Lots of activity at our new house! It's good to have plenty of "before"pictures, but bear in mind that things are changing fast. Our contractor Manuel has hired a full crew to completely re-wire the house (it had ONE circuit and got its electricity from a neighbor by extension cord!), build the wall and rebuild the kitchen...the pictures above also show Jerry with his new fifty peso ($4.45) Mexican haircut - that's upper left. Top right shows a portion of the new wall, along with a stack of bricks for building the rest of the wall. Right under Jerry is Alfredo building my new kitchen counter - everything is built of bricks and concrete, even the kitchen shelves. This kitchen will be beautiful - we have chosen a variety of colorful Talavera tiles. Next is another picture of the wall...note that the concrete bricks have been covered with cement. Then, the wall will be painted. A lovely arched blue iron gate will span the center. On the right is Pedro, the Maestro mason, covering the wall with cement. He uses a very skilled technique where he throws the cement on the wall with a trowel, hardly wasting a drop as he flicks his wrist. Bottom left shows the trench for the wall in the backyard being dug...unfortunately, they encountered the septic drain field, but they seem pretty cheerful. That must be why that lime tree grows such big limes!
We are very busy every day now, buying appliances, toilets and furniture, getting building supplies for Manuel and conferring with him about choices to be made. We actually plan to move in on the 31st of August. The house won't be done, but we will make the best of it...Manuel hopes to have the downstairs ready for us, but will start consturction of the second story after we move in. Some chaos for a month or so, but it will be worth it.
One of the best bonuses this week is our discovery of two beautiful giant green iguanas living in our large mimosa tree. They are about 3 feet long and we could hear their feet slapping on the limbs of the trees as they climbed. Fortunately, they are herbivorous and won't eat the cats. But the cats have certainly never seen anything like them and may be a bit surprised!
1 comment:
Hi Guys!!!
Guess what??? It was raining at the house this morning!!! Mid August...go figure. Fall is coming early this year. Been after Jeff to get about getting the woodstove, think we're going to need it. I would love to know the costs of construction that you are encountering and definately want to see picts of the kitchen and tiles. I love your site and have book marked it. Take care.
Mona
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