This posting will have more than just the "door project" (mentioned in the title) before I'm finished. That door is still a work-in-progress, having begun a week ago. So, I may start out with a few "variety mix" photos (HA! I found a new way not to say "miscellaneous" or "etc."). I tend to forget about scenery photos quite often, but this one was in the middle of this month's "batch" when I looked a few minutes ago.
On a recent trip to Iloilo, we had left the house at around 4:15 a.m., hoping to slip
into the "big city" ahead of the morning traffic. Around 5:20 we were somewhere near Sibalom, and I stopped the car long enough to get this nice sunrise shot. It's always
a relief on such trips when we begin to have enough sky-light to be able to see objects,
as driving on 2-lane highways in total darkness and trying to "make good progress" (average gain, about 30 to 40 miles in an hour) is nerve-wracking.
About 45 minutes before this photo, I was squinting my way past the headlights of an on-coming vehicle, bearing to the right edge of the road, and caught a last-instant glimpse of three joggers running towards me on the right side-stripe of the pavement, just as I swooshed past them - - missing them by inches! There is a contradiction in people who go running for their "health" before daylight, and who run in the "correct" direction for pedestrians, but who have dark clothing and no reflectors. Ironic, if their "healthy habit" brings about their demise- by- vehicle, scattered like so many bowling pins. (These days, battery powered L.E.D. strobe lights are readily available, too, and that sort of light would probably have alerted me to them even with the "blinding" effect of the approaching vehicle.)
About an hour after sunrise, we had passed through the mountain-
area between Hamtic and San Joaquin, and we stopped at our usual
"break" place. The sign above grabbed my attention, but of course
I didn't "UNDERSTAND????" the local language above the English
conclusion. A "delicate" translation is that it explains the purpose
of the brand-new urinals in the mens' room by mentioning
what they are NOT to be used for.
(Regular readers may remember earlier mentions of this snack-restaurant stopping place, as for several years I have posted the progress of their "mens' facilities" from primitive "gutter-and-trough" through customized 5-gallon water bottles hand-cut into individual service- units (urinals) and NOW quite recently the "genuine- ceramic real-deal." There is no real functional difference in the various modes, but it has been interesting to watch the various stages of improvement.) This place is located about 50 yards. from the "bridge replacement" project recorded in (link) "Mango Mouth" posting a couple months ago.)
(Looks like I'm side-tracked from the "A Doorable" project in the title, but I'll get back to it sooner or later.) Seems like, topically, I should finish out the "Iloilo trip" segment first. I haven't figured out yet if there is a way to put a Google Map on this page but I encourage readers to refer to this link which should show the area of Panay Island from Tibiao at the left passing south to San Jose, crossing the mountainous peninsula between Hamtic and San Joaquin, continuing to Iloilo. This approx. 100 mile trip takes about 3.5 hours if there are no unusual delays. Unfortunately when we got near Iloilo at around 7:30 a.m. we ran into gridlock traffic and the last few kilometers "in town" took us nearly another 2 hours to negotiate.
The FIRST errand at Iloilo was stopping at Bureau of Immigration for some routine business. (I needed to renew my "Alien card." So far I haven't gotten my space-craft certification - - ) AFTER that we were finally able to go looking for a membership store we had heard about for several months ("Costco/ Sam's Club" type). We found quite many goods which simply ARE NOT AVAILABLE in this region, in any usual vendor situation. Prices generally seemed to be "within reason" considering the 10,000-mile-plus supply distance. Dill pickles and pickled jalapenos (photos) are rare; fresh mozzarella cheese and Tillamook sharp cheddar are unheard of; a bakery-style fresh strawberry-rhubarb pie (!!!), also unheard of, was among 6 or 8 varieties offered. An 18-inch combo- pizza also rode home with us. (LARGE size pizza here is often 12- inch and never more than 14- inch.) We will make a point of "stocking up" on a few luxuries whenever we (or any friend) travels to Iloilo. (The pie: quite good filling with fruit, not flavored cornstarch; acceptable but somewhat "heavy" machine-made crust.)
