Mama Ciel (even bigger)

Mama Ciel's stomach has just ballooned in the last week or two.



No it's not a disease it's just chinese cups. "Cups velly gooo"

The small garden challenge

The back garden is coming along, helped by the spring rain.

The office

The floor came out nicely even though the polyurethane stuff was nasty to work with.



A provisional office has been set up until I get a feel for the space. Then I'll get custom made desks and some furniture.



Finally... balustrades.



A nice moody afternoon viewed from the balcony.

Mama Ciel

Boasting a healthy stomach.

Kitchen confidential

Before...



After... A punctured water pipe and emergency plumbers made it a rough ride but in the end its all worth it. Now we need some tiles...



Now if we can just get that dishwasher going...

Waiting for a back garden

Two Zimbabwean guys helped to clear all the cement and rubble from the back.



Johnson, former shop clerk in Harare.



Obvious (yes, its obviously his name) was a driver. Both now do hard labour to survive.



At, a plasterer from the neighbourhood, sculps plant troughs.



A great job but now everythings a cement mess again.

Be kind... Rewind

The builder agreed (we had kept some of his money) to replace the floor and stairs. Sounds simple? Both were particularly painful processes, but more so the stairs as that involved the original third party builders.



Jy maak n gamors!! Shoveling the cement in for the new effort.



Most of the floor looked great with some bits in the middle a bit crumbly. I fixed it with a bonding key and cement wash but now theres nasty marks on the floor so the clear sealer is not an option anymore?



The new and improved stairs. The risers and treads are now much better, although we had to come out a bit in front. Also everything is a bit rounded off, hopefully making bone crunching falls a bit less likely.

We have plumbing!

Apart from the tiles issue the bathroom looks nice. Just needs a door and a clean.

These stairs are ok

It feels like I'm gonna be...

...forever blue



Nobody ever warns you, or tells you what to do.
She walks away, your left to stay.
Alone forever blue.
The stars have all stopped shining, the sun just won't break through.
Each days the same, more clouds more rain.
Your left forever blue.
Forever blue 'cause you love her, but she dosen't love you.
You did your best, life did the rest.
Your left forever blue.
( Guitar Solo )
No reason left for living, still there's alot to do.
New tears to cry, old songs to sing.
And feel forever blue.
And be forever....Blue



Lots of little (and some not so little) problems to fix for the rest of the year.

So that's how they do it

Cretestone gives the walls that smooth finish.

Bathroom blues

Lummy from Zimbabwe did a fairly good job on the wall tiles.



But struggledwith the marley floor tiles because he hasnt done them before. It took me 3 hours in the middle of the night to replace 3 tiles. In retrospect we realised we made a mistake and should have gone with normal tiles as these get very dirty and can break.



The final day with the plumber was a terrible experience I dont want to repeat. Looking quite nice despite all the dramas.

The stairs issue

We are not happy with the stairs. There are extra steps and other modifications that we didnt sanction. The tread is also only 22cm.



Some weird stuff happening here.

The back yard starts looking like a million dollars

Suffering because of ugly cracked walls?



Viola. Nothing a bit of cement cannot fix.

(Hopefully) No more rising damp

The alley has been lowered and the angle adjusted so the water now actually flow out!

It's a messy business

The keys left their imprint in the dust.



Manon and Katja braves the conditions to check out the view.

And there was light!

Remember these 2 doors?

Gone! And now there's much more space and light!

And we can see the view from the lounge...

But what a mess to break them out!

It always looks different on the wall

Still getting used to the color. We settled for Plascon Wall n All in the end instead of the rougher textured Micatex.

Lost air vent found

I discovered a hidden air vent under the alley cement.



An unusual but cheap solution using rain gutters. Cement will cover it with only the pipe portruding.

Final week coming up?

Chaos reigns in the kitchen as Cecile paints the bath with a rust primer.



The newly inserted window sans burglar bars, with paint sample on the wall outside.



Shafiek showing how it should be done. It came down easily but they left half of it and left early on Friday??



The courtyard will be much bigger with the service alley included.

New views in the neighbourhood

The old lady across the road told me the house looks impressive from the street below. So I had to have a look. Primer painting in progress.



Just a bit of the parapit sticking out from across the road in front of the house.

Finally... the top floor happens

The freshly screeded floor on the upstairs room.