Another Year is About to Start

As we say "Good Bye" to 2008, we kind-a wish we could give it a swift kick in the pants as it heads out. Having said that, it has been a good year for us.

We have made great strides in making the house our own.

We finished the first phase of the roof deck. This has been one of the best spots to relax in the evenings durring the hot months and still offers a bit of sun soaking when we have a nice weekend now.

We painted the second floor and have got the rooms pretty much set up the way we like them.

A lot of work has been done on the outside of the house including a couple of stone walls and a stone oven that is so close to being completed that I can almost taste the kleftiko that we will be making.

We have also put the wood 2x10s on the retaining walls to help keep down the noise that echoes around the house.

Tess and I still have our jobs. Both of our works have been hit by "the economic downturn" (buzz phrase alert) and it was a bit nerve wracking for a while. Chris has found his own place to live and is getting his feet under him. His job has taken off, literally. Kerry got engaged and has also settled into a new job. Mickey and Minnie are happy and healthy. Minnie is a bit over weight though, and Mickey is getting older so we have to watch that he doesn't get hair balls.

This was the first Christmas in our new house and we are looking forward to spending a lot more here.

More work on the stone oven today

Our stone guys came by today to do some more work on the oven. Today they finished setting the doorway on both the cooking area and the firebox.


This is the oven opening.



This is the opening for the firebox. Next week they will put stone on the front where the cement is showing.





We are really pleased with the progress so far. In fact, we might get to use it by New Years. Hope hope hope.

Stone and Wood

We put up some more wall wood today.
This is the wall behind the garage where we made a planter wall out of the stone that was left over from the side of the house.

We decided to stagger the boards to give it a more interesting look. we put these up the same way we did the first set by anchoring two boards vertically to the wall and then bolting the horizontal boards to these.

We have one more wall to do and that will take seven more boards leaving only a hand full from the bunch we brought over.


This week, the stone workers made the next part of the outdoor oven. They took some white stone and cut it to make the opening for the fire box as well as what will become the front of the oven table.

Last weekend we had to gather some more stones for them to use. We have quite a bit of stone left, but they are odd shaped and not suitable for the next stage of building which will be the sides of the oven section.

More work on the oven

Hopefully, one day, we will be able to use our outdoor oven. The workers were back by today and put up some more stone. We originally collected two truck loads of stone from a local source. In the construction so far, we have managed to use up all the best pieces of stone and so construction has stopped for today and we will have to get more stone. But it really looks good so far and we can't wait to use it. Maybe for Christmas dinner.

Wood on the wall

Today we started putting the 2x10s on the walls. These are the pieces that are left over from the roof deck construction.
We are putting these up to try to keep the neighborhood noise from echoing around the house. We anchered some pieces vertically on the wall and then bolted the horizontal ones on to form a pattern. Now that we have worked out the kinks, we'll get the rest of them put up in the next couple weeks.

Stone Oven Foundation

We have started on the stone oven. The base section has been built and is ready for cement.



The tall peices of rebar will be used to add strength to the walls as they are built.

As soon as the cement is poured and set, the wooden base will be pulled out. By the way, the wood form is made from leftover bamboo floring that was used in the house. A great way to recycle the wood.

The Start of the Stone Oven

The next project, actually this is the last project, to go in place before the landscaping is the stone oven. Our stone guy went out with us to a neighboring village to help us collect stones. The village is next to a deep river gorge. Now don't be thinking Grand Canyon or anything like that, this is just 50 or so feet deep. Along the side of this gorge is great stone for making small outdoor things like an oven.Last week, Tess and I cleared out the place we want to build the oven and then Abdul put in the stone that will be the floor. It is in the first stage where the stones are set into cement and the gaps will be filled later, just like grouting tile.

This weekend we hope to have most of the oven completed. I will be adding more pictures of the progress. Lets keep our fingers crossed.