stories and lentils

We're in a race now to move into the house by the end of October. A date that is realistic (at the moment) but does require working at least six days a week (extra days off allowed to welcome visitors). The plan is to have one floor habitable (a bedroom/ living area and a bathroom) which will be sealed off from the rest of the house to stop dust from entering. We'll be back to cooking on the camping stove in an outdoor kitchen but that will be a small step back for a massive one forward. Florent and I spend an unhealthy amount of time talking about things like where best to put a socket and what light switches we should have. Definitely the least inspiring part of this project especially as it turns out light switches are almost invariably ugly. I'm sure somewhere there are beautiful ones but not those in our price range or those that conform to norms we need to respect to we don't risk short circuting the house or something. And the most exciting development... We...

About ten days ago we moved into a flat in the same village as our house. A bittersweet goodbye to our woodland camp as we moved into a little one room flat, spanking clean and chandeliers in the entrance hall! No more night time forays to the compost toilet or perfectly clear morning light streaming through the trees but welcome to a comfortable bed and a life that is certainly a lot easier for us both despite being a little less adventurous. In fact, it's become terrifyingly domestic... Having a kitchen has inspired us to bake cakes and pies (in the trusty Trangia pan which is apparently less 'trusty' when it's used for pie baking... ) and jam nectarines (I still can't quite believe there is glut enough of nectarines that they can be jammed...). There's been a revolution in the kitchen and pesto pasta is finally off the menu. Otherwise life continues as usual: Dust, puzzle-like building conundrums, rambling with the girls and discovering beaut...