The ad said it was a furnished one-bedroom, and it was, although sparsely, but I guess it still counts. It came with the barest of necessities: one very used pan that had a damaged non-stick surface, no pans, no coffee-maker, a smattering of mixed silverware, a medium-sized refrigerator, and the plainest couch you ever saw sitting on 2x4's. It also had an older digital TV, a table and four chairs, two smaller tables - one of which would serve as a temporary desk for my laptop and one that could go on the balcony - three small end tables, and a small double bed.  |
The above photos are pretty much as I found the apartment except for my
towels, rugs, and the bathroom and bedroom shelves |
My living adventure in Bocas Del Toro, Panama, was underway and I knew it was going to be fine once what was left of my down-sized personal belongings arrived and I could start making it my own. Little did I know it was going to take a little over 6 months before I would be able to get what was left of it here!
When it "all" finally did arrive, I almost wondered wondered how I was going to do this, but I'd moved 4 times in the last 4 years, once all the way across county from Asheville to Napa, and 3/4 of the way back from Napa to Houston before finally leaving for Panama. I'm pretty much an expert on moving by this time, so I knew exactly what I was going to do.
Even with the smallest load of all my moves, I was still intimidated as I'd never tried it at 75 years old before. Here's what it looked like when I finally got those remaining shipped belongings, paintings, and drawings into my apartment.
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| Unloaded, with more boxes in the bed and bath rooms... ugh! |
At this point, there's still a lot to do as I need some more side seating, a coffee table, throw rugs, live plants, and Jamaican decor and accents. Maybe a decorative surfboard... Right now, I'm going to take a breath, relax a bit, and see if I can find accents that aren't too cheesy. You wouldn't believe how bad the local Chinese version of WalMart is...
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| Looking to the French Doors from the main room |
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The TV that came with the apartment and mine right below
sitting on moving boxes covered with a moving blanket! |
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There's the "couch" that came with the "furnished" apartment.
All of the paintings and drawings are my personal work. |
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My "art" desk. This where some of the magic happens!
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| Welcome to "La Petite Gallerie" II. You can almost see the inside of the entry! |
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| The Mini-Kitchen. Not much counter space. |
Combination Bedroom and my Computer setup
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| My computer work space... It's nice to have the "beast" back... |
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| The bathroom, of course... |
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A lovely north-facing balcony overlooks the only street out of town and it
can get a little noisy sometimes |
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| Looking the other way on the balcony |
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| Front of the apartment building. My apartment is on the second floor right |
All in all, I'm getting more and more comfortable, and feeling more "at home" as I get it more together.
Damn good thing!
