Hello, I'm back in a brand new tiny house (not really as it's 200 yrs old :)

My view from my window in my sitting-cum-dinning-cum room :) 

 Hello dear bloggers and followers,

I have been away from internet and blogging for a long time and many many things had happened in my life. One of the great news is, roll the drums please, I bought a tiny old house in a tiny semi-empty hamlet in the countryside of bella Italia, yahooo :)  It's a long story, which I will share one day, but I got the house for very little money; what I paid won't get you a brand new car! Imagine! So, I put all my savings and a dear friend of mine gifted me some money to do some work around the house as it was neglected for many years. I still need to do a lot of work to make it more comfortable but it's fine for the moment. I have a small wood stove, the only source of heating and a tiny gas stove, which I need to replace soon. All the aesthetic work have to wait as I have no money to pay for it :( But I have the tiniest and cutest kitchen in the world :) I promise tons of photos once I manage to buy a new camera as my 10 yrs old camera died few days ago :(

so in this tiny house of mine, I live off the grid, just a small portable solar panel to charge my phone and have a bit of light. I hope to be able to buy a bigger one so I can have a fridge. Yes, I live without a fridge or a washing machine or hot running water and I'm perfectly fine :)  

I don't own a land which is sad but the good news is two lovely neighbours (not really neighbours but have plots not far from me) offered me their plots to cultivate so I'm super excited to start afresh and practice my permaculture skills :)

Oh, I have tons of news to share but I'm using internet from a cafe in the nearby village and I have to walk back home (6 ks going and returning!)

Here are some photos of what I've been doing: preserving food, growing food, having chickens for eggs and overdose of cuteness :) and many more. Will try to share more soon. And hope all of you are doing great :)

My Jungle :)

My jungle of  vegetable garden :) The tomatoes and pumpkin and zucchini are HUGE!

New Life :)

I'm swimming in eggs. in this basket I had 100 eggs! I sold them in the market, yay :)

Well, it has been a long time since I posted! Many many things had happened during those long months.  First, I got very sick and lost about 15 kilos! It took few months to recover and discover what was the problem with me. I found out that I have intolerance to many grains, not only gluten and I have to be on a strict diet. It is a long story and I will post about it in details because I'm sure it might help others too. Now I eat only nuts (grind them at home), rice and lots and lots of veggies and fruit. No sugar, no grains and nothing that comes in a packet (I haven't eaten processed foods in more than 10 years).

Second, I have moved from my place into another place and region! Now I have a huge vegetable garden, 10 chickens, 2 cockerels, 2 turkeys, 2 ducks (all have names of course) 2 chickens are already brooding and also my duck Thumbelina :)  I also have a lovely caravan (I don't live in it yet!) and a treehouse! I'm in the process of buying a small house in a tiny hamlet that is almost empty :(  All the people have left and I hope to populate it with people, as most of the remaining 7 or 8 houses are on sale! It would be lovely to help sell these houses to like-minded people to create a kind of an eco-village or something (prices are so cheap!). I spoke to a lady who owns the land around and she said she is welling to rent or sell. Anyway, this is another story I will share soon.

I don't have internet at the new place but will do so soon-ish. I'm still looking for work, etc, so having internet now is a bit over the budget :(

I really miss visiting and reading my favourite blogs. I would love  to reconnect and keep in touch with some of these bloggers; I'd love to do swaps; sending cards, letters and little crafted gifts :)

Ok, I just have enough time to visit some of my favourite blogs and say hello. I'll do my best to post more and share lots of photos and even videos. 

Good to be back :)

Just to say I'm back with lots of stories to share. I'm so excited. It has been a rough time here, getting very sick and all but I hope I will be well enough to share some nice stories with you.

just to say

Well, it has been a long time since I have posted and the reason is I am unable to access blogger from my Apple Mac! I am trying to sort it out and till I do, I will not be able to post.

I have a lot of news to share, about the house\houses I wanted to buy and my vegetable garden\orto, and many more, like dealing with a new group of stary cats I found in one of the small villages I visited and trying to help these poor cats. It breaks my heart so much to see so many animals suffering and people do not give a damn. :(

Amyway, I hope this problem will be sorted soon so I can resume posting and sharing my stories.
Cyrene

This is NOT a Fashion Post!

