Of Kerbaus and Progress

Last weekend, I made another trip to the site, and as you can see, things are progressing!

Peering out of one of the rooms in the first block!

Progress on the second block of rooms

While work has been somewhat hampered by rain, it is looking like we will be ready by year-end.  We've had to make some adjustments as we've gone along, but it has all worked out so far.  We abandoned our intent to use cement board as our primary building material due to cost constraints and have fallen back on the conventional brick-and-mortar method.  The good news is, the sand on our grounds is of such lovely quality, it will be re-used to plaster our walls.  We've excavated piles of it, thanks to our digging of the pool and the grey water pond.

Ijam has also been hard at work, trying to reduce our construction wastage.  Wood used for one structure's formwork is recycled for the next and most of it will eventually be incorporated on site into structures or as reinforcement for our grey water pond.

I won't go into the details of the various challenges we've faced in trying to conserve as much as possible and be green, but suffice to say, there have been times when cost has been a real constraint in allowing us to opt for the greenest alternative.  So decisions have had to be made.   But I recognise too that trying to be as environmentally conservative as possible is an ongoing process.  It will be part of our guiding principles when commencing operations and doesn't stop at just our construction period alone.

No matter how stressful things get, comic relief somehow, never seems far.  On our last visit, we were inspecting the grey water pond at the back of our property.  By coincidence, our neighbours, the kerbau Mommy, wandered by, with her brood, which now includes a studly male companion.  She now has four calves, two more than the original pair.

As they took their typical stroll from their property through ours and over to the other side, one of the babies emerged from the brush and decided to take a dip in the pond.  He was very nonchalant about it, swishing his tail and at all times maintaining eye contact with us as if to say, "Hey, this is MY pool, so I better not catch you swimming in it!"  Since the pond isn't very deep, he took a small stroll around one end of it, his body practically submerged, while we laughed on the sidelines.

My little kerbau friend, well camouflaged :-)  I think I should name him!

I almost wish I don't eventually have to cordon off our property.  It will deprive him of his swimming hole.  But I don't think some guests will appreciate being confronted by a family of kerbau while they are sunning on the lawn!

Meanwhile, all manner of folk have been trooping through my home in Petaling Jaya, which has finally been put on sale.  I will miss it, as it has been good to me and I have many memories of my life there.  But as they say, it's time to move on.  And move on we will.