Getting our 1.5 Acre Homestead Ready for Summer 🌻
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Beijinos e abraços,
Carissa, Iwan, Frankie & Albi
Our Story:
We are Carissa, Iwan & Frankie the sausage dog, and in 2020 decided one night over a bottle of wine that moving from North Wales to Portugal would be a good idea. Within a month we were on the road to Portugal to find the perfect piece of land to call home. We picked up Albi, Joao and Simao the cats along the way, as well as Diogo the podengo and a flock of chickens.
Subscribe to follow our project as we turn an old stone barn into our home, and learn the ropes of looking after a piece of land to make an abundant garden and one day, our very own winery.
Your videos are so full of ‘flora and fauna’. It must be glorious to be surrounded by birdsong all day. Lovely peaceful place you have. Thanks for the video.
Hi there
Hearing the birds singing is so peaceful xx
Agree with all the comments about how peaceful and visually appealing your vlogs are, I am relatively new but really enjoy your simple slow but hard working lives.
Iwan and Carissa, your videos are delightful. Balanced between music (love the fact that you always muffle noisy machinery), timelapses (the moon one was beautiful), your interventions, the cats (😻), Diogo and Frankie,... I can watch your videos more than once and find new details and the same sense of peace. Congratulations!
Me too, I often watch more than once
Lovely video as always. What fantastic young dog diogo is, he knew a good thing when he found it. Enjoy it all.
Loved the shots of the moon showing through the branches on the trees
Always a delight watching your vlog, surrounded by beauty, community spirit, and loving animals.💚
Strimming the grass is never ending. Soon you will not have to do it. Watching you two taking care of your land is very rewarding. The dogs/cats are so joyful and mischievous.😂 Take care and thanks for sharing.❤
It’s one of the reason I love watching their videos. I love the organized chaos of the garden and all the wild flowers growing all over.
I just love your videos as I’m sure do all your viewers. So peaceful and calming. Everything is coming along beautifully in your garden. And the birdsong is wonderful. Keep up the good work… we all need this little spot of heaven in our lives each week.
Hello leonie
A poetic life! Thank you for inspiring us
Oh my gosh, all the beautiful flowers, insect songs, birds songs are so peaceful. The full moon floating by, just such a lovely video. Thank you for sharing~🍄🟫🌻🌞
Love, love, love your beautiful weekly videos, thank you for sharing your garden, furry friends and your life on the homestead, my Saturday morning is fulfilled now.
Again, superb photography in this video. I loved the moon sequence but the flowers are so beautiful and sharp. The music is so well chosen and soothing. You videos are the best of all that I watch for quality and effect. Great work. Thank you.
You both work so hard to make your place beautiful, and it shows. It will keep you both in good shape. ❤
I absolutely love the peace and tranquility of your videos, keep it up guys ❤
Hello cat
Beautiful wild flowers, stunning moon time lapse, nice to see helping other community members 👍💗👍 Frankie, Diogo really love being in the sun. I love watching Albi, Joaoh, and tabby (?)😻🐈 There is always hard work to do in your property. I wish I had your stamina ❤ Children's book is looking gorgeous! 👍🥰👍
i just love Diogos relationship with Carissa
Yay!!! Looking forward to catching up with it soon!! We love your gorgeous part of the world with its wonderful garden and animals. ❤❤❤❤ You are both such wonderful humans 🥰
Wow, that is such a beautiful shot of Luna 💙✨💖 thank you for sharing your beautiful and peaceful home with us. 🥰🦋🤗
Your california poppies are so beautiful. The evenings must be heavy with sweet aromas. 😊 Grass grows, we cut make hay for winter and cut again. Always jobs to do.❤
I was worried about Frankie but then finally She appeared. Such a lot of work but the rewards you get are just amazing. I live with my neighbors right on top of me so the privacy you have is the best❤❤❤❤❤❤. Big Texas hello my beautiful family❤❤❤
I was wondering where she was as well.
She was the very first shot 😅 we’ll try and get more of her for the next video
Phew I too was happy to see Frankie in the video. Love watching you guys. You bring joy to my day!
