#14 First time laying bricks - Slow living in the north of Italy
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- Опубликовано: 4 окт 2024
- Two months ago we moved into a 200-year old farmstead in the hills of Piedmont, Italy. We're tackling this huge project step by step, task by task, permit by permit - doing most of the work ourselves. This week we are baking sourdough bread, organising our workshop, treating furniture against woodworm, laying bricks for the first time, and making a start with restoring our bathroom window.
Thank you for joining us at the very beginning of our journey.
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#homerenovation #sourdough #slowliving #italy
I appreciate the quiet, methodical partnership you have together. It doesn't feel chaotic or overwhelming watching you. It feels inspiring. Those custom shelves in the workshop were a fantastic idea!
Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful reflections with us
Watching you two 'work' and 'play' at your home is like watching a fern unfurl: it's mesmerisingly beautiful.
thank you for your beautiful poetic words
I so appreciate your thoughtful, wise comments!
Thank you for sharing your appreciation with us, Betty!
I love the pieces you have collected from the glimpses in the footage. It looks right at home there, absolutely stunning. I also love the focus of living there, rather than a need to get it done. The transformation comes from your own needs, at your own pace, perfect.👍❤
We are definitely collectors :-) most of our furniture are family heirlooms, with the occasional antique/flea market find. We own very few new pieces. Love the notion of transformation coming from your own needs/within. thanks for sharing that!
I agree completely Isis... anything that makes you feel at home everyday right now is what the soul needs to ford ahead, especially with winter coming... one day at a time and you have all the time in the world now! Plus living in a place before you do major things teaches you your logical flows, needs and priorities! Forza! 💪🏼 🥰
Grazie!
that bell is such a lovely touch!
It seems to feel right at home here :-)
I like your videos lots. There’s a calmness to it, an inspiration to it, just the right balance. You both are doing such great teamwork
Thank you so much, Cynthia!
You’ve definitely the right attitude to prioritise your many jobs. I wish it was me in your place. I love watching your steps
It's so wise to take things at your own pace. The house isn't going anywhere, and there's so much of life to enjoy, like your outdoor meals and your amazing views.
Highlight for me: A smiling Bertus carrying a colander of grapes from the property
I don't recall hearing the near by church bells before. So delightful.
they're lovely! a good reminder too that we are never too far from the "world" 😊
Its lovely to see you are taking your time adjusting to a new way of life and embracing the quality and slowness that must have attracted you to the Farmhouse and surrounding areas. Thoroughly enjoying your more relaxed approach than racing into every project with a ASAP attitude. Take your time the house and you will appreciate it more.
Thank you so much! Glad to hear you're enjoying the slow pace.
On old window frames or other wood projects, you may find wood hardener + filler to be an effective method of repair that allows you to keep more of the original wood.
that's exactly what we used! we replaced only the absolutely neccessary bits and used wood hardener and filler to preserve as much as possible of the original window. will be in next week's video 🥰
Thanks for making my monday morning so lovely. You make everything prachtig en gezellig.
You are so welcome
A creeper flowering plant just curling around the wall and above that stone bench would be ❤😊
Yes! Looking forward to all the plants :-)
Please plant stakes with signs that say: "Proprietà privata. Divieto di Caccia"(Private Property. No Hunting) along the boundaries of your land. You will be doing the animals a favor and keeping the dangers of hunting accidents away from you. Grazie
we definitely plan on fencing off part of the property in the future, but the entire circumference of our land is upwards of 2,5km (about two miles). also, in italy, unless you fence off your land, you can't simply go about putting divieto di caccia plates around sadly. as far as we're aware it doesn't hold any legal value to do so and our experience is that hunters will completely ignore them. hunting in italy- especially wild boar - is also with the purpose to keep the population size at a healty level for the ecosystem. we are not anti-hunting but very pro well-regulated hunting with a focus on ecosystem management rather than sport.
