Living is a very different process to building, the activity of making and finishing the home is constantly in progress. I’ve fallen out of the practice of writing and sharing about our home as the challenges have evolved. The human messiness of living day to day life of rearing small kids, work and keeping everyone fed, clean and happy is the priority.
We have lived through each of the four seasons, appreciating the changing light, natures blooming and hibernation. Regardless of the weather outside, we have always been comfortable and safe, a far cry from our friends in Palestine, Lebanon and Ukraine. There is feeling of guilt and gratitude that comes with enjoying our forever home.
The ‘summer’ or should I say the time that passed between May and September has been about the outside, preparing the ground, planting and nurturing, the rain probably hasn’t been a bad thing for the new plants, that could establish their roots and produce some serious growth. The focus has moved from construction dust to muck.
This outside space is a work in progress, we haven’t paved it yet, but the planting has started to soften the edges, I look forward to the paving, so we can wander barefoot from inside to out. It’s been good to have part lawn even if unfinished so the kids could play football during the summer, the Euros, Olympics and the many finals Galway played in provided plenty of inspiration to play like their sporting heroes.
During the bright months of May, June and July, we barely turned on an electric light enjoying the luminescence of the long evenings. The to do list has not shortened, we just keep adding more items to it and there is a ban on me saying ‘I have an idea’ until we make more progress.
The photos are certainly not instaperfect, but they are a work in progress, I feel we have made progress when you look at the bare area we started with, nature has to grow at its own pace and we need to be patient and receptive to its needs.
