Working on the outside

I know, I know, it has been ages since any of us updated this little piece of the interwebs. A lot has changed over the last couple of months, and I promise we’ll give you a tour of the place soon. For now we have been working outside mostly. A huge amount of garbage has disappeared into trash bags and the recycling. So now it’s time to give it some flair. Such as giving this old barn wall a little colour and shine! We found these mirror boxes at the action store (yup, we were spending again). Oh yes, even though we have neglected them, every rosebush we own is in bloom!

 

Still working on the bathroom

Time for a bathroom update. Mum and I decided to take a couple of days to attack the bathroom ceiling once again. After the initial stage of getting off all the plaster, paint, and muck, we painted on a layer of water resistant paint. The paint we used was originally meant to impregnate outer walls against humidity, but it worked well for our bathroom too.

After the paint dried we added a layer of our favourite 75 gue. And it stuck!! Looking good right? Now we just have to wait for the 75 gue to dry before we can finish it off.

The Bathroom Surprise (part two)

After uncovering a very pretty floor the last time around, we now turned to the ceiling. It was not a pretty sight! The ceiling was a clear cover up. Plasticised wooden boards on a wooden frame, not the best thing to put in a bathroom. The boards came off easy enough with old mice nests and their dead inhabitants in its wake.

The frame was a different story, although even that one came off eventually. And it revealed… This! The old vaulted ceiling! Why would anyone be dumb/crazy enough to hide this beauty?? With a little bit of work it could look just like the ceiling in the hall or kitchen.

The Animals

So far, it looks like the animals are settling into their new environment. For some it has been a rather traumatic experience, but they’re coping pretty well and have adjusted to the rural way of life.

The fish are getting used to the new local cuisine..

Amat is sleeping after bringing in a dead mouse/rat again..

The Chickens are getting used to the great outdoors, and are enjoying themselves with having sandbaths. Furthermore they are developing the art of braking and entering into the human-house.

Last but not least, the cows are getting used to the very interesting stuff the humans are bringing into their meadow. I think everyone is pretty content with their new way of life.

The Electrician (part one)

Finally, he came! And he was gone again.. In the few hours he was here he placed little black boxes in all the holes we cut out. Now we just have to sit tight and wait for him to show again.

The Floor Story (part three)

Once the floor and 20 cm of sand were out, Toms dad pounded down the sand, and we started putting in the insulation.

First part of insulation was fitting in a layer of thick plastic sheeting. On top of that came the puzzle that is insulation. On top of that came yet again a layer of plastic sheeting. Now we just have to wait for the electrician to finish, and we’re back to flooring.

The Floor Story (part two)

Big shock, no floor! In order to get a new floor in we had to get rid of the old one (neatly stacked in the barn) and do some more work. To have space for insulation and for a firm underground (that not being sand) we had to dig out 20 cm. Just to give you an idea of the amount of work: the room is 40 m², we had to dig out a minimum of 20 cm, that equals about 8 m³ of sand we had to displace. We managed to do it in two days! Oh, and we got rid of the fire place, it was a couple of centimetres too small for the Stove.

Just for laughs, this is the 11 m³ container we hired after two days of digging. This would never have been possible without the enormous efforts from Tom’s dad!

The Floor Story (part one of many)

When we bought our new place the living room floor was in a pretty bad state, and we made it so much worse. Because of its bad state we decided to open it up in order to place our new electricity lines underneath. So wee started out taking out the tiles one by one… I just hope that eventually we’ll have a floor again.

The house update

After four very long days of sawing and hammering we (Tom, his parents, and me) managed to get all the appropriate holes and trenches in the right walls. Now we just have to wait for the electrician to show up and bless us with electricity.

Funny story, one only ‘strong’ power outlet in the living room turned out to be attached to a cable that originated in an outlet in the attic. From there the cable did the grand tour of the attic, left through the roof, went down behind the gutter pipe, and finally became the socket in the wall of the living room.