That membership store - "S&R" - is of such great interest to us BECAUSE of the rarity of such businesses and their goods. This chain store now seems to have units in quite a few large Philippine cities (from their online web site).
about 30 miles north of Iloilo at Barotoc Nuevo municipality.
Situated among mostly barren farm fields, it is impressive
and beautiful, but seems "way far" out of place, as though
it had been dropped there from an alien environment. It
is the new Municipal Hall, replacing a more-traditional
building "in town" which had no space for needed additions.
all seven dwarfs (I think) and Snow White, plus a couple
unicorns and what looks like an elephant.
elaborate sunburst- pattern fences are being installed for
more than a mile on both sides of the main highway, in
one "barangay" (neighborhood*). This is an expensive project
for this place! The work is in-progress but it is already
apparent that the completed effect will be impressive.
*"Barangay" is the Philippines' smallest official governed area
with "mayor" and "council members" but the titles of those positions are different here.
many times in-passing. It is located in a cemetery about
25 miles west of Iloilo. The type of building is just not
usual for this place, looking more like Indian or perhaps
Southeast- Asian mainland. That entire cemetery is
generally ornate, compared to the plain- cement above-
ground vaults which are most common around here.
rain-clouds gathering above us, and this freshly painted
church building was so intensely pink that it seemed to
be radiating energy. The camera can't quite capture the
effect of the light, but there is a "suggestion" of it.
If you use the map link above, you might have to zoom-in
one "click" to see Sibalom, east of San Jose. I couldn't
get the link to cooperate very well when I was setting it up.
We frequently travel from Hamtic to Sibalom in a straight
line, bypassing San Jose and saving 30 or 40 minutes.
This road is in good condition, and remote, so we can run
85-95 for about 10 kilometers. (That's around 55 to 60
miles per hour, unusual to sustain that speed here for
more than about a minute anywhere.)
The "highlight" project of this past week has been making a new door for the "yellow house," which we built on the property here in town in "months 2 through 9" of our first year in the Philippines.
We moved into the nearly completed house on July 4, 2013,
and this flat- door has served us for 4- plus years. Soon
after we got settled, I found time to paint the 4-panels
illusion so that the door wouldn't look so plain. (45
years ago I spent a couple years in the junior college
theater department, and learned odds 'n' ends about
painting and heavy electrical work, among other things - - -)
"blue house." Its motif is fairly common here, and served as a
model for the new-door project. Doors like this can be bought
made-to-order at local woodworking shops, and cost around
$350 to $400. But, we have the materials, tools, and brother-
in-law Alex's expertise to make our own door.
2013 knocked down some trees on our farm-property, from
which we made slab- wood which has been "curing" since
then. These slab piles were nearly 4-feet tall on both sides
of the area above, and we have had a lot of fine items made
from them. The new door, in progress for a week now, has
required two of the slabs.
**(I have this "anti-" thing about useless government functions,
and I haven't yet seen the value of this country adopting
its own set of names for typhoons, which are different from
the common international names, creating confusion.)
for various frame-pieces of the door, about 5- inches
to 7- inches finished size. About 2 days of planing and
other shaping got them straight and smooth on all 4 of
their sides. Above, the horizontal frame pieces have had
tenons ("tabs" which will insert into "slots") carefully
cut onto each end.
Meanwhile, the vertical frame-rails have carefully- measured
mortises ("slots") cut by first drilling holes and then precisely
chiseling out excess material. Mortise- and- tenon joints
will be glued together in final assembly, with the panels
resting in grooves cut into the heavier frame pieces.
everything fits OK. No grooves are cut in the inside of the
panel spaces yet. It will be taken apart and the panels
and grooves will be made and fitted before final assembly.
We didn't have any bar- clamps which are used to pull the
tightly- fit pieces together. So, one afternoon we made a
"materials run" to Culasi (15 miles) and bought some nice
new 6- inch "C" clamps, and the next morning Alex cut
them in half and welded them onto angle- iron extensions;
the new clamps will be generally useful for other projects.
and take it to a nearby wood-worker's shop. It is 2-1/2 inches
thick and we must have door-panels half that thickness.
by a couple wood blocks, and free-hand began to make a
straight, on-center groove in its edge with his 42-inch bar
Stihl (Swedish I think) chain saw.
the plank, handling the big saw as easily as Aunt Bea would
slice a roast with her Rival-brand electric carving knife.
