We started building our Rock Wall Planter a few days ago. Although it is going to look really cool, it will also server its purpose as a retaining wall in case we have any water issues (draining down the hill). We poured a concrete foundation and built up the walls 3/4 of the way with concrete blog. Then we went to the quarry (cadena) and got a dump truck full of blue stone. Unfortunately, most of that stone is too big to use on the all and it isn’t breaking up well with the sledge hammer like we had hoped…so we have gone back to the cadena two days in a row now to hand pick flat and squared off stones (for the corners of the walls and for the steps).
It has been raining a lot since we started working on the wall; every time it rains we have to cover up whatever we are working on and wait out the rain. Today, Jerry and Tito are starting to build the steps. This is the stressful part…steps are very important when it comes to entering and exiting your house.
Check out some pictures of the front yard with the rocks, partially built wall and our visit to the quarry.
Look how small Jerry is compared to everything else
We rapped up our days in Oklahoma shooting dozens of commercials this evening around 9:00pm. I have had about 5 hours of sleep in the past 48 hours. It’s funny, things never go as planned when it comes to shooting commercials. Today, we planned on finishing up the last 5 shots between 10:00 & 2:00, but we kept shooting until 8:00pm…then we had to put humpty dumpty back together again (shooting commercials in a real office involves moving things around, lighting etc) so we didn’t leave until 9:00pm. I promised everyone in the office that I would cook dinner after we rapped up so the cooking for 14 people (T-Bone’s, Chicken Breast, Shrimp Cocktail, Spinach Salad, Grilled Asparagus, Grilled Corn, Grilled Pineapple, Grilled Onions, Guacamole, Garlic Smashed Potatoes) didn’t start until 9:45. By the time we were done eating it was nearly one o’clock.
After dinner, I hopped online to book the rental car I need for San Juan to Mayaguez; to save Summer the 4.5 hours of driving time between Rincon to San Juan and then right back to Rincon. The crazy thing is, the rental would have been $28 per day but since I was dropping it off at a different location the price jumped up to about $136 plus taxes etc. I thought that was crazy..so I surfed around online and found out that Cape Air, which offers service between San Juan and Mayaguez was only $86 after taxes….AND the flight only takes 25 minutes. The only problem was that my flight wasn’t scheduled to get into San Juan until 9:45 and the last flight to Mayaguez is at 6:30pm.
So, I called Continental, found out that the planes were pretty empty on the 6:30am flight out of Oklahoma City and got it in my head that I wanted to be home hanging out with Summer as soon as possible. I left the ‘get together’ around 3:15am, drove home, packed my stuff, took a shower, returned the rental car and arrived at the airport at 5:00am on the dot. Upon check-in, I found out that for an additional $25 I could turn my stand-by flights into guaranteed seats all the way into San Juan (arriving at 4:00pm) so naturally, I pulled the trigger on that one and then called Cape Air and booked an $80 ticket from San Juan to Mayaguez arriving at 7:00pm (right when our Monday night Poker Game starts). I am stoked.
The only bad thing about all this is that I had to stay up all night…and am barely able to keep my eyes open right now. Half the reason for this blog entry is to give me something to do while I am waiting for my flight….17 minutes and counting until boarding time.
One thing I learned while driving in Puerto Rico, is that I’ve been spelling quebrada wrong this whole time (it’s not spelled cabrada).
Any how, it rained like crazy today and I seized the opportunity of moist soil (easy to dig) and dug out muchas plantas en la quebrada. I brought them back up to the house, potted them and stuck them in the new greenhouse. And by “new greenhouse” I mean the old outside shower at the back of our house.
The front of our house may be barren, but the backside is LUSH and there are all kinds of plants that we will be able to replant in the front when we are ready to do the landscaping. So I figure I’ll get as many plants as I can potted and ready for planting.
Here is a picture of the “gifts of the creek” (regalos del quebrada) that I harvested today.
I am in Oklahoma City for business…and one thing I have noticed is that taxidermy is probably big business here. First, in our hotel I noticed these zebra skinned chairs. I think I am going to try to buy this from the hotel and ship it home. It would look great in Summers office.
Second: Check out the display of local kills that was on display at the local 24 hour dry cleaner.
Stuff that used to be dead in its original form (not leather or hamburgers) used as interior design is kinda creepy to me. Maybe I am just a city kid.
