Building Commences....again

Carlos and I thought long and hard about building the casita...on one hand we thought two bedrooms were really not a large enough home and on the other hand we knew we had some under utilized space were we could make due with some hammocks. One of the deciding factors was the my brother-in-law accepted a position at Harvard Med School. Why was this a decision? Well it's in Boston and they currently are in Fort Lauderdale....my sister-in-law hates the cold and she was suddenly saying the Merida in the winter was sounding wonderful. As she home schools her two elementary age kids, this is entirely feasible that she and the kids would spend winters in Mexico! At our house, of course..

Maia, Sebastian and Ana. The two older are the kids who are home schooled.

So now we are starting the building of our casita which has changed into a master retreat (don't know yet what to call it) and have received the first photos of the construction.

The back of the property has been a blank slate!

The neighbor gave us permission to break through the wall to bring in materials and heavy equipment!

looks like a building site!

materials are in and the building has commenced

And the east wall is going higher!

So our architect and his chief engineer say that the majority of the work will be done by December..keep your fingers crossed...the kids are coming and really want the pool to be done!

Creating a Courtyard..

My house has a courtyard that is a total blank slate...really! Right now it is a dirt rectangle that just does not have any redeeming features....no trees, no plants, nothing! I have spent some time researching courtyards and plants on the Internet and playing with some ideas. Here is what I have come up with.

First the courtyards that I like:

Carlos does not like the look of green between the pavers

He does like the design!

And the type of fountain I like:

And the somewhat basic design I came up with:

The choices of plants will come down to low maintenance, natural mosquito repelling (citronella grass, lemon grass as well as rosemary!) and beauty. Some of the plants:

Bougainvillea

Bougainvillea of another color

Citronella

purple wandering jew

areca palm

rosemary

lemon grass

With a beautiful bench added around the fountain for relaxing, (love all three looks!)

I could add some pots of colorful flowers or aromatic herbs to the courtyard. 

And either pavers, stones or stamped concrete for the base...I have to discus that choice with Roger! I am really excited about some of the final decisions here in my courtyard! So whats in your courtyard?