Vivi & Frank in England

Last Wednesday (05 of August) we welcomed our first guests in our home: my parents, who came from Germany with the very important mission of planning and creating our front garden.

The week before we had the dull concrete slabs paving the walkway in front of the house removed.
After the planning, that included a drawing of the garden and the ideas of my mother, we started the work under a surprisingly good weather!

Following much digging, stooping and bending (even some climbing!) the garden was ready in two days, including mowing all the lawn and weeding the back area, which (maybe next year?) can give space to a back garden! Thanks to both of you for the help in giving our house a feeling of home.

Our new living room furniture ;)

Last Sunday we mowed our lawn. It was high time - the grass was so tall that I had the impression that any time I'd look out of the window and see a cow grazing... It was sunny, we had time, we had a mower and even an old rake, which proved to be very helpful. It took us 3 hours, 15 bags, many sneezes and some sweat. It's not perfect yet, but it looks much better now.

Many cats live in our street, so everyday it's possible to see some. Walking relaxed on the grass, spying out of a window, using the bushes, always with an air of superiority. Some are very cheeky, like the two that entered our car one evening. They're so cute!

It's been one and a half weeks since we moved in our new home. Until last monday we were divided between two addresses, bringing our belongings bit by bit after work. Now everything is here, and everything is everywhere. Our kitchen is almost ready and soon it will not be necessary to do the dishes on the bathtub. In some weeks we're going to buy our wardrobe and then our clothes won't come out of green garden waste bags! But even with all the mess, we are very happy in our home sweet home. A bit of patience and everything will settle down.

The day before yesterday we moved into our new house, finally. There are no new pictures right now as we have no internet connection (will be installed next week - hopefully). Furthermore it looks like after an explosion, especially as we have no wardrobes in the bedroom and no cupboards in the kitchen.
The bedroom we wanted to buy had one piece out of stock, so this will be delayed a bit.
The kitchen already stands around, unfortunately still wrapped nicely in cardboard boxes. We hope that it will be fitted during the next week.

Can anybody tell me why there is good weather for nearly three weeks (in which one needs to work inside), but constant rain starts at the very moment one wants to go outside to not saw the cork inside the house...?

Finally the cork arrived.

Living room - Cork pile and Vivi painting

Well, as I have not given any sign of life for quite a while, here is a short update:
The ceiling and the walls have wallpaper now, and are even painted, only some small corners still need a second coating.
The cork arrived last weekend, the preparations to install it are more or less done, therefore soon we will have a cork floor instead of a concrete one.
I even have some new pictures, but somehow no time to copy them from the camera to the website. Perhaps I have do it at the weekend, but no promise...

Some pictures of the house how we got it: