The cat can't seem to stop purring

We'd be breaking out occasionally too if we could! Those of you who saw our 'galley kitchens' in Oxford and Scotland, and those of you who remember the farm kitchen I grew up in, might appreciate my joy last night as I lay back on our 3-seater COUCH IN THE KITCHEN and watched Greg making bread. And there are lots of lovely things for me to watch from our window: herons, woodpeckers, and many new-to-us birds; Greg becoming aquainted with the horses outside our gate (with the help of a handful of barley!); the evening sun catching the white caps of the Vercors mountain range, the day-long contrast of the forested blue mountains and the very green grass; the 30 ft "Christmas tree" Greg and friends have lit outside the kitchen window.

It's all beautiful.