Hi, Carissa and Iwan. I love watching your videos… the fields are lovely with all the wild flowers. Diogo has become a great addition to FOG… I especially like to see him cuddling with Carissa❤️ See you next week❤️❤️
You inspire me every day. Absolutely love your videos. Hard work but so worth connecting with the earth and animals. Love it.
Love all the wildflowers and greenery round you. Heaven. The dogs following behind you last video and today trotting along behind you and wagon.....too cute laugh out loud . Adorable they love mommy. They and the kittens are all involved in your endeavors
All my babies right at the start!!!!
I love your new 'space'!!! gorgeous!
Carrissa you cracked me up.. “It’s ok Mr. Hodgeheg....”🤣🤣🤣 poor Diogo.. he’ll never learn.. 🤣🤣.. another great video👏💜💜💜💜💜💜
Hello bette
Iwan, keeping in top of the strimming will reduce your seed load making it easier in the long term. So i'm for strim now and then again before seed set to provide peace of mind later. I've been practicing that on my land (in parts) and it seems to be working, so i'll be extending the practice further over the next couple of years.
I love how close you live iwth nature and your lovely relationship with all your animal companions. 💚 The birdsong is amazing too! 💚 re your garden - it is really coming along beautifully! I am just getting into food gardening myself. Sharing a tiny allotment of 6'x7' in Vancouver, BC Canada. because it is so small, we are looking at square foot gardening. you definitely have enough space that. you don't need this, but apparently it reduces watering/weeding requirements. ;-)
Hello nicole
What a lovely, peaceful and calming introduction …..the birds singing and your lovely happy animals….please more footage of them, can’t get enough of them …THANK YOU
As always a beautiful journey through your part of the world. Think the shade sail is supposed to be very tight so that it can’t flap about. Love the way all the pets like to get involved with everything you do! They really are part of the family ❤
Diogo thinking he’s a lap dog. 😆😍
Hello Shannon
The silvery leaves of the olive trees against the blue sky are so lovely! Poor Iwan , you have some over- achieving grass growing on your property. I so love hearing all the birdsong and sounds of nature surrounding you, as you go about your daily lives. Your photography and music make your vlog magical. Thank you for sharing your lives with your KZhead family. ❤️🇨🇦
Haha it certainly is over achieving! It’s actually oat straw, great animal feed!
26:39 you could sell that soundtrack of Portugal spring!❤
I watched your new video today, it was great. I love how attentive and kind are to your dogs and cats. Glad you had to see Mom and celebrate his birthday. Your property looks so inviting. Keep up your great work. .
Hello denise
Just a thought, if you had a mobile coop, the chickens could move to a new area every few weeks and help to keep the grass down.
Hello Yvonne
Cracking video, loving the filmography ❤
Thank you!!
Lovely videos n lifestyle!! All those grass clippings n wood chips could make great garden mulch to aid in water preservation!!
Relax with the FoggyFarm saturday. So fun , and Dodo plenty busy as always Lol. Hes def settled in to his new life. Lots to do in Spring, lots a blooming and fruits a poppin. Had a tall cuppa Java w/whipped local Idaho Honey while relaxxing after a nite of rain. Was perfect after planting 30 shade trees over the past 2 weeks. We are at 35F at nite and maybe 55-60 at most in daytime. Still quite breezy so its very chilly. Have a Blessed Portugal wekend ya all. 🙏🙏🙏 👍👍🤙🤙💙💙
lovely video as usual❤so cosy, and nice where you live❤
Thanks to all who responded! I fount the sausage dog! Just love this video! All of you have a wonderful weekend! Cheers.
I was so pleased to see Iwan strimming back all that grass, with the high chance of fires in Portugal I was very worried about the length of the grass. Your property is becoming more and more beautiful with each viewing of your videos, your vegetable gardens are amazing, I also love the deck you both made and the lights Iwan was stringing at the end of this video will add a lovely touch to a beautiful outdoor space xxx
It grows that tall in a couple of weeks, crazy stuff, it’s been raining for the past few months and we’re a good few months from fire season yet so no worries, we don’t live in a fire risk area either.
