30 August 2010

It has been so tranqil with only three workers here. Chino has been working on laying the tile in the BBQ pit. José has been doing the concrete work necessary to extend the terrace in front of the living room out to the pool. Freddy has been doing the grunt work; carrying the cement from the mixer to the site, and doing general clean up.

Celia informed me today that she would be going into town with me in the morning so she could travel to her home village. She has only been here a short month, but she has been so sweet. She made me a plate of ceviche today for lunch which has to be the best ceviche I have ever had. I baked a couple of loaves of banana bread today and gave Celia, Juana and Sanchez one of the loaves. I will miss her, even though I don´t feel I have the same connection with her as I do with Juana.

I spent much of the day working on the mural. I had designed the marlin last night and was anxious to put it up today. I really like the fact that the overall
shape was realistic, but the interior colors and design were stylized. I wasn´t 100% satisfied with the colors, but the more I look at it, the better I like it. I´m hoping to work on the tortoise tomorrow. This has been a fun project; especially for someone who ¨has no artistic talents!¨ Not bad for a left brained thinking individual!

Doug will be traveling to Lima tomorrow night arriving sometime in the early morning of the 1st of September. He will then travel north by bus and be here on the 2nd. I am sooo looking forward to his being here; although there is a tad bit of apprehension because I´ve been making decisions around the construction without him. I can only hope he will concur with my decisions.

The plumber and the carpenters of the roof will arrive tomorrow morning. I am so glad the plumber will be here, as he is t0 arrive with chemicals, and ladders for the pool. I swam in it the first night it was full. Since then it has looked like lime green jello. The algae will hopefully disappear with the chemicals and I can once again swim in my pool.

Stormy and the kitten had another run in today. The kitten decided to go outside and then was caught by Stormy. Escot, Sanchez´s dog was in on it too, although, his heart wasn´t in it. I give kudos to the kitten, in that she held her own before I could physically pull Stormy off. However, it literally scared the shit out of her. I still can´t quite figure out whether Stormy wants to eat the cat or just play with her. So far they have both survived their encounters. Time and patience will tell.

I´ve discovered Sudoku on line. It has consumed a great deal of my time. My daughter tells me it is good to engage the mind and keep it active in my old age. I do enjoy it, but it does seem to override other things.