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.