Our House in pictures.

The front of our house. The tree to the right is the frangipani/plumeria tree. Notice the bars on the windows- they're all on the inside (not the outside like in Tucson).

The hallway and our phone. I like the colors and the floors. I hate the phone's ringer. That is a large mirror in the back.

The Lounge (aka the living room). It is the first room on the left as you enter the front door. I love the bay window- it catches a lot of sunlight and the wind blows through it nicely. The couches are the most uncomfortable ones ever (many sore backs have been caused). Fire place not pictured.

The guest bedroom. The first room to the right off of the front door. The pillows were stolen for use on our couches to lessen the back pain!

Our bedroom. The second room on the right. Duvets and their covers are very big here.

The dining room. The second room on the left. It has a fireplace and gets great morning light.

The kitchen. The last door on the left. The stove is electric and the plates are flat metal discs (not coils). The fridge size is what would be considered "apartment sized" in the US. Because it is small and things go bad quickly here, we go to the grocery store almost every day for food. The owners are going to re-do almost everything! New cabinets, new window; hopefully new floors too!

The bathroom. The last door on the left. The tile is falling apart; the owners are going to re-do it all and make it a shower stall, replace the window and the vanity. They will also add a medicine cabinet, which will mean that we won't have to use our travel cases for storage.

The breakfast nook. Off of the kitchen. We do not use this room for anything, but it may become an office or craft room once we get our things.

Our back patio. It has three levels, two of bricks, one of grass. Not pictured to the immediate left is our laundry room. The structure to the front and left (you can see the corner) is the guest house that is being rented to a grad student; we both use the same entrance.

Our grassy back yard. It is enough of a yard for the dogs. It is a bit dry because it hasn't been watered this summer. The pink flowers you see are oleander.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed the tour! It is the biggest place we have ever lived and because we do not have our things, it feels very empty and unlived in. Our lease agreement does not allow us to hang things on the walls, but I noticed that we have a picture rail in many of our rooms. Have any of you used on of these? How did it work? I’m hoping to add some variation to the yellow walls. We now have an updated estimate of our things arriving 08 April 2011. Another month of waiting! I think that it won’t really feel like home until we have our things around us. As I mentioned in some of the photo captions, the owners (UCT) are going to be re-doing several rooms, fixing floors, and painting inside and out. I’m getting worried that this is going to be a major problem for me/us. I will have to be here most of the day to let workers in and out and the dogs will be on alert all the time (as well as stuck inside!). One possibility that we have been considering is to move to another, long-term, place before most of the work begins and before our things arrive. I really can’t face more home construction, unpacking boxes and then moving in less than six months! But at the same time, I don’t want to rush into a lease agreement and not take our time finding the right place. What is your opinion?

If you noticed, I asked questions in the post, hoping that you might answer. In the history of this blog, I have had over 250 views and only 14 comments posted. Please, please say something, even if it is just to say “hi, hello, or howzit.” We really need to feel as though we have not fallen off the face of the earth and been forgotten- so post comments on P’s blog too! Thanks in advance!

Love,

M