Thursday, January 5, 2012

We Introduce Our House

Enter in the front door
The front area is a narrow strip of concrete, so for the first time I'll ACTUALLY be gardening on concrete. Which I'm not sure I really wanted to do, but it's going to be fun.
There's a short corridor, with doors to the living room, kitchen, and bathroom
This is our living room. The fireplace is one of my favorite things in the house.
The living room connects to the kitchen, which is bare but opens out into a small stone-tiled area, where we hang laundry, put some potted vegetables (and a tree or two?!), and maybe one day raise quail.
The kitchen just has this sink, and the paint and plaster is struggling. We're weighing what we can handle doing against the fact that it would be nice to be able to actually use the kitchen, and not just be trying to fix it, sometime soon.
Here's the outside area- Eug is taking a photo from the far corner of it. It can be packed with plants, and I'm optimistic about how much food we can grow. It's also possible that the tiles can be gradually removed. Taken when we bought the house, and I was pregnant with Noah. Aah, two years later and pregnant again. The circularity of it all...
The last room downstairs is the bathroom, which is also quite basic. But it has a window and potential for greatness. 
Up the stairs....
To the geyser/water heater. We're hoping that the geyser won't be necessary once we get a solar heater, or that we could have a smaller geyser at some point, that could fit in the roof. Right now it's blocking the entrance to the second bathroom.
The second bathroom is painted bright blue, and has a bath and sink (no toilet...yet)
And finally, two identical rooms, one (hopefully) for Noah and the future little blob. Note I'm still wearing the rabbit pants...
 Phew. You made it through the extensive "before" tour. I promise, I'll do the "after" tour in bits.

The house is far from perfect, but it's ours. No banks. It's a little house. Eug and I are dreaming of making it a place of rest and refuge for people who want to stop by. If you're the praying type, please do pray that we could make it so- we're early beginners in hospitality, and it would be great if we could learn it in-process, not only when we feel our house is "presentable". We have a lot to do, and we'll likely do it very (very) slowly.

7 comments:

Vanessa said...

Your house is beautiful and it will be even more so once you move in and fill it with family and love. :) I love the wood floors with so much character! And two bathrooms always come in handy. Sending love and prayers your way.

Marda said...

You are awesome and totally inspiring Jo ! The house is beautiful already. Sending prayers that you handle all the changes coming your way with grace and joy.

emily said...

Jo, it's GREAT! Rumor has it that container gardening is easiest way to get good soil anyway. And if the kitchen is only going to have a sink as yet, a stainless one is de beest! Looks awesome. Can't wait to see pictures of it populated by you blobs:), filling it with life! And worms too!

Linda said...

Looks like it needs some love - how did the previous owners live with their house getting neglected like that? But otherwise full of character and cozy! Love the wooden floors :)

Kate said...

Oh, I am so excited that I am going to see this place, and you four, in the not too distant future. Love

Concrete Gardener said...

I can't wait for you to visit Kate! (and maybe to visit you in KZN, too!!) May it be the best year.

angie said...

Well the fireplace is indeed beautiful but the water geyser is simply spiffy too! It's a lovely house - and we wish you lovely times in it...