Virtues

I'm moved in, but only partly as the bulk of items I've shipped from the states remains in storage.  The early days of living here have been days waiting for someone to show up to provide a service at an undefined date and time.   Being restricted to the house prevents beginning the Easter egg hunt for the multitude items needed to keep up a household.   A second day of waiting produced internet service and the discovery that my television didn't survive shipping.  I'm about to start my third day of waiting for a guy to install burglar bars inside the shop so that my remaining stored items can be secured on the ground floor.  Just recently I'm told this installation will be a week later than originally stated.  Patience is more than a virtue, it is a life in Belize requirement.  The first week of the new year I should see hardwood floors installed.  May my virtue suffer limited testing.  

Above are the totality of my home furnishings.  I rather like the aesthetic of the post crate table, with a nicer top and a finish it might find service for years to come. 

The exterior repellent/stain application is completed.

A view up the canal before the left turn towards the bay.  I'm constantly surprised by the variety of wildlife I see my new back yard.  One morning I saw a pair of green parrots flying through, later a white egret is seen hunting along the canal.  There is a constant parade of butterflies.

Here is the deceptive money shot!  It may look highly vegetated, but at times it can be a slippery mud bath around the house sides.

Moving In

Some things are hard to come by in Belize.  I tried a few standard light bulbs in the house light fixtures to keep the place lit up while it was not occupied.  The next day half of the lights did not work!  They were bulbs of the finest Chinese quality.  The high burnout rate is a commonly shared experience here.

I then tried some compact fluorescent bulbs and LED bulbs with better results.  However, the fixtures where the Chinese bulbs were installed refused to work.  Apparently the bulb base is slightly diffent so the contacts inside the bulb socket are deformed and no longer contact a functional bulb.  I was able bend the internal contacts to restore an operational condition.  The unusual scocket contact arrangement leads me to suspect the fixtures arre also of the "finest" Chinese quality.

 The ceiling fan lights do not accept a standard light bulb due to their low profile design.  I've ordered suitable LED lights from the states to provide bedroom and living room lighting sometime after the first of the year.  I'm on my third night of living in the house and it looks like I might be grouping around in the dark for a month or more until the bulbs arrive.

Handrails are installed on the back porch!  The observant eye may notice the porch wall is darker than other siding.

The siding is receiving a pigmented sealant that also repells insects.  The freshly applied smell also repells me.

The fence wall is completed.  An custom fabricated fence will be installed between the wall columns at a later date.  The fence wall is difficult to see because of the white gravel spread across the lot's width in front of the house.  I can now walk from the street to the house without crossing a mud pit after rains.  Note the stained stairway color that will soon be applied to all the exposed wood.

Closets are not a common feature in Belize homes I've seen.  I'm 6 feet 1 inch tall and I tower over most Belizians.  I wasn't around when this hanger rod was installed, but my height must have been much greater in their minds to install the hanger rod so high.  Only minor modifications are required to lower rod and one day have an accessible shelf above the rod.

The image above does not fully convey the dramatic lighting effect the closet lights produce on the ceiling.  It is very eye catching from the road level.

Never Rely on the First Answer

The front porch is screened in and the stairway is completed.  The green I-beam will soon be boxed in.

The front fence construction is underway.  The house is located on a dead end street without a good place to turn around.  Things become a muddy mess when it rains.  The fence will prevent my front yard from becoming a rutted turn around spot while containing a possible future dog.

The minimalist kitchen is nearly completed and furnished with new appliances.  I was told, in the first store, refrigerators could not be found with a left side hinge in Belize.  The second store had a refrigerator with provisions to change the hinge side and came with a fully automatic ice maker to boot!  The lesson is repeated, never rely on the first answer you receive in Belize.

The gas stove features a glass panel folded over the burners to expand the counter space.  The panel is hinged to swing up and serve as a back splash when using the burners.

