Minga Pintagapa

Posted on April 27, 2014July 21, 2017 by patrice

Super day for a Minga

our Invitation:
Minga Part Tres – or Minga Pintagapa !!!

Yes, that’s right…Back by popular demand is yet another Minga in San Miguel. Yes this Minga is brought to you by the same people that brought you the Mudapalooza (Alpa Raymi) and Roof Minga (Husay Cumbay).

Who’s coming?… Well we hope you are – after all it is the Social Event of the Spring Season!! Anyone who is anyone will be there but of course!

Where is it?… San Miguel Lot #12 but of course!

When is it?… April 25 at 10am.

What will you be doing?… Well showing everyone your artistic flair with a paint brush of course! (priming the walls in the kitchen/great room/breakfast room)

Make sure to dress appropriately, sun screen on, bring a hat and wear bug repellant!

Why will you be doing this?…Because you will get some Pizza and perhaps and little Wine or Beer, and be dazzling everyone with your artistic flair. But wait there is more!!! If you RSVP now, we will double your invitation! That’s right, you can bring a second person absolutely free.
Just pay shipping and handling fees of $300 USD for second free person. Special fees and assessments will apply. Upgrades and optional accessories are additional charges.

Please RSVP

: We call this “The Wall”, and it was the result of the efforts today. It is the hand prints of everyone that was here today and all of the workers that have been building the house.

: Here is our sign for the Minga.

: Whoa… Lots of people showing up

: Let the work begin!

: Ok show us your skill at painting.

: Good here come more workers.

: That’s it, paint those walls!!!

: Ahh, some discussions about one of the Domes…more on that later.

: Oh no, don’t paint me!!!

: What a great bunch they aren’t ready to quit yet

: That’s it, get those high places!

: Oh is there a photo shoot going on? I think so

: More of the crew busy over here too.

: Looks like rollers at 3 paces here – party is getting rough! Must be a labor dispute…either that or something else!

: He isn’t working alone – really

: I think we need to get some more paint brushes, so many people painting.

: Am sure the house will get painted today!

: And it goes on….and on….Sounding like that old Journey song.

: Looks like a management discussion in the center of the room

: Patrice is covering that wall!

: Dome painting … getting setup.

: This is an example of “The Painting Dance”, a very common practice in this part of the world.

: Who says this is break time…Is that wine I smell on your breathe…no wonder your smiling..

: Two painters, one worker to hold the stands, and of course one supervisor looking on – yup pretty typical

: Looking like a sky is being painted.

: The Wall!

: This is the actual work table for creating “The Wall”. See how no expense was spared! Even the top of an oil drum became the painting palette.

: This dome is starting to become something… hmmm.

: Lunch time – the pizzas arrived.

: The crew quietly waiting.

: Ramiro stops to take a drink.

: What Dave and Patrice are painting in the Dome….who would have thought!

: Still a work in progress…the dome is looking like something at the end of the day.

: Yes…the party is over and everything is cleaned up.

: No one over here either – everyone went home.

: Thanks to everyone for the creating “The Wall”!! I will add credits for everyone late

Casa 4.25.14

Posted on April 27, 2014July 21, 2017 by patrice

More details everyday. We were so excited to see our window frames being installed almost two weeks early! The company is super and run by a wonderful young man. He is also doing all of our exterior and interior doors. Can’t wait to see those!

: From the Outdoor kitchen – Left is doors to guest wing, center is window into living room, right is doorway. Bright sunny day you can see the effect from the patio cover. It is like diffused lighting.

: Window frames are being installed and in this shot you can see one of the frames in the breakfast room and one of the kitchen windows

: Master bedroom with floor installed and window frames.

: A view of the house from another lot.

: Tile is being installed in master shower. Patrice: I drew this design on a piece of paper while in the truck delivering the tiles from Ibarra – took us a long time to get to Cotacachi (about an hour) its a 30 minute drive (no the seatbelt did not work) the driver was super though

: Another view of the tile in the master shower.

: Windows over the toilet in the Master Bath.

: From just inside the outdoor kitchen. Left is front door; center is indoor patio, with “The Wall” in the background; right is entrance to breakfast room.

: All the frames are made of a type of Oak that grows in South America. Nice tight fine grain in the wood too. As you can tell lots of detail work goes into each one.

