Sunday 4 November 2012

From there to here and back again

I have been doing a lot of walking today, but not outside because it is tipping down with rain. Today I have been going from there.....


...... to here.....


....carrying armfuls of stuff as I transfer my temporary kitchen to another temporary kitchen in the kitchen which will be a proper kitchen eventually. 

I have become used to shifting things around. What am I going to do with myself when I don't have to do this any more. What will it feel like to have order, to not have to re-organize time and time again, not that I am fed up with all this disorder, no, I am not, but I have been wondering what will it feel like when the time comes for this moving about to be finished.

But we are getting the house renovated, or rather, rebuilt. Step by step. 

..... and here is a 'before' photo of the temporary kitchen space I have just vacated. This was taken as we arrived here ....




...... then we started helping the house to become well again, .....


.... and this space is to have its ceiling put on top of those big oak beams. It already has a roof. When all is done, this will become the larder area for the house. Living and working on a smallholding requires that space be given over for the storage of produce, and the equipment that is needed to turn that produce into food. 

 And the kitchen will be a 'room'. I don't want to have a kitchen which has shiny surfaces and is full of modern gizzmoes. I don't want a 'kitchen brochure' type of kitchen. I want an old French kitchen, a farmhouse kitchen, one that has furniture in it rather than gleaming kitchen units, hobs, and built in ovens. We have a long way to go. 

...but at least the kitchen is better than what it was....






Been a rainy day here today. Sheep, goats, and Elise (our heifer) all indoors. Given DIY hay, three bales. Sheep and goat out in the Sheep Barn, the goats having allowed the sheep to share their space for once, and Elise in the Tall Barn. Occasionally the sheep and Elise talked to each other. The Geese Gang had quite a lot to say for the themselves though. Joyful were they that there were plenty of puddles around in which to frolic. The hens, meanwhile, were out and about. They have laid eggs somewhere because they were telling the world that they had. Where those eggs are is anyone's guess. Will have to track the hens tomorrow to see where they are tiptoeing off to. They can be very sneaky when it comes to the communal nest site. If they know they have been spotted then they will abandon that nest site and sort out another one for themselves. 

My energy has oozed out of me. I need to plug myself into a battery charger to get myself going again. Need to carry on sorting the kitchen stuff out otherwise nothing can be cooked. I know! A quick swig of Bailey's! I know where that is! That might do the trick!

7 comments:

rusty duck said...

Your new temporary kitchen looks a lot more spacious, and lighter, than the last. It looks good.

The French kitchen that you describe sounds perfect for your house and surroundings. If I had the space, it's exactly what I'd have too. A big four oven Aga was always (is still) my English country dream.

Shoehorned into a much smaller space, for us, for the moment, it will have to be the gleamy built in job. So I will follow your progress very enviously!

If Leclerc run out of Baileys let me know.

Niall & Antoinette said...

With all the toe-ing and fro-ing I think you more than deserve a Bailey's!! Salut :-)

Rosaria Williams said...

Oh Vera, this is such a fantastic project, to build something according to your dreams, to fit into the style you want, and not what is popular. I'm looking forward to more pictures and more progress.

Horst in Edmonton said...

I am amazed at how much damage there was to the house, in the old photos. Lots of work to do to these old buildings, but I'm sure the house will look great when you are finished rebuilding.

DUTA said...

Moving things , organizing - it's kind of therapeutic.
Making order never ends, so don't worry. You'll always have what to do , kitchen or not.

Vera said...

Duta, it's nice to know that I will have times to sort things out. I do seem to find myself surrounded by chaos periodically throughout my life!

Vera said...

Jessica, wow, a four oven Aga! Crikey, that sounds huge! Lester wants me to have a wood burning Aga-type stove, but have insisted that I have an ordinary stove for the summer. I do not fancy cooking on a wood stove in the heat of summer!

Thanks for being concerned about my supply of Baileys!

Niall & Antoinette, I had several swigs. It was much needed!

Rosaria, the house and us seem to fit each other in lots of ways, including how we dress her!

Horst, We reckon that we have saved the house for future generations, and that makes us very proud of the work we have done here. It has been expensive in more ways than one, but absolutely worth it!