We Have a House!

We finally got a signed contract for a house on Monday, and we get to move in on the 20th.  It is about 4,000 sq ft, 3 bedrooms, 3 bath.  There's a little wading pool in the backyard and a pool table inside.  It's very modern and cozy.  The roof is thatch and it looks a lot like a vacation home.  I'm excited to have a dishwasher again, although I'm getting used to hand-washing three times a day.  I think about my great-grandma having to wash dishes for her family of 13, and then my grandma with her family of 7.  I'm also getting used to not having a garbage disposal which was a pretty easy transition. 

I still can't find grape jam, which is crazy with all the wineries in the area, so I've substituted with blackcurrant.  Haven't found fine brown sugar either, just treacle sugar which is the same, only bigger crystals and a little stronger molassas flavor.  We've been eating frozen green beans which are a little rubbery after boiling, and then we found canned ones.  I was excited until I looked at the price: $35 for a 12-pack.  Couldn't convince myself to buy them.  But avacados are super cheap so we may be having a lot of guacamole dip here.  I attempted to bake some homemade bread and it seemed to rise a lot more than I'm used to.  Using a convection oven with degrees celsius is still challenging me. 

There are birds here called Hadedas whose call sounds like a crying baby.  I saw a little green bird yesterday that reminded me of a canary.  There's a small river and a bunch of trees behind our apartment, and I saw what looked like 2 little black pigs running around.  We had our first thunderstorm last night and into the morning, and when it rains, it RAINS!