Moving to the country

I do much better with certainties. 🙂 We now have a clearer picture as to where we all will be living… at least for the immediate future.If all goes well, it looks like my Jamie will stay in the same neighborhood, and will be moving into an apartment a couple of blocks down the hill from where we currently live. Jonathan and family are still looking for a place in town, but seem close to making a decision.

My mom is going to move temporarily to our family country house in the Guayllabamba valley, north of Quito. It is small, so she will be storing some of her furniture and other belongings for the time being. Right now work is being done on the house to get it ready for her… the roof is being cleaned and painted, and the attic inside is also being cleaned so she can store some of her things there. The entrance to the house actually faces towards the back of the 4,000 m big property (about 13,200 sq ft), which makes it very private.

The back of the house, on the other hand, faces the street. You can see the work on the roof here.

The best part of this property is outdoors. I don’t even recall how many avocado trees there are, nor how many varieties, but there are oh, so many. Aren’t these trees just lovely? And those avocados? They are the kind that melt in your mouth like butter and will be ready to be picked in another week or so… time for some guacamole!

What? Can’ t see them? Just click the photo below to zoom in!

I, too, will be moving away from Quito, to a small rural property between the towns of Quinche and Checa. This chalet-style house lies on a 5,000 m (about 16,500 sq ft) piece of land, so is larger than our property in Guayllabamba. I will be renting it for the time being, with the option to buy. My mom and I want to live in both places for a few months and use that time to figure out which property we would like to live on in future. Once we decide, we will then build.

Now isn’t this house cute? The challenge, however, will be how to organize my work space. The slanted ceilings are not exactly the best when it comes to storage, as I cannot go “up” very far. And there are very few inside walls for bookshelves… But it is a temporary arrangement, and if we choose to stay here I would probably keep the house but build a studio next to it. Now, wouldn’t that be something? For the time being I will set up shop in the living room, as you can see below…

Again, the best thing about this property is outside. And by that I mean waaay outside. There is a very large terrace, with a million dollar view. Actually, there are fantastic views from every single window in the house… including the bathrooms! It was a rather cloudy, rainy day yesterday when I took these pics, but this gives you an idea.

I know there are friends and family trying to figure out exactly where this all is, so I’m including a map of the area, to give you an idea (click on map for a larger view). On the left side of the map is the northern part of Quito. On the upper right you will see a blue marker, where the valley of Guayllabamba is located, and where my mom will be living. Further down on the right is a pink marker, where I will be. It is about a 20 minute drive from where my mom will be, and about 10 minutes from the new international airport that will be opening next February… just in case any of you need to be picked up. 🙂  This is at a higher altitude than Guayllabamba (which is warm climate), but not too cold. And we are still within the Andes mountain range.

So now sorting and packing is taking place in full swing. We do want to spend a last Thanksgiving together here in Quito, but the following week will start to move the smaller things out and expect to move furniture the first week in December. Christmas will see us all in new homes!