@@FrankieOffGrid thank you, I'm so very pleased to hear you're not at risk of fires where you are. My property here in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia borders natural dense forest of eucalypts and wattles (acacia) and every summer we are at high risk of fires here so must keep the grass and paddocks short. Last time about 3 years ago we were evacuated 3 times due to the fires so I'm very pleased you are not in an area like ours. Much love to you both and all your fur babies xxx
We just missed you in Nazare last week I guess and the week before we where in castelo branco at capelos restaurant. We enjoy your video very much. We are originally from Niagara falls Canada.
Oooh, i just thought, adding the strimmed grass to the chook pen would help build some composted material quickly for the garden AND they'd eat the seeds, AND the seeds that sprouted would give them fresh greens 💚 💚 💚 #winning Gorgeous lights on the new deck. Great start towards summer.
What a wonderful little peek in your homestead life again, nicely filled with som great B-roll shots. The 2 doggo's trotting behind that trolly you where pulling made laugh so hard. The strimming really keeps you busy during Spring and the start of the season, doesn't it. Forgot to mention I believe that those Sakura markers are the absolute best, I use them as well and they are great. Have a lovely week all of you!!! Cheers Bert 🙏🏻❤
My family are still sleeping and I’m enjoying watching your beautiful video in peace with a cuppa ❤
Get a ride on
Another great vlog of soothing calmness on a cold wet Saturday in Norfolk could not ask for better THANK YOU ALL 🐾🐾🐈🐈⬛🐓🫂
Awesome the garden is lovely , the weather is beautiful. Worth all the hard work.
HAS IWAN SEEN THE STAND ON GRASS CUTTER AS USED BY AL BLADEZ ON U TUBE . HE MIGHT BE ABLE TO GET ONE FOR CUTTER THE LARGER AREAS. A SOLAR PANEL AND CONTROLLER COULD CHARGE A 12V BATTERY. ENJOY WATCHING YOU MAKE IT WORK . BEST WISHES.
Lovely! 💜
Hello suzie
I'll be interested in seeing the results of your potatoes once you've harvested them!! Cheers!!
Thanks for the always beautiful pictures of the flowers, your animals and the birds!.! it shows so much your love for the natureThanks ❤ 💚
The photography is stunningly beautiful ….it was also very nice to see the black cat …very heartwarming to watch your happy animals always by your side …curious to see what Mum and Dad are up to …thank you for such a lovely video ❤❤
You've made so much progress. I'm glad you're now able to relax from time to time & enjoy the fruits of your labor🎉 Congrats!
Very nice....
I hope you guys are ok, really missing this weeks video 😢 xx ❤❤❤❤
Same here! Hoping all is well. ❤
Everything is so lovely. I love all the outdoor expansion projects. I love all the animals and especially the white kitty. In my mind I call her (or him) teardrop. You have a wonderful place and it's always so calming and peaceful to watch your vlogs.
I chuckled watching you walking along pulling your black cart behind you and then the dogs following behind in single file. Made me think of a kids choo-choo train. Have a great week! ❤️🙏🏼👋🏻🇨🇦😎🫶🏼
I thought the same thing with the dogs following the wagon train.
You should make a recording for sale of the nature sounds and birds with some background music. Very peaceful.
The sock bandit in her natural environment.
😂
Your video is so beautiful and calming, you truly have a wonderful life, congrats 😊
Lovely stuff as always❤️
Strimming was the bain of my life in France. Everything grew so quickly in the spring, then once the sun got hot, everything stopped growing and went like straw. If yourr strimmer is up to it, just do it the once. Why make work ofr yourself.
Beautiful.
I know it might be a big expense BUT.. how about a sit on lawn mower? I feel for Iwan and all that strimming 😅 ❤❤ (sorry for spelling of the name.. I've forgot the correct way!) ❤❤
One day for sure! They’re rather expensive for one that could stand up to the land.
@@FrankieOffGrid yeah, it's gonna have to be a tough beast! Lol. One day 🙌
Glorious moon shots. Your floral gardening is spectacular!
Belated birthday wishes, sounds like you guys had a beautiful time at the coast.❤
Thank you!!
A delight to watch 😊
It might be useful to get a goat or donkey to clean up the grass :) and expand the family. btw we love you!
Great episode! Y'all work so hard. 😊😊
Love, love love the Strawberry Full Moon sequence and the light your capturing in your videos. Thanks for sharing beautiful moments on a little piece of Portugal.