 These are my shoes now, all old and good for working on the farm

When I was living and working in London, I shopped like any girl who worked hard; I wore makeup and spent a lot of money on my hair. Although I splurged on some very expensive shoes and bags and clothes, I'd never run into debt or got myself into financial troubles. I bought those expensive stuff under the pretense of: Oh, I work hard and I need to treat myself. Oh yea, this £500 bag is just a treat for working so hard; this mega expensive dress is just to make me feel better, bla bla. But did I really feel better, good, confident, and happy in those expensive clothes! The answer is: NO. I felt miserable, I was depressed, I suffered from a very low self-esteem, despite the expensive stuff. I was a walking and living misery. Do you want to see some of the stuff I had? See below pic :)

 This is just a sample from what I used to have. Anyway, after I had made the change and left my job and flat in London and moved into a small house on a farm without hot running water or a fridge or a washing machine or a TV or internet or central heating, I learnt my lessons and realized what a pathetic and shallow life I was wallowing in. First thing I did was I got rid of all these expensive stuff, all of them And now I have only old and secondhand stuff.

 And this is the closest I got to wearing some of those expensive shoes and bags before I got rid of them, in my bedroom in front of the mirror. Sad, eh?  Some of those shoes and bags I never wore and just played dress-up with them in my bedroom. But one day: BOOM, I decided that is it. And got rid of them all. Now, I do not own any single expensive or new thing!

This is me now: without any makeup or fancy hair cut or expensive clothes or shoes. I wear secondhand clothes from my dear friend in London or some of my Italian friends here, who find it a bit strange! I do not use any creams or cosmetic products like shampoos or body wash or perfumes or anything. And despite that, I think I look great and healthy and the most important thing: Happy. I've never been happy in my life as I am now wearing old and not so pretty clothes. I'm beaming with confidence and grace and I feel great. I made a vow that I will never buy any thing that is not ethical; I will never step a foot inside a department store or a chain store or buy from any brand. I will never buy or wear any thing while there are One Billion persons in the world who can not have three normal meals like the rest of us. One Billion people! 

Not only I got rid of all the expensive shoes, bags and clothes but also any jewelry I had. Gold and diamonds to me are all blood gold and diamonds. I can never justify to myself wearing a gold or diamond ring while some people died in the process of mining for the gold or diamond! I do not need any gold or diamond to feel good and pretty. All I need is to wear my sincere smile :)

Why I'm telling you all of this? Well,  I just thought to share this with you because I'm sure there are some of you out there who are still struggling with body image and think that expensive clothes or more stuff or makeup will make them happy. Not at all. Happiness comes from simple things in life; happiness is when you think of others not just you. Happiness in not this vicious cycle of expectations but rather the awareness that the more we expect and need the more miserable we become. This has to stop and we have to start living in the moment with what you have. Do not pay attention to what others say (believe me lots of people think I'm crazy to leave my ex comfy life for this hardship but I do not care) and do what your heart and conscious tell you. 

The nasty reality of truffles :(

When I first moved to Italy I lived in this tiny house on a farm; it was badly made, freezing clod in winter and very hot in summer. I suffered a lot in that house; and the landlady was nasty. Well, last week I viewed a similar house on sale near the first house I viewed a week before. :)  Stay tuned for more.

Well, I went to see the house again.... it was another adventure I will tell you about in details later. What I want to say is during this visit I discovered another thing about the area which I did not like at all. The area is a hotspot for truffle and truffle hunters and I hate, hate truffle hunters! You know why? Because they starve their dogs; literally dogs are skins and bones. So please before you buy or eat any truffles, think about all those starving dogs. They are in a such bad situation. Even though it is against the law to do so but all the truffle hunters here are heartless bastards. I got into a fight with one of them long time ago. They are nasty and care only about the money they get from the truffles. The poor dogs live a painful life, hungry all the time and go crazy for truffle because they know they will get a tiny piece for biscuits! It is an excruciating life, so please do not buy or eat truffles.

 This was my kitchen then

Anyway, all I can say is I'm very confused and worried and need to think hard. I also need to go with a builder to check the damages in the small house I liked. Because in my first visit I did not see these new damages; they were at the back of the house which I did not look at.

I made my breakfast on this wood-burning stove and the house was freezing. When my porridge was done, I would pour my coffee, drag the small old bed I made into a sofa, pile books next to me and thick blankets on me and commence eating and reading till 12 pm. It was too cold to move around the house. 

