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Published: November 14th 2021
Dust and More Dust!
The sanding of the hardwood floors was the last step of readying my master suite. Here's my carpenter, Leonidas, surviving the process! Thanks to Cynthia for loaning me her ShopVac! I'm free!! Free of the constant banging of the worker with whom I shared a cement block wall for five years! My new master suite is complete and it is a dream come true. Is it possible that the finished project is even more beautiful and functional than I envisioned it might be? For decades I have imagined creating a liveable work of art, and I am now inhabiting the brick and mortar reality of those imaginings. I am infinitely grateful to all who helped me bring my vision into being.
I am especially grateful to my carpenter whose hard work was integral to the beautiful space we created! Almost six months ago we began the flooring process with a trip to Puyo, an hour away on the edge of the Amazon basin. We selected each plank of canelo wood (cinnamon tree -- the spice comes from the bark) and had them grooved to create the wide plank hardwood floorboards. Thank you to Cynthia for loaning me your ShopVac which was essential during the sanding process! As you can see from the photo, Leonidas had to do a lot of
CiCi Approves
The bottle walls gleam on the new wood floors! I have treated myself to a new duvet cover since this pic was taken! "dirty work" to sand the floors down to a perfect finish. I'm still removing sawdust from ledges, cracks, nooks and crannies! Thanks to my architect Andres for searching far and wide to find the matte finish sealant and lacquer so that my floors would be protected yet retain a natural glow rather than a high polish shine.
The last several weeks of work dragged on into months. When workers came to repair a minor flaw, they often created more issues - banging around like bulls in a china shop, dinging walls, scraping paint, breaking glass panels, splattering spackle, leaving greasy handprints and traces of gooey silicone -- in short, showing little regard for the work done before by others. For weeks on end it felt like the work was moving one step forward, then two steps back! Then came a holiday weekend, and then a mudslide with road closures so no progress for days and weeks. I got so tired of waiting and waiting to move into my new room that I finally just did it, but woe be unto me if I forgot to move every rug and
My Dream Closet
Everything visible, out in the open air! Musty, moldy smells are common in this damp climate, but I have created a solution! towel before workers came. Muddy footprints, smudges of cement, splashes of paint, cement dust tracked everywhere. Arghhh.
And then came the leaks. So many issues to resolve. Every big rain brought new surprises. Fixing one area caused another spot to leak. The entire metal staircase needed to be resoldered, blemishing the appearance of the aluminum frames around each glass riser. After every attempt to stop the leaks, we had to wait for another storm to see where it might drip in next. All this, even as the wood floor was being installed. I made a snap decision not to extend the wood under the staircase, just in case the leaks continued. Using bits and pieces of leftover bathroom tiles, Fabian made a patchwork ceramic design under the steps...much more practical!
The week after I moved into my new suite, damp patches began appearing near the ceiling on the wall between the bedroom and the bathroom. The darkening of the paint began to spread to the area above my bed and one stormy night it developed into a row
Finishing Touches
A new duvet cover and the last of the neckties to decorate the headboard. My bedroom is complete... for now! of constant drips. No sleep for me as I scurried to mop up the drops as fast as they fell. Fearing that my hardwood floors could be irreparably damaged, I begged the architect to come see to it immediately. To his credit he managed to get a worker to accompany him, travelling by bus an hour from Ambato on a Sunday in the middle of a long holiday weekend!
They discovered that the culprit was an exterior outlet that had been installed in the wall of the terrace above. It did not have the appropriate waterproof electrical box and had become a receptacle for drips and splashes coming off the newly installed roof overhang, which was apparently funnelling water right into the brick wall. No surprise it eventually became saturated. They managed to solve the problem that same Sunday. Alas, when repainting the area they had destroyed to fix the leak they didn't use the same color paint, so now the roof and wall have stripes and splotches in two shades of brown. When everything is new and pristine, even the slightest imperfections are glaringly obvious!
