Finally light at the end of the tunnel...

I haven't written anything for quite a while... and for good reason... because the last two and a half months had been a really difficult time for us ... .

And I still remember well how I used to smile in June and July when friends or colleagues mentioned my ‘courage’ regarding our move and couldn't quite understand what they were actually talking about. But today I know that there can indeed be moments, when you are close to losing this courage that you don't really have the awareness of... .

But we didn't! Even though there were times when we felt like part of the soap ‘Germany, Your Emigrants’, in which pure disillusionment is the predominant theme. But back to where it started.

July 25th, my car packed with everything I thought I would need for the next one or two month until I would get all my belongings transferred to the new and finished house.

Andrea and Elmar hadn't mentioned to me that work on the building site had been on hold for already several days for unknown reasons. And nobody could tell them when the bricklayers would come again. But short interruption had happened before, too.

And when I arrived after three days in the car, I was just overwhelmed by my first impressions. The view from our windowless window frames and the empty door cases and the impressive height of the main room with its roof windows... it almost gave the whole thing the appearance of a cathedral. So who cares about a bit of rubbish outside the door and temporary silence on the building site.

And you can also live with an outdoor shower and compost toilet... at least in hot August...

But the work interruption went on and on. And until the bricklayers had completed their work, no other craftsmen were able to start their work. First we were told that they had a high sickness rate, then they were allegedly busy on another building site and finally they were on holiday, because August is the main holiday season for Albanians. There is always a wedding somewhere or a celebration that the family is visiting from abroad for a few days.

Our dogs were delighted with these feast days and constantly arrived happily crunching on tasty bones, leftovers or parts of dead animals and Elmar's lovingly prepared meals were spurned.

We were getting a little nervous. Because week by week we could see September approaching - and with it the first rainfalls

Fortunately, there were some lovely visitors and the constant opportunity to do some work outside, to fight this helpless feeling of stagnation at least a little.

So we shovelled, built and chopped

Andrea and Elmar primed all the walls that were already finished

We experimented with preserving our flood of vegetables - with varying degrees of success...

prepared new beds for the autumn...

took trips with friends and dogs

...and eagerly provided for new arrivals on our little farm... first with 6 hens and a cockerel, who now also like to be touched and petted

And then came Lumi, an abandoned kitten about 4 - 5 weeks old

The bricklayers also returned after a while and then the tilers - who laid our beautiful terracotta floor at tremendous poor speed. We looked nervously at the weather forecast and the slowly growing tiled areas...

And then they arrived, the first thunderstorms with heavy rainfall. Meanwhile, I had moved the tent upstairs into the house, its walls provisionally weighted down with leftover bricks, but they still fluttered around my ears every night when the wind raged through every opening in the house. And when I woke up one night to a loud bang and was horrified to see that the plastic covering of the roof windows had come down with about 100 litres of water, I had had enough. I moved to the guesthouse about 500 metres away and now at least had a quiet, dry room and a comfortable bed. And every morning, a breakfast with a big glass of hot tea was waiting for me in the landlord's house - a crude mixture of café, village pub and grocery shop.

My breakfast is always accompanied by a loud discussion about politics, because even though I am the only guest in the guesthouse at the moment, Ismeti's bar is always busy in the mornings. The old men, but also the young ones on their way to work, meet here for a coffee and a chit-chat. People come by foot, moped, car, tractor or donkey.

After half an hour, my ears are usually ringing from the deafening conversations - not that I really understand much of it, because I find this Albanian language really damn difficult. In the meantime, I can make myself understood to some extent - but if someone says something to me, I usually stand there with an uncomprehending look and an apologetic ‘nuk kuptoj’ - ‘I don't understand’.

But they are all exceptionally friendly and greet me every morning with a cheerful ‘mengjesi’.

Ismeti and Shpresoja take great care of me, and they often give me extra presents - like a big jar of honey, vegetables and fruit from the garden, a big oregano bush - and they constantly ask me if we need anything. We did indeed, because little Lumi is often soooo bored when Bela isn't playing with her.

So I asked them whether they knew if anyone in the neighbourhood had some kittens.

Nothing happened for a few days, then I suddenly got a call from Ismeti. He wanted us to come, as quickly as possible!

Andrea and I jumped in the car, drove to the guesthouse and picked up Ismeti, who then directed us through Sterbeg to a small alley.

An old, grim-looking woman was standing there and while I was still thinking that I had to park somewhere and then we'd go into a house and look at kittens, he gestured to me to put down car window.

The woman handed us two dingy sacks. Only the shape and the warmth of the contents indicated that we had literally not bought a pig in a poke but two kitten!

Back at the guesthouse, we risked a cautious look at those two completely terrified little creatures - who fled with incredible speed to the furthest corner under the bed.

Every attempt to make contact was met with an angry snarl, they meowed pitifully at night and only ate when I wasn't in the room.

After two days, we were worried that it might be too late for them to be socialised, as they had obviously had no contact with humans - apart from the moment when they were suddenly grabbed and put in the bag. Then we had the idea of bringing Lumi up and stroking her in front of her. And indeed, Lumi's purring was something of a turning point. They didn't really come out at once, but they developped a kind of curiosity about me.

The next few days brought a visit from Austria for Elmar and Andrea and lots of rain for all of us... .

And, above all, a lot of time with the cats for me.

In the meantime, they have become quite trusting, Tatar, the little red one, already likes to be stroked and Pina, the colourful one, doesn't let me stroke her yet, but she loves to be close to me.

And they sleep and romp in my bed anyway - whether I'm there or not ;)

And now for all the other really good news:

We finally have windows and doors and bathrooms, theoretically also electricity and lights, but no sockets and light switches yet. The cotto tiles still need to be cleaned and then coated with a water-repellent protection, which will probably take a few more days - but according to the current prognosis, we will be ready to move in in about 2 weeks :))))