Manila
Work continues at the beach property: digging a new well for our water, getting our electricity connected (just needs the paperwork done), have someone build temporary huts to rent out during the busy surf days, plan for the water connection lay-out, and, of course, landscape the place. Then, we will need to find a reliable, good and trustworthy caretaker.
While the men work at the beach, I, on the other hand, helped clean, organize and rearrange my grandma's little house. I also was able to finally correct the previous carpenter's mistake with the french doors and grilled gate - the french doors wouldn't not open fully because the gate, instead of being placed outside, was inside blocking the french doors. We just couldn't figure out what the carpenter thought when he put the gate there. He didn't even test the doors after he installed them. So for eight years the french doors remained closed for most of the time, only opened when I visited because it just felt like a sauna in the house, no ventilation at all. Now I had a couple of guys remove the gate and put it outside where the doors open outward and the french doors can be fully opened inward. Screens were also attached to the gate so we can keep the french doors open without having mosquitoes and flies inside the house. At the same time I had them put a cement barrier, about 4 inches high, to block any rain water that flows from the outside. My grandma and her helper would always dread having to mop up the floor everytime it rained as water would easily flow inside the house. It has taken this long to finally correct it. Now the house is so much cooler with all the doors open during the day providing enough ventilation for air to circulate. And, when it finally rains hard, no water will come in.
My next project will be to landscape the vacant lot in front of my grandma's house, where she planted lots of trees including the 3 Narra trees (the seedlings we have given away at our wedding 13 yrs ago). We have put up a rope hammock and had someone build a bamboo platform/bed where we can hang out during the day. After we have done that my nieces and nephews (6 yrs. and below) decided that it was going to be their own little place. :-) It was really interesting that they were all outdoors, under the shade of the Narra trees and enjoying the hammock and just playing around the area - this is wonderful, gets them away from sitting in front of the TV.
Yesterday my youngest nephew, Matthew, only 2 months old was baptised and his parents had a grand party held at our compound. There were lots of visitors and relatives. It was a good day for a get-together with family.
Today we left La Union, leaving Peter to supervise the work at the beach. Got back to a rainy Quezon City after 5 1/2 hours drive south. (La Union is now under a state of calamity due to the absence of rain.)
We will return to LU next week. Need to spend time with my mom, who's busy teaching post-graduate students after office hours. Also, need to spend time with friends.
Work continues at the beach property: digging a new well for our water, getting our electricity connected (just needs the paperwork done), have someone build temporary huts to rent out during the busy surf days, plan for the water connection lay-out, and, of course, landscape the place. Then, we will need to find a reliable, good and trustworthy caretaker.
While the men work at the beach, I, on the other hand, helped clean, organize and rearrange my grandma's little house. I also was able to finally correct the previous carpenter's mistake with the french doors and grilled gate - the french doors wouldn't not open fully because the gate, instead of being placed outside, was inside blocking the french doors. We just couldn't figure out what the carpenter thought when he put the gate there. He didn't even test the doors after he installed them. So for eight years the french doors remained closed for most of the time, only opened when I visited because it just felt like a sauna in the house, no ventilation at all. Now I had a couple of guys remove the gate and put it outside where the doors open outward and the french doors can be fully opened inward. Screens were also attached to the gate so we can keep the french doors open without having mosquitoes and flies inside the house. At the same time I had them put a cement barrier, about 4 inches high, to block any rain water that flows from the outside. My grandma and her helper would always dread having to mop up the floor everytime it rained as water would easily flow inside the house. It has taken this long to finally correct it. Now the house is so much cooler with all the doors open during the day providing enough ventilation for air to circulate. And, when it finally rains hard, no water will come in.
My next project will be to landscape the vacant lot in front of my grandma's house, where she planted lots of trees including the 3 Narra trees (the seedlings we have given away at our wedding 13 yrs ago). We have put up a rope hammock and had someone build a bamboo platform/bed where we can hang out during the day. After we have done that my nieces and nephews (6 yrs. and below) decided that it was going to be their own little place. :-) It was really interesting that they were all outdoors, under the shade of the Narra trees and enjoying the hammock and just playing around the area - this is wonderful, gets them away from sitting in front of the TV.
Yesterday my youngest nephew, Matthew, only 2 months old was baptised and his parents had a grand party held at our compound. There were lots of visitors and relatives. It was a good day for a get-together with family.
Today we left La Union, leaving Peter to supervise the work at the beach. Got back to a rainy Quezon City after 5 1/2 hours drive south. (La Union is now under a state of calamity due to the absence of rain.)
We will return to LU next week. Need to spend time with my mom, who's busy teaching post-graduate students after office hours. Also, need to spend time with friends.
posted by Mimi | 9:06 PM
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