Colored Glass Accessories
The wood countertop in a perfect showcase for my favorite glass receptacles. What joy, what fun to finally move in -- to grace the bathroom countertop with my favorite glass adornments, to find the perfect spots for my antique bottles, to hang clothes on the hooks and roll them into the cubby holes in my bright, ample new closet space, to line upper shelves with a variety of baskets. I confess to being a baskaholic and I have dozens of baskets, large and small - I am attracted by things which are natural, beautiful and functional. My necktie-covered recycled tire stools found their new home beside the gleaming bottle wall panel in the bedroom. The bottle wall in the shower was designed with spaces to store my soap, shampoo and scrubbie sponge. CiCi settled right into her new bed, tucked into the corner beside the stairs.
The carpenter helped me hang the big mirror in the bathroom and center my art on the walls. My seamstress friend helped me re-cover my old headboard with the last of the silk ties, leftover from our previous projects. My custom-made night stands fit perfectly on either
Window Washing
My friend Elizabeth's 17 yr old son Sam wanted to earn a bit of pocket money. He became a squeegee expert in no time at all! It will take several washings to get rid of construction grime! side of the bed, their vented drawers ample enough to store my socks and undies. The duvet cover was one I'd had since the mid-1980's when I lived in Scotland. Even though it was still in decent condition, it looked old and tired amidst all the shiny newness. On a trip to the mall with Julie, a magnolia-strewn coverlet jumped out and grabbed my attention. It was quite expensive but of excellent quality. "You HAVE to buy it," she told me, "It's calling you!" So I did. And I love it so much that I'm probably going back to get another just like it to make curtains for the sliding glass doors.
As I lie in bed, I look up through the corner windows at the moon and the stars. At daybreak I watch the sky brighten and glint off the green hillsides all around. I can see birds flitting about the treetop in the neighbor's yard and the snow-capped peak of nearby Mama Tungurahua, a now-dormant volcano. From the bathroom I occasionally catch a glimpse of CiCi walking outside, her figure moving past each bottle in the shower
Closet Cubbyholes
My carpenter executed this storage idea to perfection (complaining all the while how difficult it was to sand by hand!) All of the cubbies have a use! wall. Just after midday the sun shines through the glass blocks making rainbows dance around the bathroom walls. The colored glass bottles in the bedroom filter late afternoon sunlight, making stained glass designs ripple across the gleaming wood floors. The flow and play of light is just one of many features that make this new space so spectacular!
After completing a construction project, it takes multiple deep cleaning efforts to get the place really clean. Super-fine cement dust wafts into every crevice, the ubiquitous sawdust settles en every surface; each time I open a door or touch a ledge I find another hidden stash of dirt and grime. And it goes on and on. I am fortunate to be able to hire people to assist with the cleaning...it helps me and it helps them to earn some money. Minimum wage here is $2.50/hr so I pay Hilda $20 for an 8-hour day and she leaves my home sparkling clean. She used to come every other Friday, but since the renovations have created so much filth and there are now so many more surfaces to clean, she now comes every week. I
Cementing the Mosaic
Thank you to Fabian, my skilled handyman who mixed and slathered the cement so I could just focus on sticking up the pieces. do not take for granted the luxury of having a weekly cleaning gal! Somehow, when I wasn't looking, my living space grew into a 4-bedroom, 4-bathroom home! That's a lotta house!
My friend's son Sam has helped me twice to reach the highest windows. He's thrilled to earn some pocket money and I am grateful for his hard work. We speak English together while he's working, so he gets a free lesson while wielding the squeegee. He's a delightful young man and I usually fix something special for lunch on the days he's here. He complains that his mom only cooks healthy food, so last week I made chicken fingers and sweet potato fries which were greatly appreciated! I enjoy cooking for other people and I continue to fix lunch for my elderly neighbor Shana at least three times a week. Cooking has been an important creative outlet for me, but now that my upstairs "bauble studio" is unpacked, let the madness resume!
Since the edge of the new staircase was one of the problem areas for retaining damp, I decided to cover the blistering paint
...and the Final Mosaic
A few more mishaps - heavy rains came before we could do the grouting - but in the end the project was a beautiful success! with mosaic. Before the bin of leftover tiles got shuttled to the bodega storeroom, I did a triage and chose the broken bits of colorful porcelain and ceramic that would suit my new project. I reacquainted myself with my boxes of baubles (hello old friends! sorry to have kept you in storage for so many months!) and chose the wacky bits and pieces that would grace the mosaic; rusty padlocks, a clay parrot, a plastic dinosaur, a rubber penguin, some stones and seashells, colorful discs of tagua vegetable ivory, a glass sphere, and on and on. As soon as we cut the cardboard in the triangular outline of the space to be covered, CiCi plopped down on it and gave her seal of approval.
