Getting ready for the rain

It is all very well having a lovely house and enjoying a long vacation - in the dry season. It has not rained now since late June but we expect the dry weather to come to a stop in a week or two. How will our house fare then? The rains here in Quito can be very, very fierce, with a huge amount of water falling in a short time. When we first saw the house, in April, there was humidity and rising damp everywhere. When it rained hard, the water sluiced down the driveway or off the roof, more or less straight into the house. The damp has all been dried out in these recent months, and treated, and now our attention is turning to the drainage canals and ditches. In the last two weeks, we have had a drainage canal dug in, with grating on top, at the entrance to the house, and now we are making small, cement-lined canals around the edge of the lawn in front of the house, so that any water which does come off the roof, or finds its way down the driveway, will not come into the house - we hope. All this work is being done by our friend Francisco - Pacho - who has been doing much of the maintenance in John's school during the vacation. Fortunately Pacho and his boss, another Francisco, know where to get all the cement, blocks and other supplies they need at a good price. Once the drainage canals are finished, Pacho will turn his attention to the little 'casita' on the property, where we hope to accommodate a young family who can help with the garden and, when Cecilia is away at weekends, help look  after Robbie and Maia. (Cecilia is our wonderful house-help, who spends much of her time looking after the children.) Once the 'casita' is finished, then we will lay blocks on the dusty dirt track from the gate to the house.

Of course Robbie and Maia have been 'helping' Pacho, which has probably added several hours to his day! Maia's little wheelbarrow (in the photo) was called into action, but spilt its first load of cement!

Maia is now learning to use John's fancy Olympus E-520 DSLR. This is her picture of Robbie. Not a bad effort!

Robbie and Maia showing off the new drainage grating by the gate. Pacho also built the little dividing wall along the left hand side, where once were some pretty awful, more or less dead cypress trees. We can now make a small garden there. The wall will also get a coat of paint in the near future. We will also lay blocks from the gate to the house.