What, You Don't Sleep With A Broom Next To Your Bed?

Move over urban legend... rural necessity has arrived!

There are many ways to catch a monkey, and of course there are many ways to sleep at night. Before your mind does a bit of a hop, skip and jump into those shady grey areas, let me clarify: One can sleep comfortably, alone, not alone and sleep through the night.

Of course, sleeping through the night is not always granted to me as my mind seems to think it's time to get up, even if it is one in the morning. Fair enough, one learns to adjust.

Somehow, life seems to be determined for Bob and I to embrace the rural lifestyle with both hands. Our problem with a few mice having an outing in our home is known even beyond this blog...the other day I met our local " cat woman " ( no, not Michelle P, but the lady who looks after stray cats... ) and merely hinted that we were interested in having a little kitten.

" Oh, that's right. I have heard you had a mouse problem! "

clearly the cat's out of the bag!!!

Mice having a field day in your home seems typical for a rural setting and we are sorting that problem by getting a little kitten. In fact, Bob and I are already discussing the possible character traits of said kitten and hopefully it is a well behaved one.

The last few days, we have been getting a few hints from above. Not the celestial type, but the ceiling type. Thankfully, both of us knew that what we heard wasn't ghostly but rather ghastly. Something is crawling around on top of our ceiling and no, it isn't our darling feral cat Tigger. Although, in an effort of tough love, Bob and I are discussing whether we should not feed her a day or two.

Calm down, it isn't an act of feline torture, but let's not forget that an outside cat should control her fiefdom...mice in the roof should be an appetizer for her and if it is a rat, then that clearly is the main course. At the moment she is so lazy and moves slower due to her middle age spread.

At first it was merely a bit of a scratch here and a running there above our heads. Definitely the calm before the storm. Our little resident ( mouse, rat or marten ) has gone crazy. It will spend at least 30 minutes scratching like mad right above us in the ceiling. The most awful sound and I kind of expect our ceiling to develop a hole soon.

Bob gets so irate, that instead of watching Tatort he is busy creating his own. Last night he spent a long time knocking the broom handle on our ceiling along with a string of choice words. In a strange way it was rather funny. There was Bob swearing and using the broom for anything but sweeping the floor and I got the distinct feeling that whatever was up in our ceiling, took this knocking as a sort of game.

The more Bob knocked the more this little bugger scratched around. Eventually, I made Bob realize the futility of this game and casually mentioned that he would have to climb up there during daylight hours to see. Gosh, he was so irate that the thought of getting the better of this twit in our ceiling made him agree to an excursion up above ....which means that yours truly needn't go up into a dusty ceiling.

Biggi

How Many Culinary It-Gadgets Have You Got?

You know, those - I can't do without them - kitchen gadgets!

Bob was just making a batch of cookies by hand. No scales, no special spoons and no timers. He just made them a la " a pinch here & a pinch there " and they taste great.

The kitchens from here to the other end of the world are covered in gadgets. The mixer, the fancy espresso machine, the computerized scale, the oven door that slides with precision, the electric knife, the stove that kids can put their hands on top and not get burned...goodness, how did we grow up around our neanderthal stoves?

How many of these treats do we actually use? Often they are too much of a bother. Unearthing them from their place of residence, usually a place in the back of a cupboard means we have to dust them off before using them and laboriously clean them after. Not everyone has help in the washing up department...even though, with parents having such prolific offspring, you'd think more teenagers would be active in the washing up department!

When your kitchen is small, having any surface covered by an unnecessary gadget is stupid. Small kitchen's usually equate to even less cupboard space and suddenly these gadgets are part of the landscape. You dust around them ( move any of them an inch to see a dusty outline ) because you dare not throw them out. Either you paid a fortune or they were some well meaning gift of a favourite relative, and they could drop in at any moment!

