This is the morning view of our valley.... stunning isnt it...
Things are still very hectic, we've lots of guests backwards and forwards, Gareth and Rick have been working extra hard on the house, we've been taking advantage of having Gareth here as he's moving on to Austria in Mid march... we'll hate to see him go but its an good placement and not to be missed for him.
They have worked very hard and we actually now have a living room upstairs that looks like a real room... I love it! The walls have been all rendered and painted, the floor painted and the double doors varnished. should be a pic here somewhere. Its made it so warm and cosy... we cant afford to panel the roof though so its not quite finished, but still looks amazing to see it so transformed... 
We've had quite a few friends around for meals , plus with all the guests and cooking tons for the men , Im spending most of my life at the cooker...
In the next few weeks I plan to make more skin balms and salves for a good stock for summer. I need to make more jam as Gareth loves it and has eaten my whole stock... luckily I have fruit in the freezer to use..
I need to get down the orchard and weed my broad beans... they are coming on wonderfully. We need to clear and get the main veggie patch tilled so the frosts we are having can kill any bugs.. as planting is only a few weeks away now...
I have to clean the little greenhouse I use and get some seeds in pots... 
The blokes have to collect TONS of wood, we are getting low, down to only two rows now... plus set up the new irrigation system our lovely friend Alik brought us out a while a go, its going to be used to help our corn this summer. It was so gorgeous last year we have saved lots of seed and plan a HUGE field of it this year...
I have a French Canadian helper arriving in mid Feb to help with the workload for a few weeks. but will need major help with weeding, planting and wood collection during spring and early summer.
