Less of a glimpse, more of an ogle

[wayfaringwordhack]

I'm pretty sure I mentioned how happy we are to be in our new house--I did mention The HAPPY, right? :P --, but I didn't list the reasons why. They are myriad. Good thing you pulled up a chair.

Before the good, a few glimpses of the old, once the packing had begun:






And the exterior:



Now, on to the new:



The wall in the middle of the top balcony denotes where the house is divided in two, the left half--upstairs and down--is where we live. It's definitely not the prettiest abode ever, I hear you say, so what do I love about it?

First of all, the temperature! We no longer feel like we live in a concrete box set on the equator. Air circulates freely through the numerous windows...


Notice we actually have windows now, as in not just huge holes in the wall that you shutter?


... and the roof is not a flat slab of concrete that soaks up and stores the day's heat. (The true test of the heavenly indoor temperatures will be during the rainy season, but we now have ACs, in the office and the bedroom.) We also have a side porch that is protected from the noonday sun,...


...so lunch and supper are enjoyable affairs, and we have breakfast and tea on the balcony upstairs,...




...which is north-facing and quite bright during the day (remember we're in the southern hemisphere). And with the mention of the terraces, the view!




Yes, we still have eyesores keeping the vista from postcard splendor, but we can see the sea and the sun setting behind Grande Terre (at least during this part of the year. Later, it will set behind our house). We can even see if we have time to make the ferry.



I don't know how things will be in the long run (the previous renter said that the landlord is reliable and responsive), but for the moment, it is a pleasure to live next to the landlord. He takes care of things promptly, a far cry from the situation at our previous home.

This might seem quite tangential, but I can also enjoy the rain again. As a child of arid lands, I do and always will appreciate rain, and now I can sit on my balcony and read, listening to a pitter-patter or a torrential downpouring without scurrying about, placing buckets under leaks, worrying all the while about being flooded out by rain- and sewer-water.

And the yard...


I'm not much of a gardener, and the lady who had the house before us less so, but being able to go outside and sit, without being in the street, is such a luxury. Also, mana_trini will be able to take care of his fish and his spearfishing material outside now! Our bathroom is no longer going to smell fishy. Hallelujah.  Washing out the trash can and litter box will be ever so much easier with an outdoor faucet. We can also park the car inside and even--*gasp!*--wash it from time to time. And geckos: We have geckos again, the adorable green ones. They're everywhere, and I smile every time I see one.



The kitchen is huge and actually has cabinets instead of open shelves. Goodbye dust, cat hair, and grease on my clean dishes! The kitchen is also on the north side, so it stays nice and bright throughout the day, unlike the other place where I had to turn on the light half the time to see what I was doing.

I could probably go on a bit more, but I guess that's enough squeeing for now.

Comments

[footlingagain.livejournal.com]

It looks fantastic (I especially love the staircase).

I hope it's everything you could wish for :)

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Yes, the staircase is quite unusual for Mayotte. Normally, the landowners build a single storey house and then later add another "house" on top of it. Often the landlord lives on the bottom and the renter on the top. HOwever, our guy was smart and now we can enjoy the cool temps of a shaded bottom and the advantage of height for a nice(r) view.

[frigg.livejournal.com]

LOVELY! Hopefully, you'll start feeling healthier overall as well in this much better home. :)

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

I think it is going to be better, too. Not to jinx myself or anything, but I don't seem to have the same nose and throat problems as in the other place. Time will tell.

[stillnotbored.livejournal.com]

What an improvement! Yay for a better house.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Vast improvement and one that we probably needed the two years in the other place to appreciate fully.

[clarentine]

Geckos! I loved the geckos we had in Hawaii - watching them duel over bugs and whatnot on the outside of the window screens, or along the upper edges of the walls inside, was always worth a laugh. Lovely new house, M. I wish you many happy days there!

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Thank you muchly. Glad to know someone else out there loves geckos, too. :D How do you feel about chameleons? I bet you like them. :P

[clarentine]

When I was a kid, and my siblings and I used to go down to my grandparents' place outside Ocala FL for the summer, my grandfather let us set up a screen tent so we'd have some place to release and study the "chameleons" that are so numerous down there. At the end of the day, we'd release them.

So I think the answer is yes. *g*

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping that now that I have a yard of sorts, I'll see more of them. The one in my icon was actually photographed in Madagascar, a much bigger specimen than I've seen here.

[rabiagale.livejournal.com]

a) White tile seems to be the flooring of choice in Mayotte.

b) What is that huge black-and-white picture/poster thingy on your wall?

c) Geckos are *never* adorable, but I guess it's okay for you to like them. ;)

d) Yay for bright kitchens, cooler temperatures, nice balconies, beautiful views and responsive landlords!

Enjoy your lovely new home. May your rooms be cool and dry and may your roof never leak. :)

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

a) nah, in the old house, we had light peach in the office, baby blue in the bedroom, and dark blue in the bathroom. Also, the terrace was a mosaic of broken tiles in a variety of colors. The tiling here is actually sand with a white motif, and it is sooooooo much better than the glazed tiles we had before, which showed every cat hair, speck of dust, and print of foot to perfection!

b) that is a painting of the ferry here in Mayotte.

c) Geckos are *always* adorable. :P

d) YAY! indeed. :D

And that is a nice blessing. may it be so. :D

[jodi-davis.livejournal.com]

Those pictures are amazing. I'm so happy for you and your new place!

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I think my happiness-level-with-Mayotte went up tenfold with the move. Let's hope it holds.

[patchwork-prose.livejournal.com]

That's luscious! So happy for you! (Lovely gecko, also. Fond of geckos, I am.)

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Thank you kindly. Glad to find another gecko appreciator! :P

[pjthompson]

Oh, it looks lovely! Congratulations again!

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Thank you muchly. It sure feels lovely. :D

[kmkibble75.livejournal.com]

That place looks great! Will you still be able to/want to sleep outside?

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

We could rig up the mosquito netting on the balcony if we wanted, but our room is good now and with an AC during the rainy season, we'll prolly be even more comfy indoors.

[kmkibble75.livejournal.com]

sweet.

[melinda-goodin.livejournal.com]

I hope you can make your own piece of heaven in your new home.

(And I love geckos too... as long as they're not over the bed.)

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

as long as they're not over the bed.

Or over your dinner plate. :P