I’ve been carefully packing for the last week. That’s so that I don’t leave anything behind once I need to move to my land. And finally, the day of moving had arrived.

My half-sister came to help me out with moving. The taxi came just at the right time, yet the apartment owner was nowhere to be seen. So I gave the keys to the neighbors and sent him a text message (as his phone is usually turned off).

The taxi driver warned me that it’s quite unavoidable that the police would stop us to check the documents. At the moment, people in Lithuania are only allowed to cross city borders to visit the lands and properties they own, and I think it’s also allowed to visit major city centers, but I’m not entirely sure as I don’t watch the news.

I assured him that I have the documents of the land ownership, and we started the journey.

My dog Leo is not used to car driving, so he was whimpering for around fifteen minutes. That got me so uncomfortable because I was feeling sorry for the taxi driver. But the driver assured me he was fine.

Leo would keep coming on my lap to see through the window, and then would jump down near my legs and would keep whimpering. But then he got tired and fell asleep for most of the journey, and after that he wasn’t making any crying sounds anymore.

I selected a favorable astrological day for the travel as I was aware of many police checks and how difficult it is to travel now, especially during the holidays. And that day proved to be perfect, because we weren’t stopped by the police even once, and there was no traffic at all. Even the driver was surprised how we got away without being checked even once.

(That being said, it doesn’t mean that astrologically favorable days must all go well. But when you select an astrologically favorable day, it’s much more likely that things will go well.)

The driver found the address okay and once we arrived, I tipped him as I was grateful that he allowed me to choose whether I would like to listen to music or to travel in silence. Of course, I chose silence, and he said that’s his favorite tune too:) He was an attentive driver – he saw I wasn’t talkative so he wasn’t trying to engage me in a conversation. I really appreciate such great customer service.

Once I arrived, I noticed how different the land looked. It looks drastically different every time I visit it. Now the tall grass has fallen down and looks like a carpet.

This is great because I can now easily cover as much of it as possible with the soil fabric. This is so that I can finally manage it with mulch, because I have a good-sized land and lawn mowing isn’t pleasurable but a time-consuming chore.

I agreed for one person to come to assess my land and give me a quote for well-digging, but he was stopped by the police because he was coming during Easter. So he told he would try to come after two days.

I hope that he does, because I have no access to public water. I went to the public well to take water, and it wasn’t dispensing it. It can’t be dried out as now the water level is high. It’s probably either broken or frozen.

So since I had no water, I went with my dog to the closest shop, which is thirty minutes away by foot. To my disappointment, it was closed! So I then went to my neighbors and they gave me their well water.

Their well is very often dry, so I don’t feel comfortable asking them for water. But I had no other choice this time. Fortunately, the neighbor told that the shop would be open the following day.

I bought freshly collected goat’s milk from the same neighbors. One litre costs only one euro ($1.18).

I bought the neighbor lady a gift from the capital. She gave me a few naturally colored Easter eggs (of her own hens) and just made muffins which were more delicious than store-bought ones.

The meal of one boiled egg, a muffin and a glass of goat’s milk got me through the whole day of work. That’s the power of natural, chemical-free and nutritious food.

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Though the land looked very interesting – it looked as though it’s a golden carpet peppered with pretty white flowers – the hut was in a terrible condition.

Firstly, the last time I was there I made a sort of terrace to extend the small hut. But I used unsuitable fabrics and plastic covers. So the wind destroyed the entire structure, making the hut look awful.

Inside the hut the situation wasn’t good either. Since I left it sealed for such a long time, there was a damp smell, and all my clothes and curtains left in the hut were kind of damp. So I had to pack all such items and now I’m keeping them outside, until I get a washing machine to deal with this.

I spent the whole day cleaning the hut and unpacking. There is so much stuff now in the hut that it’s not possible to make it tidy unless I get some extra storage units. Which I actually may do, or the materials to make them myself.

I couldn’t sleep the entire night because the hut felt damp and cold. It was left unheated for a very long time, so only now, during the second day, I no longer feel the dampness.

Since I couldn’t sleep, I woke up very early, even before the sunrise. After an unsuccessful water search and finally getting it from the neighbor, I dedicated the rest of the day to the cleaning of the area surrounding the hut.

I removed the entire patio structure with all the dirty materials, and put it all in one pile. I will have to gradually take all of those items to the public garbage bin five minutes away.

And it wouldn’t even have been so difficult to clean all of this up – I would actually have enjoyed it – if not because of hay fever. It got me really bad this time, because I had to rake quite a lot of dry grass. I guess it’s the dust from the grass that irritates my eyes so much, and I get a runny nose. I have a headache even now, as I’m writing this post (so I’m sorry for any mistakes).

This is exactly what happened to me the last time I had to work on my land, but it went away a few days later. So I’m hoping that now is the period of adjustment, and soon my body will get used to it.

Also, mice moved into my hut. I’ve found three holes they made, and I heard them at night in the attic. They also chewed through some of the food packages I left, such as sugar and legumes. So now I will need to order filling materials and mouse traps, as I know that if nothing is done for long, the situation with mice can get really bad.

Though now the hut and the area around it looks much better, it’s still in a bad condition so I don’t feel comfortable taking pictures of it. If I feel better tomorrow, I will start covering the land with soil fabric and once the well is dug, I will start working on the hut, depending on the finances.

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Leo (my dog) feels great here. He loves freely running, without a leash. He’s also very obedient. If I tell him not to come with me, he stays in the same spot waiting for me. He comes when I call him, and he tends to follow me when I walk. He also loves bathing in the sunlight, and he really enjoys the dried grass carpet that my land is now covered with.

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Though I was met with many challenges straight after the arrival, it’s nevertheless nice to stay in my own place.

There is this peace about the stay here, whilst when I’m renting I always need to make sure that I don’t break anything, and I’m always aware that the place isn’t mine.

And though a lot of work will need to be put in to make this place livable and comfortable, I think that small daily steps will eventually get me there.