Down to the River

Yesterday we went for a walk just outside of our village.  It was a very nice, sunny day.  Through the mud we trekked, until we came out to the green, green hills.  Everywhere we looked were green hills.  There were flocks of sheep, and a herd of bulls that was making quite a bit of noise.  We travelled along the steep hillsides, carefully stepping along the ridges.

There were beautiful trees with turning leaves, and leaves fallen to the ground.  We heard many different kinds of birds.  It is pheasant season also, and often when we are driving about, we see pheasants running across the road, making their very unique and somewhat startling noise.  Along our walk, we came upon two sheep and a lamb, wandering around by themselves.  The threesome had not had their tails docked for some reason.  Did you know that lambs are born with long tails, but farmers cut them short?  I'm sorry that I took no pictures yesterday of our mini excursion.

We walked all the way down to a river nearby us.  It was running fast.  All around the river were pretty trees with yellow-turning leaves, and moss growing all over the trunks and branches.  It was peaceful to hear the running water, and I wish we could have stayed longer, but I had to get home to prepare dinner.

Today I will try to catch up on the laundry from over the weekend (along with many other things). The dryer takes so long to dry one load--over three hours.  But at least we have one (smiles).  Our guests have come and gone, and I am behind after the weekend and Monday.  For dinner we will have lovely meatloaf with some fried mushrooms, and perhaps some homemade bread.  I am very tired today, not having slept well, but the day must go on (smiles).

Unpacking and Settling in

Last week was a very busy week.  At the beginning of the week, we had a large crate of our belongings from America delivered.  It arrived on a semi-truck (what they call lorries here), and the driver called my husband to let him know that he couldn't find our house.  Our house is down a little road that wasn't obvious to the truck driver.  We went out to find out where he was parked, and I showed him where our house was.  First, the driver tried backing down the small road towards our house.  I stood there with some of the children, covering my eyes, because I was afraid he was going to run into something on the small road in between houses.  Upon realising he couldn't back down all the way to our house, he pulled his huge truck back up the road and decided he would unload the large crate at the top of the hill and pull it down to our property.

All of the children were out now and watched as he began to lift the large crate and pallet onto the pallet jack.  It all looked so unsteady that I turned away, not wanting to watch.  All of this was happening on top of a hill, and the crate was slanting downwards...all of a sudden there was a large "crash", and I looked back to find that our huge crate had fallen over, off of the lorry, with the majority of the boxes that were inside now fallen into the road.  We all gasped, and I was thankful that none of the children were nearby when the boxes came tumbling down.  When we had prepared our crate back in America, we had secured it with straps, but apparently somewhere along its journey, the straps had been taken off and were never replaced, which caused the instability.  I approached the driver and asked if he would like us to just start carrying boxes down to our house.  He did, but they were quite heavy, so some of the children worked together to carry boxes down the road.  Thankfully, shortly after this, my dear husband came home on his lunch break to help us with our predicament, and he helped us get all of our 26 boxes into the house.

The next couple of days were spent unpacking and putting things away in the house.  Thankfully, my husband had gotten enough bookshelves to contain the many books we brought with us.  We also now have our clothes for the cold weather, as we had been getting cold here without them!

A storm hit here over the weekend, which made it very cloudy, rainy, and windy here.  This made for a great time of snuggling in on Saturday to play games, have Bible study, and watch Little House on the Prairie together as a family.  We have also had some beautiful sunsets.  We also went apple picking last week, as our neighbours have several apple trees and invite us to come and pick their apples.  We have already made applesauce and apple cider, and we have plans to make apple butter, apple tarts, apple crisp, and perhaps some apple pie.  My husband and the children have peeled and cut up much of the apples and put them in the freezer for later.  I also need to make some berry preserves with the blackberries we have picked--they grow wild here all over.  Cherished of God is making homemade candied fruit for the fruit cake she is making for Christmas.  We've never made a fruit cake before, but she wants to try it since we are now in our new home, and it's a tradition here.