@@storiesfromthecascina - Hi, I don't think it is necessary to fence your land, also because the signs are located on agricultural plots much larger than yours and without fences. However, it is necessary to make a request to the Region, usually the competence of territorial hunting plans is delegated to the provincial authority, therefore the owner or manager of the land that he wants to remove from hunting activity must address his request to the Province to which he belongs. The control of "invasive" species would still take place outside your land, but what has certainly improved will be your safety, given that the hunter only has to keep 100 meters from buildings and given that hunting accidents are frequent (there these are people who shoot at the mere movement of a bush). Happy renovating, bye
Yes it's either fencing your land or submitting a request to the provincial authorities, before they finalise the hunting plans once every five years. But it's not as easy as just putting down some signs! We genuinely wish it would be :-) And thank you for being concerned with our safety and that of the living creatures on our land!
@@storiesfromthecascina - Well sorry if I was intrusive, but it's something I would have done if I had a house like yours. Even though my father was a hunter, the idea of someone being 100 yards from my house with a gun doesn't make me "crazy with joy." Hi and good work to you. 👍😊
@@MrTinner66 Oh yes but we are fully in the same camp there. It isn't a nice idea having hunters that close to the house. It's just that preventing that takes time that we haven't had yet. We've only been living here for three months, and there were tasks that were more pressing. 🙂
Everything is looking wonderful so far!!
I appreciate your wisdom for living 😊
I love your ethos,you have to live and enjoy the journey ,best wishes to you both 💝
Yes! Thank you, Terri!
New sourdough bread maker here. Here are some tips I learned from seasoned professional sourdough bakers and my personal experimentation. After painstakingly making my own starter that took way longer than most instructions on youtube I was finally ready to use it. When you are in the beginning stages of using sourdough starter add yeast for safety. Dark Rye flour appears to be the best for making starter. Instead of discarding, start with 2 tbs of Rye and tiny bit of water for pancake batter consistency. Feed it 2 table spoons and a little water everyday and watch for the bubbling and sour smell. Once it starts rising you can begin to experiment using it. For storing for long periods of time without doing anything to it. Make it very thick and cover with a layer of dry flour and place in the frig. It can last up to 2 months I am told. Take out of the frig the day before, add water until the consistency of pancake batter leave in a warm place for 12 -24 hours then add to your recipe. The refrig storage does work because I tested it myself. A good place to sit the starter while waiting for it to rise is to place in the oven with the light on.
Thank you for the tips! In the meantime we've had some more successful results and we're definitely encouraged to continue on the sourdough bread making journey! :-)
@@storiesfromthecascinaIt is so worth it and glad to hear you are experiencing better results. Love watching your homestead progress, looking good.
best
Taking life one step at a time and be in the present (and not the past or future) is something less and less people are doing now. So you have the right idea I think 😉
Aaah yes, we're very familiar with living constantly in the past or future too, sadly! it's so sad really how we live in a world where not being in the now has become the norm. all we really have is the now.
It sounds like you've achieved a good balance between priorities and enjoyment, Isis and Bertus.
I struggle with perfectionism. There's so many jobs I haven't even started because I know I can't do them perfectly. I've achieved far less than non perfectionists.
Good enough is ...plenty good enough.
(if you don't know the English word, please just say it in Dutch (YT subtitles will translate for us))
Dancing with perfectionism is an ongoing practice for us as well for sure! There's many things that we have not done or started in our lives because of slumbering perfectionism. We are intentionally practicing feeling safe around not doing things perfect. And doing it in front of a 12k audience has definitely become a part of that practice 😂
Hello, Issis & Bertus steady progress the workshop looks great and is used often by you. Bricklaying is also a part as I say learning by doing-The Serenety of the environment gives calmness and peace-giving. you have a nice collection of antique furniture I also like the old woodstove, Greetings. Hubertus 🇳🇱🇳🇴🍀👍🏻🇮🇹
Our beloved collection of old things
It is a lovely pace of life, just doing what needs doing at the top of the list. We all have a list .😅
I love how you film your videos always stopping to enjoy the land around you! Was theater in your past? Keep to your list and only do what you can do ...
