Showing posts with label Dogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dogs. Show all posts

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Monthaversary Five: Our new Home in Pictures.

This last month has meant a lot of changes for us. Primarily, we moved into an adorable little cottage (guest house/granny flat) that was completely dirty. It is now only partially dirty. Haha. Please bear in mind that all the pictures show some of the previous tenants things and some of ours during the moving in process. I'll probably never show "after pictures" so here you go:


The bedroom- not our bedding!
There are so many nooks and crannies and high ceilings that I can’t dust. I’m also realizing how sandy our yard is and how easily we get dog hair, dirt, sand, and grass on our floor. We have 3 exterior doors on the first floor, on the loft, we have two doors. There are three pocket doors on the first floor. The furniture is nothing to brag about. But all in all, this place has a lot of cuteness potential!

The "BICs" (aka built in closets). You can see the "kitchen" in the back.

It has been a HUGE adjustment, moving from a large 2-bedroom house to a tiny cottage. It is the smallest place we have ever shared. The entire footprint of our place is often the size of a bedroom in other homes. We have opened up many of our boxes now that we are in more permanent housing, so that has helped alleviate some of the space issues. Some boxes were half full of paper packaging!

The width of our kitchen. Really.
The sink- if you turn around, you find the stove and microwave.

The bathroom sink and washing machine. Not pictured: the water heater hanging sideways above the sink.

Our toilet- yes really!
Our dogs have had to adjust as well. They love the yard. Love it. Reeces is back to her old self. She can find things to keep herself busy for hours. The hardest part for Etta has been the stairs. The stairs are semi-open air, so sometimes her paws slide right on through and she falters; she has fallen down the stairs a few times. She gets better at them every day. We do try to limit how many times she goes up and down them so that she doesn’t strain herself too much.

The treacherous stairs and the dryer. Ignore the cleaning supplies.
One of the doors upstairs.


See the thatching!? Using the rafters like this is our solution for extra storage.


We celebrated the 4th of July with a Mexican dinner at another American’s house. We made a double batch of tortillas, salsa bandera, and pinto beans. They grilled/braaied some carne asada. I tried my first cup of rooibos tea. It was a nice day.


Doesn't this look idyllic? Pink flowers, Devil's Peak in the background, and a pool in front.


This week, my husband lost his wedding ring. He has lost weight, so the ring had become looser. Since it is winter here, it is cold and his fingers got even thinner. We think he lost it while bike riding home from work. I’m ambivalent about how to feel. I could take it personally and be upset about him losing the symbol of our marriage and love. But I think my ideas about material possessions have changed, and I’m not as upset as I would have been. I’d like him to wear a ring, but does it truly, really matter what type of ring it is? To me, what matters most is his intention to keep his marriage vows true. Everything is else is just icing.

R.I.P. wedding ring....

I made it to 100 followers this month! And I’ve had at least people from 55 countries look at my blog. I think that is amazing!


Thanks.



Song of the month: Lullaby by the Dixie Chicks. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a good live version…Such a beautiful love song for children or lovers.

Here is a nice cover of it sung by a young girl.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Highs and Lows for the week of 3/7/11.


Highs:
- We, as a married couple, got along amazingly well for moving and cleaning two homes.
- Our landlord seems really nice and laid back.
- Our dogs love the yard! In Tucson, Reeces loved playing outside.  Here, at our last rental, she always wanted to be inside with me for some reason. I think she hated the yard. At our new cottage, the yard is so full of adventure- she never wants to come inside. It’s nice to see her back to her old self.
- The new neighborhood is wonderful. Absolutely Lovely.


 And now...


Lows:
- Three households share our yard. Not so bad, but…
- We share our yard with a 9 year old boy; I hate to call him ‘annoying,’ but he is. Every time we walk by his door, he has to say something to us! He is constantly trying to engage people in conversation, even when they are in the middle of something. He also tries to play with our dogs constantly, not letting them rest. He’s fed them ‘human food’ when we specifically told him to not feed our dogs. My dogs are like my kids, and I am very protective of them. The landlord told me that the kid has a ‘severe learning disability’ and I think that this is part of the problem. I will have to work on my patience just a little more. That will be a positive outcome, I guess!
My babies!!

 
I'm participating in Life, Crafts, and Whatever's Highs and Lows. Check out my hubby's blog here.


P.S.- I will post pictures of my new cottage and or the crochet project this coming week. Too busy to do it this week!



Song of the day: Move On Up by Curtis Mayfield.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Highs and Lows of the week ending on 15/5/11.

Highs and Lows of the week:
Highs:
  • Went out on a Friday night without my husband! It was the first evening/night that we were apart since we got to Africa.
  • I did not get lost while driving.
  • I performed a dance at International Belly Dance Day with my class. My teacher gave me a thumbs up afterwards!
  • Took the dogs on a forrest walk. My husband talks about the outing here.
  • We are slowly using some of our things! We are trying to keep everything in boxes, if at all possible, until we move in the next few months.
  • Actually being able to sleep in this weekend. Both days!
I told Reeses to act like a circus animal. She was a bit annoyed. My husband also used this picture on his blog.

Lows:
  • Locked the dogs inside the car with the keys inside as well. This was just before our forrest walk. Luckily the owner with the spare key saved us!
  • Knee problems due to working out too much and not taking any days to rest. 


Check out Life, Crafts and Whatever for her Highs and Lows!




Song of the week:
Just My Imagination by The Temptations.