I left for Australia on November 30 and returned to San Miguel today.  

Though I love being with Taly, my home and my activities, and not least, my dog are all in San Miguel, and I have always had a hard time being away from home for extended periods.

That said, there is a lot to like in Byron Bay:  It is a totally different climate being right on the Pacific Ocean; humidity is high, and the salt air is such that I almost believe that even plastics can rust.  Anything with steel in it is subject to massive corrosion.

Though we have some friends in the area with whom we socialize, and whose company we enjoy, I have been spending a good deal of my time away performing a major upgrade on the Woodworkers’ Guild website.

There were some parties thrown by people Taly knows in Byron shire, and I had an opportunity to meet some truly fascinating people.

I have been home for almost two months now, and though I did enjoy much of Australia, I am very happy to be home.

I have neglected keeping this blog up to date for too long, and so much has happened since my return from Australia in January.

A most important event is that Taly and I have been married for one year, and are celebrating a happy anniversary today.

In mid December, I contracted to have an elevator installed in the southwest corner of the back patio, and up to the rooftop terrace.  The required 60% deposit was made payable in five equal installments, which meant that work on the elevator could proceed with the final payment on April 4.

Meanwhile, I had the Luna brothers (José and Fabio, and their crew, Alejandro et al) begin to build the shaft starting on March 14.  This phase was completed on or about April 4, when the installation of the elevator hardware began.  During the construction of the shaft, the house was a complete disaster, in which the attempt to keep up with the creation of dust was a fruitless pursuit.  Taly did not return home from Australia until March 30, and so missed out on all of the excitement of living in a war zone.

Though a good deal of the elevator hardware has been installed, we are still not close to completion.  The motor just arrived today, and the boys have to join the motor to a few other parts before it can be installed.  I am hoping that the job will be complete before Taly and I head to Denver and Albuquerque on June 15.

In the meantime, the Luna brothers and their crew finished painting the entire outside of the house as well as the outside wall in the courtyard.

Throughout all of this, work on the kitchenette in the rooftop guest suite has been completed, with Orlando building lovely cabinets for that space, and me installing a beautiful corona countertop.

Finally, there have been a number of projects undertaken in the main part of the house.  At the same time as the elevator shaft was going up, Chuy put in a decent sized breaker panel with 220 V circuits for the Elevator and for an induction cooktop in the kitchen, as well as a 110 V circuit for elevator control circuitry.

A new induction cooktop has been installed in the kitchen, and it is a game changer.  With a twelve inch element, an eight inch element and two six inch elements, it is the best single cookstove I have ever used.

To accommodate the cooktop, a drawer and a shelf on with our existing toaster oven will be placed, I build a simple cabinet where the stove once lived.  The leftover pieces of Corian serve as a countertop into which the induction cooktop has been installed.

The final touch has been to install a monster Whirlpool microwave oven.  With our old small microwave oven moved to the rooftop, and the toaster oven moved to the space below the cooktop in the new cabinet, a good deal of space was recaptured in the open food storage pantry.  Space is at a real premium in our kitchen, and this helps immensely.

On a more routine note, we have been visiting with Lestath somewhat regularly, and meeting with some of the folks from Taly’s Spanish class.  

Our socialization with neighbors John and Sue has continued; they threw a party, inviting Randy and Sue, Taly and me, and the neighbors who share our eastern wall, Bud and Kathy.  I am hoping that we continue to be able to socialize with these great neighbors on a somewhat regular basis.

That’s all the news for the time being, and I resolve to be a bit more conscientious about keeping up with this blog in the future - no more letting it slide for four months at a time

Taly took off for her second home in Byron Bay, Australia on October 19, and I am leaving tomorrow to join her for eight weeks.

I have busied myself with the ongoing efforts at upgrading our house in San Miguel.

At this point, the laundry room in the panhandle of the back patio has been completed; a water heater, plumbing, electrical, and lighting have been installed, and the sink, washer, and dryer have been moved into that new space.

Finally, the electrical and plumbing for the former laundry room have been modified to accommodate a full bath and a kitchenette; walls for the shower and toilet have been installed.  It remains to put in base cabinets and floating shelves (no wall cabinets) to complete the kitchenette.

Tomorrow I fly to Australia to spend eight weeks with Taly.  Kat Armei is house sitting and caring for Daisy, whom I will miss terribly.

We have completed many of the projects described in the post of March 7:  

• The covered portion of the rooftop terrace has been enclosed with glass walls and doors
• The unused portion of the rooftop contained only the LP gas tank, and was mostly inaccessable from the main areas of the rooftop, but is now easily accessible due to the removal of a half wall and installaiton of the aforementioned door as well as covering the area with a roof
• Water filtration, UV purification, and softening infrastructure have been moved from the laundry room to this newly accessable area.  Before I leave for eight weeks in Australia, the panhandle of our groundfloor back patio will have been covered; we will then be able to move the washer and dryer to this new room.
• With the laundry room thus vacated, we can begin converting that space into a proper bath and a small kitchen, thus making the rooftop a fully independent suite for guests.