There is good access into the corner cabinet given the bi-fold door arrangement.  I am contemplating building an island to increase the counter and storage space in an area that would otherwise remain unused.  As it is, it is likely to serve all my kitchen needs.

The toilet and bathroom cabinet are installed.  I should have taken a more active role in how things were laid out here.  The sink is tucked into a corner right next to the electrical outlet.  This leaves no counter space to have various grooming appliances left plugged in.  The over head light is off to the left.  I have several ideas on how I might accommodate this awkward arrangement, but I think it best that I live with it for a while until the ultimate solution presents itself.  The simplest suggested solution is to move the electrical outlet.

I tried out the toilet and found the water continued to run.  I lifted the float so it would stop and the threaded on float valve top came off giving me and the bathroom a severe drenching.  No harm done just some birthing pains.

A fancy new, futurist looking, glass topped, washing machine is tucked comfortably into its' closet.  Watching it operate, through the glass top, may be my source of in home entertainment for while.  I'll need a few shelves in there to make better use of the space while possibly doubling as a pantry.  There is room for a dryer, but no money hungry power outlet.  I'm going old school by using a clothesline on the back porch.  I've purchased two pulleys for a stand in one spot while hanging wet clothes operation.

I also purchased my first piece of furniture, a plastic lawn chair.  I'm generally limited to a single item I can carry on my bicycle.  Today it was a coffee maker in my backpack and the lawn chair on the handle bars.  It is how things are done by most Belizians.  Many are seen taking their kids to school on the handle bars and they are skilled at transporting five gallon water jugs by this means.  I'm not inclined to try moving a water jug on my bicycle.

December Easter Eggs

Shopping in Belize is a bit like an Easter egg hunt, you have to look in several places before you find what you are hoping for or find something that is not the golden egg, but will do.  This lesson was reinforced in selecting household fixtures.

The house interior walls are painted, all doors are installed along with the ceiling fans and light fixtures.  On the whole I am satisfied with the lighting items collected in my Easter basket.  Two sconces adorn the walls, four ceiling fan/lights are suspended from the ceiling and two hanging lamps dangle over future kitchen counters way in the back.  The wash room, walk-in closet and bathroom now sport lighting fixtures.   All rooms are open to the ceiling.   The lighting should be very dramatic reflecting off the overhead structure from the various rooms should a person wish to set a mood.

The master bedroom has the ceiling fan/light directly over the bed for those hot nights without a breeze.  A walk in closet is to the right.  The bedroom is dimensioned to accomodate a queen sized bed between the two windows.  The guest bedroom is identical in size, but has only a small closet.

Many images in this blog are composed of multiple images stitched together into a single image that the camera ordinarily couldn't capture.  Stitched images suffer distortions like the apparently curving walls seen above and elsewhere.

The walk-in shower is completed.  The green floor tiles orginally had blue grout, in spite of the grout packaging indicating black.  My contractor immediately corrected this condition in short order.  I expected the grout color change to be a difficult and laborious process.  The double grout lines do not exist, it is an artifact of the image stitching process.

I would have preferred the unsual shower window to be located higher and further away from the shower head, but a mini window shower curtain will suffice.  A second small window over the toilet will help promote drying in this room.

The propane tank is plumbed and ready to supply the stove and water heater.  Adjacent to the propane tank is a water reservoir.  The sometimes low flow city water collects in the reservoir and is then pumped into a pressure reservoir to assure good pressure and flow is available to the upper floor.

The brilliant blue roof is completed as well as all of the siding.  In time the roof will turn a chalky blue maybe more in comfort with the white ground floor.  The treated pine siding will receive a sealant coating.

On a rainy day the crew seeks shelter under plastic sheets for the half hour commute home.

Acclimations

Living in Belize has required some adjustments.  I find that I'm normally awake at 3:30 am for no good reason.  I use the early morning hours to catch up on the news and sometimes domestic tasks.  I get to enjoy spectacular, over the bay, sunrises most every morning.  It follows that the evenings end early.