I was wandering around the newly flat front yard, watering the coconut palms and it hit me…The way the yard has been terraced (on a slant) is PERFECT for a water feature. Pour a bit of cement down the slant, stick some rocks in it (we have plenty of rocks) and hook up some sort of water pump. I’ve never made a water feature before, but this could totally happen fairly easily I think…
The only problem is that monkey is stuck under the stairs in the 2nd picture…
I’ve been doing some research and it looks like we already have the hardest part done, which is building the slope (almost everything I’ve read said that the most expensive and labor intensive part is hauling in the dirt and rocks to make the slope. Well, we have PLENTY of dirt and rocks and well as a burm/slope). Here is a good picture tutorial for building the waterfall:
It looks like the most expensive part (since we have the dirt and rocks) will be the pump. But I think that we could make our front yard into a cascada (waterfall) for about $1000, which is well worth it since it will add 10 times the value (at least) to the house.
Here is a walk through of the progress on the guest bedroom and loft:
Trey, the guy that did our drywall, suggested the loft idea and I LOVE the loft! It opens up a lot of room since the guest bedroom isn’t very big. Stefan hooked up the room for me and put the bed in the loft and even put down some temporary carpet (we are doing hardwood in the entire upstairs, but that’s a couple of months off). The loft is also equipped with dual fans and lights. We are eventually going to build a cool ladder (perhaps with any left over mahogany) for the loft/guest bedroom. The house is coming along!
Gino and Kevin have been working on the mahogany window panes and here is the finished product in the guest bedroom:
They look really good! I was a little hesitant about using mahogany after seeing how expensive it is (we spent $1000 for a fairly small pile of wood), but I’m glad we did now. The mahogany looks awesome now that it’s stained and finished. All of the upstairs window panes in the house will have the mahogany finish. Que bueno!
Before Stefan left for Oklahoma, we went shopping for a sink for the guest bathroom. Gino (our tile guy) told us about this somewhat high end bath and kitchen store in San Juan, called Armadietto. He wasn’t kidding when he said it looked like part of the cemetary. It WAS part of the cemetary. Kind of an odd place to have a kitchen and bath store, but okayyyyyy.
We didn’t find anything at Armadietto, but this grave is for sale.
Let us know if you’re interested in some eternal rest in San Juan, Puerto Rico. We’ll put in an offer for you…
When I met Stefan in San Juan, we stayed at the San Juan Hotel and Casino. It was about $150 - $200 a night and it was really nice. We ate at the restaurant in the hotel and the food was average and overpriced, but the service was great and the drinks were good. Stefan ordered the endless flights of wine for $25 and the “flights” were huge. Seriously, the waitress poured us at least 2 glasses of wine into each flight and there were four flights total. No wonder I was SO hung over the next day. Barf.
Yep, I’m still a brunette
The San Juan Hotel and Casino has really contemporary furnishings in the rooms (White leather, lucite chairs, etc.) and the lobby is beautiful. The casino is open until 4am and the pool is open 24 hours (which I have NEVER seen at a hotel before). They also have a popular club at the San Juan Hotel and entry is free for guests.
Here is Stefan packing for his business trip to Oklahoma, after the valet brought our beautiful car around…
I thought it was funny that he was pulling his big-baller clothes out of a cardboard box in our beater truck as he was suiting up his alter-ego El Suave Producer.
Michael Porfirio Mason, I’m calling you out. Name that brand of shirt, tie and shoes. I know you don’t keep yours in a cardboard box, but to each their own ;)…
Yesterday I flew in to San Juan and met Stefan before he flew out to Oklahoma for business (yes, we do actually have jobs ;)…). After he left, I had to drive The Red Baron (also known as the Bulldozer) from San Juan to our house in Rincon. I was a bit nervous because I’ve never driven the Bronco before and I’ve never driven in Puerto Rico before, but I made it and I only almost crashed once.
Here is how to get from the San Juan Airport to Rincon:
As you exit the airport, you are going to stay to the right and get on the 26 Oeste (West), stay to the right and in about 5 miles, you are going to take the tunnel exit to get on the 22. You drive on the 22 for about 30 - 40 minutes and it turns into the 2, which at some points is a two lane highway with stop lights (it looks more like a main street then a highway). About 1 - 1.5 hours into your drive there is a huge stadium on the left of the freeway. After the stadium, at the bottom of the hill, you are going to turn right at the Esso gas station and the Walgreens. Make your 1st left at the stop sign. Follow the signs to the 115 and then follow the signs to Rincon, which will put you on the 413. The 413 will put you in Rincon, Puerto Rico.
One thing I learned while driving in Puerto Rico, is that I’ve been spelling quebrada wrong this whole time (it’s not spelled cabrada).
