Me voy a mudar = I am moving = chaos

The nice thing about LaLoma was the proliferation of birds....

By the time you read this, I hope the move will be done and all will be settled without incident. My new landlord, a retired history professor, has done a lot to make my new little space more appealing, and if I have to move again into anything smaller, it will probably be a coffin! My friends here don't like my sense of humor about that, but seriously, folks, in two years....

The nice thing about the center of town location was being
able to hear the church bells every time they rang...
which is about every hour in this village. It was like being
IN the bell tower.... very energizing.

Move # 1 - one year in a three-bedroom house out in the country (LaLoma) - it doesn't matter that I could only use two of the three bedrooms because of the serious mold issue in #3, or that the swimming pool was a breeding ground for mosquitoes, or that the brother-in-law refused to share the costs of the electricity and water even though he was living there in a small cottage with his dog (and sometimes a girlfriend).

What I will miss most about the small casita is the many
surprises of animals that have been tied to a variety of
things - lampposts, cartons, bicycles, motos, etc. while
their owners have a 'quick one' at the bar on the corner.

Move # 2 - supposed to be one year in the oldest (or nearly oldest) house in Barichara right on the park, central to everything. Huge space, but only two tiny bedrooms with 18-ft ceilings and peculiar bathrooms. But clearly the landlady was unwilling to address the serious roof problems and after four months of damaging leaks, I gave notice and found something else right away. Must have been a move during a Mercury Retrograde because...

Sombrita (little shadow) is in and out of all the boxes.

Ultimo is a real cool cat; nothing gets him worked up.

Move # 3 - was also supposed to be for a year, to a cute (smaller) three-bedroom 'cottage' really, but adorable... and I loved being there/here, but while I was away helping with the arrival of the twins, the landlady was telling everyone in Barichara she was hoping I would find something else so she could have her house back. I will miss the grape arbor... made my first batch of grape jam here.

Legally she could have been obligated to me for two months rent, but since I was persuaded that my 'last move' was a good financial deal, I got her to end the contract with no cost to her and I am now - on Wednesday morning/Halloween day - onto

Move # 4 - into two bedrooms (one of which is normal size), two tiny bathrooms, a kitchenette and an open space for dining and sitting around looking at the 180-degree view, up a narrow flight of stairs... should be interesting tomorrow. I have no idea how the cats are going to take all of this... because now we are re-introducing a - dawg. Stay tuned.

Sombrita gets into the middle of all the packing materials, naps there,
and any sound right now sends her scampering... very hyper!!!

A ducky day

Finally a spot of sunshine! It being a holiday for most - hard to be 'holiday' minded when retired - we decided to drive to the harbor for bit of a walk after being cooped up inside. I forgot to bring any morsels of bread or crackers for entertainment, but it didn't matter. The birds were there and waiting nevertheless.

I'm a little late on the seagull-of-the-dayshot, but here is my contribution....

The surprise was that in the midst of plunking myself down on the pavement to get to eye level with the seagulls, a paired couple of mallards joined us and the female was quite unafraid and as you will see,

got very close to me - didn't even have to use the close-up feature on my pocket camera. I think she was even smiling... but then perhaps ducks do that on a regular basis. What was nice was that the sun had been out long enough to warm up the pavement a little... see the shadows under the birds?