On a different note, today was a good day. I a completed few tasks and canned six jars of organic orange jam! They will be the last patch I do this year. I will take photos and share the recipe. It is so easy and so delicious. Everyone who tasted the first patch I made fell in love with it :) 

Dilemma

Ok, I just came back from viewing a tiny house somewhere in the mountains. Oh my God, it is wonderful. It needs some work, around another 4.000 or 5.000 then it would be perfect. It has its own water, though I need to carry a check to see whether I can drink it or not; there is no electricity but solar panels would be great; it has no land but one can have a big kitchen garden and chickens and  2 goats for milk; there is a place for all that.

And the price is ridiculous; I've never imaged that I can find a place with such a price in Italy. There is another house attached to it but it is well maintained and the owner lives in another city and comes only once a year to throw a hunting party! yuck, I do not like hunters but I can put up with him for few days per year. The friend who took me there said it is so tiny, so I was imaging a tiny tiny place but what a surprise for me. It was not tiny at all. In the entrance there is a huge fireplace, then a bathroom on the right, then a big kitchen-sitting room, then a small bed room. Then, there are other two big rooms below  that you access from outside and can be used as a store, chicken coop, etc. Or one for guests, etc.

Now, what is the problem?

Well, the place is very very isolated and as I do not have a car, it would be so difficult living there. The bus doesn't pass there at all and the road is so bad that in winter one can remain blocked for weeks! 

I do not know what to do? I'm torn between reserving it to buy it later when I can get the money (my best friend in London would lend me a bit of money and my brother would send me some too but that would take some time), then I move to a nearby city or town and get a job or even relocate to Britain and work for few years and save up, then return, do the work and live there. But still, even I will not be having any bills (as I intend to have solar panels; no bill for water too or for rubbish collecting, as there is none, plus I do not generate any rubbish, etc), but still I need to have a sort of income to pay for living: the stuff I do not grow, feeding for the animals, wood for heating, etc. 

I do not know what to do and scared that someone would buy this little house and then I will never have such a chance. And in the same time, I'm worried if I give a word to reserve it, then I have to buy it or lose the deposit if I change my mind later. The good thing it is not through a state agency but direct through the owner (and the friend of friend of friend who is the link between us and the owner).

If you are in my position, what shall you do? Be honest please. 

Spring and others

It seems Spring has finally arrived. We have been having very warm days lately, though weather forecast says from tomorrow rain and clod would arrive! I have been sitting outside my house in the sun after lunch for more than a week now. Sadly I couldn't drag my old sleeping bag and sleep on the grass as we have been invaded by ticks! Yuck, yuck. They make me so sick, seeing them and I just do not know what to do to get rid them of them? Any chemical-free tips, please? We have lots of deer in this region and I saw families of them sleeping outside my door early in the morning. So ticks come with them. I try to cut down the grass near the house but we are surrounded by bushes and it is so steep, there is no way I can cut that grass. 

 I said in an earlier post that I will not plant a lot of veggies this year but before I made that decision I have sowed lots of seeds, tomatoes (different types), aubergines, chili, and red pepper. The good thing is I collected these seeds from vegetables I grew last year or got from friends from their farms. They have grown so well, I'm so amazed. The picture above is from last year; I will photo them soon. They are sitting in two huge craters on my windowsill inside the house and when it is hot out, I leave them out for hours. I just can't understand people who spend money on seeds while they can get them for free! Especially the ones easily obtained, like tomatoes, pepper, aubergines, etc.

 Last year in Autumn I got about 10 kilos of onions from a local organic farmers, and when some of them sprouted (very few) I planted them to get spring green onions. Sadly a vole (many of them it seems) ate them :(  I managed to save those but see the bites on the roots! They are monsters!

 I have this succulent plant in front of my house (it's one of three) and it started to bloom! The bees are so happy :) I've even left a dish of water for them.

And finally, here is Luna sporting one of her cute looks :) She is so cute and I cannot stop kissing her, sometimes, hehe.

Updates:

The email is working now, yaya; I didn't do anything; 2 days ago I logged in and it just worked! What a relief!

The move: Well, next week there will be some news; I do not know yet if things will be ok or not; I will tell you more when I know, hopefully by Thursday. Keep your fingers crossed please :)

Changes and new plans

Well, I have been quiet for  while because there will be some changes and new plans. After some serious thinking, I have decided to move out from here within a year or a year and half to a place where I can set roots and call home. It will be very difficult as I have no money at the moment but I'm determined to make it. 

The thing is I have been working on a project for a while and I decided to give it a go and try to finish it, and see if I can make a living from it. I haven't spoken about the project before and I will keep it private till I am finished. I'm not sure if I will be able to make a living from it but if I do not try, I will not know, right?

