The Old and the “New”

This is another installment of our Europe 2014 trip.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Annelies and Yves recently bought a new-to-them house with a huge renovation budget. They surprised us on the way to Brussels with a stop to see their new digs.

But first… here’s a classic series of photos captured on Friday afternoon. Yves was cooking up some burgers, Annelies and Mike were chatting, and I was just taking it all in. I couldn’t help but chuckle as Annelies and Mike chatted. Their hand gestures amused me.

“Now, what are you laughing at?” Annelies asked.

When I told them it was their use of hand gestures that was amusing me, they continued… (If you just see a black or empty space below, click on it. A plug-in may need to be installed for you to see the short slideshow, with music.)

 

We laugh A LOT when we are together. And I sometimes get a bit of good-natured abuse.

Anyway… here we are having dinner on Day 1.

dinner
Yes, I shared this in an earlier post. But I really like this pic.

 

Here’s a shot of their current house from the “garden” (what we call their backyard).

Current house as seen from the garden.
Current house as seen from the garden.

 

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Brownie and Whitey (my names for them)

 

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Garden Shed at the Current House

 

Their current house and yard are relatively small. They (Annelies mainly) want a more modern-looking place and a bigger garden (that’s Yves’ priority). In a small country like Belgium, big pieces of property come with a big pricetag. So, to keep the purchase within budget and get the exact house that they want, they bought an older property, built during the 1950s, and are going to completely renovate the place. And I do mean completely.

They are not yet sure whether the chickens will be making the move.

Their “new” house is really just a shell, so I didn’t take many interior pics.

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View of the House from the Rear

Annelies’ home office will be in the left-hand side of the second floor, just off the terrace/deck. She’ll have a lovely garden view.

The house was most-recently used as doctors’ offices, I think. This huge door will be kept and incorporated somehow into the decor of Yves’ man room.

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Funky Cool Interior Door

 

Here’s something we don’t see in America…

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Large Chestnut Tree in the Middle of the Rear Garden

 

Where there’s a Chestnut tree, there are…

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Chestnuts!

 

It’s a huge garden.

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Our men at the rear of the garden.

 

Their new neighborhood is more-urban than the one where they currently live. But I think it’s got a fun and funky feel.

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Looking left down the street from their driveway.

 

Hubby and I are both looking forward to our next visit when the house renovation should be complete. Or mostly, complete. There’s only so much you can do at one time.

All of the pics from our arrival day, old house, and new house can be viewed in this Flick album.

What do you think of their new more-urban oasis?

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