July 22, 2012

Well the Xspot shows the grass starting to green up a little, amazing as we had the water shut off twice in last two weeks...

Here is a shot of the cement tubes with holes on the bottom ready to go into the ditch with piles of rock ready to fill over the top

Workers laying tubes into the ditch

And here is the finished product ready for wall foundation next week!!!

Out front on the porch supports we now have honeysuckle growing, this is going to smell good.

and just inside the front door is the new entryway combination closet and bench.

Around the side of the house in the orchard we now have grass planted and taking root.

Speaking of the orchard, we now have several sprouted apricots growing in pots.

 and now a update on the "boys"

here they are 3 1/2 weeks ago on my lap.

they are now 3 months old and have doubled in size from when we brought them home on June 20th. here is Thor at 13 kilos with Ane.

and here Odin the baby at 12 kilos joins them

this may be why they are getting so big, they eat a lot... but I really think its in their genes.

See ya later.

June 24, 2012

This week we have landscaping, and preparation for the walls, here is the X spot where you can now see some green as the lawn starts to take off.

To the right the drainage ditch is now graded and the first layer of rock is in, next week we get the perforated cement tubes to be covered by more rock, dirt and then hopefully the following week the walls start!!

In the back yard the backhoe sits taking the weekend off. You can see the piles of rock for the drainage ditch in the background.

We built two walks this week, this one goes from the Yoga room area out into the yard towards the future labyrinth.

and this one goes off the same corner of the house headed around the house to the orchard.

Following the walk we find the orchard (15 trees) all leveled with paramo soil waiting for the grass.

Around to the front the driveway is finished and the border planting has started on the inner circle. There will be a division of grass between the raised center bed and the border planting.

That's it for this week next week we will update you on the puppies when they will be 10 weeks old and getting huge.

June 3, 2012 the Puppies

Will get to the house later today but this morning we visited our newest additions, Tor and Odin. Here Odin comes at my whistle.

So meet Odin

And here's Tor held by our friend Sean who is our source for the puppies.

And here is Mom, she has quite a story. Sean found here on the street and her hind legs were not functional. He gave her physical therapy by laying her on her back every night and exercising her legs, now she can stumble walk run and...have puppies.

These puppies are now 6 weeks old and will undoubtedly end up at over 100 lbs.

house update this afternoon.
So before we get to the house and its environs I must introduce "Honey" who Ane is busy feeding and who also just may end up staying with us one of these days. Honey is a street dog that is so skinny we just have to feed her. She has recently weened a litter which we have never seen.

Now for the house update, first the X Spot Photo

Continuing outside we have finished the Citric and fruit orchard with the addition of 7 more trees, peaches, apples and avacado. Here they are as seen from above.

Inside the sauna is finished we just have to let the odors from the Linseed Oil die down, add rock to the heater and wait for a cold damp day to really appreciate it.

Friday evening about 7:30 (its totally dark here by then) we got a shipment of furniture. The bed for the guest bedroom, the game table and two arm chairs for the upstairs room and two chaise lounges.(see below)

Earlier this week I transplanted our coffee plant to a safer place into a pot and it now lives on our shaded patio. Notice the reddening berries.

Also on the patio are our outside chairs and table (minus the cushions, which we left upstairs on the balcony for now) notice the coffee plant in the corner.

in back of the pillar on the porch you see this beautiful Orchid

May 28th, 2012

Well today we update the landscaping project:

first our X Spot photo showing the start of our living bamboo fence that will come off the corner of the kitchen window.

When the lot was graded for drainage they took all the topsoil off and  that's why we had to bring in all the organic soil from the mountains. Well to plant that bamboo fence and other trees this week they had to dig (with a pick) deep and wide so we could fill below and around the roots with organic fertilizer and topsoil to give them a chance to make it. Here is what the ditch for the Bamboo looked like just prior to planting.

 Here is a shot of the planted row

and from another angle. it will be getting a gate on the side next to the house which is on the left and will be extended out to the perimeter wall which will be on the right once it is built.

Meanwhile on the other side of the house our citrus grove started with several 3-4 foot wide and 2.5 foot deep holes.

which many hands made quick work of the planting process. ( this sneaky shot was from the balcony )

Now we just have to wait a year or so for fruit but we will have plenty of lemons, oranges and limes. Yet to be planted are the apples, peaches and the avocado.

They will be in the ground by this time next week as they are sitting on the sidelines right now.

see ya next week.

Saturday May 19, 2012

Well we are well on our way with landscaping this week.but first the X Spot showing what 11 trucks of soil look like from that angle. Even as they start leveling it out for the lawns.

Around the back we have plants and trees waiting for a home.

We started planting at the edge of the back patio Thats Jamie hiding behind the greenery.

The next morning we see the result of Jamie our gardener working long after dark the night before.

Here a truck delivers a load of high mountain grassland soil, that area is called the Paramo, is above the treeline and acts as a giant sponge for the moisture on the mountains. This organic soil is the result of years and years of grass building up the topsoil.

Here is what most of the 11 loads looked like from the back corner of the lot.

Out front before Jamie started his magic.

And here is his creation with three ficus trees and a small field of flowers.

Up close to the house on the right of the front door looked like this: Before photo

Here is the after, we will add some decorative stones in the center.

Over to the left of the front entrance a row of Hydrangeas with Bougainvillea On the corner and in the middle.

Around the corner another Bougainvillea, we will have many of them all around the house and when the walls go up around them too.

Here the collection is dwindling and we need to go to Quito next week and get more.

That's all for now folks

Week 44, May 12, 2012

Well, we made it we are finally moved in and living in our wonderful new home.

We start with the X spot photo, not much to see except the workers pouring the patio slab.

And here is the patio slab almost finished.

Two days later the patio is finished (two shots)

around the corner the storage sheds for the waterheater/gas tanks and the water punp have their doors installed.

out front the front doors and the garage doors have been hung and finished.

and finally you can see the curbs for the circular driveway are poured. 

Stay tuned next week we start the garden and yard work.