The Evolution of Spaces

So I was bold enough to ask Bea if I could rearrange her livingroom for her, and she said, "sure!" I was so excited! Before I got to it the furniture was pushed up against the walls and those big beautiful windows were cut off partway by the chunky black sofas. There were also two sides to the seating area that were not functional because of the way everything was laid out. Since there arent any dividing walls in this huge kitchen/dining/livingroom/playarea we tried to create distinct spaces for each function. We moved the sofas so that they created a "nook" (as Kendra would say) where people could sit. Not only that but the focus can be any direction: to the kitchen/dining area when entertaining or watching kids, or outside to relax and look at nature. Bea thought to exchange the rug with the one in the kids play area which ended up warming the space and pulling the color off the curtains and onto the floor. We also moved the bonsai tree so that it was more noticeable. Before it was totally lost in between those dark curtains. Check it out!

THE AFTER PICS:

Daniel calls this the King Arthur chair. Now at least it sits under the sparkly chandelier.






I am currently uploading the video of the "before" shots. Check back in a while for this one. My computer is pokey :)

love,
M

Sunshine

Here we have 5 hour nights. The sun is completely set sometime after 11:00 pm and rises at 4:30am. Amazing. And their winters are still similar to ours 9-5 sunlight...hmmm.

Country Roads

This is part of our drive between the village we are living in and the next one closer to Hannover.

Around the Pond - Video 6 of 6

To the pond - Video 5 of 6

Video 4 of 6

My mistake! I actually took 6 videos to complete the tour of our cottage, the Bansemer's house, the yard and the pond behind us! Here is the next, enjoy! :)

The Geese & The Spa: Video & 3 of 4

Those are the 3 month old geese that walk around the yard all day long talking to you. The front door to the house is often left open (as in video 2) and sometimes they even try to let themselves inside. :) I love them. They are so sweet. They still have a lot of down feathers but they are growing more adult feathers now. Cord says they are "gangly teenagers". We haven't used the spa yet. But it looks really romantic, right? There are candles everywhere and pines hovering overhead.

Around the House & Cottage - Video 2 of 4

Thats our clothesline, and then the rain barrel that collects water from our ducts (which Daniel just built).

Midwives :)

Wendy Pinter Christa Bartley

So there is this lady in town who has long dredlocks pulled back in a nice ponytail and she is always babywearing her newborn daughter. Every time I pass her in the car someone points and says something about how she does the same thing as me. I actually asked more specifically about what they meant and they said she is a Hebamme. Said, "Hey-bomb-eh". This is the german word for midwife. Super cool! She apparently had all three of her kids at home. Cool huh? Wendy and Christa would think so. I think. :) Wink wink. I hope to get to talk to her about her work here someday. And since DONA is DONA INTERNATIONAL now I might just make it a point to go to something in Europe. Wonder who I could meet?!

Wendy, Christa, I miss you guys. Thanks a lot for letting me work and learn with you for so long. Hopefully again someday.

More around the house

To pretty up the outside of our cottage...

Bea's rose bushes

Bumblebees pollenating Bea's flowers

I am growing Basil (Basilikum) & Chives (Schnittlauch). Here they are looking ever-so-stunned after repotting. I am excited to have these :) Hopefully they last all year.

There are wild strawberries all over our yard.

Columbine that I dug up aroud Bea's yard and replanted in front of our cottage. I hope they will take well here. They do not seem to mind the acidic soil from the many pine trees. I am wondering if they will get enough morning/afternoon sun in this spot? The one on the far left is not a columbine. It is some kind of varigated vine/groundcover thingy. Mom, help please?

Last, but not least, this is a radio made from trash from South Africa. Bea & Cord lived there last year for 6 months while studying English. Apparently people take all the rubish and turn it into "stuff". It actually works. We listen to german radio on it.