Glimmerings of Home

I am getting antsy to do some "Before and After" posts of the way the house looked when it was empty, vs. how we have set it up, but as we're still not completely unpacked, I'm going to hold out a bit longer. I'm sure you are getting plenty of glimpses in the other photos in the meantime. We are completely operational as a house, but there are still a few boxes that haven't really been touched, some sets of shelves that are just crammed with things that needed to not be in boxes anymore, we're still sleeping on our futon on the floor until we buy a bed, and we haven't touched the upstairs AT ALL. But nonetheless, we are set up to cook, clean, garden, shower, and do all the activities of daily life, so that's something. As of Monday night, we even have all of our clothes put away in the closet and dresser- three weeks after moving in!

So here are a few more snapshots of what has been going on around here recently:

(Click on Photos to Enlarge)

 I finally got a clothesline strung up! It took some figuring because our yard is so small and surrounded by greenery, and very few things to string a clothesline to! After exploring several options, I finally settled on stringing it diagonally across the yard, from an upright beam of the house to a juniper tree behind the compost bins.

 Matt is a knot expert, so I got him to tie the line securely to the tree, and then I tied the other end of the line into a metal hook, and put an eyebolt into the beam on the house- now we can easily roll up the line out of sight when we don't need it, and unfurl it and hook it through the eye when we need it!

 Matt spent an evening last week pruning back the tree in our front yard. I think it's a dogwood, but whatever it is, it was a little out of control, and it looks much much happier now. 

 Matt is getting a lot more confident in his cooking, and for good reason. He is challenging himself and almost always the result is fantastic. One night last week I had "Simple Pasta and Salad" on the menu plan for dinner, and he took it upon himself to learn how to make a true cheese sauce, made with a roux and everything. It was absolutely stellar.

This is a little salt pot I found at an op-shop back in New Zealand. It has taken the place of a salt shaker on our table, very nice since we use fairly chunky sea salt. The little spoon is an Air New Zealand coffee spoon :) Oh, and the beautiful tea towel/table runner was a housewarming gift from my good friend Rosa. 

 Mmmm, banana bread! On Saturday, when we went to the farm, Jessa brought us a couple very ripe bananas, because she likes hers green. I had a couple more that were about to go off, so voila- banana bread! 

The chicks really deserve a post of their own, so I'll have that soon. For now, it's time to go dip into the pot of lentils bubbling on the stove, then get out and do some weeding in the garden before it gets dark. I hope you're having a lovely week, and Happy Friday to everyone!