Dating gadgets becomes rather fun and easy. Even here in our little village, the kitchens are littered with those George Clooney Coffee Machines, or imitations of them. The capsule ones. They spread like wildfire back in the day ( 2007 or so...) and everyone wanted them.

No one gave a thought to how expensive the capsules were or how making coffee for a group of friends at the same time proved to be almost impossible. Either they drank the cups as you made them, or the cups were a lucky dip regarding temperature.

When I visit anyone who is on the shady side of 50, they will have two types of coffee machines. The old-fashioned Filter one and the George Clooney edition next to it. Three guesses why they have two... Oh yes, it was a perfect Christmas gift from their children. A gift, that like so many gifts was more about the joy of the giver than the receiver.

Those on the shady side of 50, almost have heart failure when they see the price of a coffee capsule and rather stick to their filter way of making coffee. The fancy machine gets used when the children come around...

Do you also have these fancy and often unused kitchen gadgets?

Biggi

A Genius Invented This Thickness.

A cool head among this thickness.

Who is this genius? Well, the person who built our house all those years ago and I am guessing it is close to a century old ( There are no official records ). A hundred years ago there was no electricity or running water inside the house. Yet, in a way they were light years ahead of us. The first eco - warriors.

Think about living your life without having either the possibility or thought of electricity. When you take this out of the equation you tend to work with what you have and use it wisely. Wisely enough to make your life easier and efficient. Oh I know that is a strange idea for our electricity ( we have it so let's use as much as possible ) reared generation.

If your house is feeling warm inside, you buy an air conditioner and don't even consider the consequence of it. Remember it's not just you who does it but millions as well. Why do you think that electricity grids which are so temperamental ( such as South Africa ) tend to crash when it is extremely hot or cold? That is when most folk switch on their appliances at the same time.

It might sound strange, but when an economy or families are in a spot of financial bother, they start to use and work with what they have. Wastage is then out of the equation and I tend to think that is a bonus for our fight against Global Warming. When money is scarce, we make do with clothes that are not so fashionable any more ( who cares anyway ? ), we drive cars a little longer than advertisers want us to do and we use left over foods. Makes you think, doesn't it?

Anyway, back to the thickness. The internal and external walls in our house must be at least 60 cm thick. Windows were only placed on one side of the house. The ' backside ' of our house has two little windows...the loo windows! ( For our own comfort, we have made them a tad bit larger!!! ). In summer and winter, this is a huge advantage. When it is very hot, we only air our house in the early morning and late evening. In between, all windows are closed and curtains drawn. Let me tell you from my own experience that our house feels as if we do have an air conditioner running. Cool and comfortable despite the current heat wave.

In winter the opposite takes place. We still open all our windows early morning and late evening but only for about 10 min each time. The heat stays in, yet the fresh air makes sure the moisture content is correct. Not a place for fungus / mould. ( In case you are wondering, yes, the loo windows are an exception to the rule regarding opening times. )

Old houses are fantastic, useful and full of character. Maybe the modern designers should work along the lines of: " Back to the past & into the future. "

Biggi

Our unbelievably thick walls.

You can just glimpse a bit of my work-station where I am surrounded by thickness....

The Road Crew Almost Brought Down Our House.

The stuff of legends and honeymoons.

Usually this is written about in romance novels and urban folklore about your honeymoon night. Yet we had our own experience of the walls and foundation shaking and no, it wasn't our honeymoon night either.

When the walls start shaking and you hear that loud reverberating noise it can give you quite a fright. In our case a peek out the window was enough to reassure us. The road crew was busy fixing up the lane outside our house. A warning would have been nice. But the world over, road crews are more concerned with getting on than getting along.

The first photo I dared to take was after the ' ripper-upper ' had done its deed. Can you imagine the sheer power of those spikes on its wheels?

This sand pit of tarmac looks inviting enough to bring a bucket and spade.

The Big Machine outside and lots of onlookers. With any luck the machine will drive too close to our hedge and trim it for us...

