A (bit) more activity

Sergio and I were in Tepoz on Saturday to meet with our architect Antonio, and to see how things were moving along.  They are – sort of.

This is Antonio and I standing on the cistern - now full of water.  It will be covered by about 40 cm of dirt and then grass.  The wall over our backs will be extended all along that side which will cover up more of the neighbouring greenhouses.  Then with plants it will be even less obvious.

We now also have a septic system – it’s underneath that flat cement part in this picture.  It is a cement tank 3 meters into the ground.  The green tubes are for electricity.  The white ones, well…

There had also been some sort of machine to level the land so that the foundations for the house and terraces could be poured.  It is still raining almost every day here so that is frustrating everyone’s efforts at advancing.  Frankly it looks horrible right now.

This is looking in the other direction.  The lawn area will be basically flat with a sloped area along the side and back perimeter.  We’ll plant ground cover on the slopes for easy care and grass on the flat part.

Meanwhile the wall around the parking area is advancing and you can see how high it will go.  On the house side (i.e. up the steps) the wall will be about 50 cm higher than the grass / terrace.  You can just make out steps at the back of this picture – by the wheel barrel.  The guy with the cowboy hat is the foreman. 

These walls are being built in such a way that plants, mainly ferns, can or will grow out of the crevices.  It looks really nice as you can see from this picture from one of the neighbouring houses.

The wall that the workmen were building on Saturday will be the same height as the entrance with another staircase where the ladder is.  It will be back-filled and up top is where the side terrace will be.  Go back to previous postings to get a better sense for this.

We get more excited with every visit.  Watch this space.

Opps, I meant to include this YouTube link to a video Sergio shot.  Enjoy.

Finally - some activity

Three weeks ago Sergio made a trip to Tepoz to see what, if anything, was happening with the construction.  We’d been told by the architect that nothing exciting was going to take place in the short term.  It’s hard to get excited about a cistern but this has to be built up-front so there is a constant supply of water available during construction.  Next up, a septic system - required for sure - but hardly exciting.  Ironically, in both cases, what is being built will be underground and, in the end, we won’t “see” any of it.

This is the “platform” on top of which the cistern will be built.  The cistern will hold seven cubic meters of water - about 70,000 liters.  That’s a lot of water.  We will have a water recollection system along with access to a well and will need it when we are in the middle of the dry season.

Keeping the grass as lush as this outside of the rainy season will take a lot of water!!!!

The cistern will be at the back end of the parking area.  That tin shack in the corner by the entrance is, of course, temporary.  It is being used to store the tools and “dry” materials needed for construction.

They also had to build these temporary ramps to he entrance so the trucks could get up the hill.  So we have activity.  We're excited.