A Tough Week on Our Abandoned Farm Renovating a Stone Cabin

A brutal week of hot & dirty work on our stone house renovation! GET 30% OFF the UFO 3 HERE: foreo.se/pzy5 | plus an EXTRA 10% OFF for the first 50 people who use our code 'V10'
It’s rarely easy when you’re building or renovating your own home, but when you buy an abandoned farm in the Portuguese countryside, your work ethic really gets tested in the heat of the summer!
Despite the extreme heat, we were determined to smash out (pardon the pun 🤓) as much of the rock-solid concrete smothered between (& over) the stonework inside the stone cabin. It’d be fair to say we were feeling daunted…but ready to put in some blood, sweat, tears & muscle to get the job done! 💪
LIKE THIS VIDEO if you enjoyed it and SUBSCRIBE to follow our journey as we document our life here in Portugal and the many DIY projects that we'll be tackling including renovating a tiny stone home, setting up systems to grow some of our own food and finally restoring the 100+ year old farm house.
Also say hi in the comments! We'd love to hear from you 😊
Ricky and Victoria x
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We're Ricky & Victoria 👋 We're slowly bringing an abandoned off grid Portuguese farm back to life & transforming it into a beautiful homestead for us & our two rescue dogs Teddy & Poppy.
We both agree that we’re not experts in anything that we do here, however we don’t let that stop us from giving it a try. We live our life by trying. We live our life by doing. We live our LIFE BY LIVING.
#abandonedfarm #renovation #homesteadlife
#FOREO #FOREOskincare #UFO3deephydrationfacialdevice #facemask #facialtreatment

[@karmaficionado1163]

EVERYBODY WATCHING!!!! HIT THAT LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE!!! Almost to 100k!!! This lovely couple deserves it!!!

[@LifebyLiving]

Hyping them up for us!😁 Thank you ❤️

[@karmaficionado1163]

@@LifebyLiving Any time!!! I'm here to help and again, thanks for sharing your adventures with us 🙂

[@markcolburn6632]

​@@LifebyLivingHi Ricky and Victoria, thanks for all your great videos. Keep them coming. Wanted to tell you that at temps above 80 degrees fahrenheit tomato plants stop producing the pigments to make tomatoes look ripe also the production of blossoms slow or stops until the weather cools. With raised beds sometimes hardware cloth is attached to the bottom to deter varmints (voles). Also you may have to adjust your planting to the growing season. Indeterminate tomatoes will continue producing when temps go back down below 80° cheers

[@Feeoryne]

and coment!!

[@kellyh8347]

A thumbs up 👍 and a comment helps them too!!!

[@user-ly6ez1dh2o]

Your wife is truly a GEM!

[@donnab9015]

I agree and Victorias smile 😊is lovely 😊

[@aktpillo]

She is great. I love Victoria. She's so positive, energetic and a have a great sense of humour. Go woman!!

you must collect the tomatoes when they are half red, they will ripen in the basket and the plant will have more strength for the others

[@cferguson3368]

I love eating tomatoes just before they are fully ripe, just a bit green.

[@Marie-yx5ie]

Thank you 👍

[@marciadavis5291]

Pick them when they first start turning red. They will ripen in the house. If you wrap them in newspaper they will ripen quicker.

[@margomoore4527]

Then put ‘em in a brown paper bad to ripen.

[@constancestine1020]

I always stretched my tomatoes from my garden by putting all the green ones at the end of season in a brown paper bags and placed in a dark cool cabinet and they lasted until November. Really enjoyable as the autumn turns the days cold.

[@beverley-annemackintosh3672]

With all the bad news and madness in the world, watching you 2 on a Sunday evening is such relaxing joy! Thank you 🙏 👍😍

[@dyannejohnson6184]

Those drops of sweat are pure gold-love, loyalty, being such a courageous true “mate”

[@bobjones-xc9fp]

Yay, Victoria has conquered her fear of heights!

[@Django44]

A tip on removing the olive tree suckers, and that is to use razor-sharp secateurs instead of a hatchet. The main point being to avoid slicing into the bark, which makes a tree vulnerable to opportunistic pathogens and/or pests. This is more labour-intensive, but those beautiful old trees are worth it. I usually sharpen my secateurs between every tree or two; this greatly minimizes RSI.

[@susanyates4233]

I thought the same, or long cuts. I thought the axe was dangerous.

[@jenh9252]

They are doing it the traditional way!