I will not be planting a lot of veggies this year but rather getting them from local and small organic farms here, and I won't plant the berries garden or any fruit trees. I will just wait till I can have my own place. I think I will need to move into another country, as prices here in Italy are so high and there is no way I can afford to buy anything. It will be difficult and I'm very worried and scared of this new move but I have to do it.  It will be into one of the ex Communist east European countries, as prices of rural houses with land are so cheap (just 3000 or 4000 euros!) Then I will look into renting a room or two for tourists and maybe doing some tours too; cooking for them organic food grown by me, etc. We shall see.

I will keep blogging about my sustainable life here and my new plans. 

Please wish me luck :) 

Please don't

Valentine's Day is approaching and sadly many people will be buying and gifting roses and flowers. 

Please, please before you do so, watch this documentary and rethink your decision about buying or receiving roses.

The flower industry is so damaging to the environment and the communities where these rose and flowers farms are set. Instead of gifting roses/flowers gift the person you care for some seeds or a potted plant that you potted yourself. Please, there are One Billion persons who can not afford 3 meals a day like us, so do not be selfish and think of them too.

I personally never gift roses/flowers or receive them, unless I have grown them myself. And if a man gifts me store-bought flowers/roses, I will kick him on the ass and shut the door firmly behind him and never see him again, ha-ha. I know this is severe but I believe if someone doesn't care about the underprivileged, the poor, the weak, the needy, he will never really care bout me or anyone else. This earth belongs to all of us and we HAVE to think of those who have less than us. 

The sad thing is the line between necessity and commodity, between what is vital for our living and what-is-not had vanished. :(

Our Days

 We have been having a very severe weather and the only ones that seem to enjoy it are Kiwi and Luna! Despite the snow and the freezing cold they spend most of the morning and part of the afternoon frolicking in the snow! I have been quiet, reading, thinking of some projects, planning my new vegetable plot (I will  move into a bigger one, further from the current one; and will plant some berries on the current one) I will plant some blueberries and blackberries. Before I started growing my veggies and fruit, I used to hate winter and yearn for summer and hot days. I still love summer and hot days but certainly I do not hate winter and I tend to enjoy each season and revel in its beauty and bounty. I now know that each season is very important for mother nature, so I love and enjoy each one of them. I do not rush things, and I apply this new philosophy even to my personal life. I do not rush anything and let things take their own course.

 Anyway, I get my apples from a small co-op of small local and organic producers. I got about 10 kilos  in December and they are almost gone now. I'm going to get more and I hope I will be able to get my hands on a dehydrator soon (thanks Ely for introducing me to yours, as I have been looking for one for ages here with no success!) I'm so excited to use it for drying tomato this summer.

 I finally opened the last pumpkin and it was delicious, small but good.

 I made a tomato soup; it is a North African recipe; I used some of  my tomatoes which I put in the freeze last summer.

 I also baked some apples with raisins, oat and sugar. Luna wanted some too :)

Gosh, these jars are disappearing so fast. I gifted a lot of them but kept a lot for me too. I opened the jar of pears and they were so delicious. I devoured the small jar of apricots too :) I will certainly make more this summer. I have been looking and searching for new preserving recipes and I'm so excited to be making more this year. plus the drying of some of my produce. 

Slow living

Hand-operated washing machine

I firmly believe in slow living, that is to do things the slow way whether it is cooking or cultivating land or creating or producing, etc. I believe this is not only good for one own health, as when you live slow you take it easy and really enjoy life and food, but also it is good for the environment. Slow farming and producing means you plant only things that belong to your region, you plant only seasonal, you plant only a small field that can be harvested by hand. Slow living rejects all (or most) electric equipments that run on electricity or fuel.  

I have been embracing this style of living for  a long while now but I have to admit that I use a washing machine now (I lived without one for years) It is not mine and I'm determined that when I move to my tiny smallholding, I will get myself a hand-operated wonder wash (see photo above) I found this on a website and loved it. You just put your dirty clothes and water and soap (I will be using mine) and just crank that handle. I also do not have a dishwasher and will never have one. I do not own a fridge but I use one at the moment; I will not have one when I move out. Most of the kitchen gadgets I have, which are very few, are operated manually, like vegetable mill, a good wooden mortar for grinding spices, garlic or making pestos. I make everything manually by hand and very slowly :)

Slow living means you do things slowly and savour the moment; it means you take your time to do things and if you haven't finish your task, it is ok, you can finish it tomorrow. But what it is beautiful about slow living is that fact that you will be able to do everything and have time to rest and relax and enjoy life! How come if you do things manually? Because you are doing few things, because you own few clothes so you do not spend the whole day doing laundry, because you plant a small field, you do not spend many days harvesting your grains or veggies or fruit (just a day maybe or half a day); because you have few goats or sheep, you do not spend the whole day feeding them or milking them. You simply own few things and as a result, you spend less time working. 

