Category: Villa Ndio

Of course I do recognize that “I think therefore I am”, a phrase that is the “first principle” of René Descartes’ philosophy, originally published it in French as je pense, donc je suis in his 1637 Discourse on the Method, has no direct association with Rodin’s The Thinker, sculpted in 1904, nearly 300 years later! But then I have my own photo of the sculpture and it fits my current feeling.  I took this photo of Rodin’s The Thinker during my last trip to London.  I have since learned that this is one of 27 known copies of the original, which is currently in the Musée Rodin in Paris. This copy was on loan from that museum. See Wikipedia article here.

I am thinking blog posts without any words don’t provide my insights or updates on accomplishments,  activities and plans. And looking back at my recent blog post history I see that many are bird and butterfly photo posts or lens/camera review posts tagged as blog posts.

So what’s been happening? Well since she suffered a stroke in August 2024,  life is centered around seeing to Kathy’s needs as a priority.  And that includes a lot of ferrying to and from therapy sessions, grocery shopping,  cooking and cleaning for the two of us and occasional visitors.  What time is left is shared by hobby pursuits ( photography! and music); household improvements and maintenance; yard work;TV news and streamed shows; and sleep.  What a life!

Top DIY projects on the docket include following through on the ground floor full bathroom.  Two of three small concrete pillars that had held up a broad shelf but with no other apparent use have been removed.  The third one has proved to be very resistant to jack hammering. I will be resuming my attack on that third pillar soon. All work was put on hold on account of Kathy’s stroke. We had received a bid from our plumber  to preform much of the bathroom development.  We accepted his bid and we expect to put him to work early next year.  That will give me just enough time to do the necessary preparation work. That includes finishing the installation of particleboard walls and cleanup of the ceiling and floor.

Another ongoing project involves lining the gravel walkway that extends from the garden gate to the pool on Villa Ndio’s upper level. The old lining rotted out with time.  It was made from rafters holding up the old roof, replaced over five years ago.  That wood as not weather treated and so could not withstand contact with the ground.  The new liner is being installed using pressure treated lumber 5 cm by 5 cm and 3 meters long, stained dark brown and cut to accommodate the slight rises and dips of the walkway.  All the staining has been done.  I have yet to finish digging the channels into which the lining lumber will lie.  This project I hope to finish during the month of November.

A third project I will briefly describe here, has to do with the storage facilities on the lower level of the Villa Ndio garden. These have become quite the eyesore. I have decided to repurposed the nearby old cabanon to be the repository of building materials and all of the camping equipment.  The storage facilities will be reserved for power and hand tools, plus hardware items.  I am determined to get this matter satisfactorily completed this year.

Since I fully retired in 2017 I have never been so busy.