Puerto Rico Rocks

It's drizzling here in Puerto Rico. Cheryl and Gisah are off to the market for food as we prepare to hunker down in our beach shack for New Years eve instead of venturing out into the night. For the past several nights we've heard load announcements from cars driving along the beach, invitations to one night club or another, Spanish words blasting out along with the bump, bump, bump of salsa music. Yes, it sounds like fun but we are staying indoors tonight, I guess, because we are getting old. And also now we have David and Gisah's daughter, Tizita, with us, and she is a delight.

Today we visited the forts of old San Juan and walked through the city, which is very hilly and beautiful, with many views of the ocean--a very old city as well. Classical architecture and long, narrow streets and more colors than I could have imagined. And in much of the town are residential homes, several stories tall and with as many ornate balconies facing the street, either in iron or wood. Very tall ceilings, too, because we have been peeking in whenever we get a chance.

And as for landscaping, I've seen so many ideas that I'd like to incorporate into our yard, but so much more is possible here, because of all the hills, than is practical in our flat back yard. Even so, having this break gives me a chance to relax and get recharged. The big yard project begins when we return.

More later.

A Basket for That

Cheryl has a thing for baskets: wicker, cloth, wire, plastic, metal, it doesn't matter. Maybe she had an especially nice Easter once. Who knows, but we have a hundred baskets in the house.

I, too, have some baskets, but out in the garage where baskets are intended to live, baskets for tools, for electrical stuff, for plumbing stuff, for nails and screws, and mostly because I hate to throw things away.

The flush mechanism on our toilet broke during the Christmas party on Saturday, and I had to make a quick fix with some wire.

And when I went to make the permanent fix last night and my plumbing basket in the garage had just what I needed--a complete new handle assembly. Yes, that was very cool, though Cheryl was not at all impressed.

Later, on TV, as if it knew my future plans and wanted to raise the bar, a pagoda appeared. A beautiful pagoda, much nicer than the one I had in mind (to create in the back yard).

But this pagoda might well be out of my class, beyond my capability, outside my comfort zone, above my artistic ability, cooler than I will ever be, especially someone who takes so much pleasure in fixing a toilet.

And yet, what is accomplished by setting a low bar? I think I can do it...

New Fixtures

For quite a while we've been experimenting with the lights out front. First with Christmas lights that tucked under the awnings, then with lights on the banisters, and to do this I ran the power directly from the light sockets of our existing fixtures, which we had abandoned as actual lights because the blue glass sleeves had long since fallen out and broken. An ugly mess, with wires hanging here and there. Because the big party is coming up, we decided to get new fixtures.

Picking out new light fixtures with Cheryl was certain to be difficult. She has one thing in mind, and I another, and so it goes for most things. But there in the store we looked up and said, in unison, that we both liked the same fixture. Sweet.

They have a yellowish stained glass that seems to go well with the house color. Installation was a snap, and now we have these nice geometric shapes to replace the chaotic clutter from before.

Christmas means hanging up my favorite ornament, a red chili with green sparkly top. I don't know why, but this thing makes me happy.

Otherwise, everything is pretty much on hold until after the parties. No more deadlines for now. Our big dog party is coming up, and Coach has a new coat.

Then our friends fly in for Christmas. I remain a lucky guy.

Effervescence

For the longest while I've been aggravated by a strange situation in the downstairs bathroom. At first I thought it might be mold--what else would explain the bubbling paint and white powder beneath? Yes, they looked very much like bubbles of paint on the wall, pustules of paint. Microscopic creatures might be extruding gas, I thought, but how would it bubble paint that was already dry?

And under the paint was a whitish powder. But no, the internet told me, mold is not powdery (it is sticky). The paint bubbles that I'm seeing are probably to do effervescence, a chemical reaction of the lye in the plaster reacting to water.

Of course, I believed it was effervescence because the Internet said so. The actual truth of the matter is of no consequence.

I did notice, however, that when I put some sheet rock compound on the wall to smooth it out, the compound bubbled up (and it is very sticky stuff). Even Cheryl noticed the bubbling, and she said so, which she probably regretted because it then drew her into a discussion with me about it, and I'm sure that quickly bored her to tears.

I knew what to do. More later...

Considering the Back Yard

It's 9 pm and I realize that I haven't written a post in a while, not a word even though many fascinating things have happened to me in the past few weeks.

In particular lately I am just amazed at how interesting each day can be. I look forward to my pot of tea first thing in the morning, and then to my first and then second cups of coffee later on. As noon approaches I am caught up in my private world of programming, one that never gets old (but should, if only I had some ambition or basic curiosity about life or art). Lunch time is a miracle--I can eat anything I like: okra, beans, soup. And then back to work and more programming and emails, solving one meaningless problem after another, watching them go up in smoke, one after another, a stupid way to make a living but one that I never get tired of. Then Cheryl comes home and we have some time together. And then it is time to go to bed again. Every day is oddly wonderful.

Last weekend I finally finished the stairs project. Here is a picture of it, prepped for the final coat of paint on the sideboards.

The project that will capture my attention for the next several months is the back yard. It is a real jungle, and by next spring I hope to have it completely transformed, with a new, high fence and new landscaping to replace the wilderness.

The jungle has played an important role, though. It has kept hidden the two ugly buildings in the neighboring yards. More later.

Stone Oven

I've been ignoring the old stone oven in the back yard for years. On more than one occasion I tried to use it as a grill, but it was a failure, or rather I was the failure. After looking at some articles, I realize now that this is probably meant to be used as a slow-cooker oven instead of a grill. So I've cleared off the vines (almost) and am ready to give it a shot

First, it is pretty big, about 6 feet. It has an oven door in the front.

The grate sits about 10 inches down from the top.

And under the grate (behind the door) it has a big space, probably about 2 feet from the floor to the grate, almost 2 feet wide and 2 feet deep.

And a stone shelf extends to the right, at the same level as the grate, and it's about 8 inches high.

So how should this be used? My guess would be to put the food in the shelf to the right, put the charcoal into the box (a bunch of it), put some wet wood on the coals and then completely close off the opening above the grate so that the smoke is pulled up the chimney. This would keep the food away from direct heat. I guess I should use a thermometer to be sure.

Sound like a good plan?