All unpacked

It has taken us almost three weeks to get all unpacked around here. There are no more moving boxes except for the big stack in the garage to go to the recycle bin. The office area has become a dumping ground for things we have not put away, pictures to be hung, and two huge bags of military gear we need to figure out how to store. I figured I would post some pictures of the house as it is today... its still a work in progress.

We have a single family home, with a very narrow garage detached from the house. One wall of our backyard is our garage and we have a gate into the yard and a door from the garage into the yard. Another wall of our yard is our neighbor's garage. Its pretty close together but we do have at least a little privacy between houses. We are on the corner and the front of the house is on a frontage road to a rather main street into town. The side street is pretty quiet and we are in a school zone so traffic moves pretty slowly which is nice. We have met a few of the neighbors, mostly because Andrew keeps launching tennis and soccer balls into their yards. Many British families take vacations "holidays" in August, so once school starts we will see more of who is around.

I am not sure we will ever get a car into the garage. There is no way the Subaru would fit... well maybe if I folded in the side mirrors and then crawled out through the back to get out. Our second car (LONG STORY on getting a car... another blog post) is a tiny honda that may fit but no way I could get the kids in and out of the doors from inside the garage. So, its mainly storage for bikes, tools, play stuff and currently the 6 foot stack of boxes.

We definitely have a more "american" house than we envisioned. We looked at farm houses and older houses but many were too small, too far away, or not near any amenities. So, we had to rearrange our priorities and find something that would work for all of us. Its not a beautiful farm house cottage... but it works. We chose functionality over charm, and for long-term living I think it will be a good choice. It just means we'll have to vacation in old farmhouses and castles.

Outside pictures:

front of house and side/garage entrance

backyard patio and grassy area (and Maggie)

The interior of the house:

front door and entryway


family room:

master bath, kid's bathroom and laundry room


kitchen, dining room, office

4 bedrooms

Overall its a nice house and we have no complaints. There are so many odd things I could go on forever about.... a few highlights.

Every door and window in the house locks with a key, but not the same key. And the doors only lock with the key (no deadbolts, etc) so you have to keep a key in or near the doors at all times. Just to come and go and I have 6 keys: front door, 2 different back door, garage door front, garage door rear, and side entry gate. Its really crazy.

Every room in the house has different flooring. I think there are 12 types of flooring in our house. And, based on what I have seen in other friends' houses this is pretty normal.

There are no outlets or switches in bathrooms. None. The light switches are on the wall outside the bathroom or they have a string that hangs down to pull on. There is no hope of drying your hair or using an electric razor in the bathroom. In our house, the nearest outlets are a good 10 feet away. And, the light switches are set really high on the wall. Emily can't reach them which means that every evening potty stop requires me to go and turn on the light for her. I would put a nightlight in the bathroom but there are no outlets.

The appliances are tiny. I knew this from being here before, but for long term living here it is very apparent. We have an enormous, 6 burner gas stove, but the oven is divided into two sections, both tiny. My cookie sheets do not fit in the oven. A large pizza does not fit in the oven. I think we'll be roasting a chicken at Thanksgiving. The washer holds a tiny load of clothes, as does the drier. But the drier take 75 minutes to dry the load. Our fridge and freezer are under the counter - think dorm room size. We do have a second stand-up fridge but it is only 22 inches wide.

There are no screens on the windows or doors in any houses. Can't figure out why, but they just don't use them. Lots of flies and spiders come and visit us throughout the day with the open invitation of the windows wide open.

The walls... don't get Tory started on the walls and hanging things. He groans every time I mention hanging a picture. The house is brick with stucco and lathe for interior, There is no drywall in any rooms. At the sight of a nail the wall crumbles.

There are no built in closets. None. Our linen closet is in the cupboard where the water heater is located and we have free standing wardrobes in each room. The owners left wardrobes in the master bedroom which basically surround the entire room. We have the worlds largest bathtub in the master bedroom but no built in closet.

The kids are finally getting used to calling this home. Emily still says she wants to go back to our Arizona house, but we are all adjusting to it. I think now that we have a TV, Internet is working and we are generally unpacked it is feeling more like our home. Not too bad for only three weeks.