La Finca
So my nephews and I are situated here in the small town of Tineo in western Asturias. We´re about 15 minutes from the tiny village of Sangoñedo where my family´s farm is. It´s very quiet around here. Not totally dead mind you though. You still see folks walking the streets and conversing. You even see some young folks in the mix. Everyone is very aware of our presence. Especailly as the days pass and we don´t go away. Many ask us what the hell we are doing here (in a nice way) and that always starts some interesting conversations.
Yesterday we went to the farm and sure enough the wonderful neighbors insisted on feding us and plying us with alcohol. A huge multicourse meal in the middle of the day with arroz con pollo, fish, lamb, and the ubiquitous home-made cured meats.
While we were waiting for the meal, the boys and I started cleaning out the house. We just piled up rotten furniture along side of the house. I think the nieghbors were shocked at how much we were throwing out. But I have to say, that the house already feels better. I began to have some trouble with the mold and mildew level in there however; allergies have been acting up.
Then we had a local wood worker, Martin, come out to look at the roof and the true scope of this restoration project began to dawn on me. As we stepped into the HUGE attic space, I could see the water damage to the main beams and the gaping holes in the tile work where the rain had been coming in. Martin very calmly tried to explain the situation and what it would take to fix it. I think I started spacing out a bit and had trouble understadning all the construction talk in Spanish. He noticed and suggested that we follow him up to the next town where he had just finished replacing the roof on a house very similar to ours. I agreed and we headed up a dicey dirt road to the next town. Wow, his work on that house was BEAUTIFUL. I took lots of pictures and will post them when I get home. It really helped to be able to see exactly what he ws talking about. As we finished talking outside of the house, I began to feel less overwhelmed by it all. I also noticed that Martin was quite attractive. I even had the wherewithal to flirt a bit and ask him about his life there. There was some friendly shoulder squeezing that should provide the beginnings of some excellent fantasies.
Martin will be giving us an estimate on the roof sometime next week and I expect it will be high. He bascially has to rebuild it from scratch. But if we want to save the house, it´s the only way. If not, water will get into the walls and they will discombobulate quite quickly. In Martin´s words, "in a few years, you will have a pile of rocks." The walls are made of stacked rock with some kind of mud mortar between them. If the water gets in, the mortar will quickly give and the 400 year old structure will disintegrate entirely. The day of reckoning is here for this house and we will have to bite the bullet and pay for the roof, or say goodbye to the whole thing. I´m just glad I don´t have to make that decision on my own.
Yesterday we went to the farm and sure enough the wonderful neighbors insisted on feding us and plying us with alcohol. A huge multicourse meal in the middle of the day with arroz con pollo, fish, lamb, and the ubiquitous home-made cured meats.
While we were waiting for the meal, the boys and I started cleaning out the house. We just piled up rotten furniture along side of the house. I think the nieghbors were shocked at how much we were throwing out. But I have to say, that the house already feels better. I began to have some trouble with the mold and mildew level in there however; allergies have been acting up.
Then we had a local wood worker, Martin, come out to look at the roof and the true scope of this restoration project began to dawn on me. As we stepped into the HUGE attic space, I could see the water damage to the main beams and the gaping holes in the tile work where the rain had been coming in. Martin very calmly tried to explain the situation and what it would take to fix it. I think I started spacing out a bit and had trouble understadning all the construction talk in Spanish. He noticed and suggested that we follow him up to the next town where he had just finished replacing the roof on a house very similar to ours. I agreed and we headed up a dicey dirt road to the next town. Wow, his work on that house was BEAUTIFUL. I took lots of pictures and will post them when I get home. It really helped to be able to see exactly what he ws talking about. As we finished talking outside of the house, I began to feel less overwhelmed by it all. I also noticed that Martin was quite attractive. I even had the wherewithal to flirt a bit and ask him about his life there. There was some friendly shoulder squeezing that should provide the beginnings of some excellent fantasies.
Martin will be giving us an estimate on the roof sometime next week and I expect it will be high. He bascially has to rebuild it from scratch. But if we want to save the house, it´s the only way. If not, water will get into the walls and they will discombobulate quite quickly. In Martin´s words, "in a few years, you will have a pile of rocks." The walls are made of stacked rock with some kind of mud mortar between them. If the water gets in, the mortar will quickly give and the 400 year old structure will disintegrate entirely. The day of reckoning is here for this house and we will have to bite the bullet and pay for the roof, or say goodbye to the whole thing. I´m just glad I don´t have to make that decision on my own.