A Machete, A Plumb Line, A Level...All a Man Needs

We should have insisted the workers take the day off yesterday. As it turned out, with Sunday following Saturday night not all of them showed up. And, the ones that did show up didn't really have materials and/or tools to do much work. And honestly, we would have loved to have had the day to ourselves to go to the beach have a few Sols ourselves.  

This morning Esad showed up to do tile work but had no tile. One thing we have learned is that the amount of materials needed is often just a little less than what is required to finish out the day's work. Certainly no reason to have more than what you need, right? When Sr. P. showed up with the tile around 12:30, Esad had already gone home. There have been a total of five return trips back to the Talavera store for tile, and we're thinking there will have to be a slight pattern change to make the tile purchased today make it to the end of the project. When I found a broken yellow tile in the pile of sand on the patio I picked it up and put it back in the kitchen. I really think he's going to need that piece.
We met Trini today. Starting tomorrow afternoon, he will begin the exterior painting out front. He showed us some interior painting he has done in houses around the city, and it was beautiful. He showed us stenciling, textured walls, and even large, intricate painted medallions on ceilings. He is quite the artista!
So finally, I had to make a choice on house color. It's called "Bahia Quino". I am loving the name as much as the actual color. Then we threw in a lighter shade for the front patio with everything trimmed in an off-white. We also bought a bright golden yellow color for the kitchen called Holanda. Terry and I will handle that project. Boy, I love outings to the paint store. And, we couldn't carry every thing we needed and didn't think it was enough to ask for delivery, so we get to go back tomorrow. 
This morning I scraped peeling paint in our bedroom, re-sealed the walls, and painted. It didn't take long but I have added painting to my list of things visitors at the casa will be asked to do. It used to be "grab a broom and sweep" because there is always dust, but now it's also "grab a paintbrush and pick a wall" because something always needs painting. It's the concreto, you know.
We took a walk and had brunch earlier at the Maria del Carmen hotel. If you eat there you can also enjoy their pool, so if this work continues much longer we are quite sure we'll have to go back and spend a couple of hours lounging by their pool.
The patio stairs project is going well. The work, the work schedule, and the simple way things get done so beautifully amaze us. Terry is loving the imperfection of the work. Sounds crazy to say that, but it's true. Mr. Right Angle is starting to think more like 82 degrees instead of 90. We think it's awesome that the work has been done with 

a machete, 

a plumb line, 

and a level.

I think the main albañil has been forced to use a handsaw on occasion but he told Terry he used to do all of his cutting with a machete. And, of course there is plenty of concreto, some sticks to hold up the forms, and the wood used to make the forms. Oh, and they have used rebar. And did I mention there is lots of concreto?
The interesting thing is we have a general idea of what we expect this finished project to be, but we really aren't for sure. But, we're pretty sure we will like it and we know for darned sure we'll love when the concreto es completo! 

Add caption