: One of the windows in the guest shower with tile work underway. There is a light at the top you can see

: Another view of the craftsmanship of the window frames.

These hands built this house

Posted on April 26, 2014April 26, 2015 by patrice

Our day started slowly and then an idea happened – this is my laundry room wall – I plan to have written above it in Kichwa ~ English ~ Spanish

Kay makikunami kay wasyta rurarka ~ These hands built this house ~ Estas manos construyeron esta casa

Yes its hands, all our crew including our architect Ramiro, Maestros Rolando, Roberto, ours and our friends – WOW this makes me cry! So truly blessed (can hardly wait to move in)!

Pink Floyd has nothing on us! This is a quick movie about the making of all the hands that helped build our almost finished house. It is on permanent display on “the wall” in a room in our house. Today was a Minga (work party, with more on the party part) to paint the house. What a wonderful day we had together. The man you see directing most of this in the white shirt is our Architect, Ramiro Rangles. Everyone there, including the people working on the house has hand prints on that wall now.

Casa 4.18.14

Posted on April 18, 2014July 21, 2017 by patrice

: Dave: It is hard to see in this picture but the line on the tile goes straight into the hallway curve. It matches perfectly. Patrice: the tile in the hallway is way beyond what I expected – figured they would break the entry up so they would not have to keep the lines flowing – well they kept the pattern all the way down – wow

: Taken on the other side of the development. It gives you a view of what the house looks like from a distance.

: Dave: I found it interesting how they did what looks like Mosaics for room separation. They used the rectangle tiles you see and used a saw to cut into them and make the 3 tiles in the doorway.

: Wide angle shot from the doorway to the outdoor kitchen. Far left is front door middle is indoor patio, and right is the kitchen on to the breakfast room.

: Wide angle from the back door. Far left is doorway to outdoor kitchen, middle is living room, and right is indoor patio.

: Wide angle from Patrice’s office window looking at outdoor kitchen and patio.

: Hallway tiled now.

: Dave: Now Patrice’s office is tiled like mine is..

: Master bath is ready to be tiled and tiles on the walls are going up.

: Even the Master shower is being tiled now too

: Septic was dug and then it rained all night that is why all the water

: Finishing touches are added each day.

Casa 4.11.14

Posted on April 11, 2014July 21, 2017 by admin

: This was interesting, at least to us…This is part of the indoor patio and we were amazed at how this curve looked formed. But then the secret was revealed, or I should say we figured it out…See the boards tacked into that post? there is a wire attached to a piece of rebar that Patrice is holding, and it matches perfectly that curve. Simple tools = beautiful work.

: Ok, ok… I am giving into the demands to see a closer look at the Dreamworks logo by our front door. You can see where the lights are going in, those little black holes, and how much that side is raised.

: This is further proof of me giving in and showing more detail of the Dreamworks logo – yet an even closer lookat the detail. Ok now everyone has to wait until the weekend for further details

: From our rental…Oh what is that appearing on one of the Dome’s? Could it be the Mosaics?

: Oh yes it is the Mosaics being applied – very nice.

: A bit more details appearing but mostly on the inside…Lets take a closer look…

: On the front porch looking through the front door and you can see the tunnel at the far end leading to the Master bedroom. That sliver on the left is of course the Dreamworks logo we showed earlier this week. —

: Stepping into the front door and looking slightly to the right you see the hallway to the guest wing and the left side of the picture shows the living area and a bit of the outdoor kitchen and a bit of the tunnel to the master.

: From the kitchen looking towards the front door across the indoor patio.

: The outdoor kitchen is taking shape. The bread oven is being made and it looks like supports for the counter are being made also. On the ceiling you can see a bit of the sanded and finished beams that they are working on.

: My office and they are starting finishing in there too

: Master bay window has made great progress this week and details are showing up.

: This is looking from the Master closet into the Master bathroom. Straight ahead is our shower cave. It does have a whole in the roof to let the sky light light in though – it is about 8 feet tall.

: Looking from where the bathtub will be towards where the sink area is with the skylight showing through. On the right you can see some of the shower cave.

: Standing at the entrance to the guest wing looking at the front door. You see the reflection of our wine bottle window. On the left is the Dreamworks logo and on the right is the hallway leading to the Pantry and kitchen.

: Our electrical panel is in place.