Our school books arrived in our crate, so I have to get busy planning everyone's school assignments, and I have to get back to teaching, along with of course getting ready for our many guests coming soon (smiles).

Company's Coming

Thank you for your inquiries into my health--I am thankfully feeling much better today--just a little bit tired still, and I have a slight headache.  I will be easing back into homemaking tasks today as much as I am able.

In a couple of weeks' time, we will have a full house (well, fuller than just our normal family, *smiles*) of some people from church, and some of my husband's family.  They will come for the afternoon, and then for supper, and my husband's family will spend the night.  My husband made all these plans on his own (smiles).  I am not used to having much company around the house, or entertaining lots of people, as I grew up in a household that hardly had any guests.  For the past several years, I was also not in a position to be able to cook meals for other people besides our family.  I am also a very shy person, and I thrive on quiet and routine.  Being around lots of people wipes me out.

But nevertheless, the guests are coming, and my husband wants me to practice hospitality, which of course I know is important.  So I will prepare myself mentally as much as I can, and strive to plan meals that will feed a large crowd and pray for the Lord to help me.  Maybe I am a bit silly, but this is just not something I am used to--especially with just having immigrated to a different country and having never met these people before (smiles).

The girls and I love to pick fresh flowers to decorate our home.  I'm glad there are still flowers out this time of year!

Spoiled Housewife

I am feeling a bit spoiled today. I am sitting in bed, listening to the beautiful chirping of birds outside my bedroom window.  I can see white sheep spread across the distant hills and the ocean beyond.  I hear cows mooing also, and the bleating of sheep.  Every once in a while I hear dogs barking.  The furry kitty has come to spend time with me on the bed.

I am recovering from what must be food poisoning.  Yesterday I fell ill and spent the whole day in bed (when I was not in the "toilet").  My eldest brought me water, kefir, crackers, broth, and finally some breakfast when I thought I could stomach it.  I was exhausted the whole day.  Today I am feeling much better.  Yesterday my dear husband got off of work a bit early to come home to check on me and also make dinner.  Not every wife has a husband such as this.  I am extremely blessed.  Today he insisted on getting off work early to be home with me and our children.  He has also offered to make dinner again.  He will make his lovely chicken mushroom tagetelli (not sure of the spelling on that one).  Yesterday he spoiled us with lamb chops.

The girls also got the laundry almost caught up yesterday.  We had been surviving with a tiny little washer that my husband used when he lived alone.  This was not sufficient for our somewhat large family.  So he bought us a new washer and a dryer also, as the drying cupboard did not get our loads of laundry dry for days, and we ran out of space for hanging things *smiles*

I am so very happy to be feeling on the mend today, and can't wait until I feel much better so I can be up and about going about my homemaking duties.

Linked to: Classical Homemaking link up

Coming Autumn

Autumn has arrived here, by the calendar and by the weather.  Where we used to live, it was often still quite hot at this time of year.  But here, the weather has crisped up, and the leaves are starting to turn colors.  It is wonderful to enjoy the fall weather.  There is a lot of rain here though.  I am very thankful for our wood burners and that my husband gets fires going on very chilly mornings before he goes to work.

Some of the neighboring houses have lovely ivy growing on them.  This ivy was a bright red a few days ago, but now most of the leaves have fallen off.

I just adore the stone buildings that have so much character.

A cloudy, rainy, but beautiful day here

A New Start

Just like we have recently started our lives anew, I am starting some writings anew here to collect memories and thoughts.

Today is a glorious new day. Thank you, Lord, for giving it to us.  As I write, our eldest and some of the other children are in the next room practicing Christmas carols for when we will carol to our village at Christmas time.  Cherished of God has made different parts for everyone to learn to sing in harmony.

I must get busy with my day, having not even eaten breakfast.  There is much to do, as we have been away for most of the past two days.  Laundry is high on the list, with our tiny little washer.