We have a roof!

Yes, we have a roof. Not sure if it will stay natural or be white washed white. Alex is still deciding. But, we got the wood we wanted, very rustic looking, and the tiles we wanted, not the yellow that was suggested.

The tiles very in tones of terracotta and are a bit lighter then the typical ones around the area. Below you can see two of the roofers. They were really fast and hopefully really good too...I guess we shall see, once the rainy season gets here!

The brick work is almost done and you can now see the shape of things to come. Plastering will be next, I think. Oh, and this is an old picture, as there is wall in that giant opening you see to the left and behind the dumpster.

Upstairs looking down to the bottom floor, where the loft and kitchen area are.

Sianna and Alex inspect the metal mesh work that will help keep the walls intact. Layers of plaster go over this...yes, covering most of the stones. But, it is safer in regards to earthquakes, and will keep the dust and small stones from falling on your food as you eat in the dining room, which is pictured below.

Where have we been???

Since our last post, we have not been anywhere...and much has happened to the house. But, as is the way of Murphy, we had several unexpected problems with our communication methods to the outside word (also known as, anywhere off the island). Firstly, our laptop decided to die on us at the end of April, just before my (this is Jenn) parents came over for a 3 week visit. So, all of May we spent with no computer at the house. This was fine, since we were taking pictures the entire time and were very busy with Olivia and Sianna and my parents and Aunts that flew down from Germany. We decided, when things slowed down a bit, to go ahead and purchase a new computer and made the leap to Apple. No sooner had we set up the new iMac (that means plugged it in) then our phone and internet lines were cut. Really, cut. The construction of the house next to where we rent (which started the week Sianna was born and is not anywhere near being finished) rendered our phone line useless, and on a Friday0 OF COURSE! We were told by the kind people at OTE that a technician would be out first thing Monday morning. We were happy to see them the following Thurseday. So, we had no means to post or to set up photos. Then, I got the bright idea to take all the photos off the camera and set them up on the new iMac. We installed Picasa, so I thought I could atleast organize them for when I would be able to post them. WRONG. For reasons unknown to us, even though the proper camera software was installed, all our photos from May and June were rendered useless, save but a few not so good shots! Yes, that means 2 months of Olivia too. I was not pleased. If anyone knows how to fix messed up digital pics that were viewable on PCs but not on Macs...please let me know. Now, we reformatted the memory card in the camera and hopefully that problem is solved for future pictures.

As far as the house goes...well, lots of walls have been built and torn down, doorways have been made and rebricked, wouldbe closets have been closed off and reopened....don't get the idea that we are changing our minds all the time...we aren't. But, the lovely architecht and the construction foreman have not been communicating with one another, or us or the workers (that last one is the most dangerous!) There were points when they did things they were totally told not to do, just because the architect was nto considering our wants. Yes, it has been a trying couple of months. Now, we are up to the roof...yes, a roof is up there and waiting on tile. We had the hurtles of getting the wood and tile we wanted as opposed to the ones the architect wanted. That caused a small delay, but finally it will be the way we want it. We will be posting picures soon, with more details of the "issues"...I will leave that to Alex. Gotta run, Olivia is over this! See Ya;)