Because of the bad state of the floor tiles, and the fact that they were placed into the dirt directly, we decided to go for a new floor. Either tomorrow or this weekend we’ll be going floor-shopping. Still, the remainder of the tiles still have to be taken out, and the rooms have to be dug out in order to poor in a new under floor.

Furthermore, while we were cutting into the walls, we found out that on top of the bricks was a thick (1-3 cm) layer of clay mixed with straw and animal hair. For now we’re still not sure what to do about it. By now two plasterers have come by to give their opinion. One sais to leave it on and fix a layer of woven wallpaper (they have a smooth version of that too) on top. The other sais to take it off and plaster the walls again. Since all the fixtures that are custom made for the room, the new layer of plaster will have to have the same thickness as they layer of clay. Besides, the latter option will probably be a lot more costly than the former.  We’ll just have to wait and see I guess.

The Bathroom Surprise

This house is full of both pleasant and unpleasant surprises. One of the more pleasant ones is the bathroom. When I was scrubbing like an obsessive maniac t get it cleaned up I wondered what was under that atrocious and icky linoleum. So I started picking at a corner..

Under the first layer there was a second dirty and fungus infested layer. And under that layer was…

The original tile floor. Although a little fungy and severely stained by years of humidity it still is in great shape. Especially if you clean it up a little. Surprise!!

The Chickens

There is not a farm without chickens, and now this one has them too! Through a Dutch initiative to rescue laying chickens before they are slaughtered called Red een Legkip, we ordered four chickens. Today we could pick them up at Vogel en Zoogdieren Opvangcentrum, an animal rescue in Limburg. In the end we came home with six ladies!
Please check out both amazing organisations, and at least like them on facebook!

The six ladies in the car, thank god that I have a huge banana-car.

The first moments in their new house, not as bad as they thought it was..

Since we now own a wine cellar: Mead

This week in an effort to clean the inside of the house (yes, that is that ugly C-word again), we decided to muck out the wine cellar. Besides finding a vintage sink, ancient Stella glasses, and a bottle of holy water from Lourdes, we dug up a pretty nice space. And, since our been making stuff was already close we decided to give making mead a shot (don’t mind the mess in our kitchen, we’re still living out of boxes, do have a look at that ceiling – love it!). I found a recipe online that we followed:

1 package of Red Star "Premier Cuvee" yeast
4 pounds of clover honey = 1.82 kg
1 gallon of spring water = 3.79 l
8 ounces of Black berries - Frozen = 226 gr
1 whole clove
inch and a quarter ( 1 1/4 ) long section of a vanilla bean. Split length-wise.

First set your black berries out so that they have enough time to thaw. I try to pick out the darkest of the berries at this point. I use about half a pound for this recipe. This amount gives the mead a wonderful dark red colour and just enough taste of Blackberry to make it special. Once they have thawed crush them in a bowl and set aside.

Pour about one third of a gallon of spring water into a pot. Gently heat the water on the stove to about 90 degrees (= 30 Celsius) ( a candy thermometer is very helpful here ) and add your honey, being sure to keep stirring evenly so the honey doesn't get burned and the mixture becomes homogenous. Remove from the stove and stir for another minute, adding spring water until you have used about a half of your gallon jug. Let this sit to cool to room temperature.

Using a funnel, pour your honey and water from the pot into a 1 gallon carboy. Pour in enough of the remaining spring water so there is about an inch left until the gallon mark. Now you can add the yeast and the nutrient. Shake for about 4 minutes and add blackberries. Shake for at least another minute so that all of the ingredients are mixed and the batch has an even dark red colour.

Let this ferment for 2-3 weeks. Siphon into a clean 1 gallon carboy leaving behind as much sediment as you can.

Take your section of vanilla bean after it has been prepared and place it into a muslin tea bag. Steam the bag and place into the mead. After 4-5 days check the taste of the mead. If there is enough of a vanilla flavour remove the tea bag. Repeat this process with the clove. I like to leave it in until there is just a hint of clove. [from here]

In stead of blackberries we used a frozen ‘forest fruit’ mixture from the Colruyt. So far it’s bubbling away nicely in our wince cellar.. waiting for lots of other bubbling friends to join him.

