Time Flies

We’re in the phase of all interior work on the house now. The master bath and the guest bath have both been given their base layers of cement stucco and are ready for the lime plaster to be applied. Then, since there’s a bunch of stuff sitting around, like the bathtub, faucets, tiles and such, the plan is to start putting the bathrooms together so we can have room to start plastering the walls and leveling the floors.

The floors will have more road base added, moved, relocated—whatever—so that the packed adobe floor starts going in and then the radiant floor tubing can be laid down. A final layer of 1” tinted adobe layer will be the final layer of that. Should be a couple of weeks for all of that. After the bathrooms of course.

So that’s three weeks of work (probably more, if history serves.) The plastering should take more than a week, and that brings us to four weeks. Interior doors, kitchen cabinets and countertops, appliances…the list is getting shorter. The time seems to be expanding well into fall. This doesn’t please me. Another fall in The Tin Can is not a happy-making thought for me.

We won’t talk about the costs, OK? We’ll just say that it is all going to be do-able very soon;) OH! And a fireplace is back in the picture and budget!!


This past week saw the rough cut planks and vigas get installed, lathe placed around all the windows and doorways in prep for the plastering and I even devoted most of my weekend to getting some ceilings and the master bedroom closet painted.



Some of the colors that Carolyn played with are plastered up on various walls around the abode. I think she’s finally having fun, since the color and plaster stuff is more her forte.

Damn if this structure ain’t looking like a house now!


I guess there’s not much to bitch, uhh, write about this week. We’re just moseying right along.

I suspect that Lil’ Bit and Lil’ Bun have run off together—no one’s seen ‘em in a coupla weeks. Rusty is still around, looking lonely and racing further afield than usual. Maybe the Lil’ ones will come back with a brood of baby ones and a ‘friend’ for Rusty. And, no, thoughts of coyotes dining on the bunnies are not in our mindset here at the Ranchita!

Friday night was gorgeous, with no threat of rain or high winds so I hauled a bunch of necessary items up to the roof and spent the night up there. I can’t begin to describe how magical the night was, from the stars to the shooting stars and other heavenly bodies aligning, small surprises and light breezes that came from one direction or another.

Southern breezes brought warmth while the eastern and western winds were cooling. Northern winds brought a hint of rain, but no clouds any closer than somewhere over Albuquerque. It’s nice to be in a place in my life where I can take the time to slow down and enjoy all that life here brings with it. And even that which just suddenly appears. I do love a good surprise.

And we won’t talk about life in town, either, OK?

I feel like I’m forgetting something, but it’s nothing major to do with the house. So we’ll leave it at that.

Mmmmmmanana!

The Nightmare Before Autumn

After weeks of tedious fix-all-the-screw-ups from crew #1, we have finally gotten to a point of visible progress on the house. And I’ve been having leaky eyes for three days now. My ‘vision’ is beginning to reveal itself and I am speechless. Yea, yea—I know. Me being at a loss for words is a treat, uhh, rare event—but its true! Except for the final color layer, the exterior stucco work is complete!




All of the ugly, cracked, gapping lava block is now a non-issue—until you walk inside, then its still offending everyone’s eyeballs. HOWEVER! There is progress happening inside very soon. Yes, folks, its time for the interior plastering parties to begin!

While Carolyn mixes up her concoctions of clay, colors and trade secret ingredients for the earthen plaster, the boys are doing stuff like cement window sills (oops! That’s another fix-the-screw-ups task), installing fan patterned rough cut timbers for the clerestory ceiling and then the vigas atop the timbers. It is a beautiful sight. Tub, tiles, fixtures and a gaggle of other assorted goodies will start finding their proper places very soon.

When we’re 93%, 95% and/or (?) 97% complete I can get some more money. Norbert is going to start on the floor pretty soon, since that’s the bank’s gauge as to when we’ve hit the magic number to release more funds. I like 88%, m’self….

When I came home yesterday, after the first day at school with the children, I walked into a whole pod of workers—more than a dozen of ‘em—just my added presence tipped the scale and each team of laborers went running to their favorite niches to try and find some space. Between the sheet rock guys (about 5 of them), the stucco guys (8) and my team of 4, I found myself standing alone in the kitchen, but the energy buzz was still palpable.

Manana will find the worker population here at Chee Chees del Aigre back to its usual four. I will be in town tackling Day 3 with the chil’ren.

Cement grey, or what I’m calling Still Alive & Kickin’, isn’t the most beautiful of eye candy colors, but I think y’all will agree that The House looks a far sight better than it did before. It sure has warmed my heart to see it.

Now that we are back to cooking with gas, as the old commercial used to proclaim, I can fill you in on the Nature Tales here at the Ranchita. After many weeks of some sort of daily rain showers an edible ‘green’ started sprouting. Norbert got all excited when he saw it, picked some and told me to eat it. Being the world-traveling adventurer I am, I did. No questions asked (Norbert used to be an organic farmer.)

