28 August 2010

Really? The end of August already? OMG!

I spent most of my day painting the mural on the wall at our entry. As I work on it, both at the wall and in my studio, it gets more complex all the time. I am really liking the design though, so I only hope it comes through as it gets painted. Today I finished one fish, part of two crabs and another fish. I need to discipline myself to try out the colors in the studio before I try to put them on the wall. So far, mixing the colors hasn't been an issue. I'm somewhat limited in t he red, blue and yellow I can find so will have to do with what I have.

Some of the sliding glass doors now have screens. These have been tricky as they have not wanted to put tracks above the level of the tile. The doors close nicely, but the tolerance is slight. The tracks only hold the bottom of each door by an inch at most. I'm thinking they need a magnet to hold the doors closed..
will a magnet work on aluminum?

The pool was so beautiful this morning. It is full to the brim, which is the idea. The sun was glistening off the water and it looked so inviting. However, it appears that some algae has taken hold as it had the color of lime jello this morning. I think I will wait until the chemicals arrive and the recirculation is active before I swim again.

Chino worked on smoothing out the floor of the BBQ pit so he can lay tiles in there tomorrow. He also worked on making the cabinets and sinks for the laundry room today. It took me a while to realize what he was doing.... He was down where the camp was making cement slabs with rebar running through them. He would then carry these up to the laundry room and these became the sides of the cabinets. Freddy worked on clean up most of the day. He has been scraping the garden areas and clearing them of debris. He seems to be the grunt of the three though, as Chino would ask him to bring him cement and mortar when he was ready for it. José worked on finishing cement: the far end of the pool, the stairs coming up from the parking area, etc. It seems so quiet here with only the three workers.

Juana is back! Sanchez's wife took the month of August off to go visit her family somewhere in the back hills of Peru. She had been doing all the cooking for the workers; sometimes cooking for upwards of 30 in a teeny tiny camp kitchen. She was amazing..she worked her little but off. I had asked her to come work for us in the house; not as a cook but to help me clean and maintain things. She agreed quite readily, and we feel blessed to have her. We still haven't negotiated a salary for her but I don't think she plans on officially starting until the 1st of September. However, her first day back she was in the kitchen helping Celia and began sweeping and cleaning. What a gem! When I first saw her, she raised her arms for a big hug and told me she had missed me. I've enjoyed Celia but I have to say, I've missed Juana too. She has the most precious laugh I've ever heard; so totally filled with the joy of life.

I had a great tuna filete tonight. I marinated it in garlic, onion, olive oil, lime juice and soy sauce. Then I used the marinate in the hot skillet to sear the tuna. Such good stuff. So many people just think of tuna as the stuff that comes out of the can... and it is so much more. The fresh fish doesn't even taste like the stuff in the can!

Still missing my hubby. He should be back next week...can't wait.