Improvements to Nuestra Casa

We have been using the three weeks we have here to full advantage.

After this three weeks, we will return to Washington for medical reasons, and hope to be able to get back to this home in two months or so.

But in the meantime, we have been enjoying our home and Leisure World (more on that later) and setting up our home.

Some of our projects:

Painting:

When we had the bushes along the garage moved we found that whoever had painted this house the last time had not bothered to paint behind them.

So we had to try to match the color and fix this.  After two tries we got the color right.  And because there had been bushes there, and water sprinklers, the stucco around the foundation had become loose and had fallen off.

I painted, and Vicky repaired stucco:

It is a two or three day job.  Reason?  You can't work outside unless the sun has gone down.  It is 100+ degrees during the day.

In order to make these minor repairs we had to obtain a permit from Leisure World.  One can't make any changes/alterations/upkeep to the outside of your home without a permit.  Some people might find that intrusive and a violation of their property rights, but that is what you buy into here.  And unless the permit people are being unreasonable you have nothing to worry about.

Socket and switch plates:

We have had fun with these.  We have replaced all of our socket and switch plates with colorful Talavera pottery ones.  They match the tiles we have had installed in the living room and kitchen:

Planting bushes for barriers and cacti:

We wanted to plant bushes to create a front "patio" where the bushes would be the barrier instead of a wall, and to create a barrier in the back as well.

And we wanted to plant cacti.

So we went to a garden store and went wild:

The store delivered them, and Vicky distributed them to their planting spots:

And Vicky kept them watered.

The landscaping staff at Leisure World came today and planted them.

Hanging pictures:

We have hung a lot of pictures and decorations.  This was fun!

Our fountain:

I bought this on ebay.  It was sold as a "rain catcher."  In other words, it didn't work as a fountain.  Picked up the rest on Amazon, and after a lot of work, got it functional.  It sits outside on our veranda, and is fun and soothing:

Sorting, throwing away, and donating:

We also continue to clean out and throw away old, useless items, and then donate good ones.  We have a few more days of this.

Want any turquoise pillows?