In the U.S. my electric razor was cleaned by an occasional light brushing.  Now it requires frequent heavy brushing as the shavings cling and build up on the cutting heads.  This is a result of the greater facial oilyness I experience here.  An oilyness soap and the city water don't seem to remove.

I maintain a full head of hair, but I'm sheading hair at an unusual rate.  Possibly it is just part of the acclamation process.

I live in an apartment with an air conditioned bedroom.  I've never used the air conditioner in an effort to become acclimated.  A person just has to embrace the sweat to live here.  I wear unironed shirts that look more presentable after a few hours of sweat exposure.  Yes, my glass remains half full in this new life!

Above is a ground level view of the lot across the street.  It was recently mowed and the overgrowth removed.  The nasty foreground pine trees shoot up a small forest of sprouts that are now cut down.  I suspect this clean up is in preparation for the owners visit said to take place during the first of the year.  These trees reduce the cooling bay breeze through my house not to mention reducing the fine view.  Perhaps the owners and I can come to some future agreement .......

This is a stitched together panorama taken from one living room corner.  The open front door is on the left and the rear door is 2/3rds to the right.  The wall between the doors encloses the two open ceiling bedrooms.  The bedrooms are separated by the front bedroom's walk in closet and a living room alcove.  The back bedroom has a small closet sharing an alcove wall.  The bedrooms are equal in size and will accept queen beds.  The washer closet is on the right.

This panorama was made from the front door corner.  The bathroom is tucked into the corner with the washer closet.  Sheet rock taping and filling is nearly completed so that painting can begin.  The minimalist kitchen will occupy the corner with the small window.  Some distortion is introduced in these stitched images that do not fully convey the comfortable living space I will enjoy.

The front porch receives roofing panels.  An unnecessary concrete pole adorens the the front of my lot.  Enquiries have been made to have it removed.

The dormers also receive the sheet metal roofing.

Coming from the nuclear industry I cringe at the make do scaffolding and ladders the crew works from.  These items are difficult to find as well as being expensive.  The crew manages to scamper all over the building with the greatest of ease where I experience vertigo in the absence of handrails.

Siding is installed on all but the north wall and only one dormer wall.  Note that the dormer windows have been installed.  The new covered front stairway provides main house access.  Covering the stairway with a roof may not make a lot of sense for rain is usually accompanied by a driving wind so getting wet is still likely.

After a hard days work the crew is loaded up for the commute home to a small village some distance away.  These guys work from 6:00 am to 2:00 pm six days a week.  They are a great crew that have fun with each other without any squabbling that I can perceive.  Much of what is said is said in Spanish and the English skills vary from person to person.  English is Belize's official language, but it is only one of the many languages spoken here.  When I overhear a conversation I don't always know if I'm hearing English, Spanish, Creole or all three at once.  Perhaps with time and exposure I'll get the gist of what is being said all around me.  Just more of the acclamation process.

Closer, Closer, Ever Closer

My move in date moves ever closer.

Above is a view through the wash room into the bathroom.  The house wiring has been completed as well as the plumbing.  The house is on city water, but I am located at the tail end of the city water supply.  Consequently I may experence low flow or low water pressure at times.  To overcome this city water is collected in a ground level tank outside the house.  A float valve assures the tank is refilled as the water is consumed.  Water is pumped into a pressure tank to provide the upstairs with sufficient flow and pressure.  Hot water is provided by a gas fired on demand water heater on the ground floor.

The bathroom walls now sport sheet rock.  Shown above are the beginnings of the shower.  The shower will be fitted with a sliding door and more unusually, a window.  The window will need a shower curtain to provide a measure of privacy and to spare the window a deluge of water.  A well ventilated bathroom will discourage the growth of mold and mildew.

Most of the walls are sheet rocked.  There remains the laborious task of fitting sheet rock panels around the rafters to extend the finished walls to the ceiling.  Note the installed louvered glass windows.  The louvers pivot on security steel bars making it more difficult to of break in.

