Blake and Deborah in Europe: Loule, Portugal

Our second HelpX in the Algarve, Portugal has been just great. Mark and Sally are about our age and very like-minded. I think we have new friends. Mark is a chiropractor who grew up in Florida but lived in Jamaica for many years before moving to Portugal a few years ago. His last name is also Flynn, so he has the same name as my older brother. Sally is a brit who has worked at yoga centers in Canada and America before relocating to Portugal several years ago. Sally is also an artist and art restorer and she and Mark run an eclectic art gallery in Loulé.

They have an old Portuguese farm house which they have fixed up nicely. It is on a good-sized tract of land in a small hamlet on the outskirts of Loulé. They have numerous orange, lemon, almond, olive, and fig trees on the property, in addition to some outbuildings. We are staying in a private apartment on the second floor of the house with a private bathroom, roof terrace, and private entrance. The house does have some quirks though, like pitiful water pressure and doorways that only come up to my neck. But apart from the unfulfilling showers and frequent ducking, this is a very comfortable living arrangement.

My work here consisted of building some shelves for a small room the first day, and was to include other construction-related tasks until Mark and Sally learned of my architecture background. They have a recently acquired plot of land adjacent to their existing property which they recently purchased and plan to one day build a small wood house on – one which they could rent out in the summer or live in themselves while they rent out their own house. So I was enlisted to help site the building on the property and draw up some conceptual plans. This is right up my alley. And much more fun than pulling weeds. As it turns out, the house we stayed in last year in Fiji proved to be a very good model of what they were looking for so I was able to use that as a basis for the design.

Deborah had the task of sewing new covers for a set of cushions on a second hand sofa. The existing cushions were covered in some fuzzy pseudo-cow-hide/dalmatian pattern. It is perhaps not surprising that wanted to replace these. Deborah managed to complete the covers for five cushions, two arm covers, and a lower skirt for the sofa. She also redid some chair cushions and rearranged the furniture, pictures and accessories in several rooms. And cut hair. And baked cookies.

Mark and Sally were very good about taking us into town and the surrounding area, and introducing us to many of their friends. We really had a good time here, even though the weather has been deteriorating – not cold, but a bit wet. It's a shame we had such a short stay here, but we have a feeling we'll see them again.