A New Year Dawns...

A new year in a new country with my resident visa being approved and delivered is one nice way to start the year in 2016!

Haven't seen too many new year resolutions posted this year...I wonder why?

Is it because people are discouraged that they can't do it?
Afraid they'll bomb out again and miss the mark?
Too scared to have another go?

Well, one thing I do know is this...The answer is always NO, until you get out into the harbour and hoist that sail.

So what if the wind blows you into a wrong shoreline?
You took action, learned a whole heap, can now better determine the path ahead and set a better course the next time.

Keep it movin' along baby...you'll avoid a lot of depression, have a ball meeting amazing people, end up in breathtaking places, grow wiser as you go...and who knows?

Maybe, one day you might just suddenly find yourself right where you really want to be, without seemingly trying.

To recap my year in this diary of 2015...

It was over in a flash it seemed.
Where did the time go?

From NYear 2014-15 in Split and Zagreb in Croatia for Jan and Feb, to Prague in March, to Hungary, to Romania end of March, to Hungary April, to Belgrade in Serbia all of May, to Hungary for 3 weeks, back to Serbia again with a friend who came to visit for a month in June, back to Hungary for a month in July, then off to Australia for a couple of months, August and September, back here to Hungary for Oct, Nov and Dec!

With a few days in Budapest and Belgrade for Xmas and then back to Hungary on 21st Dec. where my resident visa arrived in time for Xmas, just as my 3 months Schengen time had only a few days left before I would have had to move on to some non-Schengen zone for another 3 months.

Xmas in Budapest...

Whewww...That's where it went!
If you want to know anything about the insides of trains between here and Budapest, Debrecen and Belgrade, just ask me!

It went so fast, I still think I'm in 2014...

What I wanted to achieve in 2015 mainly was to sure up the place to prevent further erosion of the 100 year old mud brick construction of the place here, which was a seemingly never ending job of guys just filling holes, underpinning and rendering everything in sight!

The biggest thing of course was to apply for and be approved for my staying visa, allowing me to stay put for a year, settle in and unpack my cases from almost 5 years with my backpack glued to my shoulders!

Boy, what a ride that past 5 years has been!

So this year I'm planning on getting done what I thought at first would easily be done in a flash...hahaha...yeah, OK.

Jan...Finalise colours and style for the Lodge...So, this means out with all my previous ideas, out with the doona covers etc I bought in Australia in September.

Will dye a pillow case salmon and see how that goes...otherwise it's into storage for further use later!

I'll have a go at dyeing a pillow case first and see if I can make do with a bright salmon paisley print for a while!

Done...and to top it off the day after I found this style, I "stumbled" into a shop in Tiszafured that has all this stuff in stock...plus the lady's hubbie is going to fix and paint all the windows, doors, knobs, latches etc in April when paint will dry! So how about that to kick off the new year in style!

Apart from the fact I have most of the furniture shown in these pics, it is a no brainer for sure.
Have always liked these styles but never knew how to use it in Australia, so one tends to put it out of mind.
While it's really not my style, I'm happy to do the Lodge in this style as that is what it needs to bring it back to life again for another 100 happy and good years using every scrap of furniture left by the previous owners.

I'm sure the original owners who built the place in 1919 are more than happy to look down from above and see their much loved family cottage come to life in a purposeful, vibrant and colourful way.

Feb...Get some of the furniture rubbed back and painted like so...I'll have a go myself at night and see how patient or not...I am!
.

They probably look horrific and over the top to you at first glance...but in the right places, they are extraordinary!

March...Get the front of the house repaired by a neighbour who does this delicate repair work. It has patterns and designs on the cement and they are all wearing away with the weather.

He'll also straighten up the front cement pillars, where they were hastily repaired to stop erosion and repair the eaves, replace a piece of guttering and paint all of that...and hopefully fix a brick that fell/blew off the chimney the other night!

Also, Zoltan to finish the last piece of pipe to the loo and finally plumb it up! I'll miss "skipping to mah loo, mah darlin" in the snow, but it's time.
Near the end of March Zoltan will remove the roof tiles from the little end shed, rebuild that quickly, as it's small, remove the roof tiles from the little 3 door shed, then demolish most of the shed and  barrow the rubble to a big pile in the yard...sigh, will it ever be tidy?

Barrels filled with ice! Will cut these 3 barrels down, paint them bright colours, turn them bottoms up and add cushions...presto... great patio stools

Also want to repair my 4 poor old wine barrels...2 in pieces, one about to collapse and the other not far behind. The big one (now in pieces) I originally wanted to make into a spa, has woodworm in it and has lost about 6 inches of depth, so I'll repair it, treat it and pin it inside, trim it level, paint it, turn it upside down and make a huge coffee table out of it for the new deck.

Plus the plastic barrels those massive ice blocks were formed in, I'll get them cut down and after painting and padding them, they will end up as some nice stools for the deck too.

The gardens will be pushing up weeds and super growth in March, so that will be a big job too.

Barrel ice cubes!

April... 
Zoltan will rebuild the 3 door shed, roof and all, with higher ceilings and put in a floor, doors and power will be installed.
Under the back fence to be cemented and special wire retainer hooks applied to stop the dogs and chooks breaking thru',
The water draining paths around back of house and garden side to be done, windows cut into the bedroom and kitchen with new windows added.
Wiring and power points completed all thru the place...some were only temporary until all the hole cutting for windows and doorways was completed
Insides all finished off with last coats of white paint!
All doors and windows in the place fixed, painted white and re-glassed where necessary.

A frost again Saturday morning after a few weeks of some snow, lots of rain and some sunny days. 

A bright start to a mid winters day yesterday. Minus 2C...pretty nice actually.

Couldn't get the heart shaped ice drop in focus...drat it...Was lovely anyways.

Thank you jar nearly full. Hey Tom Warne...how is yours going?

This morning...no water, only ice pipes, no frost as the ground is frozen solid  and it is supposed to snow tonight.again, Bricks all go icy and slippery.

May, June, July...
Depends on workers as this is their really busy time, so I'm hoping to nab them on their off days.
Summer kitchen roof tiles removed and walls partly demolished, then rebuilt with higher ceilings and a mez floor where attic was. Windows and an e/s installed and plumbed.
Final plumbing, carpentry, internal dividing walls, linen cupboards built, chimney doors removed and chimneys lined and sealed off ready to be re-purposed as cabinet space for oven, microwave and cooktop.
Pantry sanded, lined and painted where necessary
Kitchen finally installed, plumbed, oven and cook-top hopefully installed...

Everything inside completed and ready to have the floors laid in July/August at latest.

All 3 external sheds, including Summer kitchen all rebuilt, repaired and painted, ready for internal work over the next few temperate months, prior to winter setting in.

OK...so that's the infrastructure planning done, next comes the soft furnishings...

That's a story for another time in June for another 6 month plan!
So you see I am so far behind on this project mainly due to indecision about how to style it.

Now I'm sorted as far as colours and styling goes,  it will rocket along, workers will turn up as needed and it will magically seem to build itself!
Watch and see for yourself.
That's it for now...
Cheers.
M
xxx