my temporary abode

Here are some pictures of my current housing. It is an apartment in my stepson's house, with a separate entrance so I don't have to intrude on their lives, and vice versa. "Current" because by fall I have to find an alternative as Patti may be coming for an extended stay. The apartment has two primary rooms, a kitchenette/living area and a bedroom/office, connected by a short hall that has a storage area on one side and the bathroom on the other. The "inside" door opens onto the central area, and the "outside" door is to the exterior stair that leads to the ground or the roof. This first picture, that I took last year, is of the west side of the house; the apartment is on the left on the second floor, with the open central area that is such a delightful place to be. That door you see is the open door into the apartment.

When you enter that door, after a short hall that has a shallow closet with shelves, you enter the kichenette/living area. I stood on a stool to take this photo over the 45" high counter. You're looking toward the back door, the fridge has lots of magnets, a microwave and my laptop or on the folding table I brought with me. I use the laptop there in the morning to read the NY Times online. I'm glad I brought the little oriental type rug because it helps define the space.

This next picture was taken from the left corner not seen in the previous picture. My kitchenaid mixer, breadmaker and juicer are on top of the fridge. You don't see the little stove, which to my chagrin has no way of regulating the temperature of the oven. It is a butane fueled stove, and it's hard to slow cook on it. You have to turn off the fans when cooking, a definite disadvantage. The stools are too low for the high counter, so just take of space, unless used for plops.

Here's a photo taken from the back door looking back, you can see the little stove, with my dishtowels hanging on the oven handle. There is less space than I need for storage, so my cookbooks and knife track are on the top, my spices are under the lip of the counter, everything is fit in. I have a clip-on light for light on the stove and another at the sink. On the far right you can see a table I bought locally with a small bookcase holding my coming reading.

Going down the short hall mentioned above, you enter the bedroom/office. Those are the two windows that face east, and the road, and that gathered lots of dust until they paved on Saturday. On the right is the foot of the bed, in the center the keyboard I'm learning to play, and a pedestal fan I bought during the last heat spell.

This is a picture of the king size bed, which is too big for the space. There are closets on the right, and a little stand with a funny lamp on the left, the side I sleep on. The temperature on most nights is in the 80s, so I sleep on top of the bed, or with just a sheet, and just shorts, with ceiling fans going and sometimes the pedestal fan. Until I put the curtains up last weekend, I would usually wake with the sun at 5:30 - this morning it was 6:30! There is a bus to Dangriga that arrives in Seine Bight, the adjacent village, blowing his loud horn for an extended period, at 6 AM, so that's when I wake for sure.

This next one is take from the side with the funny lamp looking back toward my folding table desk. On the left is my stereo cabinet with the CD player, amplifier, DVD player, and topped with the small flat screen TV I brought and my Sirius radio. Behind it are a couple of CD cases. I look out the window, and watch iguanas climb into the tree. The off center painting on the wall covers an electric panel.

So that's about it - the grand tour. I now have to set about looking for an alternative place to live, hopefully with more of a kitchen, although I think Bradley's vision is for me to live in an apartment he would build as part of a facility to house several businesses he has in the works. That would provide security for him and give me a place to live. But that won't happen before Patti comes, so I have to find an alternative. That's it for tonight, and Beth, I'm glad you liked the road series!