Thursday 3 August 2017

Our New (Old) House

We have been living in our home for one year this month.  I'm not one to move around a lot, so this house hopefully will be our last for many years to come.  We thought long and hard about moving and it took a year of looking around until we found the right house for our family. 

Our New (Old) House

Previously we were living on a small block of land, in a brand new house that we built with the help of my parents, Designer - Mum, Builder - Dad.  It was a great house with a huge amount of storage, a big kitchen with lots of bench space and two ovens. Everything in it was sparkling and new.

Kitchen in our previous house (this photo was taken when it went up for sale- it certainly didn't always look like this!)

Our kitchen now

But as the years went on, our daughter grew and with the life we wanted to create becoming more apparent, we realised that this house wasn't suiting us.  It barely had a backyard, the layout of the house didn't allow for entertaining a big extended family, we were close to a main road and we had our chooks on the spare block of land next door (which was owned by my parents, but we knew that we weren't going to be able to use that land forever).

Backyard in our previous house

Don't get me wrong, we had 6 years living in that house and we were very grateful to have the chance to build.  It certainly was an "experience", especially when your father is the builder.  And it was wonderful to live in a brand new brick house.  We made the most of it and grew vegetables in the small area we had allocated for vegetable beds, we bought our chooks and built a chook pen for them and we lived our simple life values as much as we could in the space we had.  As Rhonda from Down to Earth often writes about,  'bloom where you are planted'. That quote really stuck with me and I tried to live by that.

Our space for growing vegetables in our previous house

Some of the space in our new yard where we will build vegetable beds and a chook run. It gets lots of sun.

But deep down, I always knew that new didn't necessarily make you feel content.  Lots of stars aligned for us last year and we found the home we were looking for.  For me there is so much to love about this house.  But it is vastly different to our last house.  It is just over 30 years old, a solid brick home, in original condition. It has been maintained beautifully and is in such good condition, considering its age.  It has only had one owner, in a wonderful street and has a sizeable backyard with lots of visiting wildlife.  There is room for our chooks, we have friendly neighbours and the layout of the house is so wonderful for entertaining. It has beautiful windows looking out to the backyard, a lovely outdoor area and the list goes on!  Sure, we will have to update parts in the coming years.  But we have been able to move in and live comfortably and cosily without having to change a thing.  It just feels right.

View from my kitchen window now - I love I can see the chooks going about their day.


Entertaining area in our new house

Over the coming months and years, we will slowly be making some changes, which I will record on this blog.  Our first is to put in some permanent vegetable patches with a linked in chook run.  My husband and I have talked about it for a few months now.  Hopefully we will begin that project soon. 

Some people thought we were mad to leave a brand new house.  But we couldn't be happier.





30 comments:

  1. What a lovely home you have, Belinda. I think it's wise to wait a while before you change things in a new house. Living there for a while gives you a better insight into what really does need changing.

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    1. Thanks Rhonda, I think it is lovely too. It has been very useful to wait and watch. We don't want to rush and find out later we should have done things differently.


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  2. I love your new house. It's just beautiful. It's nice that you've found a place that will work for you permanently.

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    1. Thank you, it is a good feeling to have found the right place.

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  3. I love your house, Belinda. Yes by living there for a while you will learn what you like and what you want to change.

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    1. Thanks for commenting Nanna Chel. Slowly we will get there!

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  4. Hi Belinda, I just found your blog and I love your 'new' house. I'm looking forward to following along on your journey.

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    1. Thanks Janice, it is great to have you here.

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  5. Hi Belinda, I followed a link to your blog from the Down to Earth blog I have followed for some time. Welcome to blogging!
    I love the layout of your blog but it would be great if you could set up a page with links to your lovely recipes at this stage and then just add the links as you go along. The photos are great too.
    I moved house with my husband a year ago too. We had a stone built barn that suited us for nearly 40 years. It was big enough for entertaining, had land and an orchard for our chickens and was super for entertaining. However it was slightly isolated. As we got older we realised it would be better to move into a community before circumstances forced us too. We now live in a modern (25 year old) house which we have modelled to suit us and we are so happy with the move.
    I wish you many years of happiness in your new home and will follow your progress on Bloglovin

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    1. Hi Catherine, thanks for popping over. I'm guessing you are in England, you know I love watching the TV show, Escape to the Country. Looking at all those beautiful barn conversions and the beautiful English countryside. I'm glad you are happy with your move too and I'll look into getting a recipes page. Thanks again for commenting.

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  6. It's lovely that you've found a house that really suits you and how you want to live. I'm looking forward to reading here and seeing how it evolves. Meg:)

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    1. Thanks Meg. It is a great to be in this house. Ive just been reading some of your blog and I love it! We have lots in common, I'll be over to comment soon on your blog too. So great to find like minded people in the blogging world.

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  7. Hello Belinda, I found your blog through Rhonda's link. Welcome to the blogosphere! I can tell I'm going to love what you have to say in this space, especially your first post about cooking from scratch, a topic that is very close to my heart indeed. I love your new (old) place, our house looks to be a similar vintage, and we have slowly renovated it over the past 15 years, old places do seem to have 'better bones' in my opinion. Can't wait to see how your garden unfolds, gardening is another passion of mine. So excited to find a new blog that I like :)

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    1. Thank you so much for your kind words Cheryl! It is lovely to have you here, I'll be over to check out your blog soon too.

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  8. Hi Belinda, I have just popped across from Rhonda's blog. I bet the chooks keep you entertained through out the day. We are looking forward to having our own chooks, I think we need to wait until our puppies are a bit older. Their hackles shoot up when they see pigeons, and we have to stop them chasing the ducks that visit our dam. We need to do some work on their social skills ;-)

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    1. Ha, yes probably best to wait then. I love being able to see our chooks through the kitchen window, it just gives me that warm feeling inside. Thanks for taking the time to comment.

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  9. Congratulations! It looks like a top house with a nice, big garden. Sounds like you and your family will be very happy there for many years to come! I look forward to reading more about it.

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    1. Thanks Michelle! The garden is one of my favourite things about this place.

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  10. Hi, came here via Rhonda's blog. Welcome to blogland. It's wonderful that you found the house that suited your way of life. Sami

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    1. Thank Sami, yes so great to have found this place. We feel very fortunate indeed. Welcome, and thank you for commenting.

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  11. Hi, I just came over from Rhonda's blog, too. You have a very nice blog, and I look forward to stopping in now and again.
    Maryann

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  12. I came from Rhonda's blog and love your new home. I "get" it, I understand about moving. I would probably have done the same! Bless you, Elaine

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    1. Welcome and thanks for stopping by Elaine. I knew most people who read here would "get" it!

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  13. I'm pleased to find your blog, via Rhonda.
    Your blog looks interesting and fun to follow.
    Your home looks great, I love to see other people's homes and gardens, we can all pick up hints and ideas from each other.
    I think you are very brave to start your own blog, I would love to but can't pluck up the courage. Maybe one day !!

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    1. I say DO IT Marilyn! I was thinking about blogging for ages and when the opportunity came, to do Rhonda's course, I knew I just had to. Best decision ever! It has been hard work, but very rewarding. Thanks for commenting, it is lovely having you here.

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  14. It looks great and I bet the chooks love it to.

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  15. another one popping in (from Rhonda's blog) to say g'day & well done on your blog.
    i like your snickers recipe & the way you have simplified it, never liked the original bar myself (don't like peanuts) but yours looks very tempting & delicious
    thanx for sharing

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    1. Hi Selina, thank you. Those Snickers Bliss Balls taste better than the chocolate bar in my opinion.

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