Weeks 15 and 16

Well we had quite a two weeks, first, not much to look at different on house in week 15 so will show house at week 16 below. But first we went to a birthday party on saturday the 15th and will show photos of the birthday boys yard and the band etc. Our kitchen designer Kerry Kleges decided to have a celebration of life for his birthday and we were invited to bake the bread to make sandwiches for the party.
Here is some of the bread and the breadmaker:

The entrance to his home is typically non descript

But as you enter it starts to get interesting on the right is his disguised shipping container and ahead is his yurt

and then the back yard with the gazebo

The yard is open and inviting with its many plantings

and wonderful vegetable garden

His galley kitchen is large and well laid out for making the sandwiches by many willing hands

Our host and hostess seem to be having a great time later in the evening

and the live native band played great music

NOW FOR THE HOUSE BUILDING UPDATE

Starting with the X spot photo, as you can see the rafters are going up and the second floor walls are up.

and here is the view of the roof from the future office

and from the left front showing the second floor

Here is another view from the front

We think it is starting to look like a house, thanks for stopping by, see you next time.

Week 14- Trip to Cheese Factory and the House progress

First, our trip to Yanayacu Cheese Factory---
After meeting the group at the bus station and an adventureous bus ride (my photos here were gone because the memory card was not in the camera!!!) We entered thru a long palm tree lined drive that had bogunvelia growing in them, shown here from the yard near the milking barn and cheese factory.

Here is the herd of "contented" cows

And one came by the entrance to the Cheese Factory for a photo op..

Here is where the cows line up to give their milk,

The cheese making room where everything is very clean

The heated copper vat where the milk is seperated into cheese curds and whey (which is fed back to the cows)

After the seperation the curds are placed into molds and pressed in this tank.

downstairs in the "cave"the cheese is aged for up to 6 years

These wheels are wine washed twice a day for 6 months and are almost ready very tasty

Here is one of their specalities Mutchli aged 5 weeks tastes much like colby. Comes in the big wheel or half Kilo rounds.

Then for the fondu lovers here is some really old cheese 6+years ( we had some last night ) it is quite good despite what the outside looks like. Notice the mold growing on the bottom wheel.

NOW FOR THE HOUSE UPDATE

The standard X spot photo, looking closely you can detect the second floor has been poured.

From the back yard you see the 2nd floor is ready for walls and the porch arched supports are done under the plastic ( used to keep the raw adobe from being desolved by the heavy rains that sometimes are hapening in the night.)

Going up the ladder in photo above you see what the poured floor looks like. ( Its ready for the walls of the second floor)

Under the second floor we now have a slightly gloomy main hallway.

The fireplace progress' up to the top of wall height this week.

Well thanks for coming, see ya next week:)

Week 13 - Second Floor begins

Here we have the X spot photo, not much to see this week.

Now the Second Floor starts to take shape. Earlier in the week we watched them lifting these heavy logs up rickety ladders to the top of the walls!

Here is a detail of the Second Floor construction. what you don't see is the nails driven into the logs prior to the addition of the cement saddle.

Ane stands behind where the island will be in the kitchen.

Shot from the front corner of the house as we leave the site this week.

Thanks for visiting.

Week 12 Sept 25

Well there is not much to show this week as the reinforcement of walls continues. However it is very important to do this as we are in earthquake country, here is the photo from the X spot this week.

The fireplace is being redone to accomodate a heat exchange box that I wanted incorporated in the area above the firebox will hopefully improve the efficiency.

Here the maze reappears in a shot taken from the top of the entrance wall looking toward the master bathroom.

And we end with a shot from the front corner of the lot as we approach the house.

Next week we will probably see action on the second floor, drop by when you can.

End Week 11 - Two things, the house and hiking in Intag rain forest

On Thursday I went hiking with my new friend Dr. Andreas Ray in the Intag. It is a rain forest area west of Cotacachi. If you have Google Earth installed I can send you a file that will trace our route. (just send me an email and I will attach it to a reply.) our trip went from Santa Rosa to Apuela.

Anyway after a 2.5 hour bus ride we arrived at our jumping off point of Santa Rosa (basically a school) and we took the path to the left.

Below are photos of some of the many flowers and orchids and a butterfly we saw along the way:

Here is a photo of Andreas my hiking companion and guide, at our lunch spot:

and here is how I saw Andreas most of the hike:

Here is the waterfall where we ate lunch a very beautiful and restful spot:

And here is a tired me next to some very big leaves about half way into the trip:

At last we arrived in the square of the village of Apuela and sat down to a well deserved cervesa and two bottles of water.

NOW FOR THE UPDATE ON THE HOUSE:

The X spot photo today is changed very little, most of the work was done on the other side of the house.

They have removed the arch supports from many openings, here is the view from the Living Room thru the entrance.

Here is the sauna wall in the bathroom - on the left is the coated reinforced wall and on the right the exposed 4x4 mesh wire 

Here is a detail of the reinforcement

Here is where most of the work was done this week, remember there is wire on both sides of the wall with conections thru the wall.

Ane welcomes all from the entrance.

Last here is the front view showing the guest bedroom and office windows whos sills have been raised so they will be approx 1 meter from the floor so can have desk or bed under them.

Well that's it for this week thanks for visiting.