About our country lifestyle & restoration project

Here on Ivy-Green you will get an insight into our lifestyle in the countryside of Sweden and the restoration work we do in our first house. In additon, we hope to inspire you!

In May 2020 my husband and I bought and old house from 1909 in Södermanland, Sweden. But buying an old house wasn’t our plan from the start.

At the beginning of 2020 we planned a stay abroad in Stockholm for about 6 months. My husband got a secondment agreement for Stockholm while I was receiving a study abroad scholarship for Stockholm University.

A short time later the pandemic broke out and we discovered the benefits of home office. Because of the elimination of the commute and the possibility to do something different besides lectures or phone calls, we wanted to invest our time in something long-term. Moreover, renting an apartment (which allows dogs!) in Stockholm was incredibly expensive!

Therefore, we started looking for a property. Our plan was not to spend more than the rented apartment in Stockholm would have cost per month. Since our budget is limited to a certain amount, it was difficult to find a property that could serve us in the long term and meet our requirements. We had tons of wishes and little capital…

Lifestyle of balancing

As already mentioned, we both discover the endless possibilities and the freedom which came with working from home.

My husband has a job which can be easily done from home. For him not much has changed, as he mostly had zoom calls before the pandemic and now it is the same. The only main difference is, that he do not need to go to the office.

For me it was actually more of a confirmation. Before the pandemic, I tried to take as many courses as possible that could be done from home or only attended the exercises (but not the lectures). I felt so more flexible and could do my part-time job much better. Since mid-march 2020 I’ve been completely in home office. I do my studies and part-time job from home and think it’s great!

I’m more of an introvert and don’t enjoy doing small talk. Therefore it is a redemption for me. However, the pandemic and the move to work from home at many companies showed me that I want a job where I can remain flexible. So I’m very excited to see where I’ll be at the end of the year.

In the end, we just try to balance between Germany and Sweden, between our work in the office and at home, between university and starting a business, also between renovating our house and do not get bankrupt, society and own ideas.

Why not start a blog?

Therefore the purpose of Ivy-Green serves as a documentation for our work, mistakes, learned tricks, achieved goals and more. We both would like to share our experiences about our life in the countryside of Sweden, our restoration project and other adventures! A blog is probably the easiest format for sharing inspiration, ideas and tips.

Trying to find a start in the food blogging area

I grew up with homemade russian food from my great-grandmother and grandmother. They both lived in the same house and looked after me while my parents were at work. After kindergarten and later after elementary school I went to my great-grandmother’s, who had cooked simple and tasty dishes. Also my mother tried her hand at russian dishes from time to time. Due to the sheer amount of work in the hospital, she mostly concentrated on a few specific dishes.

However, my first and intense memories to the russian kitchen are from my great-grandmother. In 2018 i took part in an excursion to Armenia and got the unmistakable taste of home again. Since then, I’ve only really dared to try eastern european cuisine. Maybe it was the respect I had for remembering the dishes of my family. The fear that it won’t be as tasty as it is when you eat it at home? I don’t know exactly what, but it changed when I came back from Armenia.

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Russian cuisine

One of my main misunderstandings is that there are so many delicious dishes, but the awareness of them within Europe is relatively low. Therefore, I plan to increase the popularity of Russian cuisine! And I think a blog would be a great start.

In addition to the recipes, I would also like to introduce you to part of the culture and tradition. I already have some amazing ideas in mind on how to implement it. You’ll see the content here on Ivy-Green!

Why the name Ivy Green?

Ivy symbolizes life and is a symbol of reliability and loyalty, which even overcomes death. The colour green states for hope and luck. Also it is a lovely plant. However, the name allows free interpretation and different uses. In addition, almost everyone knows the plant Ivy and can therefore better remember the blogname Ivy-Green.

There are so many new things to learn when it comes to blogging, please be patient with me and forward me your feedback, so I can improve this blog.

Also I would love to hear from you! I am happy to answer any questions you may have.

You can simply comment under this post or write me an email.

Until next time!