The kitchen is done - pretty much anyway!

Before I get to the kitchen, I just want to say that I hope the teachers who are protesting daily here in Mexico City finish and go home before September 21st.  I don't think this has made the news much in the U.S. but the teachers here in Mexico are upset over reforms the federal government is imposing on them.  They will have to take exams every few years to keep their jobs and a few other things that have them very upset.  For the last several weeks a large contingent of them have camped out in the Zocalo and each day they block traffic by marching down the main streets of the City, causing chaos and headaches for those who live and work in the City.  Twice now they have blocked access to the International Airport - yesterday being the second time.  All I'm saying is that they had better not be there at the airport on the 21st!  And of course, I want them to go back to the now empty classrooms where their students are waiting for them.

So, the kitchen.  It started out like this about 30 years ago.  It needed a remake.

Then it looked like this for most of the summer after we tore down the old kitchen:

And now it looks like this!

I'm happy!  We are going for a retro look and there is more to the kitchen but I like this picture the best.  I have to make new curtains - the ones hanging are from 1985 - and one wall that you can't see here is a bright red/pink.  We worked about 10 hours yesterday to finish.  Actually, I suppose that Arturo did most of the work and we used my weight to cut boards - meaning that I would stand on a board while he used a jigsaw and I have to say that thing passed by really too close to my toes.  Happily I still have all ten of them.

Have a great weekend!

We are getting there!

The constant pounding outside of my window has slowed down my blog writing. The headache doesn't help. But there is progress!  As of Friday, I have a stove and sink again.  Plus, the kitchen is all in one room as opposed to being scattered all over the house.  It is all temporary because our plan is to buy new cabinets, stove, sink and put in counters.  As of now I don't have counters so the kitchen table is doing double duty.   So we have gone from this on Saturday:

(The dogs had to be tied up - they were getting into everything and ran the risk of being drilled).

To this:

Arturo was quite creative with the cabinets.  We got the electricity in that room hooked up yesterday so now we are pretty much set for the moment.  While it's not my dream kitchen, I'll tell you that it seems like one right now after not having anything for two weeks.  Not having something puts the world in a better perspective.

When we get back from Patzcuaro we are going to paint and do a few other changes.  They are still working on the patio but the house is no longer covered with concrete dust so we are much saner than what we were a week ago.

Tomorrow we leave for Patzcuaro for Arturo's opening show of his museum.  We will have between 4-6 people staying with us for a bit over a week so it should be a lot of fun.  I won't be online as we don't have any internet service in our house so I won't be around until after July 21st.  Hopefully I'll have some good photos to post when I get back.  Enjoy your July!
Naomi