Yesterday was Chuy’s last day.

Yes, Chuy, Ricardo, and Nicolas have been working here almost every day since February 1st. Yesterday was their last day finally, at least for now. I could hardly wait for them to finish, but I think I’m going to miss them too.

We chose in the end to go ahead and have the rest of the old sliding steel doors replaced with aluminum sliders. This project alone probably took about a month. Because the old doors had wings that were cemented into the walls, removing them caused a lot of destruction. Repairing the opening and squaring and leveling for the new door required a lot of cement slinging, which is a very messy thing. Then the door opening would be wide open to the elements for a couple days while Chuy fabricated the door. Keeping up with the dirt and dust was a constant battle. But… it’s over now. The new doors are great. And besides, you haven’t really had the gringo experience in Mexico until you’ve lived through months and months of renovation :).

The other very obvious improvement is fresh colorful paint in almost every room. Leigh’s done a great job of finding rich colors that go with the rustico nature of the house. She did a lot of the painting herself too, but in the end it was easier to let Chuy do it. They are neat and exacting enough for our standards, and don’t mind working on it until you’re completely happy.

We also decided to have the old patio surface removed and capped with cement. The old surface was porous and could have been the source of water problems in the lower level of the house. The new surface will allow the water to drain away properly. It should someday be covered with tile, but we’ll leave this for a later more comprehensive plan for the back yard. We’ve theoretically eliminated all potential water problems - just in time for the rainy season (about a month away).

We still haven’t done anything with the kitchen. Creating a nice kitchen seems like such a major undertaken compared to fixing this here and that there. But many many little things have been repaired or improved. It’s all very good.

I’ve been doing some electrical work. We now have electrical outlets on both sides of the office and no wires running between computers. And the electrical outlets are three prong and grounded! The wiring in this house did not follow more northern logic or standards. I’m getting it straightened out though. I keep telling Leigh that it will only take me “one more year”.

It’s been a blessing just sitting in the (newly renovated) office blogging this morning not worrying about what Chuy was doing or how I could expedite. Our task for today and the next couple days will be just trying to get things reorganized and back to normal.

I promise a few photos very soon so you can check out our new color scheme…

Keith