The assembly process took about two weeks, starting and stopping, revisiting the patterns. I am not the type of mosaic planner who cuts and files each piece to fit perfectly. I smash the larger pieces with a hammer and then let the shapes that emerge help me decide how the design with progress. Fabian and I managed to assemble the bits and pieces on the wall in about two
C'mon Over for Lunch!
I enjoy receiving friends and neighbors for a meal several times a week. One guest shot this pic of me in my kitchen! hours. He mixed and applied the cement as I stuck the pieces, more or less in the configuration of the pre-planned design. It never turns out exactly as planned, but the basic pattern comes through. I love the mosaic process...the combining of various shapes, textures, objects materials. So satisfying.
We had to wait a few days for the cement to set before grouting but alas, within hours of completing the cementing process it started pouring down rain. I couldn't even get out to try to cover it before the larger and heavier pieces started falling off the wall. It rained hard well into the night. Because of the metal staircase it's quite loud in my room during a rainstorm. Once the downpour slowed and it quieted down, I continued to hear pieces of my artwork dropping to the ground. Thunk. Plop. Crack. I winced with each thud and in the following days, once everything dried out, I repaired the damage. Sigh. Thankfully, it is now grouted which has successfully protected the finish project...mostly. A few little bits and bobs still pop off from time to time!
Zipline Adventures
Lucinda and Robbie having a ball! I welcomed a series of visitors over the past months. Cuenca friends Nancy and Chuck were in Baños for a few days and we shared some delightful meals and excursions. While Amy was up from the coast with her Colorado visitors Lucinda & Robbie, my old friend Roger popped in for a quick visit. He lives five hours north on his gentleman's farm in the charming village of Cahuasquí. When our raucous laughter wafted next door, I convinced my neighbor Jon to jump over the wall and join the impromptu festivities! I loved having all of this joyful energy around my dining table...friends from various times and places in my life all gathered together.
I took Amy and Lucinda and Robbie around for a few days. Up to the Casa del Arbol, home of the world famous swing at the end of the world. It's one of CiCi's favorite places to romp and gambol. The next morning we embarked upon the Parque Aventura ziplining adventure. CiCi and I hung out in the swinging metal tarabita cable car, stopped at the end of the canyon while the others
CiCi on the Tarabita
We hung for an hour, suspended high over the rushing river in a metal cable car, while the more adventurous did the zipline circuit. I was the offical photographer! ziplined into the gorge, braved the Tibetan suspension bridge and scaled the steep rock face. My location gave me the perfect perspective to be the official photographer. An adrenaline-filled time was had by all. CiCi, a bit nervous at first, eventually settled in and enjoyed the rushing winds carried along by the raging river below.
My Thursday students cancelled so I was free to drive the gang to the huge indigenous market at Saquisili, about an hour and a half NE of Baños. I have such fond memories of this market dating back to the 1980's when I first lived in Quito. It spans a half a dozen village squares, each specializing in a different item...tools, ropes, baskets, straw mats, blankets, woved shigra bags. There's a plaza just for potatoes (dozens of different kinds), another has old men hunched over their ancient sewing machines (I've seen people whip off their pants to have them repaired on the spot), there's a furniture plaza and not to be missed is the square filled with delectable prepared foods (fish, pork, all manner of corn products - fried, roasted, boiled). These eateries do lack in
Saquisili Market
Fond memories of this Thursday market, famous for its baskets and woven articles. hygiene, but I feel like if it's something coming right off the grill or right out of the oil piping hot, any beasties will have been killed. Having said that, we opted to lunch in a restaurant!
Since Baños is a popular tourist destination, there is a remarkable array of restaurants ... from guinea pigs roasting on the side of the road to fine dining and upscale cuisine. There's a new place called Haycha which uses plants and creatures from the jungle to create unique and unusual dishes, all beautifully prepared and presented. I went there with my expat Spanish students and we used the menu as our text for that day's lesson. I learned a few new things in the process. We ordered one of just about everything on the menu and shared the dishes to get a taste of many different things. Everyone's fave was the crispy palm grub cracker, a fatty 'chonta curro' grilled between hot lava rocks into crunchy deliciousness. A delightful meal and class!
