New Tinnaco

This is the new tinnaco on the roof.
It holds 300 gallons of water that have come from the city first, into the cistern. From there, the water is pumped up into the tinnaco. The old small white tinnaco held about a third of that. The old tinnaco will eventually be on the north end of the casa (in the photo, that is farther to the right) and will be used for the guest room. The new big one will be moved farther south and will supply the rest of the casa. This is the water for the bathrooms and laundry and will also supply the kitchen ..........which we do not have........yet.

We chose black in the hopes that during the summer, it will help to heat up the water and we will not have to use the water heater...... which we do not have.............. yet.

So, I refuse to walk near the new tinnaco. It is, in my opinion, perched somewhat precariously on the edge of the roof, supported by the old roof and a few 1x1's.............BUT, senor says it is perfectly safe and besides.........i will only fill it one third full and the roof should hold that just fine, he says...........

Yesterday we went to Navajoa and we were gone most of the morning. When we came back the new tinnaco was overflowing and water was running through the yard, and out the cannali spouts and was all over the hilton garden room............someone had forgotten to turn off the water hose HE was using to fill the tinnaco one third full......................so now the tinnaco is completely filled to the brim. I am walking way out in the yard to get around it. Someone will need to take a very, very long cold shower today to get rid of some of that water.............it won't be me.

In the photo below you can see the trench that has been dug for the new portal.

The trench will be the edge of the portal. The holes for the new columns that will support the trench are over two feet deep.
Bill has been busy leveling the entire casa. He has picked a mid or central point inside the casa and with his lazer level, he has measured four feet all around and inside the casa. There are four foot markers on trees out in the yard, on the fence posts and outside of the casa, and there are four foot markers all over the inside of the casa. So, he now has a very good idea of high four feet is everywhere, based upon the central point inside.............I think that should make sense, but don't worry, the ceiling will be higher than four feet. I don't understand the significance of four feet, but he does.........

In the photo below, you can see we have a new lamp post. We cut down the huge bushy tree that was there. We plan to plant something else there, something that will grow a little smaller. The night after cutting down and removing the tree we noticed we can see the Mirador. Right now, the flag pole at the Mirador is covered with a huge lighted metal Christmas tree. It is beautiful and we can see it from the garden room.

Bill is still making the concrete columns that will support the huge cement beams that will support the roof. Below you can see his techniques for keeping the concrete from falling back out onto the floor. He is also researching fireplaces and is basing his design on a Rumford masonry fireplace. The Rumford design fireplace is also known as a Russian or Finnish fireplace. He has printed out about 50 internet pages on this design and as the fireplace begins to look more like a fireplace, I'll let you know.

So, now you are as much up to date on the casa as I am.

Later this afternoon, I will take some photos of the Christmas decorating I have been doing.

If you recall, we are used to decorating a 16 1/2 foot tall noble fir, with over 6,000 tiny white lights and over 1,000 decorations...........scaling down to a 4' norfolk pine is a real challenge............