House and HOME

Woooo Hooooo!!!

We are in the house! Since Saturday. Granted it’s much like camping out as we only have the bare essentials… We are provided most of the furniture and eventually they will give us proper curtains. We said we would rather live with the makeshift curtains than spend any more time in a hotel and the animals at the kennel. Granted, they were well cared for, but it is evident that they missed us. DH even admitted to missing the dog… the cat not so much.

Back to the house… We have been provided with the ‘Welcome Kit’ which consists of essential kitchen wares… some plates, mugs, bowls, pitcher, pots/pans and utensils dish rack/drainer, a toaster, tea kettle, and a 12 cup drip coffee maker (can you say hallelujah?). The kit also contained a couple of towels, face cloths and hand towels, and the kitchen. We have sheets and blankets for the bed too. As we left the house in Chicago, there were a few towels… and rags that got stuffed into the luggage… so we have a few extras to toss around.

A tour of the house let’s begin with construction. Brick with a stucco/concrete finish, so all the walls are very thick, inside and out. Other than exterior doors and a bathroom door, there aren’t any doors on the first floor. We have 3 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms. A ½ bath downstairs in the house and a full bath behind the garage outside (for the help) and 2 upstairs. I don’t care how dirty I was, I would much rather stay dirty than use the outside bathroom in the winter!!! The house gets cold enough with heat… there isn’t any heat out there, NONE of the bathrooms have electricity outlets in them and the light switches are on the outside. All the ceilings are 10 feet high with halogen lights inset… similar to can lighting and very bright.

Also downstairs is the kitchen and scullery (kitchen sink, dishwasher and laundry is located here). The kitchen has granite counters and very Scandinavian cabinets. We have a peninsula for two also granite. All the appliances are provided.

We have a proper living room, sands TV… it is coming in the SEA Shipment, (3 to 6 months away), so DH says he is going to get a flat panel from the Diplomatic Store (yes we have a store for just Diplomats), once we get our Diplomatic ID… well and cable and telecom… which will be in ???? days…. No ETA on that yet either. We have internet because we have an ‘air card’ that is slower than molasses in January! The furniture is a sofa and loveseat in greenish tinged gold… a recliner in rust brown, a TV credenza that will also house the VCR… etc. 2 square end tables, a coffee table and an area rug in basic beige. We have 2 end tables but only one lamp with a cord too short to use on either end table…

We have a full dining room, with a table and chairs for 8, with a leaf but if we put it in… we don’t have the extra chairs… a china cabinet and a side board. I may need the space, for the dishes that don’t fit in the kitchen. There is also a little space that we are contemplating setting up as a reading/conversation area.

Next is the enclosed lanai, with 2 sets of French-ish doors leading out to it from the living room and the dining room… a table and chair set that is almost too big for it and a built-in BBQ (Braai). From here you can go out into the yard. It is very large, if plain. I need to see if I can make any adjustments to it; with more plants and landscaping. Sprinklers are built in too.

Upstairs is a very large landing that houses a writing desk and a book shelf. There are 2 guest bedrooms with huge awesome built-in closets with hanging areas and drawers, a twin bed in each and a dresser… The master has a built in closet with a small vanity between, and then you go around the corner and there is another huge set of built-ins for our clothes. There is a bed, (which incidentally was already made up for us… and 2 side tables with lamps and another dresser! Both of the bathrooms have a shower and a separate tub and the master one is huge.

So doesn’t it all sound fabulous? I was going to post some pictures of the inside, the furniture and share a bit more with you… but today it all changed!!! More about that tomorrow! (and until we get a better Internet connection... there may not be too many more photos.)