(Domingo 14 -
Sabado 20 Abril) What can we say –
work is chugging along. Luis pulled most of the electric wires thru
the conduits that were embedded in the slab and walls in the new
bathroom, and he or Dan will hook up the lights, outlets and switches
sometime soon. Our crew will have their part of the new window
openings and tiling about finished this week. We are both over our
colds. All is well.
Wednesday our
doorbell rang and there was a lady from Santa Cruz, California. She
is here with the Jehovahs Witnesses, and she was not here to witness
to us, but just to say hello. She is living in a small apartment in
town, and heard there were folks here from the US, so she came
looking for us. Now wasn't that a special event for us?
Carmen had her
teeth cleaned at IMSS this week. No charge. We did a small amount of
shopping. We decided to buy a ceiling fan for the master bedroom.
This weeks temps have been HOT! Mid-60s nights and mid-90s days.
These temps feel nothing like the discomfort of the northern midwest,
with it's high summer humidity, that we remember from our younger
years. The house retains quite a bit of “coolth” well into the
day. At night sleeping is quite comfy with a light breeze blowing
over us from the open, screened, windows.
Thursday the crew
worked in 96 degree temps. Dan used some of the cooler morning hours
to wire up the outlet and junction box that bring power up to the
mirador. We can also plug in the pressure washer up there
now, for roof cleaning. Also worked on outlets in the new bathroom.
The
loseta up on the
terraza is all laid, including the
small area over the laundry room, and a start was made on the floor
for the laundry room. Heri and David worked on putting up the last
section of cyclone fence on the high west wall, and stretching
reinforcing wires top & bottom. Luis moved the extension ladder
all along the periphery of the house and made an estimate of the new
viga (roof beam) materials we will need to replace wood
damaged by wood-eating insects. At the end of their ten hour day –
watching them walk out to our car for a ride to catch their bus home,
was like a miracle. They were all dancing and singing their way
happily to the car, after that miserably hot day working in the sun!!
Nice to have such a jubilant crew working with us!
Friday our crew was
here, appreciating the very slightly lower temperature as it clouded
up today. The floor tiles were grouted on the
terraza, and the
laundry room floor tiling and grouting was finished—we used the
same pattern that we used in the new bathroom. All our finished
pisos (floor) are done. Holes were drilled in
the curbing along the edge of
terraza to mount the steel
railing that will enclose the side overlooking the patio below. Our
carpenter came in the afternoon to put the door in the bathroom.
This used to be an outside door for the laundry room. Solid wood and
a beauty, except the finish was damaged due to sun and water
exposure. The door had to be totally stripped. Looks beautiful and
will last forever as an interior door. The laundry room will get a
steel entry door purchased from Home Depot.
Saturday our
foreman and his wife made a trip to Oaxaca, so we had only a crew of
three. They worked on painting and finishing up some masonry
details. The carpenter trimmed the hallway door which rubbed on the
floor at the bottom, and worked installing the inside window between
the bath and laundry rooms. There was an exterior triple window
there. Now there is a single pane window separating the two rooms,
convenient for passing the laundry thru, and the other two windows
will go in the exterior north wall in the smaller bedroom upstairs.
