9 July 2010

Not much news coming from Phoenix. Doug's dad is stable. Doctors wanted to take out the breathing tube today, but decided to wait until he was a bit stronger. He's still semi-conscious but no meaningful interaction yet. The family is maintaining a twenty four hour vigil at his bedside.

At the property today, carpenters have put together the baffle shade for the terrace of the living room and the studio. The finish has been applied and they are awaiting placement. It will be interesting to see how this is done. These covers can't be light; and I doubt there will be any machinery to help.

The master bedroom/studio only lacks the railings for the stairs and between the two levels. The marble countertop for the sink in the bathroom is in place. The sinks have also been installed and the faucets as well. I think the interior of this building will be complete in the next couple of days.

Chimu was putting the OSB on the roof on the bungalows today. He had forgotten that they also had the "second roof" for ventilation, but these will be installed. Tiling continues. Once the windows arrive and are put into place, the bungalows should be ready for guests! And none too soon, as friends from Lima plan on arriving the 23rd of July!

The roof structure between the two main buildings over the terrace is also in place now. Chimu needed to rebuild this so the ridge beam was level. Some changes needed to be made in the angles of the roofs to make this work, but it looks pretty good now.

Work on tiling the swimming pool continues. What an immense area to cover. We talked a bit today about the lines on the floor for the lap pool. They may not look exactly like most pools, but there will be a darker line down the center of each lane, and a darker line just below the water level at the end walls. The
difference between the colors is rather subtle, but I think it will still work. The worst case senario is I add some darker lines later.

Stormy and I took a two kilometer walk down the beach to El Refugio this afternoon. She really enjoys the beach; she was romping in the waves, running full tilt up and down and all around me. She had fun chasing crabs and checking out all the debris washed up.

Georg and his family were to arrive today; but I missed them....they were arriving this evening. Even so, I sat on the veranda and had a drink watching the pelicans dive for fish. I took a moto-taxi back up to Jay's; Stormy's first moto-taxi ride. She wasn't too sure about it at first, and kept wanting to climb into my lap for comfort. She finally settled into it but kept wanting to give the driver a few licks!

I then fixed a fabulous parihuela; a seafood chowder. Too bad I was the only one eating! I made enough for at least two more meals! The chowder has a chicken stock base to which I add garlic, onion, celery and green peppers. I add cajun seasoning, cilantro and tomato paste along with some ricotto (a very hot and spicy Peruvian pepper). Add some rice and potatoes. When those are done, I add the shrimp and calamari. The calamari should only cook for under two minutes, so the soup was ready to serve right away. Yumm. One of the best things about living in Peru is the access to fresh vegetables and fish. Thursdays and Fridays are the best as the produce is freshest. It would be interesting to know if any of this produce is treated with pesticides, but I doubt it. Most of it comes from family farms in the hills.

Strawberries!! A vendor today had strawberries! I bought a pound and then proceeded to cook oatmeal and cover it with sliced strawberries. These are the first berries I've had since leaving Oregon. They were delicious.

It is a bit strange to be alone here in Peru. I don't fear for my safety; but at times it is a bit unsettling. The security in Vichayito Village, which is the development that Jay lives in, is quite good. There is a guarded gate at the entrance so all vehicles are screened. In addition, during the last couple of weeks, Felipe at Tenis y Playa has hired an additional guard for his entrance. Jay has since told me the extra guards at Felipe's are there because there is a "contract" out on Felipe. Security is very visible. Most nights I still sleep with the door open so the breeze can come through. I guess I figure if someone wanted to do harm, I'm not going to be a target. As things go, I'm pretty innocuous (sp?).

July 8, 2010

Sorry to have missed blogging in the last week or so...I've had connectivity and/or functionality problems. Sometimes all works well; other times it seems nothing loads and nothing cooperates.

Doug's dad is now off of all life-support machines with the exception of a breathing machine which is ensuring that he gets deep enough breaths.
He is not fully conscious but is responding to touches and voices. In the next couple of days the doctors will take him off of the breathing assist and see how things go. He may soon be moved to a rehabilitation center for mental and physicaly therapy. There is still a lot up in the air.






