Instament 2, outside and downstairs

Side view. This gets morning sun, outhouse looking part is the bathroom and the kitchen is on the left hand corner and the lounge bit on the right hand corner. Window down the bottom belongs to the spare room which is crammed with everything else that you can't see in the pictures.

View from the road. There is room for another car and the front door is ajar.

Back view with newly installed clothesline. The overflowing stream comes up to the green pole.

Left bottom window is the one in my study, the one on the far right isn't there on the inside as it has been sacrificed to have a shower over the bath. The deck upstairs looks great and gets the afternoon sun.

Going downstairs, first flight.

This is what is at the bottom, two little steps up to the main bedroom and the spare bedroom. The laundry, study and bathroom are on the same level below the steps.

If you were confused, this may help to sort the levels, to the left the second flight of stairs, in centre stage is the laundry complete with sink.

My study which is much smaller than it looks here and much darker too. The bookcase is one wall and the edge of the desk is the other.

Close up of the steps and just an indication of how much stuff is crammed into the spare/guest bedroom. Not quite ready for sleepovers yet. Lino to the right is the bathroom and there is a toilet just before you get right into it. Visit and see. To the left is my study.

Bathroom. There is also a vanity with a large mirror which faces the right end of the shower/bath.

The main bedroom, I just can't call it the master bedroom, the chair marks the edge of the room. The wardrobes work well but we are getting more sets of drawers as there are still little piles of things left over.

So there you have it - upstairs, downstairs and outside of the new downsized bach.

Here it is, instalment one, the top storey

View from the front door last week, more typically there would be a runner and a couple of cyclists and a few cars. We are on the other side of the street from these mansions and are much more modest in appearance. There is a great cliff /walk/ park beyond them.

Front door is to the left and this is the TV/music lounge which gets the morning sun.

Turning a little you can see the stairs to downstairs in the distance and to the left of that, is the kitchen. Stripes from the venetian blinds have turned the sofa into a zebra.

Getting the picture? Magically everything fits. I think we will be happy here.

Kitchen in all its glory, the stove has a booklet which is just as well as I couldn't figure out the symbols by Bosch.

View out the kitchen door to the morning sun deck.

Now you can see the afternoon sun deck with a familiar table and more plants are out there. We will go downstairs next time, just turn around a bit more.

Yep, room for these and the deck runs along to the end of the window.

The dining space.

So I have been standing pretty much in the middle of upstairs and showing you around. On the right is the telephone table which used to be in the hallway and is now opposite the front door. Cougar cardi at the ready with Crown Lynn treasures and opshop tray.

It has been described as 'cute' and 'pretty unique' by the SKY technician.

The upstairs part is a great space which works well, downstairs is a little curious and will be in the next instalment.

Probably some pix of the outside may be helpful too.

No snaps, no news, no life?

Hammy New Year to you! Actually it has been a very hammy and desserty holiday up until today which started with a strict walk and no dawdling to shift some of that ham and dessert. 'It's not what you do one day, it's what you do every day' so I am in for a lifetime of walking!

In this house there are no cameras and so there are no snaps to share until Tower insurance send me a letter. Good things take time and I have been waiting a while now. Oh well better get some perspective, at least I haven't been in an earthquake and had my house demolished.

So if you can't see what I have been doing
does that mean that I haven't been doing anything
or does it mean that what I do doesn't count
unless I can show you?

I think it means that I prefer to put up a snap and a sentence or two rather than rabbit on about My Holiday.

MH started with a very warm, relaxed Xmas at the beach with family which involved getting the new togs full of sand boogie boarding at Ohiwa and the treasures of the Opotiki retro shop. I can't go on in that linear way so here are some other stars; the Mercer cheese shop which deserves a whole entry of its own, the fabulous dinner at The Chateau which rescued the formulaic 'welcome' from the terminally disinterested receptionist who seemed to be having a tiff with the porter, the foresty drive home along the edge of Lake Taupo with a quick dash past Tok and Tirau to Hamilton and home on the expressway.

What is the difference between a motorway and an expressway anyhow?

Wellington was eating and drinking on the new deck and marvelling at the Brian Brake exhibition at Te Papa with a number of other touristic things to entertain the Netherlander in our midst.

And did I mention New Plymouth? Catching fish, walking the entire walkway in the sunshine and seeing the fairy lights at Pukekura Park. No. Well I did them all.

Thanks to everyone for making it all so great, a wonderful start to the year which kicks off with three of our households moving. Spooky. It is obviously time for shifting.