Donna:
Psalms 104:24 – O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.
It has been a lovely spring dance between showers and sunshine, orchestrated by the Creator of all things, and it is working together for good on behalf of the people, the land and the produce of this area! At the end of March the trees were beginning to blossom and now by the end of April they are bursting with leaves, branches and promising firstfruits!! It has been good for us as we haven’t had to do any watering and we continue to replenish our water supply in the well and in the pond.
Since we are planning a covered area for the caravan, we worked onn the concrete footings which will hold up the support posts. The complete structure should be put in place next month. In order to protect our greenhouse from flying away due to the severe wind storms we have experienced the past few months, wooden boards were made into a frame for three sides of the greenhouse. It has been beneficial as we can tie wire over the top and secure them to the wooden beams. We also made a small fence at the end of the grass area. A sand and brick pathway was added to the left side of the house for easy navigation.
Inside our cabin a beautiful change took place . We built a custom made under sink cupboard. It is made of beautiful wood and adds a gorgeous touch to the kitchen area. Mama is one happy mama and chef :)!
Easter was a blessed day as Easter always is! We worshipped and sang along with the local community in the church in Fundão. In the afternoon we shared an Eastern Orthodox tradition with a neighbor from Belarus. Red Easter eggs are a significant symbol representing the blood of Christ and the resurrection.Traditionally, the eggs are dyed red on Holy Thursday to signify the redeeming blood of Christ that was shed on the cross. The white egg, before being dyed, represents the white tomb where Christ’s body was laid after he was taken down from the cross, and the hard outer shell represents the sealed tomb of Christ. On Easter Sunday, there is a ritual of “cracking the eggs” , symbolizing the breaking of the tomb and the bonds of death, following Christ’s resurrection. Believers challenge one another by holding their egg firmly and cracking them against each other person’s egg until there is one winning egg which didn’t crack. The holder of that egg is deemed to have a wonderful year ahead of them! This custom is a means of greeting and presentation for Christian believers, foretelling the eternal life experience that awaits true believers after death. Christ is Risen! Hallelujah!!!
April 9th was the day to celebrate sweet Aurora’s beginning of a new year of life! She is growing ever so tall, ever so clever, ever so loving! Looking forward to seeing her again, hopefully this summer! Our dear Benjamin celebrated his birthday on April 25th! If you haven’t heard his new recording of “Flower of the Field” make sure you listen to it, out now on social media! It is an oldie goldie full of new nuances and great music! Congrats Ben!! We love listening to your songs over here on the other side of the planet!:)
We had a visit to the farm from Cristy, Nuno and Afonso over the weekend. Great weather was the key as little Afonso loved crawling around everywhere, engrossed in play with stones, sticks, leaves, sand and water. His is always bursting with energy to discover new things and enjoy the simplicity of nature. We do believe Cristy and Nuno had a fun and relaxing weekend as well;) On the third day of their visit there was a total power blackout in Portugal and Spain which lasted for about 12 hours. We were fine as we have solar power to run the water and lights, a generator for dark days or extra power and gas for cooking. We only felt the crunch when our phone and internet connections failed at around 4 pm. It is interesting how much a part of our psyche is geared to being able to connect to anyone at any time and how estranged we felt, anxious to have it returned to service. Lord help us! We continue to keep our off grid infrastructures working and hopefully improve them. The EU is warning us we have to be ready for emergencies. Don’t we all…
Praying for you all. Keep alert for the signs that tell us to be prepared forr ventual sudden changes. Mark 13:35-37
Love
Here are the images of the month:
