October 3, 2012 (about three weeks since last post)

Well the traditional X Spot photo shows the bamboo before final planting

and here is a shot after yesterdays planting, still need 2 or two more to finish the bamboo wall but progress is being made.

also from the X spot shooting across the newly painted yard walls

Around to the left front corner of the house we see the two piles of Paramo dirt waiting to go into the interior yard around the perimeter wall and overview of the new walls.

Inside across the back they are putting the finishing touch on the cement cap for the wall and have gotten the base protection panel finished. Just need a resin sealer and the work is done on the inside of the perimeter wall!!

We had to sink another well to try and get enough water to grow the garden and lawn. The new well does the job at 11 meters deep, we have an abundant flow (never stops coming out of the hose). We are hoping the silt will clear up after a couple of months of usage and we can use it for the house too.

The orchard now has 4 new additions of our from the "pit sprouted" apricot trees, here is one, happy in its new home.

And the rest of the orchard now sheltered inside the new yard wall.

The avocado lost all its leaves only to come back looking fresh and vibrant. I was worried we were going to loose it.

And here is an update on our 5 month 2 week old boys giving Ane their full attention.

Stay happy;)

Week September 8, 2012

Well the last two weeks have been a flurry of activity, we had all 4 chimneys extended up above their surrounding roofs and that solved our smoking fireplace problems. Then we had two walls build one around the orchard and one from the corner of the garage out to the future sidewalk and over to the perimeter wall. Each wall also has its gate entrance. And finally we had Casa Perro built for the boys. So here we go.

First the X spot photo (as close as i can get to it) showing the dog house and on the left the gate to the front yard.

The changes really show up with a wide view from the front with both new walls and their gates visible. (double click photo to enlarge)

Last week we highlighted the orchard wall and here is a closeup of the Garage yard wall.

And a shot of the enclosure, still some wall rubble and rocks to be cleaned up but we are making progress.

Around the other side here is the interior of the orchard wall.

Also in the orchard enclosure we now have a temporary solution to our water problem with the City water works. We are in drought conditions they tell us and there are no pumping stations. They depend on gravity flow from their treated water tanks and they do not have enough water in those tanks to reach our houses. The developer is working on this and should have it taken care of in next two weeks but we now have a new 2500 L black tank that feeds into our 1500 L cistern and both were filled this morning by the fire dept. we have been out of water for 4 days. Very dry and windy here right now.

On a lighter note here is the unpainted (it will be white like the house) new Casa Perro complete with tiles and post and beam construction to match the house.

Fortunately the boys seem to like their new front porch.

See ya next time.

Week ending August 29, 2012

Well just to show you we are settled in here is the living room kitchen view from the entryway.

This was a busy week so lots to show you, here is a photo from back yard showing perimeter wall construction and Master Bedroom chimney extension work.

And around front you see the extended Office chimney and work on the Living room chimney. 

Three of the 4 finished chimneys (now we can burn a fire and not get smoked out) turns out the reason they made them so short was they could not reach any higher without building a scaffolding to stand on. 

Around to the left a shot of the ditch for the Orchard wall foundation.

And here is the almost finished (in just 4 days) orchard/front wall.

From the X spot, as close as I can get to it shooting down the new perimeter wall.

Shot from the corner of that wall showing the backyard. Now we just need to get the gardener back to start finishing the topsoil installation, grass and plantings around the inside of the walls.

Continuing down the wall will be the rest of the perimeter wall on our side of the development as you can see from the next photo that work also continues.

 and last but not least a shot of the Boys who now both weigh over 55 pounds at 4 months plus 2 weeks.

August 5, 2012

Well am trying the camera on my new phone today, Here is the X spot

and we have two new gates this week, one for the bamboo fence

and one for the Hibiscus fence

The completion of the Bamboo and planting of the Hibiscus will be done when the perimeter wall has been erected. 

Also this week we got our new cabinet for the BBQ. the one that came with it was so flimsy it would shake back and forth when cooked on.

we have been loosing the battle with the sun and wind to keep the grass growing untill last night when we had a heavy rain now the grass seems greener already.

We have planted a local grass which is kind of like a very thick Bermuda grass and sprinkled a grass mixture seeding on top of it.

here in the side yard

 the back yard

Come back next week and we will see if the wall is underway 

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.