The update

It seems like ages ago that I’ve written a post again. So, here’s the update: since last time we have officially become home owners!! Since then we have done a huge amount of work that all boils down to two things:

1. Carry stuff to a different location (this includes both moving everything we own from our old apartment to out new place, and getting rid of all the old junk that was still in the barns (yes, that is plural).

2. Clean. And I hate cleaning! First of all we had to clean our old apartment meticulously for the obvious reason that we had the most irritating lying piece of scum you can imagine as a landlord (I honestly don’t care if he reads this, you miserable piece of shit). Then we had to clean our new house. The previous owner had rented it out to a very very dirty person who apparently brushed her two huskies daily inside! To make things worse she was not of the cleaning type, and liked living in a house filled with dog hair. So, for the last day I’ve been cleaning up her (and her two mutts) filth. Such fun! (Yes, I’ve been listening to Miranda again)

Now that our daily activities are out of the way it’s time for some good news. First of all my adopted-Tajik-sister gave birth to her second son yesterday!! Secondly, today was (I hope) my last exam ever!! Now I just have to wait until September 13th before I’m officially an ‘MSc’.

Our first night in our new home

Since everything was way to icky to sleep inside we decided to have a camping night. And yes, these lovely ladies are our moowing machines. They’re on loan from a local farmer! Furthermore Amat is having a ball following the ladies around, just until they become curious and come a little to close. :D
By the way, I really have to start thinking about a new blog title, this one is almost out dated…

Back in Belgium

Now that I’m back home I’ve finally had the time to upload the video I took while watching René bake his bread. I added it to the corresponding post. But just to be sure, here it is again.

So, now that I’m home it’s time to get packing! We’re signing for our new place this Thursday (yaaaaay), Friday we’ll be cutting open some walls so that the cable guy can come, finally on Saturday we’ll be moving all our stuff. Thank God Tom’s dad and little brother will be helping us out. As always I’ll try to make as many photos as possible.

Our House

Surprise! We bought a house.. this house!

Keep you posted!

DIY Teapot Birdhouse

Do you remember the teapot birdhouse I mentioned two days ago? And do you remember my shopping spree in the second hand shop where I was looking for a teapot? You can guess what I've been up to!

This is the teapot (1.50 €) I bought at the second hand shop. Although I would have preferred a more kitsch one with some gold and flowers this was the only one they had. In the end it did not even turn out to be such a bad choice.

When I finally figured out how to operate my Christmas present Dremel (thanks Tom < 3) I drilled a hole in the bottom with a diamond bit. At first the drilling didn't go so well (it sounded like the dentist), but then I remembered reading somewhere that you should add a little water to the porcelain surface you are drilling, and it flew through. 

At around 2.5 m we had a lonely and useless peg in the wall outside that looked perfect for the new birdhouse. With a little wiggling and enlarging the hole it even fit! And look how cute it is (the fake bird (aka geocache) for the pictures was Toms brilliant idea)!!!

Homemade Bird Food Cups

With the continuing snow and freeze birds have been having quite a hard time finding food. Most people (me included) put some bird food outside. It turns out you can make it yourself too! And you can make it very stylish!

The recipe is simple:

500 gr. Fat (I used frying fat)

500 gr. Bird Seed

4-6 Cups

Melt the fat and add the bird seeds. Pour the mixture in the cups (I got four from the second hand shop for 30 ct. a piece) and wait until it hardens again. If some seeds start floating you can stir the mixture in the cups a final time before it really hardens.

You can put the cups on the ground to accommodate larger birds, or you can hang them my the ear with some ribbon to feed the smaller birds.

If you decide to hand them you could put in a little stick before it hardens, so that the little birds have something to sit on while they enjoy your homemade bird food cups!