The 12' x 18' front screen porch has received a deck!  I expect to spend many pleasant idle times in this space.  I envision a bench swing and possibly a few hammock chairs in my present flights of imagination.  The 8' x 30' rear porch also has been decked.  The hazardous access to the upper floor, by balancing across porch joices from the rear stairway, is a thing of the past.  The rear porch may largely have a utilitarian function as a place to hang drying clothes and possibly barbeque.  However, it could be a great spot to enjoy the sunsets.

I am told this formidable large black insect is a harmless coconut bug.  Anyone ready to put that to the test?

The house is now secured with windows and locking doors.  The vendor has failed to make and deliver the dormer windows, but this will be corrected in time.  If you look carefully you can see the blue sheet metal roofing installed over the rear porch and the water tank previously mentioned.  The lack of front stairs and rear porch roofing prevents access to the open dormers.  The finished stairway has received a coat of paint.  Window framing has been installed in preparation for siding.

Ceilings and Walls and Windows, Oh My!

The finial beam section is lifted into place to complete the end support for the rear deck rafters.  Supporting beams are commonly scarfed together by cutting 45 degree angles on the adjoining sections to create longer beams.  My buddy Butris waves for the camera.  The beginnings of the cement stairway appear below the deck.

Bush sticks provide surprisingly sturdy support for the stairway forms.

Rebar and risers are added to ready the form.

The concrete is poured and a short time later the crew is scampering up and down the form to access the upper floor.  This is a testament to the bush stick's sturdy support of the uncured concrete.

Here the crew amuses themselves with tops during their lunch break.

Ali seems to be good at most everything he does.  Here he has thrown the top so that it looped back to land in his hand spinning.

The Belize weather can be very dramatic!  Above is the largest rainbow I've ever seen.

My friend, Art, lives in a gated community that is just across the canal.  From a previous episode you may recognize the orange and white house that is visible from my front deck.  I gather with other friends at Arts for Thursday volleyball.  Unlike Tuesday volleyball it is played on land rather than in the water.

The roof has been sheathed as well as all but one wall.  The wiring and plumbing are nearing completion.

The rear deck now sports roof framing while the ground floor windows get the louvered treatment.

This view shows the unusual roof line and gives the false impression that the house is lushly landscaped.

Sheath Me

Here is the drill the crew knows so well.

Buckets of sand, gravel, cement and water, mix, pour and repeat.

Several guys run wheel barrows while one guy spreads and smooths the pour.  Before long I have a new cement pad under the front deck.

The image above is a stitched together living room panorama. In the foreground is a mis-stitched temporary roof support column.  The dormer window faces east towards the bay.  The door way below the dormer leads to the front deck.  I'm very interested to experience the sunrise and sunset interplay of light through the east and west dormer windows in the completed home.

The image above faces the west.  The bedroom walls are to the left.  To the right are the bathroom walls and washer closet.  The minimalist L shaped kitchen will go against the bathroom wall and below the window opening.  The meager kitchen reflects my lack of cooking skills and cooking interest.  I envision a future island to enhance the kitchen counter and storage space, but that might only come to pass in the unlikely event that someone who cooks would live with me.

I miss one day of house building for a day of boating and rum debauchery to return to a completed screened deck and deck roof framing.

All roof rafters receive hurricane clips; hopefully to retain the roof structure during a heavy blow.

A fresh "plaster" coat dries on the boat slip walls.

Sheathing is applied to the roof structure, I like where the visual effects are headed!

Insulation is installed on the sheathing, this is followed by battens and later by a sheet metal roof.  The insulation is about 3/16" thick.  The inner core is a soft foam sandwiched between aluminumized heat reflective surfaces.  It is said to be very effective and is a product of Costa Rica, one of the "greenest" countries around.

This alternate view gives a better idea of dormer arrangement and the roof structure.  A future roof structure will cover the full width back deck.