We would've been in a world of hurt with this move if it hadn't been for them. They made it possible for us to sleep in the house earlier than I expected and for us to get out of the rental in plenty of time to clean it properly for the rental agent. And they all worked very cheap. My uncle in Texas was shocked that we moved ourselves. I told him, well, not exactly and that it's amazing what people will do for friendship and food.
I finally decided that if I kept on waiting for everything to be "done" I would never get any of these pictures up. So this is the way the house looked after we moved in. I actually took these this week when I finally got everything clean again and before I took the tree down. Except for any views to the outside, these are all interior pictures.
So this is what you see when you come in the door. I changed the entry rug since Ruth, Ramona, Jason and Aidan were here.
This is a close up of a mask we got locally. Trout wanted to hang it up high so it is looking down on most of us.
We are finding the arrangement of the kitchen to be very functional, and I gotta say I think it looks great even with evidence of people actually living here.
You've seen her before, but here is Katrina guarding the food in the pantry around the corner from the refrigerator and freezer.
We didn't do a lot of decorating for Christmas, but I did hang up some star lights I have. This poster from Nuremberg will be put away now since it is of the Kristkindlesmarkt and I will need to find some other arty thing for this nicho. This will be the location of my altar for the Day of the Dead, so I can see this location becoming some kind of changing exhibition over time.
Our only indoor dining table fits perfectly in this dining area. In fact we could probably accomodate a larger table and more chairs here. Maybe later after the stock market gets better.
Now to the back of the house. This is the entry into our master bedroom.
Here's what you see when you come in. Trout discouraged me from trying to get curtains done for any of the rooms before we moved in. Then the first night we slept here, he asked if we had any curtains for the room. When I do get them done, I intend to close them on this window only enough to block the view to the neighbors. I love seeing the stars and the moonlight from the bed.
We moved this sofa back and forth between the office and this bedroom 2 times and finally decided we like it better in the bedroom. It's a little crowded, but when we get the new bed for there and move this bed to the guest room, I think there will be more room. If you're wondering what that white thing is in the bottom right of the picture, that's Cisco with the cone on his head.
We have two bedspreads with these colors on them. This one is Trout's favorite.
This is a chest of drawers that I got down here some time ago. I was using it for my clothes, but since we did the master closet with drawers and shelves, I can use it for bedding. It has a beautiful glass piece Lani and Kelly got for us in Santa Fe on the left. The armadillo in the middle is a housewarming gift from Don and Patsy. Trout named him Armando.
You've seen our master bath before, too, but now it looks like we're using it, and we are. First my vanity.
Then Trout's vanity with the linen closet next to it. We still need a door for those shelves at the top.
This poster looks good over the toilet. We thought we had tons of stuff to hang on the walls here, actually too much stuff, but as it turns out, we still have lots of wall space for art and not just in this bathroom. Fun, fun, fun!
Here's the shower.
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The laundry seems to be working out just fine. It will be better when I get the curtains finished and the extra fabric out of there. Right now this is where Cisco is housed and fed. Guido has moved to the guest room. Eventually, I hope both of them can be in here some way, but we'll have to set it up so old, short-legged Guido can get to his litter box and food and Cisco can't.
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The garage is a good size. We will keep the Toyotas in there. When the painters get the paint on the far wall consolidated and organized, we will be able to assemble the shelves for that wall and start getting the area a little more organized. Cisco sure looks silly nosing around the dog bones with that cone on his head.
These shelves will need to cleared off and stuff put in its proper place, even if it's across the garage on the opposite wall.
The Highlander will go in this location and the MR2 will go through the smaller garage door.
The shop is full. Where did we have all this stuff before?!
An owl woke me up about 5 this morning. I could barely see it perched on the edge of the parapet at the corner of the top of the stairs. I tried turning on some outside lights, but it flew away. I had taken Cisco out very early a couple of days ago and heard it then, too, but I didn't see it.
This adjustable shower head will come in handy for giving Cisco a bath.
This master closet is small by most standards, but if it's not big enough for our clothes down here, I say we have too many clothes.