So I will post a few photos here. It actually looks very beautiful, and I am very contented with it. Anyway, the smaller the house, the less I have to clean. :-) Although somehow the Americans feel that it is very tiny and seem to think we'd mind. After I visited them and saw their 3-storey mansions with yards that can house horses and cows, then I realise why they think so. :-)
When I first stepped in, I already felt very comfortable. Anyway, since it is our house now, we had the freedom to do whatever we want with the arrangement of the furniture and such. I did not have such freedom since I got married as I did not stay in my own house, so it is liberating.
(this is the front of the house. and i love that tree just in front of the house - beautiful branching)
(above left: dining area. all the hooks for the coats and jackets were made by dh, as in the wooden pegs themselves
above centre: front of house on a non-snowing day, we're posing right in front of garage
above right: me and kids at dining table having breakfast)
(above left: the sole bathroom we have
above centre: our bedroom, all 4 of us sleep together, hence the extended bed using mattresses
above right: the other side of the same bedroom. that's our only shelf for books, and the drawers are where we'd to store all our clothes, so that's why I went to buy plastic storage boxes. the decor and lamp etc were all put in place by the church before we arrived.)
(above left: still in same bedroom, where we placed our comp, and dh's wooden music stand, which he made himself as well, super high to suit his height? the sliding part of the comp table for the keyboard was also made by dh)
(above centre: kitchen. the doorway has a self-improvised screen to contain fumes within the kitchen when we do cooking, which is almost always cos outside food is ex.)
(above right: sink area in kitchen. all the hanging stuff and hooks were made by dh. there weren't any racks to place utensils and knives initially, and neither was there an area to dry dishes after they were washed, so dh made these. most locals use the dishwasher so they need not dry dishes. the gloves have to be worn when i wash stuff, cos the water is icy cold! our hot water tap doesn't work very well...takes a very long time for hot water to emerge, so it's like washing with cold water anyway.)
All in all, it is a cosy place where it will be very lived-in for sure. we will grow to love it too. in fact, yesterday when i was just mentioning to ds1 that we will return to Singapore after 2 years, he very very sad and agitated. he lay down on the carpet and placed his cheek on it and said, "i thought we are staying here forever!"
looks like he is the first one to acclimatise! :-)
