It’s been over a month now since we came back to our house in the Carpathians, but this time the scenario is slightly different.

For the past six years, I have been homeschooling our two boys, Oreste and Marin, who were both 8 and 5 years old when we started. Homeschooling enabled us to travel a lot, embrace family life alongside work, and share our time between Belgium and the Carpathians, where we bought an old mill in 2023. We used to spend up to three months at a time in the house here and headed back to Belgium for the rest of the year. However, both boys have created strong links with children in the village and asked if they could join the local school. After a few months of reflection and discussions, we decided to give it a go. So, in early September, the boys started school here and they could not be happier.

It is, of course, a big change for us all, as we have had to shift our ways. My daily routine of homeschooling the boys in the morning and painting in the afternoon had to change, and I must say it is not quite settled yet. I am still trying to find my balance between all the work in the house and painting. We are just finishing the fruit season, which kept us very busy, and there is still plenty to do to get everything ready for winter. The winter season in our region can be long and cold, and we yet to install a proper heating system. We have a wonderful wood burner in our living space, but for the rest, it is still ‘a work in progress’.

So, we have plenty to do, but it feels so exciting to be here and settle. I can focus on setting up our long-awaited potager, and hopefully we will build my painting atelier in the coming year. I must say, just thinking about it makes me feel like a child before Christmas Day — a larger space fully dedicated to my work would be like a dream come true…

I am so looking forward to walking the village hills with my brushes and paint. The Țara Zarandului countryside, the traditions, the people, the nature — it is all so special and inspiring. I can’t wait to totally immerse myself in working here.

So, for now, it will be a bit less of Belgium and a lot more of the Carpathians, and I hope you’ll follow along.