Looking back

The past year has been such a crowded, overwhelming one. A lot of good and a lot of bad has happened. We had to say good bye and we were able to say hello.
For the past three months we are now living in a dream come true and yet, we are still learning, still adjusting, still mourning.
We are literally getting our feet wet as smallholders and it is both exciting and very, very scary.

Our small livestock is growing and all are well and we are looking forward to the time where we get a couple of more hens as well as ducks. Soon I will have to built my raised vegetable beds. But atm we are all enjoying the stillstand of winter, the daily routine of looking after our livestock. There is a lot of planning to be done. Books are piled up on my kitchen table, providing me with lots of inspiration (and instilling me with fear), and a much needed planner to get to know the rhythm of garden life.

We are still enjoying the winter wonderland that is surrounding us. There are still chores to do, especially in view of the New Year ahead of us but it all goes smoothly, as if we have never done anything else before. These urbanites have smoothly and effortlessly slipped into a farmer's life ... and we love it.

メリークリスマス!! Frohe Weihnacht! Merry Christmas!!

Have a peaceful and blessed Christmas and a few days of quiet.

Deck the halls

One of the most wonderful things about our new house, beside having much more space and a huge garden, is the fact that I can decorate our little house with lots of seasonal trappings.

Our front door


This wreath has accompanied me throughout the years. I made it way back when I moved into my first own apartment. Since then almost 20 years have gone by and this little wreath is still there. I love continuity.

Sorry, bad photography :) As I had to cut the cherry tree, I re-used one of its branches as a Yule-log. I added candy canes, dried Orange slices and apples and it now hangs across my kitchen window.

Same procedure as every year ... or not :)

I can't bvelieve how quickly this year has already gone by. So many things have happened ... saying good bye to a beloved pet, moving into a new house and welcoming a new pet. I'm still gobsmacked.

Since the end of November we are living a veritable Winter Wonderland dream. It is amazing how adaptable our dogs are, considering that Lulu and Careto never experienced snow in their lives before. Lulu LUVS snow, she is always running around, bathing in the snow and enjoys every minute of it (even getting the ice out of her long hair). Careto on the other hand is still undecided yet, but once he made the association that snow is nothing other than water it was okay :)





Chandini is used to snow after last year's snow desaster. Usually in our neck of the woods we do not get much snow but last year and already this year we had tons of snow - global warming my butt.

The house project is coming along nicely. The chest of drawers (a huge thing) is in the barn and the first coat of paint is drying atm. It has a new shiny coat of white with maroon accents. If the light is good enough tomorrow, I will install the new lamps and start on the ceiling (which is still bare and sports the glue of those idiotic ceiling panels) in the hall. But for now, the hall is finished (to the best of my abilities).

OMG! Found the almost perfect settee ... if that would come in dark blue or dark green velvet it would be perfect ...

Three more pics of the hall .. the back hall is maroon coloured, the front hall is white.

House love

I'm so in love with my kitchen. The dog guard is in place and I will be putting on the finishing touches to the kitchen (by moving the buffet) tomorrow. Then I'll start on the huge chest that goes into the hall. I just hope it will be small enough to fit through the door once I have finished painting it.

I've put some photos up on the walls in the hall. It looks really nice and I have found other black frames to put in pics of the dogs or landscapes for the front hall.






Work tops and shelves ...




And tonight's yumminess:

Unsweetened whole-egg pancakes with tomato salad. YUM!

The kitchen is finished ... almost

My kitchen is finished .. well sort of. I still need to clean it, move my kitchen buffett to a different wall and find a small square table and two chairs, BUT!!! Me haz work topz!!!
Beautiful teak stained work tops which need one final glossy finish and several open shelves for cooking books, bric-a-brac and bowls and stuff.
Once the final finish is applied and all is moved in I will take photos.

The next project is ... a tiny one ... a dog fence for our front door.
Atm we are using the yard door to do business with a sign on our front door to go to our yard door. But with the weather getting colder I really don't want to put on my winter coat and my shoes to go out across the yard, to the door, keeping the dogs back when getting mail. So I decided to make a dog fence for the front door which I can hook into the entrance. This way I can open the door, the dogs can look out but don't run into the street - the pavement in front of the house is really small and we live on the stretch of the road which is straight hence a lot of idiots using that piece of road as if it were the Shizuka Formula 1 course. So tomorrow I'll make that and then there will be more painting in my sewing room and more shelves to be put on the walls :)

Oh and the back hall is now dark maroon :) I love

My madness is methodical

My kitchen is slowly but steadily getting into shape and I have developed a strange almost erotic obsession mad fascination with my power tools. Sawing, drilling, sanding ... all in one day's work and enjoying it immensely :) MECHA PORN LOL
Both work tops are now sawed, sanded and sealed. The cupboards are ready and tomorrow I'll mount the tops up on the wall to give them stability. Only thing missing now is the small square table and two chairs. I'm still undecided on the chairs ... Dainty (small) rattan chairs or white wood chairs? Decisions, decisions :)

Moments

On Thursday we had a rare spell of sunshine in between all the rain and so His Hubbiness™ got out his camera, pretending to shoot the apples and stuff in the garden while I had a cuddle session with our dogs. Soon our cuddle love fest turned into a photo shoot LOL

Chandini outgrowing her short do and having lost one of her long black ear hairs due to her battles with Lulu


Lulu doing her ferocious Ewok impression - usually she looks just like Chewbacca LOL


Yay!


Careto being bored ...


Family Photo


Careto being ferocious himself


Gentle Careto


I guess he accepted us as his new *parents*


More pampering


Home


And last but not least a photo of me :)

Fat of the land

After several days of heavy rain and hail, several electrical outages and a mini flood in my hall, today the sun actually peered out of a blue, blue sky and we were able to get out into the garden again.
Our apples and prunes are now ready and while a lot of beautiful apples are now on the ground smashed and yuck, there were several I could retrieve from the trees which will be made into apple crumble tomorrow. I also managed to pick a basket full of prunes which will make a wonderful cake :)



If my vegetable garden turns out this sumptuous next year we will be depending on it for veggies and greens entirely. No more trips to wholefood shops to buy eggs from happy free range living hens and pesticide-free vegetables. And I will be making preserves, so recipes of preserves for vegetables, fruits etc are very welcome :)

A week ago we were busy trying to sort out our apartment and putting everything into boxes for the movers to transport, today all my bones in my body are still crying out in pain and the whole barn is full of boxes and whatnots to be emptied and put away, but we are now officially moved! The living room is halfway ready .. all big furniture is standing where they are supposed to be and now only lamps and pictures are waiting to be set up. My kitchen is still a mess ... the old cupboard I chose is far too big for my kitchen and thus I have to make do with new smaller cupboards *sigh*
I feel so tired, I really want to lay down next to Careto and just cuddle up and doze for an hour or two ...












The gals roughin' each other up


While Careto watches


... and later on waits for the horses to come.

Someone new to the neighbourhood ...

When we saw him ... saw his name starting with a C, got to know the meaning of his name ... we couldn't resist.

Careto Abuelito (Grandpa Carrot)
In Spain



At arrival










At home




In the Garden












And yes, he is three-legged:




We have three different sized baskets ... but no it had to be smallest one :)






*sigh*



Baby-Bear Cenour ... thank you for sending us this little fellow. You choose well, my little carrot-nose. Run free, Baby-Bear :D