I moved into the bigger and better Casita Colibrí (aka, my apartment) almost 16 months ago — and there’s been some big changes made! First on the agenda was screens on doors and windows because, as I’ve mentioned before, Mexican mosquitoes love me. Next up was the swimming pool…
I know, living in a climate where the daytime temperatures hover between the high 70s and low 90s (Fahrenheit) year round, a swimming pool sounds like perfection. I love to swim and have always wanted a swimming pool. HOWEVER, the pool hasn’t seen anything more than rainwater (and the aforementioned and unwanted mosquitoes) for the past 15 to 20 years. In addition, as we were reminded last week, this is earthquake country, so who knows how many cracks there may be hidden behind those tiles. Then there is the not-so-little problem of water shortages in the city.
Thus, making it my personal aquatic paradise was out of the question. What to do? Besides being unsightly, I was constantly afraid someone (including myself) might become so enchanted with the view and/or engaged in such captivating conversation, they (I) would unwittingly fall in — a thought that brought nightmares! As you can see above, my solution to that possibility was to barricade the pool with plants. However, the combination of the still conspicuous and ugly gaping hole behind, not to mention the waste of valuable space, finally got to me and, though only a renter, I decided to build a deck!
In October, Juan (of Adios mosquitos fame) and I boarded a bus for the La Asunción to pick out the lumber from their mind-boggling selection of wood. They delivered four days later and Juan and Nacho, his trusty assistant, commenced to building, what is probably, the strongest deck in all of Oaxaca.
The space. The view. What an improvement! However, that wasn’t the end of the story. Do you see those four posts sticking up from the deck? Because the deck faces south, those were for a much-needed shade structure. Alas, Juan also has a “day” job at Gorilla Glass and they have gotten extremely busy. Good for them, bad for me! After I returned from the trip to the US in late February, I began a search for someone to complete the project. Tom (a friend’s husband) came to the rescue. He designed the structure, recruited Carlos and his assistant Chivo to build it, selected the materials, delivered said materials and crew, and supervised construction. Needless to say, I owe Tom big time!
Yesterday, after less than two days of construction, the long-awaited gazebo was ready to shield yours truly and her visitors from the sun’s skin damaging rays, not to mention sweltering heat. Almost immediately after the guys finished, the heavens opened and we were treated to a massive, five-hour long thunderstorm. The timing couldn’t have been better!
By this morning the rains had departed and, with Templo de San José and the Basilica de la Soledad as a backdrop, my new outside room was ready for her close-up. All day today, in between trying to get work done around the house, I kept running outside to admire it.
And, it has already been put to good use — a little after noon today, when the sun was at its zenith and sitting outside in days past would have been the last thing we would have considered, my neighbor Marga and I sat comfortably shielded from the sun in those green chairs. Ahhh…
Read Full Post »
Mexican Peso Converter
View From Casita Colibrí 