I also attended a special dinner with a CBD tasting menu. We were
CBD Tasting Meal
Beautifully prepared and presented. All nine diners enjoyed the experience. nine diners around an elegantly set table. There were two Ecuadorians, four of us long-term expats and three tourists passing through. I seated myself beside a friendly French gal who knew little English or Spanish. Each of the courses had different concentrations of CBD oil. The overall effect was that conversation flowed, there was much laughter, and we all felt relaxed and joyful. They're hoping to host these dinners every few weeks. It was an excellent meal, but at $35 it's doubtful I'll repeat the experience.
One of the Italian restaurants closed their downtown location and relocated to the home and gardens of the owner. It's now on the edge of town in an up-and-coming neighborhood. They have built a lovely arbor with outdoor dining. Shana and I went for lunch one day and had a most perplexing experience. Somehow, between opening the driver's door and reaching into the back to get CiCi's leash and take her out of the car, I lost my keys. I spent several hours emptying and re-emptying my purse, shaking out the rugs in the car, looking in the weeds on the side of the road....nothing!
Handmade Shigra Bags
I still have the colorful woven bags I bought here over 30 years ago. They are indestructible! I left Shana eating pizza with CiCi by her side and took a taxi home and back to bring my spare key, a key which only starts the ignition, does not unlock the doors! After dropping off my neigbhor and my dog, I went to the car wash and had them remove all the rugs, check in the wheel wells, everywhere. Still no luck. All night my brain was puzzling this mystery. Where could that dang key be? Shana and I returned the following afternoon, bringing her pendulum to guide us to the key's whereabouts. It's definitely here somewhere, she insisted after consulting the crystal.
The owner of the Bellaitalia Restaurant, Lorena, was super kind and helpful all through this frustrating debacle.She brought out rakes and we began to sift through the bushes and weeds on the other side of the wall. We pushed aside dead leaves, searching everywhere. In my mind I was already travelling to the Suzuki dealer in Ambato an hour away to find out how much it would cost to have the door locking system reinstalled and to
CBD Birthday Dessert
The French tourist seated beside me was celebrating her bday so the chef decorated her plate extra beautifully! get new keys made. After about an hour of raking and searching I finally said to Lorena, "I give up! Me rindo!" and right at that moment she called out joyfully, "Here it is! Aquí está!" The dang keys had flown more than 6 feet from where my car was parked (or maybe an animalito carried them over there in the night?). Mystery solved. I was so relieved and grateful! Shana and I ordered another pizza to celebrate!
Another to trip to Quito to meet up with a new friend, Jan. He is actually the friend of an old friend, my teaching colleague Darlene from Malaysia days. Dar and Jan both studied in Quito back in the 1970's and have stayed in contact all these years. Jan and his wife are considering retiring in Ecuador, so he was coming down for a reconnaissance visit. Prior to his visit he and I met on zoom several times. We would set up a time for a half-hour conversation and then we'd end up chatting for several hours! I put him in touch with friends of mine in the cities he was planning to
With Jan and Jean
Jean has lived in Quito's Old Town for over 30 years. She knows all the secret hidey-hole places with great food and views! visit. Needless to say, I was looking forward to finally meeting him in person!
I took advantage of the Quito visit to set up some medical appointments as well. I have developed a ganglion on my right wrist (a fluid filled sac that sits on the tendon and presses against the nerve) so I met with the traumatologist and we will do an echosonogram to see what's actually going on. It's been causing me more and more pain, and even preventing me from doing some of my yoga postures. I also had a follow-up with the cardiologist to confirm that the doses and times I am taking my blood pressure meds are actually keeping my numbers in check. Yes! all is good!
While I was in Quito, my friend Betti travelled down from her home in Mojanda to meet up with us. Jean and Betti happily piggy-backed on my visit with this charming, handsome man! My doctors' appts finished in time so one day I met up with Jan and Jean for a luncheon in the old town. Jean knows of economical
Quito Hailstorm
Trapped in the car with Jan for several hours waiting for the hail to abate and the traffic to subside...we had such fun with this adventure! hole-in-the-wall places with spectacular views! Then we all had dinner together two nights in a row! Conversation never lagged -- all such intelligent and interesting folks.
