Inside

Since last weekend we have been receiving, bit by bit, a lovely daily log of Parisien Star's first big cruise with Tore and Kirsten and Kirsten's mum (I really must ask her name because I know she reads the blog!).  The dinette has become Kirsten's mum's room after having been my office for so long. It's good to know she is finding it to be a comfortable spot.   We have enjoyed reading about their adventures and we are happy to know they are loving having their own boat.

We heard the iPad tinkling one evening. It was Carol calling for a chat.... Barry still asleep in the bed beside her (yes, she showed us his slumbering form).  He appeared sitting up beside her after a few minutes... blinking eyes like a big old owl.  We caught up on our news and had a look at their mooring location.  We even took them outside to meet Wilbur and his girls.  It feels so strange talking to them from so far away.  We are meant to be just a few feet away.

We are finally starting to feel a bit more settled.  Having the chickens to care for has given us a boost and we enjoy the early morning call of Wilbur the rooster.  They've settled in really well and Wilbur rushes to the fence whenever he sees me approach.  I'm sure it isn't just my company he seeks but hoping for a treat.  He is a lovely placid boy.  We even got an egg the other day but so far no repeat performance.   The large pile of mulch that Mick put in their run has been spread out nicely already.  It didn't take them long!  Inside their house they appear to be excavating their way to China.  The hard compacted dirt floor is now a moonscape of dust bathing potholes.

The weather has been lovely this week with only a little rain on one or two days.  Otherwise it's been mostly sunny and mild enough to fling open doors and windows to air the house in the nicest part of the day.  The days are getting slightly longer again.  It's still light at 6pm now which is a far cry from the extremely short winter days in the UK.  I leave work just after 5pm for the 40 minute drive home and I have been home before full dark every single day.

Mick has been happy as a lark, dressed in his grubby working gear, and pottering outside.  He has thought up a new improvement for the chicken house as soon as he has finished the one prior.  They now have a wire "window" with a lift up cover that becomes a little shade cover in Summer but let's the breeze through.  When it's cold it will stay closed.  I think next weekend we will begin letting them out into the back corner of the yard.  Mick has fenced in that corner to confine them but they will still have plenty of space and good shade in the Summer from the nut trees growing there.

We are starting to plan a veggie plot too.  Our dear friends Kevin and Bernice came to visit and it seems there is a bit of a deal being done involving removing a fallen tree in exchange for an old water tank (that will make fantastic raised garden beds). So there's something else to look forward to.  How nice it will be to have salad straight from the garden again.

As promised, here are some photos of inside our house... a big L shaped kitchen (there is a separate walk in pantry next door), dining, living area.  I love the room as it has windows all the way around.  We do need to bring some more furniture across from the shed.  We don't have a huge television and the lounge room is much larger than our previous one.  We sit in the middle of the room with vacant space behind.  I'm sure we will find something to fill the space.

This is proving to be a rather cold house and we have the heater running a lot.  We had a lovely wood fire at our previous house but here we have an electric split system heater / air conditioner (ugly thing on the wall in the dining area). There is no insulation in the outside walls and we certainly feel the difference.  If we decide to stay living here we will definitely do something about that.  Something else we have discovered about this house is that there is no drafts whatsoever.  That sounds like a good thing but it's the first house we've ever had where we get condensation on the windows.  It's only when we have wet washing hanging on racks but it reminds us of a much smaller living space we had over the last couple of years!