…..AND THE BUILDING STARTS!

So here I am again after two or three weeks of silence.   Michael and I have been really busy but it's good to be able to sit down and do some updating on what's going on.

We found a contractor to help us build our house.  He is the son of the builder who built my parents' house in 2005.  Felipe is making a name for himself in the local construction business and is in high demand around here so I was surprised when he said yes. 

Michael gave him the house plans on Thursday, November 12 – one for the two-storey house and the other for a separate building for the bake shop.  Felipe suggested hollow blocks be made on-site to cut cost, so Saturday, November 14, deliveries started pouring in – cement and gravel and sand.  By dusk that day, they made 20 bags worth of hollow blocks (40 blocks/1 bag of cement).

November 16, Monday, workers came to start the foundation for the bake shop.  We wanted to get this done so we can use it as temporary storage for more building materials for the house.  Coco lumber is being used for scaffolding so we have to cut some coconut trees for this.  Here are some pictures I took of the workers as they made hollow blocks, dig the foundation, cut and shape rebars and install the scaffolding:

Everything is done here manually, mixing cement and gravel, cutting and shaping rebars, etc., etc..  No fancy equipments or tools.  We even let them borrow some of our tools as these workers are ill-equipped tool-wise but what they lack they made up for their determination and dedication to work and get things done rain or shine.  These guys are dependable, hardworking people and I admire all ten of them.  Michael and I make sure they have water all the time and snacks in the AM and in the afternoon. 

There are four coconut tree stumps that are sliced into fourths so that they can move these out of the site.   Here's a picture of what they look like:

We are brainstorming of ways we can utilize these chunks, perhaps some of you would have ideas we could use.  I am thinking maybe we could fashion one of them into a seating area and the rest incorporate in the landscaping.  I welcome any suggestions.

Lumber is really scarce here by the way.  So we need to order them as soon as we get the estimates and measurements.  Because of serious deforestation, loggers have to go through several barangay captains to get permission to haul the lumber to us.  We are still waiting to get our first order as of this week.

Thank you for your patience and for following our journey.  We love y'all and God bless you!