Progress

Hola! hola! hola! Look at my little marigold garden. Is that cute or what?

Last winter Umberto brought four little marigold plants and he planted them here. After they seeded in the summer I sprinkled the seeds and now, I have around twenty little plants.
Very fragrant. Very colorful. Very nice. They are planted in the old well and surrounded by the Huatabampito seashell collection.

But this post is really about something else................ something called progress..............wait, let me turn down the FREE aol broadband. I was listening to a Texas station and the Neil Sperry 'gardening show' which is what prompted me to show you my cute marigolds.

Now Senor Sabe le Todo says hurry up and get done with this writing business because football is coming on and if you recall, he likes to 'read' college football online on Saturday afternoons.

So I told him what I was planning to write about and asked him if he thought I would be able to tackle the subject. He one worded me.............no.

Here goes the progress:

WE HAVE ONE ROOF ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT???????????

The room is below. It will one day be a closet ( I can see this day coming). It is off the master bedroom and used to be a bathroom. Look inside.

Now, look up........................

Isn't that awesome? Those are the varra blancas Senor has been cutting for several weeks and fitting into place on top of the vigas I painted. He then mortared over the tops of them. All of our ceilings will have varra blancas.

Now this is probably where he thinks I will get it all wrong, but I have practiced the layering process, in my mind and on paper. I think I can do it.

Over the mortar there...............................dadgummit, wait....................I have to go ask him one thing.

He one worded me again..........

Okay, I have it now.

Over the varra blancas and mortar goes one inch of plaster.

Over the plaster goes one inch of concrete that has been mixed with this secret waterproofing ingredient that Senor had shipped to Tucson. I think it has something to do with NASA, maybe it is an ingredient they discovered and now it is used commercially????

Okay I just went to him again and he said.................no, that's your dichroic glass that was created by NASA....................................i said, i know that, but wasn't this waterproofing stuff from there, too...............................nope...............he said....................i told you, you couldn't write about this.

(okay, got it. it is called sodium silicate and is mixed into the cement, not from NASA, can be bought anywhere. well, la-dee-dah.)

The comes the styrofoam, a one inch sheet, called cerco de hielo in spanish, which means dry ice..........whatever.

On top of the styrofoam is a layer of old rusted looking wire mesh.

On top of that is a three inch layer of cement, again mixed with the sodium silicate.

Then to finish it off there will be a white waterproofing painted on. (this is the stuff Senor put on our two good roofs before Norbert hit last fall).

There, I think I explained that perfectly. I am sure he will let us know if anything is incorrect.

Okay, gotta hurry, some big game is going to start.

You can see all of my explanation in the photos below.

An extra worker helped with the cement mixing. After it was mixed, a half full bucket of cement was lifted up to Senor, who then spread it out. That is alot of buckets of cement......................


I have also been busy! I am building the coyote fence. Don't ask why it is called that.

That is what Senor says it is..................I am using the same varra blancas for the fence, but they are the rejects from the indoor roofing project. Below I am just coming up to Jesus's little house. You can see his tv antenna on the left. Behind his little place is another casa that has been built from the ground up. The workers started this house last year and are now getting to the roof. We should have a roof race...................
How about all this for progress? I am very excited.

Around four this afternoon we plan to put a BIG chicken on the spit and roast it. I might make a little cabbage and beet and blue cheese salad. YUM!

Time for football.......................adios, linda lou