Meanwhile, lots has been happening out at the property. As you can imagine with 30+ workers, things are coming together. The stairs between the dining room and the living room; and between the bedroom and studio are now in place. The banisters are on site as are the workers to put it all together. The banisters are of aluminum and will have a glass panel below them. These will be put into place along the stairs, across the dining room and the outside terrace, continue across the bedroom and down those stairs into the studio.

Workers have been putting a rubbery-like surface around the edge of the jacuzzi. It's a non slip surface and feels like cork. Once this is in place, they will be able to set the jacuzzi in place and hook up the water and electricity. The jucuzzi is a two seater; and we've been told the orientation will be so we can look out over the ocean as we luxuriate in its warmth! This may be one of the most pampering experiences as I think the master bedroom has the best view in the whole house!

Other workers have been installing the false ceilings in the master bath and the kitchen. The one in the master bath mirrors the wood floor. It definitely changes the appearance of the bathroom area. The marble countertop is here and it is stunning. I can't wait until it is installed and the glass sinks are situated atop of it. It's all coming together!!

The false ceiling in the kitchen is also in place. This one is a bit more problematic for me though as the suspention structure is a bit intrusive on the visual aspect. I don't have an alternative though. We shall see how it all looks when the exhaust hood for the stove is in place.

I've been faced with a bit of food for thought in the last few days. The day after Doug left, I went into town to do the grocery shopping as usual, delivered them as usual. Then I came back into town to buy groceries for myself and ended up buying candy, a beer (at 11:00 in the morning) to drink as I had forgotten to bring water. I came back to the room and slept for several hours. Then I fixed myself an entirely unhealthy dinner and sat around until all hours of the morning watching episodes of Dexter. I still haven't figured out if this is a self-destructive binge or taking advantage of my independence to indulge myself.

I was honored to see a huge pod of dolphins traveling south along the surf line the other morning. There must have been at least thirty of them casually moving along the shorline; no particular hurry, just mosying along. Incredible.

Wow, today was a busy day! There were 27 workers out at the property today. Koki was really trying to get things ready for us to move in on Thursday.

Workers were installing the jacuzzi, and had the terrazo compound ready to fill in around it. The stairs to connect the dining room and living room; the master bedroom to the studio arrived. The wood for the lattice roofs over the terraces arrived as did the aluminum railings for the terrace and the stair railings. Painters were painting the walls throughout the two buildings. The false ceiling in the master bath was put into place and was being finished. Preparations were being made to install the false ceiling in the kitchen as well.

Meanwhile José and his crew were in the pool. The side walls are almost completely tiled and the end walls are now ready to receive tile. I can only imagine the patience these guys have...they just keep plugging away!

The work on the bungalows continues as well. It won´t be too long before these are ready for guests.

The hardest job fell to Juana, our cook. She called me this morning to increase the amount of groceries. Once I got out there, it turned out she also needed more pots and dishes to feed this crew. By the time I had made the second trip to town for these items, and returned, workers were ready for lunch. Juana and Sanchez were doing their best to get food out to the workers. It would have been nice to have had a head´s up so much of this could have been taken care of yesterday.

There has been no real news as to Doug´s dad. He has been on life support since his heart attack on Saturday. The family has deferred any decision until all of the kids could get there. Sonya and her husband were in Italy on vacation, and Max was vacationing in Costa Rica. Apparantly, the doctors pulled some strings with the airlines to reroute people so everyone could be there today. It sounded like they would say their good-byes and pull the plug. I haven´t heard whether this took place and/or what happened.

My dog is such a sweetheart. She is very affectionate and she is usually very obedient. But....she is really hard on toys. This used to be a ball which we would take to the beach to play with. It floated out in the waves, so she could retrieve it easily. She never really wanted to bring it back to us because she knew we would take it away from her. Never-the-less, she played with it non-stop all the time Doug and I were swimming in the wave along the ocean front. We gave this to her the other day to "play with" and within a half hour, she had it in shreds! So friends, when you come to visit, you need to bring us some undestructable dog toys!

