The Warmth From Our Kitchen Oven.

 A magical time begins.

Yes, this afternoon I managed to get our kitchen aga-like oven lit the first time. As I write this there is a fire crackling contently in our kitchen, permeating our house with a lovely warmth. Earlier on my parents brought a whole container of end cuts of wood, those that are perfect for lighting a fire. Brilliant and so thankful they did. Nice.

The weather turned cold today and I think that warm days are gone for the next six months. Like it should be. Winter season, different but nice all the same. Maxi has just wandered into our kitchen trying to work out where the  crackling sound and warmth is coming from. Will he lie next to it? Time will tell.

Earlier on I took him for his afternoon walk and noticed quite a few of the chimneys along the route emitting plumes of smoke. A reminder that it was cold!

During summer I use the top of the oven as another surface, one full of fruit bowls and the odd kitchen utensils one can't be bothered to put away or that don't have a place to be put away to. Our kitchen is small and a few extra apples here, spare plates there and a popcorn machine make it look crowded, eclectic and lived in, although I have a sneaking suspicion that it just looks messy! Ah well, so be it... 

It took me less than five minutes to get rid of all that stuff by either putting or throwing them away.  I know, I know, I should do that more often but alas, it is still a skill I am in the process of learning! Time will tell....

Looking for a photo of our aga-like oven I found a few photos of how much we have achieved! This is our kitchen which we had to totally dismantle and dig up. There Attila is helping us for the day, but most of the hard work was done by Bob and I...gosh, I forgot about all those days of feeling overwhelmed at the task ahead.

Our first few months out of Africa we were doing all the manual labour needed to renovate our house. Memories....

Once we had dug, filled in and plastered our kitchen we had to try and get the moisture out of the walls. There is Bob tending to our oven. This little oven helped dry out the house. Old is good.

Our kitchen turned out nice. This is a photo from 2013, when we hadn't collected so much stuff yet. Must try and declutter our kitchen as soon as possible.

Biggi