Moving in is still a bit of an ongoing project, and there are a number of things that I’m working on to help me feel safer and more at home in this new place. I’ve recently been adding some more furniture to my place, which has given me enough shelf space to finish unpacking the rest of the kitchen boxes. I’ve been working on getting my kitchen set up as functional as possible to make it easier for me to get back into more cooking. This is a good thing both because I enjoy cooking, and because cooking often leads to eating more frequently, which is still a struggle for me.

Here is my DI library, on top of my paper file, on top of the lovely new table I found on the side of the road this week. I’m very pleased to get this lot off the ground and out of the dust zone.

Also new is this fantastic bookshelf that was a side of the road find a few years back. It’s not pretty but it si extremely strong, which is something to be valued when you own cast iron cookware.

This beauty was a gift from a friend who didn’t want it anymore. Possibly the prettiest bit of furniture I have! I’m quite thrilled to have all my lovely table ware on display. 🙂

Sarsaparilla approves also. He’s aware something is going on and has been sticking close lately, and sleeping on my bed every night. Grateful for that.

The lovely tea set I bought back from my trip to Singapore in 2011, and my favourite silver egg cups and egg cosies. None of my tableware matches in the strictest sense, I have found pieces here and there cheaply and assembled a collection. They are all united by my love of them and the medium, no stoneware, no porcelain.

This stunning blue set is also from Singapore, one of my absolute favourites. I love how the little tea cups have lids to stop the tea going cold.

My Asian foodware set, partly from Singapore, partly from here, and a lovely Arabic-inspired coffee set.

I’ve also re-organised my teas, coffees, herbs and spices to make things easier for me to find. I need visual reminders of what I have else I tend to forget about it and it languishes at the back of a cupboard. I like having my herbs, spices, and teas all close to hand.

I’ve also been getting a hand bringing over some of my garden, which is really exciting. I’m planning to turn the front yard (which gets the most sun) into a veggie patch and rose garden. I own a fair number of roses in pots at the moment, I’m planning to dig out some of the lawn and plant in the roses while they’re dormant over winter. That will make my life so much easier when it comes to watering things in summer. I expect that next year these will really start to shoot up and I’ll get some wonderful blooms. I’m really looking forward to tending a veggie patch again, it’s one of my favourite grounding techniques, both the hard labour and the magic of growing from seeds and cuttings. I also love to cook with what I grow, and I can’t wait to have my own thriving herb garden again. I bought some plants from my favourite herb lady at the Medieval Fair as usual, I have a lovely lemon verbena, bay tree and perpetual basil all waiting to be planted out. It will be good to get my hands in soil again when I feel ready.