4 July 2010

It's been a long day and it's late. I just got back from taking Doug to the airport in Piura. His father had a heart attack Saturday night. Doctors cooled his body temperature to try and minimize any brain damage as he was a while without oxygen. They were going to begin warming him tonight. They should know more tomorrow. The prognosis doesn't look good.

Our friend Ferruco, and his friend, Kate, came out to the house this morning. It was fun to show them around!

There were six workers in the pool this morning. They were finishing the end wall, making a curve at the bottom of the wall where it meets the floor, and laying tile. Everytime I look at the pool, it seems even bigger than before. I am really excited about having a lap pool, but I also recognize what an indulgence it is.

The bungalows are progressing well. The first bungalow now has all the tile laid and is ready for the plumbing and the windows. The roof structure on second bungalow was receiving a varnishing. The last bungalow was getting an outer coating of cement.

We haven't seen any work on the principle buildings; the kitchen and the master suite. Koki did say a truck with all the supplies needed to finish these buildings would arrive on Sunday night. Let's hope so as we plan on moving in on Thursday!

Koki also sent paint for the underside of the roof. When the carpenter looked at it and painted one piece of OSB, I think he told Koki to have us come take a look at it. We did, and it was terrible. The color was "terracotta" but was quite orange and didn't fit with the beams in the roof. He is sending some color cards by bus tonight so we can choose a better color tomorrow.

Workers have started the outside stairs between the two levels and the walkways . It will be nice to not have to climb the hillsides!

1 July 2010

Another market day. Things really get crazy in town when the trucks and various other vehicles arrive to deliver their goods. Once again, we passed by the "depot" and saw our grocer waiting for transport. We stopped to offer help and were loaded with eggs. Each flat of eggs contains 30 eggs. When we were loaded, the entire bed of the pick-up was full of eggs! The rest of their produce was transported by moto-taxi. It is such a little thing we do for them on occassion, but they appreciate it so much. We are treated like royalty when we arrive at their stall in the market each day.

Out at the construction, things are moving right along. The workers are beginning to lay the tile for the pool. Most of the side edges are done and they were beginning on the interior walls. The "pepelma" tiles are about and inch square and come in sheets 12 X 12. Given the expanse of the pool, I am so impressed with how they approach the job. Other workers were rounding the edge between the walls and floor of the pool with cement. This will make cleaning the pool all that much easier. Even so, I look at this pool, and the expanse of it, and think WOW...this is a big indulgence. A pool is one thing, but a lap pool is immense. It will be the only one of its kind in this area!

The carpenter, Chimo, began putting up the trusses and joists for the bungalows. We have not been impressed with his work so far, and so, naturally, Doug checked his work and measured it all to see if it was in line and square. Both bungalows were right on, so we were able to give Chimo some positive feedback. It was nice to be able to give him credit rather than criticism. We're hoping these roofs will go up quickly and he can return to the problem child; the roof between the two main buildings.

We told Koki tonight that we would be moving in a week. We listed the things we felt needed to be done before then....the marble countertop, painting, etc.


I feel like I am holding my breath as to whether these things get done or not. There are so many people involved; the window people, the carpenter, tile work.....I have a great appreciation for whoever coordinates all the subs on a project this size!

I cooked a swordfish stew tonight. How can you go wrong with all the fresh ingredients? We've been told that we can buy even fresher fish by going out to the pier at the desalination plant early in the morning and buying it directly from the fishermen. Since we are not out there, we haven't attempted this yet. However, the restaurants in town send people out each morning to get the freshest possible. I doubt the fish we get in the market is more than a day old, but the best cooks in the area say this is too old. Amazing....

One of the guys teaching us the kite surfing is also a cook. He has worked in what we feel is the best restaurant in the area. He talks about the fresh fish from the pier and how much better it is than what is available in the market. Not only that, but the fish you buy on the pier is much less expensive than what is available in the market.