Most of the Stucco is now done...

Just about all the stucco is on the exterior - here, you can see how they put up alignment boards to use as guides - also note that primer sealer has begun:
Moss, tiny ferns and lichen have sprung up on rocks with the return of the rain:

And we found a grasshopper in the garden:

This cutie is our flower photo of the week:


I put this one at the bottom so you can more easily compare the progress to last week's photo:

The project continues...

As I warned weeks ago, once the walls are done, photos of a construction project tend to be boring and it seems like progress takes forever. That said, if you look closely, you can see that the crew is making excellent progress on the stucco both inside and out:


I spared you a photo of the wires protruding from the outlet and switch boxes, but the electrical should be done shortly - then, all we need is for our turn to get to the top of the electric company's 'install list'& they install poles ... if they take too long, Paul is talking about designing a 'wheel' to use the creek to generate electricity. He'd probably do that just for the fun of it.

That photo below isn't much more exciting than electrical wires - Paul was making certain his cooktop fit the counter correctly - and it did.



Carlos tells me that we need to pick our lights, etc. Hopefully, something will 'catch my eye'.

When we started the project, I'd assumed we'd install recessed lights, as we did in our previous house, but that's not possible with this roof design, so I get a mental blank when this topic comes up. Paul believes track lights will go well with this ceiling and since there are some really nice ones of those, I'm sure we'll come up with something that is both attractive and functional.

Right now seems to be a transition season: it's not windy every day, but it isn't rainy, either. Thus, Paul devised a sprinkler head for his pump and keeps moving it around to check the drainage of various parts of the yard. Looks kinda cute on top of 'table rock' doesn't it?

During the past ten days....

While we made a trip to Panama City for business, the crew kept busy finishing the final roof system, which is over the living room. As you can see, they've also made progress applying the interior stucco to the walls:

This gives you a better look at the rafters above the living room - eventually we'll hang a large ceiling fan from the center:


Obviously, part of the crew was busy applying stucco to the exterior walls, too:


And Raul built the former and poured the other kitchen counter - the sink will go in by the yellow thing and the gas cooktop will go where Raul left the cut-out on the new counter ... the gap between the end of the counter and the doorway to the garage will be where the refrigerator goes:


Since the new section of roof was nearing completion on the exterior, too, Paul went up to inspect... If you look close, you can see that the crew has already begun hangind eaves troughs on the upper / living room roof:

Good Friday update ...

The last section of roof started & already has most of its rafters:

The coffee plants are celebrating Easter by bursting into bloom:


Here's a closeup of the flowers - aren't they lovely?


And, today, I learned that coffee is pollinated by bees:

Starting the final rush to finish

Paul just loves taking photos of Baru - in this, clouds shroud the cooling volcano from the nearly full moon:

This is our pretty flower photo of the week (dug the bulb up in a drainage ditch):

This is our bizarre flower photo of the week:

Last blog, we showed you how Raul and Nicko were setting the rebar in preparation of pouring the concrete. Well, this is their finished product:

In the photo above, the guy on the right is called Jeeemius (yes, I meant to type 3 E's ... his name sounds like 'heir-ah-ME-as'.) I'm pointing him out to you because he's a really nice person and very organized - he's the one that makes sure supplies are on site when they're supposed to be and he's the only person I know of who actually understands why Paul's ram pump works.

In my experience, only masters in their crafts can make something look simple and easy, and Raul, who is pictured here, with the counter he made, certainly makes working with concrete look easy.


Either Tom or Iris Brolin took this photo, when they caught Paul and I taking a well deserved break and watching birds 'n' butterflies by the Tisingal:

The 3 ring 'circus' continues...

We've started to get rain - prior to the past week, we'd only had two days of rain since we began this project - but windy season seems to be 'winding down' and the rain is back - Paul's photo of the week shows how plump the little bladders of these orchids,which live on top of a rock have gotten:
Carlos, the crew chief, preparing to build the final section of roof:


Using a wheelbarrow as a sawhorse.


And in the kitchen, the final tweaks are going on the former before they pour the island counter.



Before I close, I'd like to mention that this week we learned a planer can be used to sharpen pencils.