No theater in our past, except for the occasional high school play back in the day. Bertus has been working in the historical/cultural event sphere for years though - both as a performer and as an organiser - but this work hasn't ever required any acting from him. It does require thinking like a director/screenplay :-)
Thank you for the update :)
Wonderful as usual :) I love that your beautiful pieces of furniture are slowly finding homes. The desk looked perfect in that spot and I loved the floristry you placed there.
Thank you! 😊 The branches in the vase are from the European hop-hornbeam. It's been so exciting to learn about all the plant species that grow on our land!
I love your attitude and pace. Everything happens when it needs to. Taking time to absorb the beauty surrounding you.❤
Glad you're enjoying the piano piano (slowly slowly in Italian) vibes :)
Will you get snow in your region? I ask because if so, you may want to put some sort of insulation around your below ground water valve. Even just some packing foam from your move will help. I enjoy your filming style .
We will likely get snow, yes! It doesn't snow here every winter, and some winters more than others, but usually not before December. Thanks for the reminder :-)
You're making good progress.
Lovely video! You both are a wonderful couple. Really enjoying your posts.
Thanks so much! 😊 Glad you're enjoying them!
Love your little desk and the way you arranged the flowers on top of it ,well done on the shelf in the workshop, keep to your list by all means ,some days though the little job making things look nice can be done quickly and encourage you to go on to the bigger jobs.well done to both of you
Thank you! The variety between big and small jobs works very well indeed :-)
12:14 : That is just ........ perfection.
we're very fond of this "new" corner!
Live a day at a time, love like the is no tomorrow, planning is ok but not the end goal.
I Love your attitude and the way you live. It seems wonderful to me. Thanks for the video!
You are so welcome!
It is so good to see you doing your thing. It is your life and you need to do what feels good to you. Living the dream and dream the living! Thanks again for sharing
you're so welcome erica! and love what you said about dreaming life ❤️
Dove c'è amore tutto si può superare. Bravi ragazzi!
Bello!, Simpatico, Brava/Bravo!🙏
WOW this look wonderful video
I love your "balance" with admitting to making mistakes but doing right in the end etc. I love the casualness of this, thankyou
You are so welcome! And thank you for sharing that
I look forward to your videos. I started watching because of the hat! My Avo always wore one. I hope yall start posting more in the future ❤😊
hi connie! our goal is to post 1 video each week. more frequent videos doesn't feel feasible at the moment for us 😊
love you both. i am enjoying a lot lot
This is a fun watch to enjoy if you have the time. Its like you did a whole video using that tiktok trend, film something as if it was directed by Wes Anderson. But you did the trend for the whole chanel lolz
Hi David! It's so funny that you see Wes Anderson in our videos. We do love his eye for composition :-)
Don't get too overwhelmed guys: slow is good. Also, you're doing an amazing job! It's getting more homey every video. For Isis, the word you were looking for the caldaia is boiler 😘
ah yes i know it's boiler, as in dutch we say boiler as well, but the thing when you're speaking three languages every day is that sometimes you just forget/mix up the most simple things 🤣
Qué apasionante seguir el trabajo de ustedes! Son creativos y organizados. Me gustaría que Isis (creo que así se llama) usara guantes de trabajo.
Nice video 👌
I agree in about taking your time about the land as I think and have found that I always maintained the land as is for a year then I could see the rain situation etc etc then plan the garden. As you won't know immediately what will work or not work. I agree with you also in taking each day as it comes and enjoying it and not put pressure on yourselves about the house as to what must come first. When I moved to the Netherlands from South Africa it was a totally different climate and way of living (cycling everywhere) etc etc we Lived in the Netherlands 22 years and it was quiet an adjustment for me and my family, language, way of life etc etc I think you both and your mom are doing an amazing job of it all and I look forward to watching your journey. I now live in the UK and once again adjustment. Zoals ze zeggen: alles komt goed. Have a lovely day.