When this vehicle-The Steamroller-starts to press down the surface, the waves of its power reverberate right through to your stomach. Never mind that the whole house shakes. As you can see the lane is about 1.50 meters from our house.

The big boss inspects the work.

This is a view from our back bathroom window at the end of the day. We don't have curtains on that window because of the nice view. But as the window is right above the loo, we chose not to use it yesterday...

Action and excitement outside our house with our own road signs.

This morning Bob couldn't help himself. When he saw this scene he rushed outside like a young schoolboy shouting: " Can you believe it, we've got our own red-light district outside our house."

Biggi

Making A Mosquito & Fly Proof Window !

Keeping those mosquitos outside is not so easy.

As I told you yesterday, we have a mosquito problem. But, who doesn't in Summer ? For all I know, we would miss them, if they were not there anymore ? Oh, of course !!!

Albert offered to help us make those netted window covers. Foolproof against the pesky flying brigade. All week, he and Bob have been cutting long wooden planks, measuring and assembling them. Not a mean feat in these subtropical temperatures.

After a particularly hot morning, they discovered our barn was a perfect woodwork centre. Albert is fantastic in how he at first explains and shows Bob how things are to be done. He does a particular task and then tells Bob to do it. He is patient and lets Bob get on with it. Mistakes or not. " Don't worry Bob, we can do it again " are great words of wisdom.

Before we moved here, Bob was not so good with the D.I.Y stuff. The only way he showed a builders butt, was if he had too much change in his pockets...Well, now Bob is assembling and making windows, shelves and I wonder what he'll make next.

What is great, is that Bob enjoys this new found skill.( What a man...yeah, he's my man ! )

As for the mosquito repellent windows, they work well, until we open the door and other unprotected windows ! In this heat, it is vital to open everything to get the cool air into the house. But, on the whole, it is much much better and the air is not so full of buzzes.

Bob sanding the wood.

Thank Goodness that Bob's wearing trendy undies...check out the sliding pants. Builders & handymen the world over should only favour braces with their trousers...

Admiring his work. Can you see the yellow mosquito repellent bracelet on his wrist ? Looks rather trendy !

One of the finished window covers.

The one on the right has a cover. You notice it from the outside, but can't see it from the inside.

Biggi

Fixing & Cleaning Up Our Earth Cellar.

The farmers of yesteryear were smart.

Nowadays we could not imagine living without electricity. Hey, there are more uses for electricity apart from the computer and television ! Such as a fridge for instance.

If you have ever had a power failure for more than a few hours, you start to realize how much we rely on electricity to keep our food fresh. Look, it might be fine in the northern hemisphere's winter...you can stick it on the window sill and have frozen milk and cheese. But in the summer it gets a bit dicey, don't you think ?

Well, this is where the farmers of yesteryear were so clever. Earth Cellars are ingenious. To be honest, I never knew of them. Cellars yes, but earth cellars, no. When you see it from the outside, it looks just like an outbuilding. But it is actually a room with most of its walls built below the ground.

Yesterday we sported temperatures of 38 degrees. A scorcher of a day. A day when laundry was dry within an hour of being on the line. Stepping into the earth cellar, was like entering an air conditioned room. If it wasn't for the numerous spiders, I would instantly put a bed and TV inside.

You know, we have a lot of outbuildings and enough work for a month of Sundays. After more or less finishing the inside of our home, we took a breather with the rest. Apart from it costing a bit of dosh, Bob and I had spent our renovating-enthusiasm for a while.

But it is back....Bob and Albert braved the heat yesterday morning and started on making a shelving space for the cellar. Now we just need to clean and clear it out, and it will be a wonderful hidey hole from the heat...

They say, that if you put a ' fresh ' apple into the earth cellar, it will stay like that the whole year. One way to describe it would be a " cool, dry and dark " walk-inn larder.

Biggi

This is our earth cellar from the outside. The end of the building.

A real paradise for the " fixer-upper " enthusiast !

