It's the little things....

We are settling into our daily life now, our legalities are done (will post separately about getting our Visas and Cedulas) and we have 90% of our furniture and decorations (although not all hung yet). Our list of things to buy has shrunk to office chairs, bed platform for the main guestroom and headboard/bed frame for our bedroom. (We will be picking up the double bed for the office/guest room next week - another great used buy).

As in any new house or apartment there are little things you would like to make life easier. For us it was THESE little things that have made a difference.

Little felt buttons to put on the inside of cabinet doors so they wouldn't slam loudly - kitchen, two bathrooms and three bedrooms closet built-ins.

While the noise wasn't unbearable, it did carry to our downstairs neighbor who has done the same thing! We love the quiet closings now.

Slip-on faucet aerator/sprayer

This one swivels and goes into spray or single stream mode with a flip of the little lever.

I remember having these as a kid, long before there were sprayers built into sink faucet sets.

Strainers - Sink strainers to help prevent large scraps of food from clogging the pipes; Shower strainers to help prevent hair clogs

We got two sets of these, the biggest worked in the two kitchen sink drains and the smaller in the utility room drain and the medium in my shower drain. We have since found them at Kwyi, a local hardware store.

Flat suction stoppers to keep water in the sinks (yes, the sinks have the metal spinner stoppers but they weren't working too well, plus the utility room had no stopper.

Works perfectly!! We also got two of these and one of the sprayer/aerator above for our downstairs neighbor.

A pocket day-timer/calender book. I really wanted a Spanish one so I could learn the days/months but the ones I found were way too large for dropping in my purse.

This one worked out perfectly, enough room to write on each day, notes for the month and two years so I don't have to do this again next year. LOL!

And a set of pillow protectors - you know, the covers that go under your pillow case ;)

I need a LOT more but will have hubby bring them back this June.

So how did we get these from Amazon to us here in Ecuador? Simple - we had them "muled" in by a friend. We belong to Amazon Prime, they were all shipped to our friend's house where she was visiting in the US and she brought them back to us. And we will be forever grateful - these are some little things that have made a big difference in our daily living!