Our House in Timaru

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Several people have asked to see what our house looks like. There are many things about New Zealand homes that I really love. Mainly, everyone has lots of windows! The downside to that is that only newer homes (not ours) have insulated windows. So, it is very cold and very moist. Our wooden window sills have lost their varnish and some of the walls (all of which are wall papered) have mold. We are fortunate in our house to have an open kitchen/eating area/living room. We have a heat pump in this room, but try to keep a fire going as much as possible. The bedrooms have electric heaters and doors that we keep closed most of the time. What I dislike most about the house is that all the rooms are pink and mostly with floral wallpaper. There is another bedroom in the basement with access to the house either around the outside, or via a ladder up through Syd's closet. The garage is great - lots of storage for our bikes, luggage, skis, and other stuff. Our garden (yard) is lovely and comes with a weekly gardener😊 We have apple, lemon and apricot trees in the yard. The back deck has a "barbie" (BBQ) and will be perfect for entertaining when (if) the weather warms up. Honestly, we have loved downsizing and being forced to be a bit cozier. At this very moment, Gregg and I are having a glass of wine sitting on our bed. Gregg is reading the paper and I am typing. The boys each have a friend over and are playing the Wii and showing off their new birds. We have added 3 new additions to our family.... We went to a bird show over the weekend and came home with 2 Budgies. We had borrowed a cage from a neighbor to use this week. Today we bought a new cage that came complete with another Budgie. So, we are now proud owners of 3 Budgie birds. The boys have promised to be the main care givers of the birds...we'll see.

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Photos

View from the House to the backyard
Notice the boys school beyond the Apricot tree.

Toilet into laundry room
The only toilet:)

Comments

[Bob and Tina]

Wow
We have enjoyed all of your blogs and what a job you have done compiling all of this. We're having dinner next weekend with friends who have recently done NZ and mostly the south island. We'll be finalizing plans soon. Have fun on your incredible adventure.