:: at home in the valley (a very overdue post!) ::

A post here is so overdue that this one will probably be quite a patch-work quilt of random thoughts and happenings for us over the last few weeks. We are now in our new little farm cottage and really loving it. The first week I literally walked around the house saying "Thank you God!!" because it really is such a gift to us in so many ways, from the location to the fact that our couches match the curtains, wooden and tiled flooring in the living area/kitchen, and there's wallpaper like this...

(I can justifiably and quite happily use the word retro to describe many features of our little place) :o)

It's definitely a country home, complete with a trio of magpies and a letterbox we can leave letters in for the postie to take, as well as receive (love this!), but it's not so far out of the nearby village or wider city that we feel completely isolated. It's a surprisingly busy little road that we live on! There is plenty of interesting traffic going back and forth throughout the days, from logging trucks to a purple school bus, horse floats and a very random-looking, nomadic flock of turkeys, who were abandoned years ago, keep growing in number and roam around the general area. Their ringleader appears to be a very disheveled looking white turkey and their looks are almost as strange as their noise! But they're very harmless entertainment, as they follow one another hopping over fences and spend their days grazing the fields.

Meanwhile, we spend our days inside and out doing a variety of simple activities. Having three little people means that often I need to cut down my perfectionist expectations of myself to be a super mum and have fun, educational activities to do with the girls, while also not leaving the little man on his mat for too long. So I'm learning to scratch those expectations and be more realistic with simple days that involve not much more than household jobs around reading books and getting some paper and pens out from time to time!

Thankfully, being a twin means you always have someone to entertain yourself with, and these little minds are full of imagination and games!

Having a beautiful, sunlit living area like this reminds me of our home in Switzerland where we had a similar lounge lined with windows. I love it!

Fresh, juicy lemons - a gift from our neighbours/owners who are lovely and take such great care of us and this little house we call home now! This post is now completely overdue and, in an effort to also send out a Christmas family post today, I'll leave you with the following photos of our first days and weeks here and carry on writing behind the scenes ;o) I deleted the disclaimer I wrote write at the beginning of this post and can't get it back, so I'll write it here. Please, as you see these photos and read this post, remember that, chances are that your life is just like ours in many ways...filled with things to be thankful for and also things that challenge us. The photos probably portray a tranquil, peaceful life with beautifully behaved children, perfect babies and a mummy who is able to keep a million balls in the air without dropping one. Of course all are completely unrealistic! ;o) We have our fair share of chaos, grumpiness, raised voices and tears (from all of us!), so remember through any post you read of ours, or photo you see, that they only portray one facet of our lives. An albeit important one that we try to focus on - in being thankful for what we have and experience - but there are many other sides to this diamond of life!