Madera / Wood

Pocos materiales tan nobles como la madera... se moldea, se acomoda, respira, canta y eventualmente desaparece sobre el mismo suelo que la vio nacer. 

(...mas de madera y construcciones)

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Few materials are as generous as wood... it breaths, it sings, it invites to be transformed and eventually it vanishes into the same soil where it was born.

(... more wood crafts and building)

Mesita de trabajo para los duendes / A tiny table for the tiny ones

Lienzo y Rojo /  Canvass and Red

La casa de los vecinos de Carpapamba llega a su etapa final...

The Carpapamba's are almost done with their house...

Abril aguas mil...

Pocos meses en el año Palugo saca a la luz todo su verdor como en Abril. Entre flores, honguitos de monte y verde, mucho verde estamos todos embarcados en proyectos con sabor a vegetales y a tomates frescos. A quesos y yogur. A hierbas medicinales. A construcciones. A bebes a punto de nacer o nacidos. A compost fresco, a vida.

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Only few times a year we get the chance to see Palugo covered with such a varied display of green tones. Among flowers and little bush mushrooms, we are all immersed in different projects with a wide variety of flavors. It smells like vegetables and tomatoes. Like cheese and yogurt. Like medicinal herbs and fresh adobe on the new buildings. Smells like babies, some foraging freely, some not born yet. Smells like fresh compost. Like life.

Palos, palitos, palotes...y un taller.

Me parece absurdo. Ocho años atras empezamos a construir nuestra casa, nunca en todo ese tiempo tuve un lugar donde trabajar. Bancos de trabajo improvisados, un pedacito de piso en la casa, una tabla triplex o cualquier superficie medianamente plana se convertia en mesa de trabajo y así se crearon muebles, ventanas, mesas, repisas y demás inspiraciones constructivas. Literalmente me rompi la espalda trabajando en posiciones acrobáticas. Finalmente y con el buen pretexto de que pronto llegara otro inquilino a Cruzpunguito, la Marce y yo emprendimos en la construcción de un taller. Y aunque aun no esta terminado, aqui retazos de una obra que debió haber sucedido hace años y que nos tomo (hasta el momento) solo 8 dias.

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I still cannot believe it. We started building our house about 8 years ago,  never in all those years did we have a proper working table, and not even the mention of a workshop. Improvised working benches, the house floor, a piece of plywood or any surface that proved to be flat enough would turn into a nomadic workshop where windows, tables and other building endeavors took place. I literally broke my back working on acrobatic positions. Finally, a few weeks ago, knowing that a new member is coming to our family and the need to create room for him/her, Marcela and I made sketches and started building a workshop. Even though the project is not over, here some of the stages of its progress throughout 8 days of work.

-- Old, dry eucalyptus beams. / Postes de eucalipto maduro y seco.

-- Formoneando y taladrando. / Drilling and chiseling.

-- Arriba la primera parte / Up goes the first section

-- Bambu for roofing, light and fast. / Guadua para el techo, liviano y rapido.

-- La proa / The prow

-- Steel roof, easy to install one person job. / Techo de acero, facil de instalar incluso entre una sola persona

-- The stones that came out from leveling the ground turn into the first table.
-- Las piedras que salieron de la nivelación del suelo se convirtieron en la primera mesa

-- Mi llave favorita, una antigüedad, British Made.
-- My favorite wrench. An antique. British Made

-- A paso seguido se arma una mesa de trabajo.
-- Following the roof, a proper working table follows.

-- Bikes, tools and myself move in...
-- Bicis, herramientas y maestro empiezan la mudanza.

-- materiales de trabajo  tambien se abren paso.../ new materials find their way in as well...

-- y la primera obra empieza a tomar forma.
-- and the first project starts taking shape.

-- en dos dias esta casi lista para instalar.
-- in two days it's almost ready to go inside.

-- voila... done. And the next day I leave to the mountains to teach a mountaineering course.
-- Voila, se termino. Al dia siguiente salgo a guiar un curso de alta montaña por 11 dias.

Handmade life y La Cueva

Entre artesanías, pedaleadas y preparaciones para las expediciones de alta montaña que se vienen.

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In between crafts, short rides and preparations for the upcoming mountaineering expeditions 

- Double sided spoon crafted by Mathias on driftwood collected from the Arajuno river on the NHESP expedition. 

-- Bone and leather.
The NHESP students take a look at leather work we've done in the past in order to start their own projects. 

-- Señaletica organica de la Marce...
-- Organic signage by Marcela...

-- Niki, Ayra, Destino...

-- Post for a door...

-- Hole for a door post...

-- Going for a ride. Soche not coming this time.

-- I'am riding the Mariachi on a simplified 2x10 drivetrain with the alternator dropout on its shortest.
-- Simplificando la Salsa Mariachi. Le saque el plato grande y ajuste el "alternator dropout" a lo mas corto.

-- La Ciclovia. Tumbaco.

-- Tuneles...

--...mas tuneles...

-- y finalmente La Cueva de Rafa. Un restaurant en completa oscuridad operado por no videntes.
Una experiencia de sabores.
-- and finally what we came for. Rafa's Cave, a pitch dark "cave restaurant" where only blind people work.
A flavorful experience.

-- Lichens and plants on the cave entrance with (there is no light at all once inside the Cave)

-- Acacias on our garden are blooming...
-- Acacias Palugueñas en flor

-- and a new addition to The Band. Viola.
-- La Viola, nueva cantante de La Banda.