Blog

Today had an easy, guided feel, like driving a good two-track dirt road. It was a holiday, Kenyatta Day, as I mentioned. But the guys preferred to work. We sang the national anthem with putty knives in our hands. . Oh God of all creation Bless this our land and…...

We finished up the paving slabs a few days ago, once we got our system down it was smooth. Here are a few snapshots from then and today. Tomorrow is a holiday, Kenyatta Day. The 10th was Moi Day. Were playing through on this one. . After Gilbert and I…...

This morning I tried not to swear, out loud or to myself. Pretty good success with the former, and fifty-nine failures with the latter. One for each of my, as of today, mounting years. Work was unhinging me. Once I thought the top of my head was going to blow…...

When it comes to construction, things are usually pretty straightforward here. We dig, we stack, we shape, we hoist, we level, we pass heavy things one to another. We obey the laws of physics, as much by inclination as constraint. Take the karai, as an example. Elsewhere it might find…...

Hello ticket holders, I’ve been married to this property for so long now  that it’s easy to forget that you might be a little confused about what’s what, or more accurately, what’s where on the property. So, I thought it might be fun to take you on a “walking tour”…...

Howdy from California, This just in from Monte, who is still out and about in Croatia or Montenegro or Modesto. . . How The Light Gets In . That’s a photo of my last sunset in Kenya, this time around, as it was slipping through my fingers in a bittersweet…...

Hello friends, Most of you know by now that Monte–Martin–as he is known here is back. Fresh off an Italy trip with his mom, and here until we both leave in late June. And since you’ve been good, we have a special blog-double treat for you. Not only do you…...

Hi, It’s Madaraka weekend here. It celebrates a half-way stage in Kenya’s independence. And our building structural independence took a big step when we got all the roof stuff glued together. Here’s the story in brief. Once the trusses were in place, we welded the purlins to them. Our purlins…...

Hello from all of us here, I think my laptop is acrophobic. The minute I started talking about a mid-flight  disposal, it started apologizing and attempting reform. Babysteps, but it might be the leg up I need to get through the next month’s Mac-stuff. I’m so far behind in posting…...

Happy ocho de Mayo, A good many things have conspired (successfully) against getting this little slice of project life up here for you to see: a very busy building schedule, the fifty things that spin off of that, a built in aversion to this kind of work when other things…...