Home

Hello,

I just wanted to share with you that we've moved into our new home.

I have always felt 'at home' where ever I have lived, but this time it feels different. Genuinely, I feel I'm home and where I should be when I'm there... which is an odd feeling given we only have electricity in some rooms, only live in half the space, are constantly covered in dust and dirt, and can feel in our bones how much work we have left to do.

I think I know why, though, the children have space to run without being shouted at, we can see stars from the windows at night, need very little lighting so much light comes in the windows, and we're making different spaces for reading, working, watching telly, doing art stuff with the kids.

Our house is a project but, darn, its a good project!

love n hugs to you and your projects,
Robynx
ps/no photos as we don't yet have Internet at home and so I'm writing from work :-)

Ian Ridenhour

Please, take 5 minutes out of our your time and listen to 'Who Said?' by written and sung by Ian Ridenhour.

He's the 11 year old son of a dear friend, but he's also an incredible musician... He composes his own music (classical and rock). He's the drummer for Hex Radio, and has conducted an orchestra playing his creation: After the Storm...

As I said, why not take 5 minutes out of your day to enjoy his talents!
love n hugs,
Robyn

Moving closer

Hello there,

I just wanted to let you know that things are moving forward with the house... and the rooms are really beginning to look like the rooms that we would like to live in and to have you come and visit :-)

Oh, and that I think Benoit is a god!

Sincerely... we have loads of workers in the house, but Ben is still doing the lion's share of the work. Below is his first attempt at tiling! He had one weekend to tile the bathroom and the toilet and so to be ready for the plumbers to finish fitting the taps and so on... and so he checked out 'how to' videos on Youtube and then got on with it. Simply incredible.

My jobs are more simple but I'm still incredibly pleased because, once Ben and the plasterers had plastered Jack's room, I sanded the walls and then put down the first layer of primer. The end result isn't perfect.. but Jack's bedroom at least now looks like a bedroom.

Now the more faint-hearted among you might not want to read the next lines.... as we are moving into our 'worksite-come-house' in 2 weeks time to stop paying rent on our apartment and, heck, to start enjoying being in our 'Big House.' In real terms that means we're going to be living in dust and dirt for many a month to come, but we REALLY do not care as we are so ready to be living in our new home!

I'll let you know how it all goes when the time comes.
love n hugs to you where ever you are in the world!
Robynx

The kids' bathroom.. being tiled

The spare room... in progress

Our bedroom, from the shower

Our bedroom, from the window

Jack's bedroom without paint

Jack's bedroom, with first coat of paint/primer

Jack's bedoom, looking towards door

La Rentrée

I'm happy to report that Emma enjoyed her first day at école maternelle (preschool) and Jack enjoyed his first day at primary school... even though for both of them that day was in German! What? Yes, in Alsace kids have the chance to follow an bilingual education with the week divided equally between days entirely in German and French. Jack's used to it now but it did feel a little strange to leave Emma in a new school and in a new language!