New Years Day 2016

This is probably the last post regarding our building project as we have almost finished and the first day of a new year is as good a time as any to end it.
We did move in as expected on 1st May. The house was far from finished but our lovely builder, Hakki, kept his word.  We had around 20 trades people working on the day we moved but gradually they finished their work and we were able to start painting and making the house our home.
Eddy painted the whole of the inside and most of the outside before the heat defeated him and he 'downed tools'. Most of the people who are important to us have seen it as over the summer we had quite a few visitors and guests.  We thoroughly enjoyed showing the house off. When the weather cooled we started working on the garden and hard landscaping.  Although it is really tough going, trying to create a garden on a mountain, we are slowly getting there and it is a 'labour of love'. The outstanding jobs to fully complete our home are to finishing outside painting, tiling the entrance to the garage, creating an orchard. rockery and driveway to the basement side of the house and completing the boundary fences - not much in the scheme of things.
As I have since we brought the land and even though we had snow last night, I went part way up the mountain this morning to take a couple of photos;

Having now lived here for 8 months, we feel really settled and love our home.  There is nothing about it that we would change and if we could afford to, we would do it all again.
So in finishing the blog, I will leave you with this;

The architect Charles Moore once said: “If you care enough you just do it. You bind the goods and trappings of your life together with your dreams to make a place that is uniquely your own. The crucial ingredient is concern, care for the way that a house is built and the shape it gives to your life."

All that remains is for me to wish you a healthy and happy 2016 and to hope that whatever you do in this coming year, your life too has 'shape'.