steadily lifting – burned off by the summer sun to reveal the blue skies above.
And, of course, they were always there – I just couldn’t see them.
But now it’s time to stop looking down at overwhelming to-do lists and obsessing with the details, and to look up and see the big picture – the beautiful view we fell in love with when we first found this valley.
And it’s also time to stop looking backwards but looking forwards to the next step in our career transition through builders to proprietors.
The pressure has been mostly – but not entirely – self-inflicted.
Years in journalism have left me obsessed with deadlines and the desire to throw myself into something, get it mastered, get the story told, and move onto the next thing.
But, of course, not everything works like that.
Since the building work began a little over two years ago, we’ve had a singular aim in mind: to get the lodge finished and open to paying guests this summer.
A year ago, we were confident that we’d be ready by May and, even after the winter rain, we still thought June was do-able, while the builders, engineers and every artisan in earshot said: “what, you’re planning to open this year?”
“August for sure,” we told ourselves, each other and anyone else who’d listen.
But it wasn’t just a hope – it was a need.
We’ve taken a big loan to do this project, and although most of it is zero interest, courtesy of the tourism authority – to promote growth in remote and traditionally poorer parts of the country – it still needs to be paid back … in just 10 years.
The capital repayments were due to start in October – just in time for the winter tourism lull – but thanks to our bank manager’s confidence in our project and lobbying on our behalf, Turismo de Portugal have agreed to postpone payments.
This certainly doesn’t mean we can rest on our laurels (or the succulents we are busily planting), but it gives us a bit of breathing space.
In a few short weeks, even the dreaded DIY I was moaning about last month has been transformed into “craft projects”, and thinking about it that way has completely changed my approach.
I’m not sure why it all became so overwhelming, but I’ve done a full 180 and have started really enjoying tinkering with some wood, creating a couple of coffee tables and pondering how to turn railway sleeper screws into coat hooks.
My decision to embrace “craft projects” began with two planks of our fallen cork oak tree, some epoxy resin, an electric sander and a pot of varnish.
Rather than rushing to finish and move on to the next job, I did a little every day – filling in the cracked wood, carefully rounding it off and sanding it smooth and we now have two beautiful benches for our mezzanines.
The next job is only harrowing because it involves two old Portuguese wrought-iron ploughing harrows which need feet and a glass top to become coffee tables.
I can’t wait to get stuck into the wine label project, and my new relationship with wood makes the clubhouse bookshelves sound like an adventure.
But the clearing mists have also made me realise we’re coming to summer a little late this year.
The whole point of our crazy adventure was to design our lives so we could live here – in the beautiful Portuguese countryside with our amazing views and the wild beaches and golden sands just a short drive away.
We love the fresh fish – I’ve spent a long time perfecting my grilled fish, butterflied and braaied – but I haven’t done that in ages, and we’ve been too busy to visit our favourite seafood restaurant O Sacas.
Part of that is due to what our Algarve friends call the “Agostinhos” – the mass of tourists who rock up with their outsider demands every August (but which also perhaps could be the name of a bold new martini cocktail).
The beaches are already starting to thin out, the ocean water is warming and our summer sidles onwards while everyone else goes back to the office.
I’m not sure our little business is going to change the world, but it’s certainly changing our world.
And with the challenges – the things we’re learning to do and learning about ourselves – it’s certainly change for the better.
ALASTAIR LEITHEAD is a former BBC foreign correspondent now living off the grid in rural Alentejo. We writes the blog “Off-grid and Ignorant in Portugal” here and produces the podcast Ana & Al’s Big Portuguese Wine Adventure on all the usual platforms.