A rustic charm ?

I tell you, walking in is a personal challenge. Note all those spider web-villages hanging on the left of the door frame !

A storage space of individual decades ? Old wine barrel bottoms alongside an exercise ball !

Look how fabulous the new shelving is. Ready for all our homemade jams...

The Émigrés - Already 2 Years In Burgenland. ( 1 )

We have lived a whole lifetime in those 2 years !

Emigrating is never easy, although it is an adventure second to none. It can test all your strengths, emotions and resolve. But what a privilege and opportunity to have been able to do it.

This was us, hot off the plane. My parents took us straight to our house... Look how full of the joys of spring we were !

Our first week of working in our house. Our bodies were in shock for weeks. Not to mention in pain !
They make it look so easy on those home make-over shows. There should be a banner at the bottom of the screen : " Careful, D.I.Y. is hard physical work."

We literally dug out ( and 60 cm down ) every floor in our house. Fun with the first room, but that tends to fade...

In between the digging and hammering, we had a lot of
" rays of sunshine ". Here we are at our local bank. Each year they invite the whole village for free food & drinks. Oh yes, it does happen !

My work as a " stripper " of doors. I was high for days from fumes of melting paint & glue.

Every Saturday for months on end, this was our world from 7am - 5pm. Mixing concrete: shoveling the sand, emptying the cement packets, mixing to the right consistency, pouring it in the wheelbarrow & poor Bob had to navigate that vehicle ( fully loaded ) over precarious terrain ! Even when it was freezing cold.

We put this old " Aga " stove to good use, to have heat. The house was freezing and we needed to make sure that the cement would dry. Those were the days of dressing in layers. Going to the lav, was an exercise in peeling off the layers.

The beauty of nature and our part of Burgenland, made up for all the hard work.

Please check in tomorrow, for the next lot of pictures of our journey !

Biggi

Fixing Up Our House The Slow Way.

It doesn't have to be perfect.

Once you learn to stop the need to impress your neighbours, friends and dare I say " countrymen " life gets so much more fun and simpler. The only person you need to impress is yourself.

We love our house. It is old but solid. The first year we were here, we worked off kilo after kilo redoing the inside. Oh yes, we really put our backs into it. Taking up old floors and digging down 60 cm is fun only on the first room ! Chiselling off old plaster on all the walls can only be described as a labour of love...

Bob and I are as snug as a bugs in our home. The outside though still needs plenty of TLC. But all in good time. Yes, our outside walls are chipped, the old pigsty ( the real one, an outbuilding ) needs a new roof, and what we eloquently call our summer kitchen needs one of those Ty Pennington specials.

Whereas the majority of folk would take a loan from their bank to do all those improvements, we are doing them a bit at a time and only as we can afford them. No need to pay hefty interest payments to appease the neighbours et al. ( A must read website:Mr Money Mustache-just read one entry ).

Yesterday was supposedly the only sunny day of this week. Never one to miss an opportunity, I announced my plans to Bob early in the morning." I want to paint the garden wall today. " to which his reply was " Why, it looks like rain and we can always do it some other time "...famous last words.

When you're married for more than a year ( or however long the honeymoon phase lasts ) you learn to read between the lines. Bob clearly did not feel like painting. Through trial and error I have learned to ignore his protests and just go ahead and do it.

Once I start a task, Bob is there within minutes helping me with only the odd mumble to be heard. But once we've finished whatever " outrageous " task I suggested, Bob is chuffed to bits with it ! In fact sometimes he makes out like it was his idea all along....

Biggi

This is the kitchen and back bedroom in its raw phase ! Ah, the memories...

A case of one shovel at a time...

Our bedroom with the new concrete floor. Those days when a new floor was put in were always the best...we had to wait a few days before we could do anything else. Rest days !

It was all worth it in the end. Yet while doing the work, it seemed so far off and at times unreachable. We didn't do too bad, did we ?