The point is we need to slow down to protect this earth, we need to own few things to protect the earth, we need to do things manually, first to move our bodies, second to cut waste and dependency on fuel. Not only we will be saving mother earth but also saving money that we can put into a good cause, like sponsoring an orphan or rescuing, treating and feeding stray animals, etc. 

Slow living means you savour your food, you take your time growing it, cooking it and eating it. You become more aware of the beauty around you; you become more conscious and sensitive and more attentive to people and animals around you. 

Slow living is the key to all today's problems. No stress, no need for medication or visits to doctors or  gyms; no sick leaves; no breakdowns; no mood swings; no anger or road rages, no nothing. Just peaceful, harmonious and full life. 

Try it and you will not regret. 

Our Days!

 On the farm there are more than 50 laurel trees (bay leaves) and I wonder if anyone has an idea if there is anything I can do with them, apart from using in cooking of course. Any idea of something I can make from them and sell to generate a bit of money?

The weather has been so mild, it feels like spring already, which is bad news for all the fruit trees that started to sprout! Though, we are expecting some snow from Tomorrow. I made about 10 jars of organic orange jam and turned out so delicious. I gave away quite few and everyone loved it. My friend Ina said: It is special jam :) I kept about 5 for myself and once I dress their heads with nice cover, I will take photos of them and post them here.

 Here is Kiwi sleeping on my sofa. He likes to sleeps like that! He has become thin and I'm worried about him. I will take him and Luna next week to do the vaccine and I will talk to the vet regarding the noise he makes when he sniffs things or just walk sometimes. 

 And here is the beautiful Luna :) She has been very good lately and I'm very pleased. :)

 I cooked a lot and this quiche is one of the stuff I made. It is crustless and wheat-free.  I posted the recipe in previous post.

And risotto with peas I grew last summer :)

Happy 2015 to you all :)

 This is where I live; click on photo for a better view. It is so beautiful.

Well, happy new year every one; I hope 2015 will be filled with good health, good ethical (preferably grown by you) food, good company, good deeds, and lots of laughter. I spent last night home despite being invited to a new year party held at my friend Stella's house. I decided to stay at home because we had a lot of snow and it was freezing outside; it was -10! As I only use a wood-burning stove to heat my place, I thought by the time I come back from the party, my house would be frozen :) Plus I was tired and just went to bed at 10 pm! Anyway, this morning I woke up early, made a nice coffee and porridge and sat by the fire and read a bit. Then head out to feed the critters. It was freezing and I had to return home few times to defrost myself, haha. 

 Then, around 11 am, I got going with the cooking. I made few things, tomato soup with chickpeas, roasted red peppers (I preserved some peppers from my plot in summer) and cumin (it was so yummy), gluten-free pasta in pesto (During summer I made lots of pesto from basil from my plot and froze them in ice cubes, then deposited the cubes in a bag and back to the freezer; every now and then I would get a cube and use it), roasted veggies and apple crisp. If you click the photo, you will see two things in the oven too : Apple crisp and roasting some veggies.

 Here are Kiwi and Luna. Kiwi has been a very good boy; Luna not so good but ok. After spending all the morning and afternoon out in this freezing weather, she is now crying wanting to go out! Of course not.

 I made this mashed potato and some tomato sauce with mushrooms few days ago. It was delicious.

I love roasting oranges with potatoes. Try it, so yummy. In winter I get 10 kilos of organic oranges from the co-op; I had my first ten kilos in November and I made some orange jam; so yesterday I ordered another 10 kilos, plus 5 kilos of organic apples. I want to dry some apples. 

My Homemade Christmas 2014

 I made this wreath from leaves and small pomegranates that were inedible. I have 4 trees on the farm and they produced like crazy. I made a syrup with an ancient recipe used in Albania! It is so easy, I just couldn't believe myself. I will share with photos of the syrup I made.