Just so lovely to see your life there , far far away from where I live ..thank you
Nice! 😉
i know it's not important but maybe consider to limewash the building. it would visually turn the place from being empty for a couple of years into a lovely family home. and maybe simply by changing the look of it will give you the necessary motivation for the upcoming tasks.
the facade is definitely on our list of aethetic projects. but we will probably replace/restore the shutters before we paint/limewash the walls. 😊
Love the updates!!
Glad you like them, Beverly!
Great philosophy. It’s a bit like the painting of a picture process. At first to the eye it seems raw and imperfect but as the layers go on and the intended features developed people can appreciate the whole. It’s just patience and an eye on the end goal that make the process character building and teaches valuable lessons to both creator and viewer.
beautiful analogy!
Your correct. Learning as you go. How else can you learn? The bottom liine is: you can always do it again until your happy... Enjoy your new home guys..
You are doing the right thing considering your comment that the place was a lot more than you planned for. Rule of restauration is 1) weatherproof 2) disconnect unneeded electricity and 3) remove the vermin! You need a few barn cats to control rodents
barn cats are on our wishlist and they probably will be arriving to the cascina sooner rather than later :-)
Just love your presentation.
Thanks so much, Arlene!
Every small accomplishment is so satisfying. Enjoy the journey.
Yes! Thank you!
Put dough in the refrigerator overnight 24 hour ferment is minimum
Yes indeed :-) what you saw in 3 minutes was spread out over 24 hours in reality! but the problem this time was that my starter was not active enough so I know what to change in my process.
I love the way you’re doing all the things. And at the time you are enjoying the property. I’m from the Caribbean. At one point of my life I thought of doing something like that. Moving to Italy. Because I been there a few times. And I really love it. So that’s why I enjoy so much watching. yours videos. ♥️🇵🇷
glad you're enjoying the variety of projects ❤️ and we wish you, wether or not you ever move to italy, a place where you feel truly at home!
❤
14:11 : from a project management viewpoint, which you may already know and have done :
* look up the 'MoSCoW Principle', that helps prioritizing. It's also very simply put into an excel-sheet, allowing for both clustering of tasks, prioritizing and planning.
* don't forget the 'preparation for preparation'. In order to allow to prepare for some tasks other things need to be in place already. Like with getting permits you usually need a lot of copies of documents. Both for filling in the request forms and as attachments to the request form.
^ look for tasks which - once started - take a long time to rum on their own. Like getting permits. Once these tasks have started you can put those in the back of your head and do other tasks.
Just 3 things that make life easier and give room for spontaneous things.
thanks for the tips! and yes, looking out for the tasks that make many other tasks possible is so important!
we have slow living here in Appalachia
Slow living can be practiced anywhere, but it's definitely easier, we find, when you're close to nature.
Hello nice family,
I see you always have lots of works to do and it will be on this way for some long time. And the caldaia (Io la capito 😊) is really a big problem if you don't have it.
So I was thinking, why don't you make something like work tourism in your property? So people will come to you, you will teach them and they will do works you ask them. And you both will be satisfied. Nice idea, no? 😊
something we are definitely considering as we've been wwoofers too :) but, we would want to do this only once there is a second bathroom. personal space is important for us but also for the people who would come here. 😊
I don’t understand why, after all that brutally hard physical labor, you will have to re-do the water line again?
Do the two of you also work at your profession during this renovation?
Isis does, she has her own business as a coach for creative enterpreneurs.
Hi, are you finding many health benefits from your new life in Italy? Thank you.
So far I would say we've been experiencing better sleep, less stress, and better digestion. It's definitely a noticeable difference :-)
What do you two do for a job / living?
If possible it's better to live in a place before jumping into renovating so you learn how the place will work for you
Yes, definitely! We are glad to have that opportunity :-)