Today Was Sort Of The Day, But Not Really

This morning, I again get to the property bright and early... A little after 7:30AM a worker shows up, and promptly mixes up some mortar and begins finishing the parging of the septic tank.

Starting the Morning's Work

He works on it for a while, but it's apparent to me that nothing is going to happen with the well house, as far as removing the rest of the forms or finishing the hatch.

I had to make a run to get gas from my "contact" and to the airstrip to send some papers to our financial advisor via FedEx.

At the airstrip, I got the papers on their way, but the person working the counter wearing a Tropic Air polo shirt told me it wouldn't go out till Monday, as FedEx doesn't work on Saturdays or Sundays - even though he's doing the FedEx stuff for me. Not a problem. It apparently will get to Olympia on Wednesday or Thursday, so that's fine with me.

I got back to the site in time to catch the final finishing of the septic tank, and mentioned I wanted to meet with Isidoro. "Oh, he was just here, but he had to go get blocks for some of his other guys for another project", he said as he's putting his trowels into his knapsack.

Final Finishing Touches

It's apparent nothing else is getting done today. After all, it's Belize, Mon. I asked him to have Isidoro give me a call when he has a chance.

Shortly before I left the site, Dianna called and told me the "current" was out again. We'd lost water again earlier in the morning, now the current. I knew Dianna had bought a fair bit of food in anticipation of Elsie (our previous house guest) coming back into town this afternoon, and I knew she was worried that it might go bad.

A couple of days before, I had bought a commercial grade generator from National Hardware, and had left it in the box, just storing it in the meat house with the other stuff.

My New 56kW Generator

On the way home, I stopped and asked Cody and Anthony if they could come over in a bit and help me unpack the generator and get it set up. About a half hour later, they showed up and in about another half hour we had it fired up and running. Cody came up with a really long extension cord, which I connected to the fridge and we left the generator running. Loud but running.

Later in the afternoon, Isidoro stopped by and I got the rest of the story... He didn't want to remove the forms until Friday to give the roof plenty of time to dry and set properly. Ok, that made sense. It would have been nice to have known that a few days ago, but I can live with it.

He's also going to give me an estimate on building a fence around the property. We talked about the type of job I expected, other fences he had worked on, etc.

So, it looks like the project will really finish on Friday, now. Till it changes again.

After that, still without power or water, about 2:30PM, Elsie called from the Corozal Bus Terminal - she was back. And about that same time we had gotten power restored, so Dianna wanted to stay home to add the rest of the ingredients to her stew.

I jumped in the Isuzu and went downtown to the bus station and picked up Elsie. As I pulled up and jumped out, I grabbed the camera and snapped a picture of her just as she was coming out of the station.

Welcome Back Elsie

We got back to the house in a few minutes, and relaxed on the porch having a beer and bringing the three of us up on all that had happened since she left in July. Then we went for dinner at Patty's Bistro Restaurant in Corozal.

Finally, we have both water and electricity - for now. All things considered, it's just another normal Saturday here in paradise.

Rain Delay

What is this, the Northwest? Didn't I say that earlier? What gives? Enough already! We've got work to do here. These continual rain delays really drag these projects out. First, it's tropical waves, then tropical depressions, then tropical storms, then Hurricanes... Now this, pretty much, drizzle punctuated by thunder and a brief heavy downpour and more drizzle.Did I say turn on the waterworks, huh, did I?!

Yesterday, we barely avoided a rain delay, but the guys finished pouring the roofs about two hours before the deluge began, so the roofs had a good chance to set before getting drenched.

Trash House and Well House Roofs Showing Hatches - Trash Above

Trash House and Well House Roofs Showing Hatches - Well Hatch Above

This morning began warm and humid with no breeze to speak of. Good enough to do stuccoing or parging, depending on your wont (not won't - wont, meaning what you're accustomed to in Middle English). Pretty cool word, huh? I haven't used it in years. It just sort of popped up.

Here's the guys removing the outer framing for the forms, leaving the load-bearing parts till tomorrow, as the roof probably isn't strong enough yet to be unsupported.

Pulling off the Outer Frame

Removing Parts of the Forms

After pulling of the frames, they got right to work parging the outside walls. It starts with slinging mud (mortar) at the wall to ensure good adhesion.

Carrying Water

 and Slinging Mud

After the mud has been slung (no political punning intended), then they add an additional coat and begin smoothing it out as below right illustrates.

Slung Mud

and Smooth Mud

And, of course, they're doing the same thing to the septic tank, so that part of the project nears completion as well.

Slinging Mud

and Smoothing Mud on the Tank

And, of course, work stopped at about 11:30AM, because, you guessed it - rain. Followed by more rain and yet more rain. Our driveway from the highway is becoming all but impassable since it consists of about 8 or 9 inches of mud. All this rain just makes the problem worse.

Well, we are in the rainy season. I thought it was supposed to be winding down, but what do I know?