My Casita!

For most purposes that casita is done... yes there are some fine tuning that needs to be done, but for all intents and purposes I could move my bedroom there now. On Monday, Lupita the cleaning person will be giving it a through going over....then I will make the decision if I am moving my bedroom there now or waiting until next year. So here are some of the photos taken just an hour ago.

Update!

Well, we've been in Merida for 18 days and have been so busy! Here are a bunch of new photos so you can see! Right now I am waiting for the bus from Cancun to deliver my sister-in-law and her two kids...they will be our first guests a Casa del Gato Azul!

Getting down to the wire....

15 days until we leave for Merida! Wow, I'm getting nervous now! I've packed 4 large suitcases and I only have our clothes left to pack...as well as chocolate to bring to Arturo and family! I am hoping that I have all the right things. I've taken notes throughout the year as people have mentioned new stores that carry gluten free items as well as doctors who make house calls...yes this is possible and noted the name of a dermatologist with a good reputation! I will be making our appointments with our dentist so that we can get our teeth cleaned and a general checkup.
When we get to Merida we hope all the major construction work is done and we can move our master bedroom from upstairs to the newly built casita.. Since we are having visitors we will need to buy two twin beds for the kids to sleep in. Maybe a couple of hammocks too so we can see if they would like to try that! I would like to visit some of the second hand stores to see if we can find a table and chairs to use for now..maybe something in iron that can be used outside. A bedside table or two or three might be useful too.
In the meantime construction is ongoing in spite of all the rain Merida is receiving and Arturo has sent some new photos!

Pool work continues

Ready for paint

This walk in closet has a window

Stone was too expensive so we will have a concrete bathtub!

Our wall is now higher than the security light next door

A view of the main house from the casita

I'm excited to share Merida!

Carlos with his sister Karen and husband Santiago

During our trip to Merida in December, we will have our first house guests...I'm so excited to share what I love best about Merida! Carlos brought two of our Danish friends two years ago, but they were unable to stay in the house as it was in the first stages of construction. So these guests will be our first 'official' visitors!

And their two kids Sebastian and Ana..the middle is my granddaughter Maia who won't be there...

I thought long and hard about what to show them and I think I'd really like for them to first get a feel of Merida...go to the markets, to Santiago and to Santa Ana...walk, smell, feel, wander! Hang out at our beautiful home...swim in our new pool, relax and get to know the neighborhood. Than we can plan some trips to the cenotes, Uxmal, Mayapan, Progresso etc. The possibilities are endless! What do you suggest we share?

I'm in countdown mode!

The pool steps are in!

It's just 5 short weeks before we leave for our month+ in Merida. Now I really need to get it together! I have 3 large bags packed with 'stuff' and enough things put aside for another large bag and that's not even counting our clothes! Now I've read that Cancun is getting strict about checking bags! I've left the price tags on anything new and there is really not much of that. 

I do however take some food items (gluten free) as last year it was difficult to find some items. I did find a loaf of frozen gluten free bread at Pescadelli, but at 20.00 US it was like gold! I know I need to plan ahead and get Monica at the slow market to make some for us.
I received some new photos this week and Roger, our esteemed architect, has told me that they are a week ahead of his schedule...unheard of ..but he knows that we are bringing family down in December and wants it to be ready for us! Nice guy!! We will have two weeks in the house before our guests arrive. I will need this time to get some more furnishings as well as de stress and settle in.
Meanwhile here in St Louis the Cardinals are in the World Series, the weather is changing to autumn like, my new kitchen floor is in and I do have to prepare the house for house sitters coming in. More worrisome is that two of my cats have disappeared! Gus, the Maine coon almost two weeks ago, and Bleu-Beri who this blogged is named after, (as well as mi casa) 6 days ago....These are cats who do not really wander and stay pretty close to home! I know that people say to keep them in, but these are rescue cats that could not acclimate to an inside only life...and I knew when adopting them.

Starting to look like design!

December is taking forever to get here!

This summer seems very long, and time felt like it actually stood still in September. Carlos has been working very hard and needed to get away... he hasn't really had a vacation all year. We found a cheapo 7 day cruise (last minute) from Miami and couldn't resist. Luckily we also had enough points to use for our airfare! And so we packed our bags and headed out. The ports of call were Carnival private island, St Thomas, San Juan, Puerto Rico and Grand Turk Island, not to mention two sea days. We love to cruise and view the ship as the vacation.... the only land excursion we planned was in Puerto Rico. This is Carlos' place of birth and both his parents are buried here. We would only have time to visit the National Cemetery in Bayamon as Carlos' mom is buried in Yabacoa which is further away and the opposite direction. My first photos taken at the cemetery when Carlos found Papa Charlies place of rest where a little spooky...I think his spirit was happy with our visit!

Carlos found Papa Charlie's stone

We brought some fall flowers

San Juan

For the first time we visited Turks and Caicos and it was just beautiful...The people were very nice and the beaches were wonderful!

Grand Turk

While we were cruising, the building of the casita and pool continued and progress continued forward. We had a skype call yesterday and received a few updated photos:

Another leap forward..

Today was our day for a conference call with Roger, our esteemed architect. It's time to choose the pasta tiles for the new project, as well as some of the colors to be used on the walls. Carlos and I also needed to discuss the pool as we wanted to fine tune some of his design to what we thought might work better for us. Before we skyped, Roger sent us some updated photos and it sure is looking good! I'm really happy that they have started the dig for the pool! He said that the workers had hit some rock, but thought that it would be OK. In the photos you can see the workers digging the pool by hand and besides a pick ax and shovel, I only see one semi-automatic tool, the jackhammer. In my head I imagined a small bulldozer doing the work. I should have known better!

You can see the peanut shape of the pool emerging

The facade has been taken higher

The arches are done

first coat of cement on the walls

As far as the pasta tile floors go, we told him that we would like the same design that is in the study to be used here in the new master bedroom and he could choose for the bathroom and the covered terrace. As far as the colors of the walls, he has carte blanche. After all that's his specialty!