This old house

This house is full of sounds. Every door has its own special creak. And don’t get me started on some of the floors! When the boys were younger I thought that this was perfect – no sneaking around without us knowing. If their bedroom door opened, I knew it, even in my sleep.

After years of practice, I know how to get around most of these sounds (and so, probably do the boys), so when I woke up early in the morning I made an effort to be quiet on my visit down the hall for a call of nature. But for a moment … for a moment I was surprised at Sean’s open door. Even in the dark and without my glasses I could see that he wasn’t in his room, he wasn’t in his bed. Then I remembered that he was spending the night at his friend’s house.

None of this changed the sudden feeling in my heart – a feeling of exhilaration, of worry, of change. This will soon be a regular scene. Last night we got to talk again to Stephan as he is starting his fourth year at Harding. And Sean is not yet gone to his study in Brussels, but it won’t be long. He’ll be home on the weekends, but there will be less creaking around the house.

Exciting – we are so thrilled for the things the guys are learning, the people they are meeting and the opportunities in their lives. Change is different. We have to adapt. Things will not be the same. But they will be good – of that I am sure.  Exhilarating, a bit scary, but full of expectation.

What a difference!

Round about this time last year we were thankful to have heating, could open our kitchen door and step out into wide open space instead of walk back to the bathroom, and had begun this journey that is remodeling. 

We started this because ... we couldn't keep the house warm, which was costing us a bundle, and we noticed everyone regularly having breathing troubles. Nothing too serious, but not good. When we looked behind the built-in cabinets that came with the house and looked behind the wood panelling to see what was being hidden - we understood all. 

Fixing these walls would have been as expensive if not more expensive than ripping them down and building anew. So... we did. 

Plans were for less space, but more efficient use. The kitchen, which on good mornings would catch  ray of sunlight, would move out of the dark, inner room to the new sunlit extension. We would lose a toilet and bathroom downstairs until the toilet could be rebuilt in a different place. 

To make all of this possible we also had to tear things apart upstairs where the old heater was removed and a new one installed. Until our kitchen was ready, we (Shirley) would cook in what was basically a sink and electrical outlet with space on the counter. Shirley cooked for almost a year using a microwave and electrical pizza pan. 

When Chuck Hicks and the Good News Singers from Harding arrived last year for the campaign here in Maastricht, we welcomed them with a house not even close to being finished - but we had windows! When we were finally able to hook up the cooker, life started getting easier. We still had to get water from the sink in the downstairs toilet, but dishes were done upstairs. 

Finally, all of the parts were complete. We now have a whole kitchen downstairs. And the old kitchen? This dark little room is starting to shape up, as we try to finish the bits and bobs that still need so much work, and will soon be able to be used as an office. We may even soon be able to finally move the washer and dryer out of the makeshift kitchen upstairs to its rightful place downstairs. 

Things are far from being completed (finishing touches, the yard still full of debris), but the winter showed us why we did this - we were able to heat the house and no longer suffer from the mold which was eating away the back part of the house. Interestingly - the original house, from 1936, never has had troubles. It was a section added on in the 70's which we tore down. Let the sun shine in!

The weird and wonderful

I just wanted to take you on a short tour of some of the weird (have you ever noticed how weirdly this word is spelled?) and "different" things you might find in our house, compared to yours. Then again - I have been in some of your houses!



This is a birthday calendar. Every Dutch house will have one. Of course we live in Belgium, but a lot of my "upbringing" is Dutch and we work with the church in Maastricht - the Netherlands. One puts all important birthdays on this calendar - family, uncles and aunts, special friends. The interesting thing is where you will always (or most often) find this calendar. Care to guess? It is where you will always be able to see it and be reminded.

Sometimes our visitors, when asking where the milk might be, search our kitchen for the refrigerator. It is right in front of them, hidden in the kitchen cabinet.


This is not that different from many homes. The size might surprise many of our friends from the US. We had to learn quickly how to pack efficiently.


But they don't sell supersizes over here either - so that is a plus. And if you are looking for the milk, you may not find it in our refrigerator anyway - we use sterilized milk which can be stored in the cabinet without refrigeration. (not very Dutch - they hate the stuff - but very efficient)
More later.