The bug has bitten

These last two weeks have been filled with one thing on my mind and one thing only (apart from woooorrrkkk as usual) - gardening!!! I've got the bug, and badly. I wake up at night and ponder in what relation I should plant tomatoes and sweetcorn, and if the sweetpeas will do well, or not at all, next to the coriander. I talk to neighbours who grow veg and relentlessly pound their brains dry of any local knowledge and experiences. I feel so inspired and go and check on my darlings at least twice a day, monitoring growth to the millimeter. I do feel it can quite clearly become an obsession - not one I really have a problem with though, must be one of the healthier ones to have, no? I freely admit I have no real idea about what I am doing but Paul's got lots of good permaculture books and other gardening books and I am devouring them, as well as anything else related to the subject. We've had lots of old guttering lying around irritating us but this weekend I read an article about that gutters were great as seedling containers and hey presto....My obsession has reached the point where I am actually keeping a diary. I am of the "suck it and see"-school really, for now - I have seen veg do so well here (two tomato plants springing from where I had chucked some organic waste and rising to almost half a metre before the builders got them) - I don't want veg that needs to be mollycoddled and treated like princesses (princes?). So I am trying different methods and different places with different soils to see what comes up and what will do well - and if I'm not keeping a diary I will totally forget what is what and why...Or that is my excuse anyway.

OK, I'll tell you what I've got going already and then I will talk about something else, promise: coriander, parsley, garlic, mustard cress, spinach, chives, carrots, red lettuce, hot peppers, a Spanish variety of peppers called Padron (very interesting as about one in ten peppers is really hot and the others are not, and there is no way of telling which is what - best served grilled on hot skillet, sprinkled with sea salt, yum!), runner beans, dill, sweetcorn, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and lots of tomatoes. I think we'll eat well this spring!

Now back to the subject you've all been waiting for: the House (that grew and grew and grew...)

Check out the beams above the windows and the door (which is the main door). These are the old beams of the house which we have cut and then protected/coloured with a potent (and cheap) mix of old engine oil, turpentine, and a few other savoury ingredients - however, it makes the beams look great and kills any termites really dead!! To me, it's the first step really towards the house looking "rustic-style", the first esthetic touch...All the windows and doors will have this and I think it will look great!

In fact, it is really all taking shape now, beginning to see how the light will fall and how the spaces really work. Neighbours and friends have been very supportive and say that the house is well-designed, which gives us a nice little glow (or gets us through the night, depending on what type of day it's been...). Only one more structure, the living room, has to be built. Unfortunately I will have to eat my words regarding our builder - needless to say there has been trouble. Generalisation (or is it?) - builders seem to equate a person being friendly to that person having tonnes of money and therefore not averse to lavishing ridiculous amounts on said builder. Started off well enough but we have been doing some serious calculations over the last week and the last quotes we have gotten from our beloved builder have been beautifully constructed dream castles. Dreamy for him, that is. Time to get back to the real world, for all of us. Not pleasant, but not unexpected, either. However, some more building site pictures below:

From master bedroom door

towards the bathroom

View from the bathroom through the bedroom and through to the window at the top of the staircase leading to my office. And dog.

View from the bedroom balcony - it has suddenly opened up!

On different note:

We got a new sofa, and chucked out the old one - didn't get very far. Our lovely neighbour Dougie made us a nice table, so we chucked the old one out - same story. The animals love their reception area - and it's great for sitting outside or doing potting or sowing outside!

About 6.30 in the morning, view from the bathroom window. All the almond trees are going mental - it's very sweet.

And - what is this?? These are the two ensuite bathrooms. Yes. They are enormous. And please let me repeat - WALK-IN WARDROBES. The window on the upper level is there so you have a nice view of the valley while you shower :-))

And the eagles are right there, Has, you just haven't looked properly ;-)

I cannot believe how fast time goes. Is that because I am getting old? Or? It has been FREEZING here in sunny Spain (hahahaha) - cold wind screaming down the mountain and days that feel as if someone wraps you in a cold, wet blanket as soon as you step out. The clear, sunny (and freezing) days were OK, but the damp ones...Sorry Swedes and Brits!

Things, however, are looking up: almond blossoms are coming out and the veggies are looking happy. We only wear two layers of clothing instead of four (or one, if you sit yourself in the right place). Living in a stone house with nothing but animals and a gas heater to warm your bones is....cold? Bathroom where you can see your breath - showering a priority? Eh...

Anyway, spring is here (I do believe that the more times I say that the faster is it going to be true), the foxes mate in the hills (making a huge racket), one of the cats has come on heat for the first time (annoying and confused, poor thing), lambs are being born (yum yum), birds are going twittering mental, and flowers are, well, flowering.

Now, back to what is constantly on our minds: the house. Have a look:

Roofbeams going up. That's the builder's brand new van, there. Oh, I wonder how he can afford that....No I don't actually :-))

Look, a roof!!

And then the inside of the roof. Ceiling. This is looking from the future doorway to the master bedroom towards the future door of the walk-in wardrobe leading to the bathroom (yeah baby!!!)

Seen from above, the humble little stone house and tiny garage of yore have now become something looking like a compound (just wait for the brick wall, haha). The very small building to the left is storage and where the generator, batteries and inverter live, by the way.

OK, I'll leave for this time with one last image. Renovating? I'd say about a quarter of the old structure is left...