I purchased an old house in a small village in western Hungary four years ago, and I have spent every summer since then working on it bit-by-bit in an effort to make it more beautiful and livable.
I had big plans for this summer. I had wanted to have the roof replaced create a loft from the space upstairs, but I put these plans on hold indefinitely after the birdemic broke out. The truth is I don't really need a new roof (yet) and the loft can wait. In light of the uncertainty out there, I considered it best to keep the money I would have spent on this major renovation safely in my pocket.
Even though the summer is still a way off, the past six weeks have felt like summer to me. Firstly, the weather has been glorious. Secondly, I have spent the last month-and-a-half at home. Though I'm still working, I have plenty of free time most days, which has resulted in the itching need to do some kind of renovation project, birdemic be damned!
Though I have spent a considerable amount of time creating a nice vegetable patch and completing other gardening tasks since mid-March, I feel the urge to partake in a little home renovation. Thus, I spent a few days thinking about what I could do and came up with four possible projects.
One - repair the cold cellar. Two - renovate the small, free-standing outbuilding into what Hungarians refer to as a "summer kitchen." Three - restore and replaster the old chicken coop in the backyard. Four - strip and repaint the doors and doorframes inside the house.
I think I'll tackle the chicken coop first. It's a solid brick building that needs a little replastering, a new door, and a couple of new windows. I doubt it will cost much to renovate and chances are it won't take too much time either.
After that? Who knows? Maybe I'll get some chickens. Of course, I don't know the first thing about keeping chickens, but it looks like I'll have plenty of time this summer to learn everything there is to know about it.