We Moved!

Despite the problem with the new house paperwork the owners agreed to let us move in and we did! Our first night at the new house was the 23rd after a long day packing things into the Banco Popular rental truck (wish I'd gotten a bigger one). Since it was the holidays friends were either out of town or busy with families and the job was left to just Jeff and I. On Friday we were lucky enough to have Diana meet us at the new house to help unload. Unfortunately kayaks, surfboards and the platform we built for the king size bed were too large for the truck and we ended up doing many more trips with our car and truck to get everything here. I even did two truckloads of plants on Wed and Thurs! This at least gave us some time to round up the kitties - unfortunately 3 decided they didn't want to take the trip and just didn't answer the food calls on 4 different tries. Mars, Stripes (brother and sister) and Mini opted out on the move and we are still hoping Amparo will manage to cage them at a later date.I am surprised about Mars and not at all surprised about Mini and Stripes taking off. We left all their stuff there, shook food, sat around at dusk and still no kitties. I am going to look again tomorrow. So anyway, here is the giant explosion of sunrise from our balcony!

The view out the kitchen is the best I've ever had and always seems to have a strong breeze coming through the windows. The kitchen looks out to the south and the property next to us is for sale (unfortunately). It is really sloped though so maybe we will get our remaining years here without a house there! We can see thirty miles.

This is the south side of the house with the empty lot next door. Our house has a downstairs but you can only get to it from outside - kind of funky. We think we are going to put stairs from the kitchen door/balcony shown here down to the family room/deck/bedroom/bathroom downstairs. There really Isn't a way to do it from inside without using storage space so outside will probably be what we do.

Every window has a view - this one is from the den looking south and east to San Sebastian.

There is a balcony around the front and sides. The only downside is that the house is too close to the road. There isn't much traffic but it was a trade-off - close to a road but no neighbors on three sides and 1 1/2 acres. We didn't really realize how wonderful the views were!

From this balcony view (and view from the living room) you can see Desecheo when it is clear. The island and a lot of blue ocean is a clear view even though it is 10 miles away! Kind of nice!

Rip has adjusted pretty well. The cats are mainly hanging on the deck behind the house away from the road and on the part of the property where the cared for part meets the wild part. Rip does like to sit on the bed and hang with us at night.

I think I'll plant some Mirto along the vacant lot fence. It'll get about 8 feet tall so it won't obstruct the view from inside, will give us privacy on the yard if there is ever a house there and has wonderful scented blooms. It is also dark green and will make a nice backdrop for flowers. The property has a lot of the fruit we want but NO FLOWERS. How can that be?

Here's a sunset from the front balcony looking out toward Aguadilla and Desecheo.

We've got all kinds of plans for the yard and maintenance on the house that will keep us interested for a while. The best thing is how close it is to Jeff's work and all our activities! Yesterday we visited 5 caves in the Guajataca Forest, ate dinner, and got home before dark. The drive was only 30 minutes! So much easier!!!!