Week 24, Project 365

Another quiet week on Canning Street. I promised the other day I'd show some photos of my house on this week's Project 365. It's really not so different from homes in the U.S., just smaller and different construction materials (we were used to traditional stick-built) but basically the same. What you have to realize is we started from scratch when we moved. We brought two chairs, a dresser, a wicker desk and a couple mattresses from the U.S.

Oh, and pictures to put on the walls (which are not actually on the walls yet).

It's a slow process, this getting settled. After spending two years getting rid of STUFF before we could move overseas, we are trying to be careful about what we accumulate here. Plus we're cheap but have expensive taste and haven't found things we like at prices we're willing to pay ☺ Which means at this point it's lookin' a little bare. But that's fine with us. There is joy in the journey! Finding something that we need and will work in our space makes us very happy!

I love all the windows in our living room. Light floods the space during the day. But for security at night AND to keep that burning light out during the hot days of summer, I made floor to ceiling curtains that go all the way around two walls plus part of a third -- used 20 yards of the blue fabric and 10 of the plaid. My fabricaholic tendencies came in handy for this project! The two IKEA Poang chairs we brought from the U.S., along with the wicker chest and decorative items. The rustic table in the corner is one the hubby's brother made many years ago. We brought it back from Sta. Rosa to use until we find some of our own. The dining room is the emptiest room at this point because we don't actually have a dining table and chairs. We're using a folding table meanwhile. A tablecloth hides a multitude of plastic. The hubby built the bookcase (and there's a matching one on the other side of the arched doorway) and we bought the dresser from our neighbor this week. It will do nicely to store napkins, tablecloths, games and miscellaneous items that have nowhere else to go. The kitchen is the largest room and I'm just showing you a portion. Once the hubby gets my pantry cupboard built and we find a small table and chairs, there will be more to show. This is the sum total of my cupboards at this point. The stove is what we'd call "apartment size" in the U.S. It's unusual to find anything larger here. That big white thing in the corner is an on-demand water heater which I LOVE because it means I never run out of hot water. It was hard to get a photo of our guest room because it's so small and no matter where I stood in the room I couldn't get it all. So I went with the one showing the bed and the window. You can see I have the guest bed all made up and ready for visitors. Visitors who just might get breakfast in bed on the cute little wicker tray if they're really good and bring me a hostess gift of chocolate *wink* Our room has just what you see in this bare bones photo: a bed and two nightstands. There is literally no room for anything else. Good thing the room comes equipped with a large closet that includes shelves where I can store small plastic bins with underclothes, serving the same purpose as a dresser. I also have cubby-holes under the bed platform where I keep large plastic bins with extra sheets and towels. I have some lovely watercolor prints to eventually hang on the walls. And obviously I need to find some fabric and sew curtains. With the shutters, curtains haven't been such a high priority item. And that concludes the tour. You're not seeing the study until the hubby builds the desk and storage in there, and the bath...well, you're NEVER seeing that!

Our winter garden is coming along, although I'm very sad to report that ants ate our peas right down to the ground. Most disappointing! We'll see if they come back (the peas, not the ants). And the green onions are doing well in one spot but not another. Lettuce, cabbage, radishes, swiss chard and beets are doing great, as are the calendulas. We already had parsley and chickory. We foresee some tasty meals in the future! I'm loving this winter weather. Not only are the roses still blooming, but my geraniums suddenly perked up. Aren't they pretty?! The hubby and his buddy spent two days working on the plumbing at Sta. Rosa. Here's our friend hard at work. They replaced the line from the main bathroom to the septic. We'll have to go back out soon after the cement has had time to set, replace the tile floor in the bath and re-install the toilet. Hopefully this will eliminate the problems that have plagued the system for years. I enjoyed my quiet time at home -- sewing, of course! I finished the shopping bag started last week and made another one using scraps from other projects again. I love the bright cheery colors on this one! I also made a clothespin bag to replace the gallon size zip lock I've been using for nine months. Here's a close-up of the clothespin bag so you can see the sweet little buttons I used for detail. Just because it's a utilitarian bag doesn't mean it can't be cute. When I found these in my button bag, I knew they'd be perfect! That's it for this week. Now hop on over to Sara's and check out what she's been up to, as well as all the other participants.