[@jenh9252]

@@Django44 have you ever actually cared for olive trees??

[@thefairyqueen369]

I agree, that is immediately what I thought my mum was from Italy and that is how she removed suckers, any cuts to the bark are small traumas for the tree and risk of infection as you have said, so I would go with sharp sectors too and it allows you to cut the stems more accurately. With 90 trees it is a labour of love for sure. Have a great day!

[@jbyrd2516]

I realise it won’t happen but I’d love to see outtakes of Victoria doing the UFO ad. She not only deserves a medal for her physical work but one for not getting the giggles when sharing the product with us!

[@pamela5568]

I'm all for building the top of the inside walls with stone. I know it's a lot of work, but it will look great and won't visually make the wall look shorter on the mezzanine. I've been subscribed for quite some time, but I'm cheering you on to 100K subscribers!

[@audreysuter4315]

Living and working on the land makes us into Engineers of multiple skills. 👌

[@conniechuha3113]

It's actually best to pick them before they're fully ripe. It leaves energy for the plant to produce more fruit and it prevents pests from eating your ripe fruit.

[@bryansarty3821]

This!!! Pick them just as they begin to turn colour. Bring them in and they will fully ripen on your counter.

[@lauraquigley6403]

So close to 100 subs!!! My first comment was deleted. You are both real Homesteader’s. I grew up on a 100 acre farm my father & his 8 siblings were born there. We grew all our own food & raised our animals for protein. My Dad fixed all the machines on the farm & the tractor was still running 50 yrs later. Your a true Farmer now Ricki since you fixed your stringer🙏🙏🙏Blessing’s

[@LifebyLiving]

WOAH! 100 acres is HUGE! That's a lot of work. I definitely want to get the point of being able to fix bigger machines in the future but I need to learn the basics first 😁

[@lauraquigley6403]

@@LifebyLiving You guy’s will be able to do it all. My Dad used to say “all engines are the same” remember that going forward!😇

[@HeidiPriest]

Come on lets find some friends to get them to the 100.000❤

[@margomoore4527]

You might find a pruner easier than a hatchet-either an anvil or a bypass hand pruner-and will do less random damage to the base of the olive trees. Faster, too.

[@jenh9252]

They are doing it the traditional way!

[@alanatkins4315]

Make a head band out of a towel to absorb your sweat, keep it away from your eye's. On the trimmer exhaust is a mesh screen, undo it and using a blow torch and a wire brush , clean it and machine will work better.

[@nigelnorton1140]

Even in the heat a great job being done. Super attitude so positive.

[@constancestine1020]

Great job on removing that awful concrete Victoria, as a fair English rose you are a real bull dog with power tools! Ricky is lucky to have found someone who is a real partner in the work ahead of you!!

[@maudeestrella8196]

What amazing work horses you both are. The extra bonus for the viewers is that you do it all with a smile🇨🇦❤️🇨🇦

[@sharonbuckley4591]

You don’t need to leave them on the vine to totally ripen. Millennial gardener gives an excellent explanation about it. You pick them at about 2/3 ripe. That way the bugs, birds and rain don’t get them.

[@vinaynaik1782]

Thank you for uploading video weekly .. it’s so interesting

[@deborahpalm7657]

You are both such hard workers. Your Tiny House has been touched with your love in every nook and cranny.

[@nancypelletier7590]

You’re getting there. I look forward to your videos every week. I love your personality’s such a pleasure to watch.

[@barriegannon3572]

Come on 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻we want 100,000 subscribers 🎉🎉🎉

[@mag1071]

The two of you are not afraid of hard work. The two of you do a great job!

[@lindabrooks8242]

Yaaaay for watermelon!♥️🍉♥️ I love how you two never slack on any job.... everything you do is perfect!

[@bobhale8325]

Love the "His" & "Hers" electirc chisels. It is nice to see you working together on the same job. I alway love to have my wife near when working on any job.......even after 58 years of marriage.

[@deirdrecerasa3932]

You both are amazing as you rotate jobs to allow each of you to rest a bit. The olive trees are so beautiful and special. Hoping the harvest is better than you are thinking. ❤

[@bettywatson9200]

U can take your half rippend and green tomatoes and wrap them individually in paper and store them in a cool dark place. In about two weeks they will have ripened. Check on the partially wrapped tomatoes after a week. Keep them sorted as to ripeness. Really enjoying your journey.

