Two more weeks!

the land in august (dry season) when we bought it

neighborhood mutts take refuge from the rains

the water buffalo next door

a lovely sunset

our contractor draws lines in the dirt to show us where a new wall is going to be

there it is! the bricks were made in a hand built kiln in madu's friend's backyard

a family of pigs has a pen just on the property boundary near the lake

madu and his cousin plant frangipani trees in the rain

madu and his uncle discuss the state of the house and bob marley

Two more weeks until I'm back in SL to check out the progress of the house.  Madu's been there since 30 Nov working his butt off and I've been answering lots of wood related questions for the ceiling an doors/windows. The carpenter can't actually put anything up until the rainy season ends but he's making the window and door frames in his workshop.  He's also got a local woodworker carving window and door ventilations for us.  It's so important for a house in tropical environment to get air flowing through it when nobody is there and the doors are closed.  The ventilation screens normally look something like this:

But I found the lotus design below online and fell in love with it, and the carpenter said it was possible to carve in wood, leaving the background open to let the air in.  I am looking forward to see what it looks like!