I had agreed to drive Jan to the airport for his midnight flight so we were deciding how to spend his last afternoon in Quito. He had fond memories of visits to the church in Guapulo, a valley just below Quito's post Gonzalez Suarez district. While he was in the church, it started raining. He scurried back to the car just as the skies opened up and the downpour turned into a hailstorm. I decided I had better get up the steep cobblestone hill before the hail made the road any slicker. Then the hailstones became pea-sized and I looked for a tree and parked underneath to avoid my new car getting pocked with dimples!
We sat in the safety of the car, chatting and giggling as the storm raged on and one. After about a half hour without signs of stopping, I thought I'd better attempt to get the rest of the way up the
Quito Hail
Borrowed from the internet, this pic shows how downtown Quito looked while we hunkered down in my car. hill to a safer spot. I pulled over on the side of the wide Gonzalez Suarez Avenue and we watched cars slip and slide as they tried to continue on their way. No way was I going to join that madness on the road. We decided to risk it and dashed into a nearby coffee shop, sinking into slush up past our ankles. After a leisurely coffee and pastry the hail had let up a bit and the traffic had subsided. I later heard from a friend who was at an outdoor cafe during the storm that the awning collapsed with the weight of the hail and soaked everyone seated beneath! The restaurant gave them all a big glass of wine and towels!
Jan wanted to buy coffee and chocolate to bring home as gifts, so we drove to the Megamaxi center that has a covered parking structure. It took forever to get there -- traffic was still crazy slow with the dodgy weather -- but we eventually arrived. He had not been into a Quito grocery store in over 40 years and was blown away by the selection and variety.
SuzyQ
Here she is, my cute new car parked on the street across from my house. Yes, that is my view!! Yes, we can get just about everything here in Ecuador now. Granted, imported goods are more expensive due to taxes, but they are available. If made me chuckle when he told me that our supermarket adventure had been a highlight of his Quito visit!
We arrived at Cafe Mosaico overlooking the Historic Center just in time for our dinner with Jean and Betti. We had to switch tables because a group of 20-something gringo tourists refused to turn down the music on their competing cell phone videos; they were downright rude when we politely requested that they lower the volume so we could actually have a conversation. Kids today!! Another fabulous meal with great company and plenty of time to get Jan to the airport with three hours of lead time before his flight. He was thankful that I offered to drive him and I was grateful that he brought me vitamins and sunscreen from the states (both are outrageously expensive here!)
I have been enjoying my new vehicle. SuzyQ is surprisingly roomy for a small car (Suzuki SX4). I appreciated the
CiCi's Nose Notch
Though she is a bit freaked out by the electric windows that magically move, CiCi appreciates that the back window goes down just enough for her to rest her snout and sniff sniff sniff. All Wheel Drive (AWD) feature on the hail-slick roadways and also when carting some bricks up a grassy slope. CiCi loves that the back window opens just far enough to cradle her little chin. She's still a bit confused and freaked out that it moves all by itself. I am loving the electric window feature and the keyless lock and unlock fob. I never really thought about how convenient these were until I was living without them in my last two trucks. SuzyQ just got a new paint job; the rooftop was quite damaged when I bought her so I knew that once the construction was behind me, that would be my next big expense, but it still cost way less than half what it would have been in the US -- manual labor is the best value here in Latin America!
Keep scrolling down to see the last dozen or so photos. I have published a whole lot of pics of the rental suite in the front of my house. It has a separate entrance so it is completely independent from my living quarters. We'll see how the sound factor
Hola Amigos!
One of my favorite masks...alas, the elastic broke after just a few hours wearing it! is once I have someone living up there. As of Dec 1st a friend is coming to rent it for six months. Thanks for reading my ramblings. I would love to hear from you so leave me a comment or send me a message. Hugs from Here!!! Jill
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Janet Lukowski
non-member comment
Pictures of your house
Thanks for sharing the “finished” pictures. Your home turned out fantastic. You have some very ingenious features that exhibit your artistic streak. I especially like the stairs and bottle walls. Enjoy the fruits of your labor!