Last Monday Noah installed the four ceiling fans, one in each room. How wonderful they are...
Last Wednesday, work began on some of the interior walls here. Three men and one young man came at 8AM, and became busy as beavers. Two of the men were here to take the tile down in the bathroom and take the tub out also. They also took down the floor to ceiling book case in the guest bedroom. In doing so they realized that it would be impossible to get it outside, so they cut each section in half. Made sense to me. Their names were Luis and John Henry. The second pair, father and son, named Luis and Luis were here to break into the parts of the walls that were bad and clean them out, then to put up chicken wire from floor to ceiling on every wall to be redone - two in the bedroom, three in the kitchen, one in the hall, and the tub area.
Here is Luis Grande dismantling the bookcase...
While Luis Grande was doing that, John Henry was in the bathroom taking down the tile around the bathtub ...
What a sight he uncovered. It is a wonder that the wall didn't collapse inward.
The tub was a cast iron one, and I wish you could have heard Luis Grande and John Henry heaving and gasping as they pulled it out and upright. They wanted to get it out of the bathroom, but it was too heavy for them, and needed a two wheeler, which they didn't have at the moment.
Here is Luis and Luis, father and son, beginning work on the hall wall...
When Luis Grande and John Henry had finished with the tub, they pulled the island out away from the wall in the kitchen. Then they left, and will be back after all the cement and stucco work is completed.
This is where the kitchen island was...Luis had already cemented the bad area...
Here are other pictures of bad parts of walls being repaired...these are in the kitchen also...
In the hall, on the opposite of one of the kitchen walls...same area where Luis and his son were...
Luis cleaned up the tub area, and wired down to where the worst area was, both in the back and the side opposite my bedroom...
Then, using more than eight buckets of cement, he filled in the holes, and then wired them...
I called Noah and he and Lee Anne came over with a two wheeler, and hauled the tub out. They pick up metal, and I knew that they would want it. It is standing in the foreground of the above picture. Once that was out of there, it was much easier for Luis to work. And I got busy and swept the floor, and washed it twice!
This is what the tub area looks like after Luis put up the cement...
Here are some of the other areas, after they have been cemented - first the hall wall and the bedroom walls...
This can give you an idea of what has been done so far. Luis returned today, after all the walls had thoroughly dried and hardened, and now he and his son are covering over the cement, with white stucco. He is putting up the stucco it in the same manner he put up the cement. Definitely not with a brush. They told me that it would take two or three days for the stucco to dry. Then if at some time I want to paint it, I can. But I think I am just going to leave well enough alone for the time being.
Needless to say, after all the walls are finished, Luis Grande and John Henry will return, and put back up the bookcase, reinstall the kitchen island, and put in a new tub and three piece surround. These two guys were part of the crew that installed the windows, and they are very efficient.
Luis, the stucco man, does not speak English, or should I say very little. His son does the translating for him. He told me that his dad has been here for 16 years, and just hasn't learned English yet. I told him to tell his dad that he really should make an effort to learn it. Luis Pequeno told me that his dad works with Mexicans on a daily basis, and that has been part of the problem. John Henry is Mexican, and was raised by his grandparents. He doesn't speak a word of Spanish. He told me that his grandparents spoke Spanish to each other so that he wouldn't know what they were saying!!!
One of the owners ( a husband and wife team) of the company told me today that Luis was the best stucco/cement man around the area. And it is obvious. He is quick, very efficient, and has his son learning the business as well. I really like these guys and the company itself.
Now, I need to show you my Kokopeli shower curtain, which I had up for three days, until all the work started. And it will be up again, sooner than later I hope...
The wildfires going on around here are pretty bad, but this area I live in, is not affected. Only the smoke carried by the winds can be troublesome. Lately, I haven't seen any thankfully. The Gila Wilderness fire is now about 35 % contained. People are being warned to make sure that they have plenty of food for themselves and their animals, however, because there will most certainly be flooding in that area. In July, monsoons come to New Mexico. Interesting. I never thought of monsoons being around in the US. Anyway, the experts say that the flooding will be serious, and may take out bridges in that burned out area. They are already dismantling the walkway that leads to the Gila Mountain area where there are ancient living areas on the mountain.
Here area some pictures...I took them from my computer, and they are early on...
I also have to correct a few things that I mentioned in my earlier blogs. First of all, the tree dropping all the fruit in the back of my house is a mulberry tree, not a huckleberry tree. Second, I just found out last Friday, that we are NOT at 7000 feet, but only at 4000 feet.
Wednesday, I leave for San Diego. I will be staying with my sister, and on Saturday, the two us will head for Lompoc to celebrate Phil's 40th birthday. It is hard to believe that all of my kids are now 40 somethings!
Life is good!
I love you all,
Sally
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