Beautiful images! So enjoyable. These keep getting better and better.
I always feel sorry when this time comes round, having to cut all the gorgeous wild grass but we leave little clumps of flowers here and there and once cut it does all look lovely and tidy as well xx
Wonderfull video. Again!🎉❤
What a variety of beautiful flowers. And most are native plants.
Flowers are really pretty, Roses gorgeous. While the grass looks pretty its a nightmare for dogs and cats ears when seeds get lodged inside oftentimes resulting in vet visits (bitter experience) . We are heading into Winter thank goodness while you head towards the heat. I think the older I get, the more I love Winter lol. Lovely bird songs.
O dear ones! You are trying a shade sail!!❤ it's beautiful, but I think they need to be supported by cemented in posts in the ground, and tightened straight with those things called turnbuckles. I'm so excited to see Carissa working on her gorgeous book.
Love your videos 😊
Beautiful video of the full moon rising
Time for a ride on lawn mower!
I was waiting for your weekly update (4th) but no video, just hoping everything is A OK with you all x
Lovely Calming Video ❤ xx
Live your videos! 🤗
Hodgeheg! 🤣love it 😊
Lovely video! 🌻❤️
Thank you!!
You a very talented woman my dear those drawings are fantastic keep it up
Thank you so much
Bundle together sticks for starting the fire with string or cut socks that Diogo has made unusable lengthways a few times and tie around sticks ready for when you start your fire. Careful with the shade sail even well secured, in strong wind can become detached at a corner and be lethal when flapping about to human and pets/
Lovely weather, lovely views - and lovely birdsong!! Thank you for pointing out the nightingale - I think I heard one near the bottom of my son's garden one summer, but didn't know what it was. They appear here between April and August, so I'm going to listen out for it again, and compare what I heard. Beautiful sounds - all I get around my way is a load of crows caw-caw-cawing at each other, and it's just not as melodious!!! 🤣
You have convinced me that Dachshunds , well Frankie actually is the cutest honey. I'm smitten. Thank you for taking us out on the drive to get water and go to Uncle Nick's. You guys have such a peaceful calming life, is it a culture shock to step back into the world at times. Love from New Zealand
Awesome video Thank you for sharing 😁
Thanks for watching!
The strimming sections were some of the most satisfying timelapses I've seen 😂 Mostly because I'm stuck indoors in south west France while a storm rages outside, knowing the rain this month means despite trying to get a jump on it over the last few weeks I'm going to have plenty more strimming sessions to grind through before the heat arrives and stops it going crazy 🤦♀️ 🤣
Happy birthday Iwan! 🍷 🥂
Thank you!!
your place is always so amazingly tranquil, love the solar lighting thanx for sharing
P.S. here's a thought for the hedgehogs, why not build some form of protection over their burrows, so Diogo doesn't dig them up, a pile of rocks they can escape into as well, or a good size tree stump?
goood morning, :-) it is 10 o'clock here now and i am enjoying you're video, thanks again for showing all this , also the nice relaxing music on a saturday morning is good, you two are making a very nice place there, i visited nazare long time ago whit a sailboat. the coastline is very beautiful there. enjoy life ! regards andre
Excelente vidio gosto tanto de a ver o Yan e a Carissa sempre a trabalhar juntos nessa propriedade que exuberante cheio de flores, ver os gatos a correr os seus cachorros o Diogo é tem amigavel. Muito obrigado por nos mostrar o dia a dia. Bom fim de semana God bless you both 🙏🏼🙏🏼🫶🫶🫶
Obrigado eu! 🙏❤️
The hedgehog must be having a feast on the insects, they cover a huge area in one night.👍
An idea for your well-cap area...... A round pergola over a bird- bath (I havn't noticed any bird-baths on your homestead and they are great for attracting birds, especially in Summer) with plants in pots arranged around it. How about a grape vine over the pergola?.... Just an idea. Your videos are wonderful. Thank you!
Thanks for your vid 😇💟💟💟 Love and bless you guys, good work 💕💕💕.
Thanks Arjan! Hope you’re well!? ❤️
You guys should build a burn pit
A lot less work is to cut branches short with an ace and use as firewood, even small branches burn in winter..