Cristales puestos

(Domingo 07- Sabado 13 Abril)   Not a good start this week. Dan started a headache saturday, which he just never has. Turned into a doozie of a head cold. He did not sleep at all sunday night. So Carmen sent him back to bed after he talked to the crew. He has them finalizing some interior painting, the two small bedroom windows, including building a curvy cement sill for each, and more tiling on the terraza.

A neighbor asked yesterday, why we built such a large mirador. It does rather stick out like a sore thumb at the moment, but it should look more nestled in when finished. Luís assured us that only a north american would build such a thing. However we first came across a high rooftop mirador at a hotel over near Xico – and we did enjoy sitting there in the evenings at a level with the birds soaring by, looking out over town and the surrounding green country and distant mountains.

We discovered a brand new Subway sandwich shop, sitting right next to our Banamex bank, when we went into the center of Fortín this week. Lots of business so far. Seems like this town is pretty small for a US chain such as this. People here do eat a lot of sandwiches though. Can't imagine that it will affect all the many tiny shops selling inexpensive sandwiches, as these subs cost the price of a whole meal, definitely a luxury item at this price level. Cost is MX$35 (US$2.75) to MX$59 (US$4.60) each. Someday we will have to have a couple to compare with the US. They smell just like they should.

We did make a drive into the city for building supplies at Home Depot and groceries at Walmart on tuesday. Dan was pleased that Carmen did all the driving – this is rare – since Dan was not feeling well yet.

The temps have been in low nineties in the shade this week. Unheard of except in may, so the locals tell us. Nights are only down to mid sixties. Carmen's favorite time of day is the hour after sunrise. This is the time to hang laundry out, water the outside plants and enjoy sitting on the bench out front while the kitties enjoy the area there. One morning the cats time was cut short by a large bird that did not appreciate their being outside in it's domain. The bird kept scolding and flying back and forth across the cats until they retreated into the house. Turns out that our beautiful blue flowers on the plumbago bush have sticky long stamens, which stick to the cats fur, which then get carried inside. There were a couple woodpeckers pecking away at our roof beams this week. Lots of birds around, which we can enjoy thru our opened windows every day.

Someone felt it necessary to cut the two large beautiful trees down from in front of the church, across the street and down a half-block from us to the north. We always hate to see trees cut down. What ever were they thinking? Surely God put those trees there for some good reason. Guess it could have been for the sole purpose of giving someone something to do. We had been keeping the street tidy from fallen leaves (using them for some of potted plants), so that was probably not why the trees were cut down.

Our crew took wednesday off for a memorial day for a brother of Heri who died a year ago. He had been out hiking by himself and apparently fell into a steep ravine. They searched for him for three days before finding his body. Work did continue at the house as the fence welding was finished, and then the welder attached the corrugated polycarbonate roofing up on top of the mirador structure with self-drilling screws with attached neoprene washers.

By 5pm the welders were finished with their two projects they were working on. We had thought the carpenter was coming, but no, so we put the car back in it's parking spot for the night. At six o'clock we got a surprise - - our cristal (flat glass) all arrived! That means one window, one aluminum door for the water heater alcove, one partition for the top of the kneewall at the end of the shower, and two domos (skylights)! Who would ever have guessed there would be two fellows, Lenny and helper, out there working this late. They got all the installations done before dark, leaving just some trim to be applied and sealed the next day.

Thursday at 7am Carmen was outside painting around the skylights, so that when the protective corner trim is put in, the paint there will be dry. This way when the house is painted, the workers will not get paint on the window edge. Carmen also painted our new house paint color around outside door frames before the trim went on. Dan's cold is much improved by now.

The crew of three is back today and worked on tiling, windows, and painting. David was missing and may be for a couple weeks. He got a bad leg sprain.

Friday we both had dental appointments. Two different dentists. Carmen for her new crowns and a bridge, which took three hours. Dan had cleaning and two fillings, then drove back to wait for Dr Soley to finish with Carmen. We rushed home, hoping to find the city engineer there. But it is another week that he did not show up. The carpenter was there, as he was saturday also. He installed the cabinets he had made for the bathroom. The designs Dan made look really good, now in place.

Saturday our crew was not here, because they had a family day cultivating their large garden plot of corn and beans. In the morning Frank had called and asked if we would like to go to Cosco with him. Carmen now had the cold so she decided to stay home and let the guys enjoy the day without female companionship, since Ania is still out of town for another week. Dan started cutting out the ceiling boards under the new skylight in the dining room, now that the glass was in place over the hole. The carpenter left by 12:30, after finishing on the cabinets, and then Dan cleaned up before walking over to the obra in Los Encinos, from where Frank would be leaving.

Frank's crew of three was just finishing up pouring concrete for the stairway incline running up the side of the new little bodega alongside the house. Heading north, we dropped the guys off for the bus to Coscomatepec, and first visited a country house Frank's cardiologist had built in the forest high above the Metlac river canyon, outside of Monte Blanco. Gerardo & Yvonne served up a bit of smooth tequila before a polite exit could be managed. Frank's purpose today was checking on both his properties outside of Cosco, and finding out whether Alejandro, the sawyer friend of our workers, was interested in some of the poles left from thinning out the pine hillsides near the Xaltenango hexagon cabin.

Past the huge cut-back hill of gravel and sand that gave the place it's nauahtl name, on the way up the road the car passed our three workers (Luís, Heri & Alfonso) trudging back from the milpa (cornfield) with their azadones (large-headed hoes). Their tools were put in the trunk and they were transported the rest of the way up to their little community of houses, beyond which Frank's hilltop property lies. Dan and Frank came back relaxed and happy from their adventures, sometime after 6pm. They had picked a quart of blackberries at the cabin, and some of the giant lemons, which will probably end up in another pie. In western Washington state, we always had ripe, flavorful, blackberries in the fall, but these were almost as good.