FULL STEAM AHEAD (AND A GARDEN).
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 have a courtyard behind the house
which I have great visions for but is, unfortunately, for the moment
storing debris, building materials.. So for the moment we have found
a garden to use at the other end of the village. It's a long thin
strip behind a house which is for sale which means we have no idea
how long it will be before it's not ours anymore... It's an exchange
whereby we have a garden rent free and we also maintain it so that
prospective buyers aren't overwhelmed by a jungle behind the house.
In my deludedly optimistic budgetting I factored in growing our own
vegetables so now I really have to. I'm determined not to be put off
that it is almost the end of August all ready and will hold a vision
of feeding my children freshly pulled carrots to spur me on. The fact
that the house may be sold at any moment will be a lesson in not
getting too attached and trying to cultivate a garden that consists
soley of veg that has a three month growing cycle (about the same
time it may take to complete the sale/purchase of the house). A
challenge awaits. The first thing will be to make a sand pit to keep
the girls entertained long enough for me to actually plant something.
After three years of doggedly trying to include children in all our
gardening in hope of fostering a deep connection with the earth and
instead fostering a sense of deep frustration in me as another plant
is uprooted, I'm promoting a deep connection to sand instead. At
least we might get some vegetables.
As
well as gardening to be doing we've created a variation of trying to
catch fish in the river and now instead build pens from the stones
which the fish swim freely into, and then out of once again. This is
much more fun and despite Little I using them as her personal
paddling pools, provoking fits of rage from Little L, it's a staple
daily activity. We've diversified a bit too and have introduced ;
oragami boats (planes, frogs and
failed attempts at dinosaurs), painting and colouring pebbles and
creating minature land art on the beach and letting Little I climb
the river bank which allows me about one page of my book before I
have to retrieve her. I'm celebrating my resourcefulness, however
boring it may be for anyone else to read!
We've
taken more walks and discovered more trees and bushes to add to our
Wild Food Map (lots of figs, bramble patches and sloes) and hunted
out hidden beaches on the river bank for our next picnic. Most of all
we're loving the absence of a restrictive routine, of course it's
there in the daily work at the house but mostly for the girls and I,
we feel very free. Just as summers for little ones are meant to be
perhaps.
All
the above mixed in with days of chipping plaster and vacuuming
immense amounts of dust...
Comments
Post a Comment