detail work

In the last week or so, Eduardo's been working on details. Light switches and plugs have been installed, as well as the edging of the windows. The paper laterns have been hung, but the final placements for the lighting fixtures will wait until I'm back in Cuiabá. Less than a week to go, and much easier than me kvetching about 30cm in one direction or another over skype.



And the most recent addition has finished Eduardo's table! The rest of the granite will take a bit longer (early January, I believe), but this piece had to be purchased from a different vendor. It's the same stone, but our primary vendor didn't have enough in stock. I imagine the stools we get will be a bit taller than Eduardo's bucket.



Merry Christmas!

more photos!

There's internet back on the farm, and now in the casinha as well. So Eduardo took me on a quick tour of the house before lunch today. And it's remarkable how much has changed in the last couple of weeks. The stone for the bench in the shower has been installed, and he's mocking up some of the lights. Also, the majority of the switch plates and wiring boxes are installed, which makes everything look much more finished. Now if the last tiles would only arrive... though theoretically they should get in on Tuesday. But no more tiles installed until January since Zé (out amazing tile guy) is at home.

Here's the current incarnation of the kitchen. With paper laterns with pressed flowers hanging over what will be the island.


And the stone installed in the bathroom. In this picture it looks way darker than in the last photo I have. Here you can also see the one wall still lacking tile...

one blueberry wall

or as Eduardo likes to call it-- Indigo, either one works for me. I can feel his blank stare through the internet as I describe a color as cornflower, or chalky anything. But blueberry is valid for two reasons-- one, he loves blueberries and two, that really was the name of the paint color we used in new hampshire. The only downside being that the color that is called 'blueberry', that is very similar to the color below, isn't the color of a blueberry!



The crazy thing is when I flip through the pictures on my laptop, iPhoto cycles. So right after the most recent picture, the first picture I have of a dusty kitchen with the old floor, and a wall that doesn't exist anymore and no ceiling pops up. It's a shock to see how much has changed.

final granite decisions

So in the end, what we thought was amarelo ornamental was actually amarelo icarai. how could we have been so foolish?? ... right. Anyhow-- whatever its called-- it's the final decision for the kitchen. Its a little bland, but there will be a lot of granite in there. And in the photo below it looks blander than it actually is next to the ornametal. Also-- did you know that really pale granites can be stained by oil? We had no clue-- but apparently this granite isn't too pale. Eduardo tested a not so visible area and we're good to go.



In the bathroom, there will be less than a meter-sq of granite, which means we got to pick something more fun. A granite with crazy splashes of green and blue and gold and creme on a brownish red base is what we're going with (the left panel in the pic). I think it might out weigh our colored back wall, but it should be good. And it's too pretty to pass up. The jatoba tiles are in the upper-left corner. But the images on the web are also kind of crummy. For example-- the top left (shanghai yellow) has little flecks of gold in it that are not at all visible in the image, and the bottom right tile (etna green) is actually more green than mud colored. Also there will be a grand total of ~33 cm where the tile will actually be next to the granite, so even if they don't perfectly match, we should be ok.

But the word from the stone shop is that the granite will be ready and installed by Christmas!

a little bit of color

Still no internet on the farm, but a few more pictures received. Before I left, Edu and I kicked around the idea of painting a wall in some of the rooms to add some more color. We really like colors, our place in new hampshire had a chili colored wall in the kitchen and a blueberry colored wall in the bedroom. It made it really warm and cozy.

Granted, I don't think we need to worry about the place in Brazil being sufficiently 'warm', but cozy is always important. So some yellow and blues are being judiciously applied. In general we're going with pale, calm colors. But the guest room is going to get an indigo wall reminiscent of our blueberry wall in new hampshire.

the home stretch...

Since my last post the internet has been down on the farm (apparently a lightning strike got the antenna), so not too many photos have arrived. But the tiles are now installed (except the bathroom tiles that have yet to arrive), and the doors are installed as well. Apparently the dogs and chickens are not fans of their newly limited access.

So the most recent photos...
The door onto the varanda

and the pretty kitchen tiles (one short, but it will arrive soon...)

Next week the painter will be back to do the last coat, and the measurements for the counters will be taken. And hopefully more photos will be arriving with the internet repaired.