Building My New Home by the Sea

I’m going to use this and other posts (I’ll link them all) to journal renovating a cowshed to turn it into my new home in ‘El Rincón’ (“The Corner”), located in the north of Tenerife, Canary Islands (Spain, Europe), where my abuelo Miguel (granpa Michael) acquired a small but incredibly valuable piece of land almost 100 years ago with money he’d been saving from driving a taxi around.

Lovely weather in ‘El Rincón’, my new home.

He fell in love with the area (it is considered to be a very precious area in the north of the island!) and so have I. The land is very near the sea so it you can enjoy the coastal fresh air; the breeze from the sea caresses the earthy terraces and because the Canary Islands are of subtropical climate, with long hot summers and moderately warm winters, so we can grow almost anything there.

My brother already lives there and I’ve decided to do some renovations on the building which used to be cowshed (for manure). The cowshed has been in ruins for the last 70 years and I will slowly renovate the place and make it my new home.

A look at the “gañanía” from the side (cowshed used for the cow manure)

The cowshed is in ruins so it’ll take me a long time to make it look cosy.

Yes, there’s a lot of work to be done, but I’ll get there. I’m 50 years old and I’m ready to finally settle in the one place that I own after having lived in the US when I was very young (for 1 year), and in the UK (London) for 26 years (from the ages of 22 to 49). I’m not back in Tenerife and it’s time to own my home (I’ve always rented in the past).

The best thing about this place is that I’m NOT IN A HURRY to make it wonderfully beautiful. I’ve got the rest of my life to make it my ideal home, and I’m starting now with this process. It’s a little bit like my own personal project, meaning I also work on myself on a daily basis in order to evolve spiritually. So this place will be evolving with me.

Outside the cowshed, where I’ll build the kitchen and bathroom (detached from the main home).

This is another room at the back of the cowshed, where the manure used to be piled up.

The original roof fell down so I will start by building the new roof.

I’ve decided to show the progress over the years. This will be the first post of many so I can show the changes as time goes by. These post entries will evolve with my new home and myself. Because I’ll be owning half the land together with my brother (around 1.5 acres), I’ll be growing my own fruit and vegetables (and, medicinal herbs, of course).

Do I know how to grow fruit and veg? Hell no! I’ve lived in one of the busiest cities in the world half my life (and all of my adult life), so I have lost touch with nature and what the earth can produce.

After my menopause kicked in everything changed. I had several spiritual awakenings (non-duality for those who know about the topic) which keep happening regularly and my whole life has turned upside down. The land ‘calls me’ and it feels like home. I need Silence and Silence needs me. And I get plenty of Silence in ‘El Rincón’.

Many things have changed: the way I think, the way I eat, the way I am with myself and other people, the way I spend my time, the way I enjoy every tiny little second of the day. I am ready for this journey and I want to share it with anyone who has time time to read.