Well, there it is. It has been already one year, since Gigi became my new home. Ok, admittedly I haven’t really gone too far as travelling yet, but none the less, the 12 months spent working and living with Gigi have been a great experience.

I can honestly say, that even without driving too much around, (other than for fuel, water, and the dumping station), I wouldn’t be able to move in a normal house again. Everything is just simpler, cosier, warmer. A huge difference from the 5 bedroom house I had before..

Perhaps the hardest part at first, was getting used to the much smaller size fridge. After buying in bulk, for the past 30 years, it does take time to adjust to buying much, much less and every week, to the point that several items, not longer do make it, into the shopping list.. You eventually feel liberated from a very vicious circle, where so many routines, that have forced you in a mindless shopping experience for years, are finally broken.

You diet as a result, also does change and again, another welcome news, as you start to eat less and of more variety. Several new factors are now coming into play while doing your selection of groceries. The “I like this brand” or “been using that brand for years” not longer fits your criteria. The packaging, also begin to play an important role and for a good reason: you quickly start to realise that the bigger box, it does actually contain the same if not less product than the less colourful much smaller home brand plain box sitting on the bottom shelf, so the extra space it takes for no apparent reasons, space you no longer have, is a real problem.

That also, directly affect your recycling capabilities. I no longer have the extra room for pointless rubbish!.. And neither does the planet!! The list is endless.. A 3 litre skinny tall glass bottle of olive oil that takes twice as much room as the 4 litres metal canister and it also does cost twice as much, to the roll of cling wrap where the home brand 300 metre roll only takes an extra cm in space than the top brand 30 metre roll, for nearly the same price.. It’s a joke!

Water usage was obviously the next big difference from before moving in. Even if we had lived on water tank before, and always apply conservative usage of such precious substance, as it turned out, there was still plenty of room for improvements. Everything now happen quickly and with much less water.

I can see that being a problem for some people, but like shopping, once you decide to improve on your shopping skills, you quickly realise that the new gained freedom from massive water bill for a small adjustment in how you do use water, is well worth the training. I have already written this elsewhere, but 12 months of water supply did cost me about 30 dollars all up. Once the gutter on the awing is up, and perhaps we get some rain for a change, that monstrous $30 bill, could easily come down even further.. 😉

As it just happen, an old friend managed to catch up by paying a visit, and while she tried to be nice at first, it didn’t take long for me to find out that unfortunately, not a single one of my attempts of improving the interior with my “feminine touch” did actually work.. 😲

I’m still laughing now, just thinking about when, while looking at the curtains she said “they look nice…hmm.. Were they on special?”  😂  I also managed to get severely abused for my floral attempt in the entire vehicle.. (it seems that is NEVER, NEVER OKAY to use fake roses).. The kitchen, however, was well received, and it was nice to have someone else doing the dishes..

Well, thank you, Lynette, for catching up and for your honesty. It was needed and appreciated. Looking forward to more decorating tips from you…