Walks with Ludwig.

Ludwig has grown so much since he joined us and we´ve started to take longer walks now that extend beyond the village. He loves these walks, and so do we. I can´t wait to take him with me on my runs when he is older.

The weather has been quite dramatic lately with spectacular clouds and lighting. Also, I love how lush everything is right now. Greens and blues, my favorite color combo.

A little bit of red in the mix can´t hurt though.

Pretty, yes? 

Back home.

A new blue rug.

So on Saturday, the new rug for the dining room arrived. The packaging was torn open a bit - just so you could see the pattern - and the postwoman remarked how beautiful it was. I put it down in the dining room and two minutes later all of the cats were lounging on it. The husband came in, took a look and instantly stated that he really likes it (he hates rugs so this is huge!). 

Of course, I myself was just not quite sure about it. 

Seriously, sometimes I am so annoyed with my indecisiveness. Dear God, woman! A rug is a rug is a rug. 

So I made an executive decision to like it. I adore the pattern, even if it´s a smaller scale than I´d hoped, and I think the color is very nice. The rug is very soft but sturdy and seems to be a good quality. I am still not sure whether it is too matchy matchy in this greyish dining room, especially together with the cabinet in Down Pipe, but you know, EXECUTIVE DECISION.

In other news, I cleaned all of my windows downstairs over the weekend. It is rather surprising we bought his house with its huge windows considering how much I despise cleaning my windows. Anyway, look at the light! I swear it has changed. So worth it. 

Oh, in case you wonder, the rug is from Urbanara. They have the most amazing things, and I want them all, and no I am not getting paid to say this. 

All fenced in.

The fence is up! Hooray.  After much contemplation and even more saving up (fences are super expensive!), we decided on this model which is made from sweet chestnut and is quite typical for rural areas in Germany. It will turn greyish with age and blend more into the landscape. Traditionally, this kind of fence is much lower and the gaps are wider, but we have this little dog of ours which is of a breed that is known for escaping.

And rightly so, because five minutes after I took this picture, Ludwig escaped by jumping in the little stream that runs through our garden and basically diving under the fence to the other side. The only tiny space we had not secured yet! Little monster.

We have this gate at the rear end of our land so that a car or a truck can deliver things - which will happen eventually because this part is the vegetable garden. I love how it looks. I´m very happy with the fence in general as well - the sense of space is competely different now and somehow, it feels much more "ours" all of a sudden. Also, this was one of the projects that I´ve dreaded endlessly and then it went so much quicker and easier than assumed. My favorite kind of project!

Happy Monday!

Busy being busy.

Heavens, it´s almost May already. How did that happen? Time is flying! I did not intend to stay away from this blog for so long, but we´re really, really busy. Spring is finally here and now everything needs to be done at once. Getting the plants and seeds in the soil, building the fence, keeping Ludwig entertained, trying to keep the house at least somewhat clean (mud season combined with 5 pets, ugh) and and and... 

Anyway! Here are a few pictures. Above is Emma taking a nap in the dining room. By the way the bare boards are growing on me but I still ordered a rug recently. It will be delivered in a few weeks and I will ask you about your opinion then. 

There are things blooming in the walled garden. What a joy. In the darkest moments of The Terrible Winter I seriously thought every single perennial had frozen to death. I am happy to report that this is not the case. Now I only have to get another threat under control. A hole digging, red devil kind of threat. 

Which brings us to this guy. Who can be a little terrorist but mostly is pure joy. We love him lots. I mean, look at those eyes? Oh Ludwig.

Tomato plants for the vegetable garden, which is coming along so nicely. I had a visit from an old lady from the village yesterday, who "wanted to check on our garden" and asked me in detail what I was growing here and there and why and when... and then nodded her approval and told me to keep going. Success! I feel I have basically reached the knighthood of gardening. Or, well, garden planning. Let´s see what we´ll get out of this! 

I´ll show you more pictures soon, and a progress report on the fence which will hopefully be up by the end of this week. Fingers crossed! Ludwig needs more space to dig holes after all. Happy week everybody!

Back soon.

So sorry for the radio silence. Turns out it is true what they say, a puppy *is* like a child; and between sweet Ludwig and a busy work schedule and a million projects in the garden that need to be done now that it´s finally warming up - there just are not enough hours in the day. 

As for the picture above, my neighbor brought us eggs from her hens the other day, complete with that little flower bouquet and everything. I am a lucky lady. 

I´ll be back soon, if Ludwig lets me. Fingers crossed!