In no particular order.
Bedroom. The blue spread under the red blanket is much more aesthetically pleasing, but the red blanket is very nice, thick, soft and warm. It also shows up every bit of cat hair (both black and white so Rikki and Cleo are covered) which means that I'll probably spend a lot more time cleaning it than if I couldn't see the hair.
Bedroom closet, plenty of space here for all my clothes, many of which I lugged with me across the Atlantic last May and have not yet worn. And of course, since arriving, I've purchased new clothes, some of which I have not yet worn. This really must stop.
View of my patio from my bedroom window.
Doorway into the bedroom.
Entrance into the house. I love this little area, which could serve as a small patio but which I'm using as a "utility" room. It's nice to have some place out of the way to put the cat's litter boxes.
Coming into the house from the utility room.
Turn left and you're in the kitchen/living/dining area.
I brought the oranges with me from Ariadne, where I picked the few ripe ones I could reach a few days before moving. I'm going back there later today to grab the outside plants that I left and to brush the cat hair out of the big carpet in the living room, and maybe I'll snag a few more oranges and lemons when I do so.
The kitchen. Very similarly equipped to the last one, with two major differences: 1) The counters here are not as ridiculously high as they were in Ariadne, which means I don't need to stand on a chair to cook. Yay! 2) The fridge is not full-size, which is proving to be challenging. I'm used to buying meat in bulk and freezing it for later use - that ain't happening now. I also used to keep things like cat food in the fridge because Rikki can sniff out a bag like a blood-hound and rip into it in no time, but there's just not enough room for it now. I've got it stored way up high in one of the wardrobes, and hopefully he will not discover its location.
Living area. This is a supposedly a pull-out sofa, I haven't attempted it yet but am hoping that it's far more ergonomic than the last one! The landlord is supposed to be getting a long cable so that I can drag my laptop in here to use the internet (it's not wireless like at the old place).
Kitchen viewed from the living area.
Internet "station". It's a nice little workspace, my only problem was that my feet don't touch the ground (this is ALWAYS a problem for me, ya know) but I solved it by using one of the little bucket/bowl thingies as a foot rest.
Hallway behind the internet station, this is where the kitties will eat. The chest next to the bowl has been driving Rikki crazy. He's a bit obsessive/compulsive and has been furiously attempting to get into every little space that he can find since we arrived. He knows that this is one of those places, but he can't get the lid off and I'm not going to help him because this is where I'm storing all the throw rugs so that the cats don't puke on them and shed all over them.
Turn around while sitting at the internet station and you see the entrance to the bathroom.
The water pressure in the shower is about on par with what it was at Ariadne (five on a one to ten scale), although this has a shower nozzle that I can remove and bring closer to my head, which is better. The hot water seems pretty good, although it's tricky to get it just right and I've just about scalded myself a few times.
To the left of the internet station and directly across from the bathroom, another nice storage area. That's one of the things I really like about the Crete Direct properties - plenty of place to put "stuff" so it's out of the way and not cluttering things up.
Unfortunately Rikki has been able to satisfy his compulsion to "get into things" with the dresser and nightstand drawers, which slide open very easily. Aside from me not wanting him to get in and lay all over my underwear, I'm concerned that he's going to end up pulling all the drawers open at one time and causing the whole piece of furniture to fall forward (the top is glass and that's going to be a mess). I'm also concerned that he's going to hurt himself while trying to get back behind the drawer, which he's already attempted and from which I had to help him dislodge his head. What an idiot. I taped them shut the other night, but don't want to have to untape/tape again every time I want to get something from them.
My tiny little fridge/freezer.
View to the front gate from my patio door.
View of my patio door from the front gate.
I share a wall with the house next door, Villa Maria. We share the common entryway from the street, which is shown here (the door to their patio is off to the right).
Fortunately this door locks from the inside with a lever, so I don't need to worry about a key. I feel quite safe once I've barricaded myself behind this door:-)
Patio upon entry/front door leading to utility room.
This flowering bush is beautiful, I hope it continues to bloom for a while.
The bees like it a lot, too.
There's another section to the patio through here, which is where the clotheslines are.
More patio views.
I don't feel guilty about leaving Ariadne less than immaculate. The new place was "cleaned" before my arrival, but it seems that the crew was a bit rushed and may have not had time to do as thorough a job as I would have liked. Certain things were fine (the oven is pristine!) but I spent yesterday cleaning all the floors (this is what I swiffered off a small section of the bedroom floor) and scrubbing the bathroom and kitchen surfaces. I admit that my standards can be a bit rigid, and I've certainly been known to let my own floors get grungy, but that's MY dirt and I'm more comfortable with it than I am with the dirt of strangers:-)
I think I'm going to like it here. There are things that I miss about Ariadne: The full-size fridge, two patios, the hardwood floors, the large kitchen sink, the extra bed/sitting room, and most of all - Pip. However, this place seems to "fit" me better: It's smaller and easier to move around in, and the smaller size coupled with the great southern exposure helps keep it nice and warm. I like the privacy of the patio, and I love that I can see the sky at night. Ariadne's trees were nice, but they obscured the moon and stars, which I am now able to gaze upon from the comfort of my plastic patio furniture. Last night there were a lot of intermittent clouds, and it was great sky-gazing as they drifted across the moon. I like the location, that I can walk just a few blocks and get pretty much whatever I need.
