229 Pearl Street, our new home...


After nearly two weeks on the road, visiting friends and family along the way, my tired but resilient truck pulls onto Pearl Street, Santa Cruz, CA. We don't get to move in right away, as the previous tenants still haven't moved out, so we hunker down in the smaller house in the back of the lot and take in our surroundings. Unfortunately, the part of the coast was experiencing torrential downpours, even for the rainy season, so we moved quickly from one sight to the next. Because the rain, we didn't take many shots of the town, so those will be included in an upcoming post. This one is all about the new house...


A shot of the front taken from Pearl Street. We have our own driveway (yeah!!! It's amazing how the simple things will excite you.). The front lawn is essential one big garden that will come into its own after a little TLC from a hired gardener (paid for by the landlord). There is a narrow pathway to the left that leads back to another garden and the other, smaller house. And yes, that is a white pickett fence. :)






The home entertainment/studying center. For those of you from the Lady/Bill/Chieftain, you might recognize the Tiki (from the mizzen truck of the Chieftain in Sacramento). He feels right at home in Santa Cruz.
















Kitchen. Nice, large, but has ants (you see the blue spray can on the right). Its a continuing battle.











Ahh... how I've dreamed of having my own expresso machine (a gift from my mom). I swear this puppy will keep me away from expensive fru, fru drinks at Starbucks.











Nice, warm wood stove. Gives Bhodi an outlet for his playing-with-fire urges.


















Speaking of which, a self portrait. The ladder leads up into the sleeping loft.
















The loft. About four feet of head clearance at the peak, with two skylights over the mattress. The loft is located right over the wood stove so its nice and cozy. The Pride scarf is covering a small window that overlooks the back garden.











Its unbelievable how many books I have, and these are just mine. This shot, as you can guess, was taken from the loft. The sides of the loft are open, so rolling out of the bed has some serious consequences.















And if you came to visit us, this is where we would put you, the outer bedroom. This small skylight lit box came with the house and we are using it for storage, but with a little work it could convert nicely to a guest room (it's carpeted and insulated). For those of you that are claustrophobic, we also have a futon that is open.







And now, the star of the show... Foxy, our new kitten. It was very hard for Bhodi and I to get these photos, as she rarely stays still for a moment. We adopted her from the SPCA and she took to us and the house surprisingly quick. She's a year old and definitely has a mind of her own. Also quite the acrobat, she kept me up all last night by bringing her toys up into the loft and playing with them until I finally stuffed them all under the mattress.











The queen atop her cave.













Such a cute kitty. We both feel lucky to have found her.








And that's it for now. More pictures to come of Santa Cruz, the university, and hopefully of me in my new sport: surf kayaking. Take care!