Our New Digs!

So here are photos of our house...the BEFORE since we are still awaiting our shipment from Ukraine. We have rental furniture and otherwise are camping.  It is a big house. For the first time in my life I do not have to worry about where to find room for anything!  And with 7 bathrooms I never lack for something to clean.  That part I do not love.  Hopefully soon we will find someone to help me with all of that, but for now, well, things are a bit dusty.

There is so much I love about this house. I feel like we hit the jackpot and after 5 years in a 4th floor walk-up apartment with no access to the outside having a house with a garden is a massive treat for us.  Not only a garden, but a gate right onto a beautiful golf course where rules are lax so kids and dogs are welcome anytime.  Pepperoni has a massive new hunting ground, Paolo and I have a safe, beautiful place to jog with Enzo each morning and Gio gets to run around with his rugby ball every afternoon.  There is a cart path just perfect for biking and scootering.  Birds abound on the course with their various songs to sing beginning at 5AM.  Even that, I am used to now.  We even have two birds fiercely protecting their eggs laid just in front of our house.  It is great for for G & M to follow the eggs' progress every day.  Just hoping Pepperoni stays far away.  So, without further ado, here are the photos....

View from our covered porch area out onto the garden and 18th tee.
The birds' eggs are laid in the mulch under the tree straight ahead. 

On the left side of the garden is this lovely gazebo with wind chimes, an owl house built into the tree and a perfect place to sip wine in the evening (once we supply some chairs!)

Pepperoni scouting and the old swing set.  We have since replaced it with a new one
(that even includes a water slide!).  I will save pics of that for my "AFTER" post. 

View from the swing set back onto the house.
 The middle windows above are for the playroom.  Maria room is the to right. 

Side garden that goes from the pool to the driveway.
 Steps you see go up to what has previously been used by the live-in housekeeper/nanny.
We are still considering our options. 

View of same side garden from the driveway gate.
The African sun does dry clothing very quickly but, as a true American,
 I did insist that we also buy a tumble dryer!

The front of the house.  Windows to the right are actually a full dentist office!
The owner of this house is a retired dentist.
 With so much room in the rest of the house we told her it was fine for her to keep the office as it is.
  The window above the office is for Gio's room.

Door to the dentist office. We have had people ring the bell asking if the doctor is in! 

The massive braai (barbeque) area.  
There is a built in gas and wood braai (straight ahead in the photo)
 plus room for dozens of guests.  
We are waiting for a big table to be delivered but for now we make do with a hodgepodge of tables.  So far our biggest gathering has been 19 people, but we can handle more!

In this photo Paolo is entering the kitchen.
When we entertain we can push aside all of these doors to really open up the house.

The kitchen.  It is awesome.  

The scullery which connects the garage to the kitchen. 

Scullery again.  Dishwasher and washing machine are here.  

Yep.  Our own wine cellar.  And it is huge!!!  How will we ever fill all of these?

The living room.  It is on the opposite side of the house from the kitchen. 
 Same size, much more empty!

Supposedly one day (June? July?) we will actually want to use this fireplace.
For now, in 101F heat, it seems silly.

Guest room suite with its own entrance. Anyone want to sign up for a visit?

Downstairs guest bath (guest bedroom has its own full bath).

Garage.

It is really big! (see dryer back there?  
Next to Enzo's huge cargo carrier?)  Also lots and lots of storage!

Now we have headed upstairs.  This is the view from the top of the stairs looking to the left.  Play room on the right.  Nanny apartment is door on left.  Other door leads to Maria's room and what will be Paolo's office.  Master bedroom and Gio's room are behind you in this view. 

Master bedroom. Laundry to fold.  Will do that later. 

Master closet with bathrooms on the left. 

Master bath/Enzo's napping spot.

Double showers, double sinks.

Playroom.

Playroom, other view.  See that Asteriks mural?  Love it. 

Maria's bathroom. She avoids the tub like the plague.  Hoping it is just a phase. 

Closet next to Gio's room.  Holds basically everything we own. 

Gio's room.  Time to wake him up. 

Gio has a bathroom right inside his room.  No door, nothing.  He loves it.  

Seriously, Gio, your bus is coming in 10 minutes!!!

Maria's room.  At least she is awake and ready to go!

I did not include a few things, out of fear of boring you.  I will do a better job of covering everything once the rooms are a bit more interesting with things actually in them.  We just got the news our shipment will arrive in Durban Nov 20th, so we are hoping to have our things before we leave for Italy on Dec 12th.  Meanwhile, look back soon for a post on our trip to Victoria Falls. I want to get that written before we take our next trip (Cape Town) in two weeks!

Ciao!
Clara