Towards the next step

Sunday, September 4th

From the photos sent this week, it seems there are mucho pipes of various diameters being poked upwards from the foundation. My bet is that this is the incoming and outgoing system for water, gas, wiring and so on. I think once these are in place, the cement floor will be poured, and we will be ready for the next phase. Large holes are NOT graves for my spouse when he annoys me, but maybe the septic tank? I would really like to be there in person so I could ask loads of questions, but that might be irksome to the crew when they likely don’t speak English, and my Spanish is still poco.

We are hopeful we can take another trip late Fall, perhaps November. Then I can ask some hopefully intelligent questions, select finishes, say hola to the crew and the supervisor – all who are doing a grand job as far as I can tell! Timing will be important for the trip – after Chris sells the business, and before the finishing starts. We have a delightful couple from South Africa who are truly serious about purchasing the gallery, but they are constrained by a long wait for visa approval. Panama isn’t the only place where wheels seem to grind slowly! Our civil service here is painfully slow in many cases.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, er basement suite, we are happily enjoying some beautiful late summer sunshine. Just in time for the kiddies to head back to school, of course! The cats are raging to be outside, and have made some interesting darts for the door whenever the opportunity arises. Shutting doors quickly has it’s potential for an inadvertent squeeze play for a silly puss, so I need eyes in the back of my head lately. The nights are closing in earlier, and both boys find the moths fluttering against the windows an engaging past-time. Both are convinced if they scrape at the window enough, they can drag the bugs inside. Keeps us entertained too!

All too soon, we’ll have to head off to our storage locker and switch summer for winter clothing – something we had hoped NOT to do again!