We’ve now been in our new house for about one month, the slogan of the moment is:
Get it working first, and then get it pretty when there’s time.
Starting at the bottom so to speak, first there was the toilet, eventually it required a full dismantle, the system was completely calked up after not being used for a few years but is now fully functional.
The stairs are steep, a bit like in a cheap Holland hotel, so steep, Lucky couldn’t come down, there are now carpet strips on each step and Lucky goes up and down but with caution, eventually a new staircase must be built.
The cellar apart from being in a rotten state was allowing cold air up through a door that wouldn’t seal. The windows had bowed and the mosquito netting was falling apart. The walls were crumbling and there was no light. All that has been remedied and we’re now able to store food for the winter and maybe keep food cool in the summer.
The yard was completely overgrown, weeds, trees, tree seeds growing between the stones, most of the trees are now gone and the weeds are in a manageable state. It’s the first time I’ve ever used an axe to do the weeding. There is still the concrete box and an area of concrete on the floor but that will wait till we can get a container to take it all away.
The stables we’re unused except for storing junk, they are now cleaned out and one is equipped as a workshop. The other two will be the practice area for plastering; they can then be used for something useful!
The kitchen is now functioning, albeit at a lower level than what I would like but we’ve installed our cooker and fridge which have about 30 years on what was there before, eventually we would like to replace the (nearly) double glazed window with a window and door direct into the yard, also the hot water heater courtesy of Italy is a joke and needs replacing.
The room between the living room and kitchen has become the bureau for the moment, later this will probably move to the dining room and the wall between the bureau and living room will disappear. Getting the cables for telephone and computer into the bureau meant drilling through one of the lime built walls, much of the wall at the base collapsed; someone had tried to repair it some years ago but didn’t quite get it right.
The eclectics just about everywhere are getting on a bit! As and when something new needs installing there is the chance to replace the old with new.
The heaters are also something new to us, we’ve always had central heating and these oil burners are fine but touchy, they require gentleness and a bit of patience.
We’re dead nearly every evening but we go to bed happy because everything we’re doing is for us, this old house has character, even something simple like drilling a hole for a screw must be done with care, it’s like the house feels when you touch it, and wants you to do things gently, that’s ok by us.
There’s a lot to do and it will take time but we’re falling in love with this old place and we’ll make it into a home that the house will approve of I’m sure.
The next month its more a case of starting work, this last month has been more about getting things working, well just about everything is working so now its time to start to make it right and pretty.
Last word, about the area and the people. So far all the stories we heard before we came were completely wrong, the people here couldn’t be friendlier and the countryside is just wonderful. The air is clean and there is real peace here, do we have any regrets of leaving the West? None whatsoever.
Till next month.
I agree completly, John :)
But soooooo much reading... - I post a few pics of the "ready to go" workshop :)))
Vielleicht erkennt der ein oder andere ja vertraute Dinge...
The clock - he couldn't throw it away
Bis bald :) LG Isa
P.S.: You are able to comment if you register - heitjer got it :)))))
Ihr könnt auch Kommentare hinterlassen, wenn ihr euch anmeldet - heitjer hat es schon raus :)))))
"There is still the concrete box and an area of concrete on the floor but that will wait till we can get a container to take it all away."
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you guys build a greenhouse ontop the concrete walls?