Happy Christmas everyone. I do hope that you all had a good one. Mine was good, full of good food and some gifts :)  The last two days before Christmas were very busy; I made lots of tea loaves and cookies and gave them to my friends, most of them were farmers. I also made some lavender sacks and gave them to some friends; also lost of jars of homemade jams and chutneys were given to some friends. All the gifts cost me about 20 euros! And I didn't set a foot inside any shop or supermarket, yaya. 24 December I made a nice cake and went to visit my old friend Giovani. If you read old posts you will know more about him. Anyway, he is in his mid 80s and lives alone; he has a nasty niece who didn't even call him to wish him a merry Christmas! Anyway, I went to visit him and he was so happy  to see me :) 

 On 25 December, I woke up early, made myself a nice cup of coffee and an almond mini cake, see above photo. Then I watched Little Lulu on youtube, haha. This is my tradition and I love it. Then I went out to feed the animals and check all is ok, then I had a nice hot shower, got ready and went to my friend Stella'a house for a Christmas feast. I ate like a pig and returned  home with a full belly and happy face :)   ( did you see the little wooden spoon in the photo above? It was a gift from a farmer friend! I've never met one single Italian who doesn't have no artistic skill! It is amazing, all seem to possess artistic skills!

Oh, and of course I opened the sack Santa left for me through the chimney, hehe. It was from my landlady full of dried beans, corn flour, chickpeas flours, dates, and other goodies.

 I baked these sweet/savory biscuits. They are wonderful with good cheese and homemade chutney. They are made with oat and flour and very easy to make. I can post the recipe if anyone interested. 

 26 December I ate a lot of Brussels Sprouts. Italians do not eat them and I am lucky to have a farmer friend who is a vegetarian and grows them! The chili was harvested from my plot and kept in the freeze. I have a big zipper bag full of fresh hot chili in my freezer.

 I also made a nice soup with cauliflower and lots of spinach.

And I went for a nice walk before snow and arctic weather hit us today. It is freezing and finally winter is here. We had a very mild weather; it felt like Autumn through out November and December, up to today!

Anyway, I hope you all had a good Christmas and remember the joy of Christmas is giving not receiving; also do not think of what others had or how they spent their day, just try to make the most of it with the little things you have. I have no money and it is so hard here but that was never a problem to me. Money doesn't bring happiness; I gift homemade stuff and they bring so much joy to the receivers and to me.

The Art of Living

To live off the grid is an amazing experience I would not replace or exchange with anything else in this world. I will never go back to my old life of a city person working from 9 to 5 to pay for rent, bills and stupid things; to be stressed, depressed and sick (lots of health issues and allergies which they are all gone now).

Living off the grid gives you freedom, happiness, joy; you connect with the earth and the food you produce, you connect with animals, with the wind, with snow, with rain; you become a peaceful person, glowing with health and inner peace and satisfaction. I just have no words to describe what I feel and goes through me. All I can say is I've never been this happy, joyful, optimistic, peaceful, content, merciful. thoughtful, humane, sincere as I am now. I just discovered the art of living and happiness.

 But, living off the grid requires a lot of hard work (which I donot mind at all and love). One of the basic rule to be off the grid is to be self-sufficient, growing your own food and preserving it. I had to learn everything by myself. I searched blogs; I bought and read books and I managed to learn from my mistakes. And I can now say that I can can, preserve and pickle anything. I also dry food and on my wishing list is a dehydrator (I have to save and scarp to save up for one but I will do) I need to dry may fruits and make fruit leather.

Anyway, from mid summer till late autumn I metamorphosis into an ant that store food. The preserving marathon starts mid summer and I spend days just doing that. It is hard work but the end result is just amazing. The satisfaction one gets at the sight of these jars that sparkle like jewels is priceless. 

 I can proudly say that my cantina is brimming full with many jars of tomato sauces, different types of jams, different types of chutneys, pickled cucumber and onions, pickled pepper and artichoke under extra virgin olive oil, preserved apricots, preserved pears, other types of salsa, chili, and many more. 

Some of these jars will be given to friends as Christmas gifts and I will enjoy the rest in cold winter nights in stews, tagines or on homemade bread and good organic cheese from the local friend farmer.

I grow most of the veggies myself, so they are organic; and the ones I did not grow, I got from a local organic farmer. The fruits too, all organic. 

Ok, I'm off to crack open a jar of good chutney, prepare a place of some organic savory biscuits I made, load some good organic cheese, sit on my comfy sofa in front of the blazing open fire, put my feet up, stroke my kitties and enjoy :)  Ahh, this is the good life. This is the Art of Living. 

Meet Dandy

Ladies and gentlemen, here is Dandy, the little kitten I rescued few weeks ago. He now lives with is new human mama in another city and so happy and live an amazing life. I'm so delighted :)