three out of four

We took off for Tecoman this morning with four chores in mind: check on the toilet we ordered four weeks ago; go to the bank and ask the wall for money; go to the Porcelanita store to get another box of tiles; go to the Bodega to pick up "a few things."

Yes, the toilet had arrived and here it is and muchas gracias.

Yes, you have money in the bank so here it is and use it wisely.

NO, we do not carry this tile, even though it is our brand, and so sorry we can't order it for you so too bad. Booo. We need this horita! so we will now to go back to Manzanillo where we orignally bought it.

Yes, Bodega was brimming with goodies and the "few things", as usual turned into several bags full.

Shortly after we returned Raul showed up at the house to remove the two upstairs sliders and the living room glass door. He will come back in a couple of days to remeasure after Jaime finishes laying the tiles. Until then, the house is open to the elements and, needless to say, everything else. Pray for us.

I called the store in Manzanillo and, wouldn't you know, they do not have any of those tiles and it will take at least 2 weeks to get them. Bah humbug. But they told me that a big tile store in Colima has them. So that's our destination for tomorrow morning. If they don't have them, and I can't find them anywhere else, it will be back to the design drawing board. While we're in Colima we will go to the rustico tile place and see if we really are going to get our order on Friday.

Here are a couple of shots of today's progress. This is the living room, without sliders. Looks completely different. I wish we could preserve that big open space, unalloyed by windows and screens.

They have almost finished the corner table. It's come a long way.

They will tile the bottom shelf with floor tiles; easier to slide things around than on smaller tiles.

In our back garden we have a resident land tortoise that the Patient rescued from the road. He is very shy and seldom makes an appearance. But even he is curious about the doings upstairs.