[@user-jk9vn2uk3p]

I can’t believe you are still smiling and full of joy. Well done 😘😘

[@carolwoodward6141]

Hello from Virginia. Came down with the virus Thursday. mostly in bed sleeping, so very cheery to see your vid. 🤧

[@karmaficionado1163]

Ugh!!! Covid is the worst! Hope you start feeling better soon. Watching from work in NC this morning :-)

[@carolwoodward6141]

@@karmaficionado1163Thank you. Not as bad as when I had it in 2022.

[@carolwoodward6141]

I wasn’t sure if we could use the C word so edited to the virus.

[@denisefassbender4331]

So sorry to hear this. I had it 1 months ago. It was 3 weeks before I felt normal. I hope you have a quicker recovery.

[@LifebyLiving]

Get well soon Carol!❤️

[@anitaklamer3360]

Hola from Alpujarras, Granada. Fig tip: break them open before devouring and check for insects. 😊....love your channel❤

[@chriscardinal7007]

You two are one of the most beautiful couples doing this on utube. Your kind and sweet towards one another and to us! Quite goofy at times but just makes me love ya more! 🙂🥰💗💗🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾❤keep up the great work!

[@martindevlin9152]

😭😭😭Wife and I missing this weeks episode, it’s like missing long term friends, almost said old friends but definitely not old lol. We hope all is well in your world🤗🤗🇮🇪

[@barryburwood]

Yes happy sunday❤

[@anpleidhceeireannach9498]

You should try an Austrian scythe instead of a strimmer. Works amazingly and doesn't need fuel.

[@tracyplath863]

I absolutely love your videos, such a bright spot amongst all the gloom everywhere else. The fun and supportive dynamic you two have together is just beautiful to see, and the work you've accomplished on that lovely old stone building is beautiful to see as well.

[@debrallewis]

Always look forward to Sunday and watching your lovely vlog! Thank you for sharing your journey rebuilding AND, equally valuable for viewers, whether they realize it or not, is seeing the thriving nature on your property.

[@yvonnebailey9973]

Hi guys. Been subscribed from the beginning. Great to see you have nearly reached 100k. Really deserved. Thanks for letting us share your adventure restoring your farm. Take care and stay safe. X

[@cathylewis2181]

I saw your very first video shortly after you posted it. You were so serious then and I wasn't quite sure but I took a chance and watched the next one and the rest is history. I was so happy to see your silly side and of course to discover Victoria and all that she has to offer which is abundant! Rounded out with your cute pups, this has become one of my very favorite channels and I always look forward to seeing your videos. Carry on you two lovely comedians.

[@t.vanoosterhout233]

What a pair of troopers you are, once the renovation is done you'll know for certain that you have earned it... with your own sweat! Carry on!

[@jonasmichaelmoir9378]

Victoria Rocks! How cool it is to find your lovely wife three steps ahead of you... Cheers guys! Looking forward to the interior finishes!🤩

[@carollsbostwick9683]

There is a new saw that will cut those in a minute! Maybe you could hit Ricky up for that saw. It’s awesome.

[@robinpearson4583]

Well done, both of you tackling that concrete removal. A couple of points you might like to consider, if you start at the top of the walls, it might just seem to you, that the job is getting easier as you move down the walls. Secondly, Gardening Expert, Monty Don of Gardeners World fame, always recommends removing the leaves around the tomatoes, to give them maximum sunlight to encourage the fruits to ripen. Hope this helps, Regards Robin.

[@revyred8679]

OMG you guys are sooooo close to 💯 subscribers!!! 🙏🙏🙏 Come on guys SUBSCRIBE to these guys they deserve it❣️

[@user-dk7me5ux2j]

Hello from Alabama, 🇺🇸 USA. I just love watching you two and your puppers! Excellent work😊❤

[@lynhardie6291]

WOW! That's a great job to tick off the list of many. 🎉 See you next week.

[@chrissyfrancis8952]

You need a battery operated hedge trimmer, I use mine to trim our honeysuckle & Ivy. You’d zip right thru all those suckers. Tomatoes are the same way, you prune off the sucker branches in between producing vines. More energy will go to the fruit.

[@lindamiller5489]

The two of you are wonderful and i so happy yr channel is growing so fast..it was a great idea to change the channel name and adding Victoria you two are a awesome team

[@sandywilli8145]

Love watching your videos and hopefully this is the week to get over 100,000 subscribers 🎉❤

[@judithtaylormayo]

I think one interior wall left to stone is more than enough. it is pretty over whelming to have it all stone.

