No, this is not another picture from Squam – this is how it looks like in the area where we will move in two weeks! After 10 years in the big city (Hamburg) we found ourselves ready to move to the countryside, to my native Schleswig-Holstein, to the district where I grew up – but that’s by accident. On our last summer vacation, we toured the south of Germany (Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg) and realized that our family was more relaxed and happier with more space, more green and cleaner air. So we started searching for a bigger house in northern Germany, a place where we could live, work, knit, pack Strickmich!-Club-parcels, grow chickens and have some privacy. But after looking at a bunch of beautiful farmhouses that we could have afforded but would have had to win the lottery big time for the renovations, we decided to stay in Hamburg. Only this one house, an old pub where people used to change horses when passing through, in the middle of Holstein, we wanted to see, just for fun. It had been renovated during the 80s but never really lived in.

It was the end of February, the area was grey and cold and not very attractive, located between old gravel-pits and a garbage dump. The guy who owned the house used it as a storage space, it was filled with old furniture, clothes and old sporting equipment. But both of us instantly liked it: It was spacious, in fairly good condition, we would be able to live and work here, it was in the middle of the village (Peter did not want a remote place), and the fixtures, walls and lights were okay and not ugly, despite being from the late 80s. The asking price was less than what we would have paid for a 2-bedroom-condo in Hamburg. We revisited the place with the engineers who had already talked us out of several other houses. But this time, they said: It’s fine, there’s nothing substantially wrong with this place. Go for it.
So we started planning our move: Found new schools for the kids, cancelled our planned vacation (we were going to take the kids to Yellowstone, but, well – maybe next year!), talked to handymen and movers. Peter is has been spending every minute he can spare in the house, renovating and painting and supervising plumbers, carpenters and roofers. And I have never seen him this happy before:

In this picture he is sitting on the windowsill of my new office, which I am really looking forward to. Finally, I won’t have to sleep between boxes of yarn and tax files anymore, and I will hopefully be able to separate work and private life a little better.

And yes, there is enough space for a big sofa and happy knitters knitting away… (Knit Night in the middle of nowhere? Who wants to come?)
Peter will also have his own space for his desk – which is a relief, because he has been working from next to his bed. There will be rooms for packing and storage, and we will have a garden where my son wants to keep chickens in the little barn:

Every time we visit our new home and stroll around the village, we are surprised how beautiful everything is. A 10 minute walk will take you to woods, lakes, apple orchards and pastures (with grazing sheep!). I can’t wait do do my first photoshoot there.

During the next couple of weeks we will be busy with the move and renovations, so I might not be able to answer every email immediately. I would like to apologize in advance – please regard it as a little summer break. I plan to be back by the end of July and hope you will have a great summer!