The wild mountain woman and her caravan journey part two...

 The wild mountain woman and her caravan journey part two...

Perks of the job: Great tan, strong legs and arms and hopefully some abs...(ok that last part is just wishful thinking)

The downside: Sunstroke, exhaustion, cuts, getting stung by wasps and having a stand off with a rather large snake...

So I do believe in the first part I explained that not only is there a caravan to reform but an entire area to clear, remove weeds and scrub, remove building materials, make a track to get the caravan down etc etc

Did I also mention I need to build a bathroom area, get water and create a seperate living area for my 5 rescue cats? Hence why it´s a ´project´not just a part time hobby to reform a caravan but create an entire living area before winter sets in...

Si and I set about creating a track, old school style. No machines around here! All done by hand. I can tell you one thing, it´s a brilliant destresser...beating the earth, lugging rocks...

Hours later, we were proud of our hard labor and what we had achieved. Well at least until I got those shakey legs, blurry vision, headaches and felt like death warmed up...I had forgotton to wear my hat! Extremely foolish of me. Another lesson, about mad dogs and english men in the midday sun...

Now before the caravan could actually be moved, there were some vital areas that needed to be cleared, including many very heavy wood roof beams, hundreds of kilos of both rocks and those beams...bloody beams...

The area that I had chosen to place my caravan had also been left for many years but has great potential and beautiful views. The moment I saw it I knew it was where I wanted to place the caravan. It has a half built house which gives shelter from the wind and much scope for livable/usable areas. I spent many hours clearing all the area behind the house, the day after my wild rain dance and run in with wasps up my shorts. I was still in some discomfort and very wary with everything I touched until I finally sat down to rest upon the beams and heard a very strange sound then loud rustling. A rat? A mouse? I´m not hugely keen on rodents but I´m certainly not petrified of them, having cohabited with a few in my time...

But as the rustling got closer I looked down by my leg and saw this...

Getting closer and closer to my leg...big spiders and snakes not my thing!I froze and yet again realized how ridiculously ignorant I am of what could be dangerous and if so what to do in the event of...

And I also happened to run out of phone battery not long after...

I was later assured it was not dangerous having described its pattern but still another mountain lesson!

In any case my reptilian friend was as unhappy about my presence as I was his fortunately slithering off as fast as possible further into the beams...the beams we had to remove days later!

Music always accompanies me with my work, lifting my spirits and allowing me to zone out while working hard but let´s face it ladies (well, not just the ladies!) a helping hand from an attractive male always helps...you know what they say, all work and no play...

Between 8 and 10 hours of work it took to move/drag all the beams that were up in front of the caravan before it could be moved and those in the area where it was to be transported to and the rocks and everything else...July in Spain...I never knew I could sweat so much...

It´s funny how in the end you just don´t give a shit what you look like and most definitely I´ve now been caught out in some strange get ups...the latest being my knee high Doc Martin style boots over pink pyjamas, green bikini and big sunglasses...this was leg protection for long weeds in snake area! God knows what the farmers think...

The above is before picture of some of the overgrown land before my eldest daughter and I began to tackle it and a glimpse of the other old caravan that will become a cat palace!

Finally the day arrived when the caravan could be moved down to where it shall remain...my nerves were shot to hell after so much preparation just imagining something going wrong on the bumpy tracks and the caravan plunging down the edge or literally falling apart along the way...

The tension was high...

I was literally pacing and biting my nails whilst I waited down on land...

The relief was overwhelming as I saw them approach, the 4x4 towing it down the track Si and I had created and backing into the space we had so lovingly prepared!This is post roof beam removal...

The above is the sanctuary for my father who passed last year...

Whenever I feel overwhelmed and exhausted, I think back to my father in the 80s when we first came to Spain and his dream, to live on the land they acquired and built their home brick by brick over ten years at weekends whilst working hard during the week to support his family. He never gave up on his dream and achieved it. I speak to him in spirit everyday and ask for wisdom and guidance. I know he is proud wherever he is…

So in the next part we shall see how the area around the cat palace is progressing and everything else which still needs doing...which is a lot! Not to mention my studying a book on permaculture...

(The woman who has never been able to keep even a house plant alive!)

But meanwhile I intend on enjoying the journey not just focusing on the final destination...