Here We Go - The Casa Creation Commences!

Felice Navidad!  Prospero Ano Nuevo

Here we are, house footprint chalked out on the ground and equipment at the ready.  We are about to officially begin ground breaking.  Very exciting!!

Here is the footprint of the house.  The large tree in the center is actually in the "kitchen".  It is a Ciruelo (wild plum).  To the right is a pitahaya cactus - it is on the terrace outside the bedroom.  Both of these plants have to be moved.  This part of the property and the lot behind us was scraped by the rancher when the original subdivision occurred many years ago.  Fortunately this is where the house is going anyway.  The lower part of the property has some trees, mostly the wild plum and a few lomboy.

The foundation being dug.  The soil is decomposed granite, a very solid foundation for building a house.  It compacts very well and provides good drainage.

The trenches are now dug for the foundation.  This soil is so compacted they would have had to use a crowbar or pick to dig it in the past.  So the backhoe has really changed how this work gets done.  Not long ago - like maybe 3 years, there were no backhoes available for this work in the area.  Everything was done by hand.

The moving of the pitahaya cactus - above and to the left.  This is not a trivial job.  It is a big cactus, breaks easily and has nasty thorns.  These men are not wearing gloves.  The man with the hat has the situation well in hand.  His son is running his machine and following his fathers instructions carefully.








Pataya relocated in the foreground and the wild plum in the background both looking like they have always been there.  The plum is now happily standing up tall!  Its hardly recognizable as the same tree that had been blown over by Hurricane John 5 years ago.

The men take a well deserved rest.

Some of the small cactus that had to be moved.  One barrel cactus, a cholla pelona and the rest are viejita

Lorne watering a recently moved Torote, also called Elephant Tree.  We found this in the brush in the corner of the lot.  These trees transplant very easily and take very little water once established.    

Placing rebar.  The bottom of the footings have a layer of crushed gravel and then a cage of rebar is made on site and placed in the bottom of the trench.

The septic tank has been built on site.

I'm getting a view from the floor level, wearing my personalized Casa shirt.  Carlos, our contractor supplied these shirts for all the crew and Lorne and I.  A nice touch and good advertising for CMC Construction (large letters on the back).

The first concrete pour for the footings!

The first concrete pour for the top of the septic tank.

Two men delivered and unloaded 100 bags of concrete.  Each bag weighs 100 pounds.  5 tons of concrete lifted by two men!  They were laughing and joking with the crew while they were doing it and didn't stop once for a breather.  In fact, they weren't even breathing hard.  These guys are very strong.  

Here is part of the 12 man relay team - one man (67 years old) loading buckets of gravel, two men filling buckets of sand and one guy emptying them into the mixer.  Another man responsible to add the bags of concrete and water and to mix to exactly the right consistency.  Three  men on the wheel barrels and when the concrete is ready they are ready to take their load.  There are a dozen men working from dawn till dusk with three short breaks each day.


Below, the footings taking shape.

Stay tuned.... more progress to follow.

Over the Gigantes to Los Barriles - forgotten post

Friday November 11

We were up for our usual early departure around 9 for the last stretch over the Gigantes and to La Paz for essentials at the new Sorianos (mostly to check to see if they had any Lorne friendly foods).  We made it all the way to San Antonio before dark so we stopped to cook dinner before tackling the twisty undulating mountain drive.  The cows were out again tonight, several just standing on the edge of the road and one that was poised to cross the road…., a bit startling to say the least, all of them were black or dark brown, impossible to see in the dark until right upon them, and completely unfazed by vehicles whizzing by.  We rolled into Los Barriles around 8:00 and were greeted with huge enthusiasm by Checkers, Paul and Renota’s dog.  We had a good visit with Paul and Renota and camped in their back yard.

The next two days Paul and Renota prepared their vehicle to go camping for two weeks.  This year they have a tent trailer so are not sleeping on the ground.  Their plan was to go to Los Frailes and find a little spot for camping up the arroyo. 

We had a lovely time in their home caring for their three cats and their beautiful garden (with the help of Umberto the gardener).  We were quite busy building a model of our new house from the poster board we brought with us from Canada.  We also spent a lot of time at the property figuring out exactly where the house was going and what the views were from each room.  Exciting.  We are planning on taking lots of pictures throughout the process.