These past couple of weeks, the house has kept us quite busy.  We have spent a lot of time choosing just the right color of grout for all the tile work, colors of interior and exterior paint, and looking for bull-nose Coralina for around the pool.  Eddie spends several hours a day at the house supervising and helping out.  The next big project there will be to install the manifold for the PEX water system.

Some paint samples for the exterior.

The PEX manifold will go in this cavity and be covered with some wooden doors.

The 4 tons of tile from Santa Ana was delivered, finally!  The tile company doesn’t have their own delivery, so they get bids for you from delivery companies.  The delivery company that was deemed the most reasonable in price ended up being not so reasonable.  They held our tile “hostage” for more money when they realized exactly where we lived.  Then, the driver wouldn’t drive it all the way up the hill.  Eddie thinks he was scared because he is a city boy and not used to driving up steep hills.   The driver stopped 150 yards short of the property.  So, Eddie and a couple of the workers had to off load the tile into smaller trucks and take it the rest of the way.  It took took seven trips!  You can just imagine all the cuss words. Pura Vida.

Porcelain tile “delivery”. The driver just wanted to get the tile off his truck and go.

The guys continue to stain the tablilla (wood panels for the ceiling) and have begun installing it.  They installed the sheet rock for the ceilings in the kitchen, master suite, bodega and side entrance.  They have been working on installing the roof tile, installing ceramic wall tile in the master bathroom, prepping the pool and the stairs for the tile work.  There is always a lot going on at once.

Tablilla installed in the guest suit bathroom.

And here in the entryway

Roof tile installation has started.

Yesterday, we received word that our windows and sliding doors are ready for installation.  That will happen the first week in January.  It will take five days to install it all.  The solar hot water system is scheduled for January 11.  We are coming into the home stretch now!

This small closet will house the water pressure booster pump and the water filtration system.

A few steps leading to the pool equipment room were built.

Our new kitty Rusty is growing.  He has gained about a pound already.  He has such a cute personality and we’re having a lot of fun playing with him.  Rusty loves to be outside playing with sticks, little bugs and Lopez’s dogs.  He tries to play with Pacho, Lopez’s cat, but Pacho won’t have anything to do with Rusty.  Perhaps that will change when Rusty is a little bigger.