[@AlyenasKitchen]

I love your comment, “You’ve been warned.”😀 Thanks for telling us why you remove the suckers off the trees and showing us how. That tool is great. Congratulations on getting all the concrete out!😊🌸🌺

[@SonyaTucker98]

Hey Ricky and Victoria have watched you from the start of your adventure in Portugal, and I cant believe the changes/improvements you both have made to the tiny stone house so far. Great video as always guys, sending love and best wishes from the UK ❤😊

[@LifebyLiving]

Thanks Sonya! We’re really pleased with the transformation so far!😊

[@mapoyal]

❤ from Bangladesh

[@marybarnett9645]

What a difference it’s made getting rid of all that concrete 👍🏻 you both have learned so much during this renovation 🥰

[@lindawolfe4949]

I am in love with your tiny house. So adorable. Please run the generator outside the house. The fumes are lethal. ❤

[@LifebyLiving]

Appreciate the concern 😊 Any other time of year it goes outside but during the summer it’s too risky as we don’t have any hard standing around the tiny house, just lots of super dry grass. The fumes are fired straight out of the door & all windows are open. If it wasn’t for the racket you’d never even know it was there 👍🏼

[@lieuwina]

You both are so appreciative of such little things and they make you so happy. Victoria eating her figs in between jobs and enjoying every bite. Ricky so appreciative of Victoria cleaning in between the stone work and at the end yay!! a water melon. Just love you guys (figure of speech) as Victoria is a lovely lady. Here in Cambridgeshire our produce has not done well at all this year, my herbs very well, tomatoes non existence, flowers no tomatoes growing and guess what they reckon it will get too 32 degrees Celsius here and I died at 25 yesterday, it is going to be a scorcher. Have a lovely week Victoria and Ricky.

[@lgrigg5439]

Love from Australia 🇦🇺

[@kiskatalin2206]

Very cosy tiny house.❤

[@rosiesgrandma]

Just like the farm folk which my grandmother taught all of us the basics of mechanics you need to be self-sufficient and independent especially when you don't live close to town.

[@lenacoleman1142]

Another great video. Your little stone cabin is looking so adorable.

[@sth.777]

Amazing amount of work done on those stone walls! Victoria, here's a tip to fix the flat tyre on your wheelbarrow: Fill it with silicone caulking; it will never go flat again!😊

[@mariaisabelperezmiori9394]

Hello from Brazil . Love your videos so much ❤

[@Toqueville2023]

If you had a window on the back wall there would be a nice flow through air circulation..And yes, she is a rare jewel!!!

[@AnneHeyns]

Love how you can eat the figs straight from the tree, lovely work on those window sills☺

[@brettinman5965]

It's best to use secateurs to remove the olive tree suckers. You might be creating more suckers using the axe. Keep up the good work 👏

[@thefairyqueen369]

I am glad you resolved the strimmer problem, my father was a mechanical engineer and he lived and breathed engines, when he was alive, I never had to get anything fixed as my father fixed literally everything! Well done for getting it done yourself and for all those that gave you the great advice!

[@jimwilmouth1511]

Absolutely love your videos! I look forward to seeing them every week! You should live stream!!

[@susannahwhitaker994]

You are both so lovely and chilled to watch. Thankyou 🤗

[@athollmcnicoll1028]

Yes Ricky I know to my cost the number of sanding discs I used when trying to smooth down my balcony floor and thank God B&Q were close by, as I bought boxes of varying roughness to super fine gradient.

[@katherinekurash6683]

You guys are amazing! I love the progress you are making! Thanks so much for taking us on your journey!!

[@goodidea3970]

The both of you have a funny sense of humor, very enjoyable to watch. And both of you have such a positive vibes. ❤

[@MirandaHorger]

You're making such amazing progress! 🤩

[@claudeforestsr1890]

If you the wood pins you use the build the shutters. Use two opposite each other in the sander holes. Then the sanding disk will automatically align itself to the sander.

[@JannekeMeijer]

Still going strong, you two ❤

[@wolffhenry5751]

It's so wonderful watching you both doing such a stellar job on your tiny house (and everywhere else)! The attention to detail is really paying off! Initially I thought you were going a little OTT, but now all I can say is "Wowza!!!". 🥰

[@Toqueville2023]

The shutters are beyond amazing!

[@LifebyLiving]

We’re so happy with them!

