Apologies for the delay – after waiting four weeks for installation, we now have high speed fiber internet! What a relief…

It is a beautiful, sunny day today and we took a walk to a protected nature reserve and lava field about 2.5 miles away (uphill both ways…) that offered some stunning views:

We have been making great progress on the house and garden. Every day it feels more comfortable and more like home. After a week or more of cleaning and laundering, the house and furniture have fully aired out and we have learned how to keep the humidity under control. The new appliances are also working splendidly.

As far as the garden is concerned, it has developed by leaps and bounds! From removing bushel loads of vines and invasive juniper to trimming fruit trees to creating a new terrace behind the bbq, we’ve been busy. We also harvested our first bananas (!) and planted some perennial collards along the stone wall of the terrace.

And lastly, we started clearing the overgrowth from the stream as well as clearing rocks from the middle and securing its sides. The sound of the stream is lovely and we can even see a glimpse from inside the house!