During the overnight hours, it seems as though the Quinta Tesoro de la Sierra Madre might have received 4 - 6 inches of rain, due to a suddenly forming upper-level low. The axis of the trough ran from above Monterrey to nearly Laredo and south down to below Cd. Victoria. In any regard, the June rainy season came a little early, and it is well that we did the repairs on the roof/ceiling of the "long, west-facing corridor".
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| This photo shows the flowering of our avocado houseplant"so named because it is the closest avocado to the house. |
We share here some pictures of the recent moments at the Quinta, some of the work and some of the seasonal beauty marks.
The rains during the past 18 months or so have been more generous than the previous three years. My decision to allow the "middle ground" between the house and the Rio Corona is turning out to be, for now, a wise measure.
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| These are the "tejas" on the ground, as we prepare to patch, repair, and re-enforce the roof/ceiling of the corridor. |
As I wander, verbally, it needs to be pointed out that the dates on these photos are incorrect. Why El Gringo Viejo is every bit as intelligent as the most brilliant pair in the world, Obama and (Sir Edmund)Hillary...he cannot seem to figure out how to set the date feature on his camera.
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| This is Alvaro triple bolting each re-enforcing 2X6 onto the supports of the ceiling. One can see the triple bolt at the top centre of the scene |
Here, on the left, are 3,200 tejas (TEI - has) or Moorish or Spanish roof tiles. They have been taken off so as to give access to the areas that need sealant, re-cementing, and in this case another measure. This time El Gringo Viejo is putting down a steel sheet underneath the tejas so as to conduct more rapidly and uniformly any water that is not removed through the channels formed by the loose joining of said tejas. This measure has already proven to be very effective. Also, the unavoidable bending and twisting caused by the use of rough, sawmill lumber, taken legally from the nearby forests, has been corrected. That measure will result in a more permanent and more perfectly level roof/ceiling than what we had before.
This entire project, not counting the planning, driving around picking up the material, and the locating, finally of a maestro to help, once begun only took 3 days to complete and clean up. Because of the shortage of labour in Mexico at this time, we passed through three maestros who could not work with us because they were already compromised, a couple of clients deep, and that left us in a bit of a lurch.
El Gringo Viejo
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| This is one of four spice, butterfly, and hummingbird gardens, this one with a view towards the Rio Corona, 200 yards to the South |
We wound up having to use the maestro who had left us in a lurch 13 years ago, never finishing and running up bills at the supply house. He is also the best maestro in this part of the county.....albeit burdened by his fame of running a 93 yard dash....and charging up accounts to one person to pay for material that pertains to other jobs. Perhaps that fame is what made him available for us. In any regard, Maestro IV readily accepted the job Alvaro offered. He arrived early, left late, and did typically excellent work. He only overcharged slightly...but perhaps none at all because of his complete array of very fine personal equipment. And it was good, perhaps, to bury the machete finally.
We shall send along a few more images of our works and scenes, once we work out another problem in the engineering department. Thanks for everyone's patience.
El Gringo Viejo
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