: Looking from the doorway of the Outdoor Kitchen towards the kitchen area. On the left you see part of the indoor patio; straight ahead is the breakfast room. Those ornacina’s you see on the right are just inside the door going to the backyard.

: Just a view of Imabura it usually doesn’t have a cloud resting on it. A very nice day…back to the house…

: Not much new on the outside, but you can see that it looks like they completed one of the Domes in blue Mosaics.

: Outdoor kitchen is coming along. Bread oven is making progress too. Logs are finished and the slats for the glass cover are in place also.

: Another view of the outdoor kitchen looking into the house and out the back door. Past the swings that are still hanging in the house.

: Kitchen – sanding is almost complete on the logs.

: Back of the house. Nice detail on those windows. From left to right, Bodega door, Master closet window, windows in back of master toilet and window by master bathtub

: Looks like the last details in the Master bathroom are in place. Patrice’s Tiara is still growing…See there over the shower… You can get an idea of how much light comes down from the skylight by how much you see the ladder in the shower.

: Just wanted to show the high tech clamps. See those bend pieces of re-bar holding the wood that is forming the bottom of the window.

: Hard to see but the roof over the outdoor kitchen is all stained and detailed out. The bay window in the Master Bedroom on the right is close to being complete and ready for glass.

: Dome all covered and sealed now. This is from our rental house

: Outdoor kitchen, the work continues. Starting to look like a kitchen now.

: One of the ladders, made on site of course, I guess they couldn’t find any straight pieces of wood.

: Cover for the patio is all ready for the glass it looks like

: Surprise! We have a counter on the kitchen side of the outdoor patio. I think we will have the carpenter that is doing the kitchen cabinets and island come back and remeasure.

: Detail on the cover over the outside kitchen patio.

: Wires are appearing everywhere, even on the Dreamworks logo.

: A look from the outside through the master bath window at the shower caver, just a different angle.

: Surprise! Two small windows appeared this week in the bodega.

: Bay window detail on the master bedroom.

: Close up of the mosaics on the Dome.

: Looks like something is happening on the side of the new counter attached to the indoor patio, and…all the bases for the beams in the patio that were square have now been chiseled down and made round as you can see

: Patrice’s office beams has been stained looks good too.

: Outdoor kitchen has work continuing…

: The tub in the Master bath is being built now

: Our second window is in now too. It is over where the toilet is.

: Not much new on the outside…except…look at the next picture….

: The second Dome over the breakfast room is now finished in Blue Mosaic as the other one!

: Looking from the Kitchen, on the far left is the new counter on the indoor patio wall, hallway to pantry and laundry room, center is the area the dish hutch is going, then the entry to the breakfast room.

: Glass is being placed on the outdoor kitchen roof.

: Dave’s office beams and ceiling have been finished now.

: Glass awaiting to be put on the patio, outdoor kitchen, roof

: Blue bottle window from the outside.

: Looks like they have finished working on the bay window, at least on the outside.

: Last few pictures for this month before we start another Album. This is looking through the shower area in the guest wing. There are 3 windows in the shower and they will have glass blocks. You can see they are putting the blocks in place.

: This is the sink area in the quest bath. That area above the sink goes all the way to the skylight on the roof.

: The swings have been taken down. Looks like our swinging days are over.

: Just a close up of the Dome over the the breakfast room.

: the famous corner – Dave has taken a photo from this spot every week – we have a movie (posting soon)

: A closer look under the Dreamsworks logo – it looks like a pot

: Wait it is a pot…

: This is made from the shattered pieces we and the workers found on our property. This will have a light coming from the bottom and showing light from the top.

: Side view so you can see how big of a bulge it has, Can you imagine what the light will be like shining up from the bottom at night?

: The shower windows being finished.

: A look from the Toilet area looking at the shower.

: A look at what the cover over the outdoor kitchen will look like. This area is finished.

: Baby Dome… Notice they put the chimney to the living room fireplace up and it is a baby dome… either that or the domes we have are a male and a female and they are propagating…either that or something else….

: It doesn’t show well but they have done some finishing work on the Pot, filled in the cracks

: Fireplace in the living room is taking place nicely.

: Parts of the house are primed now – this is the hallway to my office.

: Flooring is starting. This is my office.

: A little more finishing although it is hard to see.

: Wait a row of steps has appeared on the outdoor kitchen Patio. Look close and the baby dome for the chimney is getting some finishing done as well.