Notice his personal protective gear. (NOT!) Middle- 30s
age, he probably has around 20 years experience with
that saw, and still has no scars, and no missing parts - - -
upright on its edge, is his helper standing on a 2x4. He
walked forward allowing the saw to make a groove maybe
6- inches deep - - - - then walked backward, letting that
groove guide the saw bar as he plunge-cut through the
rest of the width of the plank. If anyone around here ever
"hoists the Jolly Roger" he will have plenty of practice
walking the plank.
Back at the starting point, he stepped down and made his
final cut to separate the two panels he had created. All
"gasoline" fuels here are 10% ethanol, so that is what's
powering the saw. But I note that at the top of the photo
on a nearby bench is the 40% ethanol which may be
fueling some of the humans..
I suppose it could have been longer. The sharp, coarse
saw teeth passed through the tough mahogany effortlessly,
and left a flat surface which will need minimal smoothing
to become finished door- panels.
We agreed on a "Celtic weave" pattern for the carving on
the waist-panel of the door, as being simpler and more
boldly graphic than the "floral plus feathers (?)" carving on
the "sample" door. I spent a little while trying to manually
enlarge the pattern from an "Image: " Google search-result,
and another little while trying to teach myself how to work
with the graphics programs in my computer here; but I
ended by going to one of the many internet-cafe/ printing
shops around the nearby University of Antique, where
the owner was able to quickly produce the correct-
size template of the pattern for us to paste on the "blank"
panel and carve. We're debating whether to add some
carved-grooves to the weave pattern so that it will
look more like rope.
So at this moment the door is again test-assembled withall
panels except the carved waistline. It has a total of 5 panels
instead of 7 panels, again for simplicity. This detail shows
the beveling of the panels and the grooves which will hold
the remaining panel in place. The door should be finished
and hung in place in the next few days. The "old" door
will be re-used in another project.
Projects are done, and things are made here, quite differently than they are in the USA. Several-year readers of this BLOG may remember some of the postings from 2013 and 2014 in which I covered a lot about methods used here, and worked a lot of "cultural" comparison in-between. I encourage more-recent readers to skim back through some of the previous when you get a few minutes, as I try not to be too repetitive in things that I present. (Archive- navigation links at top- right side of this page)
Seems like I may not have space this issue to show some of the other "busy- ness" which has been happening the last few weeks; "saving the microwave," baking pumpkin bread, doing preventive maintenance on Suzi, and beginning renovations on a "guest room," among others, But I think I WILL put up a couple "interesting things seen" items:
In 2013 we didn't have the Suzi but we were frequently going
to and from San Jose by van and bus. One afternoon our
van had to brake HARD, when we encountered this flock
of ducks and geese after a curve in the road. They were
walking along in a very orderly fashion, just BLOCKING things.
Last week we encountered their grand-children (likely) being
transported in this custom-made 2-deck trailer, pulled by a
motorcycle/ tricycle. A dozen attempts only got us this photo
of the trailer but not the motorcycle (moving vehicles). The
ducks' owners are from nearby, and they arrange for their
flock to spend several days at a time in newly harvested
rice fields, gleaning fallen grain and insects from among
the stubble and mud. (LINK, "tricycle" posting)
"Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council"
seems to be the "MDRRMC" governmental department which
posted this sign on the National Highway somewhere between
Tibiao and San Jose. It certainly gets right to its point with no
words "minced." Reminded me of one of my favorite short videos:
a one- minute "play time." ENJOY!
As usual, there are some topics and photos I didn't get into this posting. And, looking at the "preview page" I found that there are some formatting problems especially around the small side-by-side photo area. I think I'm just going to let those go, as most times when I try to re-edit, "RESISTANCE is FUTILE!!"
Enjoy your "entry into Autumn" wheerever you are. It's a great time of year!
TJ and Bernadette Larson,
Antique Province, Philippines.