[@AbigailGerlach-zt1sh]

Colorado has typically low humidity. In summer, we usually hang out at about 12-14%. I use Argon oil as a moisturizer. In really dry weather, I'll apply it two or three times a day! We're considered a high plains desert. Our elevation is about 5500 to 6000 feet above sea level.

[@Let_there_be_peace]

Bravo Victoria and Ricky! You ROCK! Cindy, from Utah. 🥰

[@barryfern5377]

It would be interesting to see what the locals think about the progress.

[@vonderdornburg]

Wow! Looks so much better without that messy concrete mortar.

[@addiekeen7219]

Good morning always love your videos. You both are special.🙏🏻👍❤️

[@LifebyLiving]

Thanks Addie ❤️

[@gaynor3976]

You both work like trojan horses and your work efforts show they really do. Well done on the walls, they look good. Watermelon oh wow looks good xxx

[@margaretlehmann-berry263]

Love and appreciation from Vancouver Island, Canada. Another great video that highlights your work ethic, and your joy of life.

[@junechapman7751]

Best greetings from South Africa ❤

[@bmax43]

Greetings from Jacksonville Beach, Florida. You two are doing a fantastic job with everything. You are a joy to watch! ❤❤❤

[@satrinaaboutspace5150]

So happy for you to see projects moving forward! Also, I am really looking forward to see you both continuing with the interior projects 🎉 I myself am a type without any mechanical experience who wouldn't have thought to do other than the manual says. So, Ricky tackleing the trimmer without the support agency was very refreshing and encourageing for me 😅

[@chadpurser]

Great pacing on this episode! Your production skills have really been improving.

[@valeriehayward5708]

What an excellent job you have done with the stonework it looks just perfect. Such incredible hard workers . Love your videos.

[@kkay2270]

The stone cabin is looking so good. I look forward to each video, to see the progress you have made. Have a good week.

[@robinwalters634]

When drinking a glass of water put a grain of salt on your tongue. It helps the cells of your body open to let water in to them.

[@LorraineinAustralia]

Every week you make progress 🌸🌸

[@willemvanleeuwen1727]

You two are doing a great job. Always looking forward to watching a new episode.

[@cherylbertolini3140]

Great job getting the stone work finished, have a wonderful week.

[@chrisdouglass7962]

I've been using sonic stakes for several years and they work better on voles than moles, but they do work 😁😊👍

[@petro3441]

That fig tree will also get all my attention❤❤❤ Great job with the walls

[@nancymiller7294]

I am a 68 year old woman and I take good care of my skin. I must say you appear to be in your early twenties, I have never seen any wrinkles on your face. I am thinking about trying the product. Will be amazing when you start moving in.

[@1MartinWaite]

Hi both, hope you are feeding your tomatoes with something like tomatoerite it for tomato plants once they have started to show their fruits and it is a fertiliser that give the plants the nutrients they need to grow their fruit you can use it on any and all fruit and vegetables once they have fruit or vegetables on their plants you can even use it on plants once they start flowering and it help them have bigger and better blooms resulting in better seed manufacturing. As for your stone internal windowsills what are you going to send them with for me it would need to be something like a tile sealer that doesn’t colour or show on tiles then you won’t actually see it on the sills as to use something else that your not sure of may leave a sheen on the sills I suppose you could also use Thompsons water sealer and give them a couple of coats but that is a water sealer only? It will be interesting to see what you use an I suppose it depend what you can get in Portugal as well. Really good job on raking all that motor/concrete out and good choice for finishing the tops of the walls off by continuing the stone work it will look so much more unmodified with the stonework going right up to the roof. 😊😊😊 see you next video.😊😊😊😊

[@melaniebeaver2845]

Everything is looking so lovely! I know it's such hard work, but the reward is the payoff and satisfaction that you did it yourselves. That's why they call it sweat equity. :) Also, I wonder if you'll seal the concrete window sills at 19:20. Concrete is very porous and will deteriorate over time, like wood. It's best to seal it with some extra protection to make it easier to clean as well as extend its lifespan. You did a great job building them, and I'm sure you'd rather not have to repeat the process any time soon.

[@andrewmudd3145]

Hope you guys are using anti vibration gloves as an ex aircraft rivetter and ended up with vibration white finger even with using heavy gloves

[@jeanrichardson2044]

Unless it affects your algorithms, or something, it's time you stopped calling your farm abandoned. It is obviously much loved and tendered. Your little house is radiant.