The green had a slightly bitter taste to it, is chalk full of beneficial fatty acids and ain’t half bad. So, it turns out that I’m growing this free-range green called purslane. (We believe in diversity here on the land;) I was enjoying daily ‘hits’ of my new, free-range veggie until the bunnies discovered it. Now we’re in competition with each other to get the biggest, tenderest leaves. Good thing I have acreage.

The bunnies are still happy and hopping around. Plenty of collared lizards sit amongst us while we work, blithely sunning on rocks while we labor away.



I spent every night for the past 10-12 days sitting out on the trailer stoop and counting shooting stars. I averaged one a minute. I can’t talk about the lights that I saw. My understanding is that if I do, I would be transmogrified into bits tinier than quarks. Just know that there were more than the average number of those ‘sightings’ as well, ‘k?

This…idea/dream/psychotic episode of mine has certainly taught me a lot. The most impressed upon memory is that dreams require nightmares to come true. Next is: Even well conceived grand ideas require nightmares to become real. And, thirdly: Psychosis is a nightmare. (And to think of what I spent to come to those realizations! Shoot me NOW!)

Wildflowers are still bustin’ out all over the place, so here’s yer chance to enjoy them alongside me, electronically speaking.





Mananas, mijas y mijos!

Please Hold While We Connect You

I have intentionally NOT included pictures with the last few posts because it just got to be too much explanation and not enough evidence of progress. The build has also been coming along, but we have reached a state of stasis until I can get connected to those who hold my monies.

NEVERTHELESS…despite the overwhelmance of my emotional, financial, spiritual and physical states, I am still here, pulling my hair out, smoking waaaay too much, and stressing more than I ever remember and using up every last one of my 2100+ accumulated rollover minutes to make myself liquid. Financially liquid, ya jokesters.

If one more person asks me to have patience, more patience, or even suggests that I haven’t been p-a-t-i-e-n-t, I’m gonna show ‘em what I’m like when I’m impatient. And I ain’t pretty when I’m in that state.

So, enough about me, let me tell you about my House.

The House is fine, thank you very much and she thanks you for checking in on her. T2tW Ranchita and House are pleased to announce that she is all prepped—except for one lousy, stinking window—to be coated in her glorious and fabulous tri-layered exterior stucco. House has given Owner Julie permission to have the final finish coat be a nice light warm shade of yellow known as Candlelight.

When she has the money to do the final coat.

Until then House will be in stealth mode as she sits near the Manzanos in her dual layers of adobe and cement grayish brown. A shade I’m calling Still Alive and Kickin’. House will match the mountains. For now.

The sheet rock and insulation is due to happen next—in parallel to the stucco work—and will happen (here we go again) when Owner Julie gets the money to pay the nice men who will come and install the ceilings and closet walls.

Once those tasks are completed, then House will have several soothing and calming layers of hand applied earthen plaster applied all over her inside walls. It may feel like an annual gyn exam, except that houses don’t get those kind of exams, but, Owner Julie is feeling like that’s what one of those exams would feel like on a grand scale. Owner Julie will speak soothingly to House to ensure she stays calm during this time. We don’t need no cracks showing themselves at this critical time. That’s the end of the next phase of the build. There’re two more phases after that.

For now we have the following completed: All exterior doors are in and have been lovingly caressed with linseed oil to bring out their natural and unique wood grains, except for the one fiberglass door. It’s just functional and to be ignored. It just had to fit in a hole, and so it does. I’ll install the locksets and dead bolts—very nice ‘oiled bronze’ egg-shaped handles and bolts. I like ‘em. They were the closest to a copper tone I could find.

The small portal over the exterior master bedroom doorway is up, tarred and waiting for the top layer to be applied. The other portal over the west-facing doorway is in a similar state of existence.

The glass blocks are all installed.

The fireplace is coming out and banco seating will be in its place…until I get some more money to buy a UL approved, manufactured fire insert, wood burning stove or other acceptable UL approved, manufactured wood burning fire structure.

Ya know how most of say, a woman’s got to do what a woman’s got to do? I had to live that with the (temporary) loss of the fireplace. ~sniff~

So, with all my due and diligent work, p-a-t-i-e-n-c-e and summer vacation time, I am very close to getting some money so that we can proceed with the rest of the build.

Lil’ Bit, “Rusty” (a new bunny to the family) and Lil’ Bun are all racing around in front of me as I sit here on the steps to TTC. They are practically fearless and amuse all of here at The Ranchita. I just wish they would sit still and have their picture taken. For a family portrait and all. They get within several feet and don’t spook, but just dang well won’t sit still. They must be part of my clan, as their behavior is mine.

BUT! The House is going to be faboo when it’s done. Give me a month. Or three. Until then, from The Tin Can, I sit and wish you all a better manana. Te amo, one and all!