December 2010
6 posts
1 tag
Relatively Boring... or Perhaps Not?
As architect on our project, Stan sails home from site each day on an ethereal cloud of constructive bliss. Each night he is bursting with thoughts about the joys of a house built by hand and the impressive craftsmanship witnessed that day. One week, I (Brent) am regaled with tales of how steel structural cages were hand formed from long lengths of rebar. Hoisted into place, these columns are...
1 tag
Building Blocks
For the last few weeks, a huge pile of concrete blocks stacked up in the front room has slowly shrunk. One by one, they have been carried deeper on site to be mortared into place.
The old western wall of our property was built of mamposteria. Not structurally sound and encroaching the boundary of the neighbor’s property, we decided to build a new block wall in front to support the second...
3 tags
Picking through the Trash
Refuse seems to be the theme of the week for us. After posting a few days back about the way garbage is collected in Mexico City, we ended up learning a lot more than we expected about what happens to it after it’s collected.
Our favorite furniture dealer hooked us up with a guy called Antonio to drive around the city for a day in search of stuff that we could use in our renovation - old...
2 tags
An el DF Moment
Coffee in hand, we gazed out the window of our Mexico City rental apartment this morning and were transfixed by the work of the garbage crew.
Once collected from the sidewalk, trash bags are opened and emptied onto the back of the garbage truck. From there, they are sorted with all recyclables removed and placed in separate bins.
Strangely, although we live in Mérida, we are unsure if the...
3 tags
el DF
So, we have been meaning to take a trip to DF (aka Mexico City) to do some furniture shopping for our house. This weekend, we finally made it. First stop, Trouvé - a mid-Century furniture store in Condesa and Roma. Javier, the proprietor, has a fabulous eye and acquires some outstanding pieces, like a gorgeous chaise lounge made entirely out of steel. Unfortunately, it had just been sold two...
2 tags
A Transformative Return
After several weeks lurking about the countryside of New Zealand, eating way too many meat pies, and enjoying a gluttonous Asian food tour NOB (it really was shameful the rate at which we slurped those noodles), we flew back home ready for warm weather and anxious to see the progress on our house.
We weren’t disappointed on either front. Along with tropical temperatures (for winter at...