House in Cuenca with furniture and artwork up, some of you asked for these. Here they are!

Ok, we are pretty well settled now and we have hung the art, which several of you wanted to see up and we have done the front yard with Ecuadorian plants.  See above.

If we owned an auto this is where it would be parked.  At the entrance of the house.

Standing in the front door looking into the living room.  Be sure to notice the ceilings.

Living room, small but very cozy looks out to the garden.  My secret garden.

Other side of the living, many of you will recognize the "big mirror" we have been schlepping around for years.

Looking from back of Living Room up the staircase.  The tryptich is on right.

Headed straight up the stairs.  The window is our bedroom, which was added after the house was built, so it was originally an outside window, now it looks into my staircase, a great setup.

Somewhat closer view of the trio.

The "Elvis Angel Choir" is singing on the staircase, daily.  So named by Stef my little SIS, so clever.  The lead angel looks like Elvis, most of the angels are Mexican in origin.

Looking us while taking the turn on the stairs.  Nana Dean and Sophie Heine masterpiece is at upper left of this group.

Upstairs landing hallway outside second bath and two guest rooms.  Check out the light coming in, we have three skylights on the second floor, floods the house with light.

Yes, Clive has adjusted as you can see him on the Aunt Jane Bench in the hallway looking into the den where we watch TV.

Second floor landing view, looking at our bedroom window, Linda remember when we bought that kimono?  One Lafayette Square House Tour poster to left of window.

Front bedroom, come on down, the mattress is great.  Purchased in Ecuador.

Bill's little studio where he spends hours, wails, sings, composes and has the time of his life.  I love being in the house and listening for him to turn into a rocker.

Guest bathroom, where the cats have been playing with the TP.

Back guest bedroom overlooking the courtyard terrace.

Other side of back guest bedroom, big window overlooks the courtyard terrace.  You can see I have a project getting organized on the bottom of the bed.

This is proof that Mr. Reggie has adjusted, he is laying on our bed.  Head board is the frame from the foyer of Kennett Place.  I painted a fantasy of the Caja Mountains (our mountains here, with St. Louis in the background.)  The yellow brick road goes to STL where a piece of my heart will always be.  The tin man is leading the way.  The bare light bulb is a testimony to the fact that this is what is found in most Ecuadorian houses.  We are slowly putting up light fixtures as we find them. Not an easy task.

Den where we watch TV.  Citicorp cartoons on wall at left.  Wooden doors reflected in mirror is Bill's closet, which he never closes as you can see.

I am at my dining room room table, quilting.  Yes, I am teaching myself to quilt after all these years.  Some of you know how much I love an excuse to buy fabric.  The various plastic chairs are testimony to the good dining room chairs that did not make it on.  Just last week we ordered new ones to be delivered in May.

Looking from the other end of the dining room into the back courtyard/terrace.

One wall of dining room, with Ella Mae Krotz Memorial buffet, yes Richard that is a reflection of the print of your painting of the St. Louis Skyline, such a treasure.

Looking from the dining room into the kitchen.  Buffet on left is being fitted with a piece of granite and built higher for me to chop and stir on.  The tall woman can't bend over to the short Ecuadorian ladies height.

One end of courtyard/terrace looking at the door of my art studio.

View of terrace outside kitchen window.

Table and umbrella just outside the back door on terrace.

Bill's work shop.

My studio with a work in progress and a big finished one waiting for a friend's new condo to be finished so it can be hung in the stairwell.

Looking out the dining room front window toward the street: Calle Valle de Catamayo.  We are settled and love our house.  We have a great landlord, a Ecuadorian businesswoman whose family has an export business, they bring fruits and vegs to the states, via San Fransisco.  We are here for the duration having the time of our lives.  Hugs to all.  Dean Keyes

 

Update on Fundraising Efforts to help 7 year old Mateo and his family

We want to keep those of you who are followers up to date on our effort to help Mateo and his family.  You will remember that Mateo is a 7 year old boy whose leg was mangled by a public bus when he was 4 years of age.  His family is poor and lives in the hills above Cuenca.  While we were working with his caregivers, doctors, hospital auxiliary volunteers to help with his care, we learned that the family's house had collapsed in a violent rain storm.  Thus, we started raising monies to assist with this worthy cause.  

We have held a bingo game, we have published this blog and a similar blog on my husband and my personal blog.  We have been very fortunate to acquire an anonymous donor in the U. S.  This donor will match dollar for dollar each dollar that we raise up to $2,000.  So at this point CEBA/Cuenca Expatriate Benevelent Association has raised $650.00 between our internet efforts and our fund raising efforts here in Cuenca.  That amount will be matched by the anonymous donor, bringing the total to today April 2, 2011 to $1300.00 so far.  Many thanks to those of you who have donated or participated in the bingo or "hat pass" here in Cuenca. 

Our primary contact with the family is a volunteer from the hospital auxiliary.  She along with an Ecuadorian architect and Bill Keyes, my husband a retired civil engineer have been out to the house last week.  The architect has compiled a list of building materials needed to complete the new house up to the second floor.  Remember this house had started being built before the old one collapsed.  Our Ecuadorian contact has gotten materials donated which include, concrete blocks, sacks of concrete and sand.  The husband of the family is in construction and has indicated that he has help to rebuild if we can provide the materials.  This is the plan at this time. In the next 7-10 days a truck will deliver materials mentioned above that have been donated or purchased with CEBA donations to the building site. Then we will document the progress of these materials as the house is built and keep you updated.  We thank you again for your kind donations.  Stay tuned to this blog for further updates.  For those of you who might like to make a contribution, you can do this at: pay pal address: ceba.ecuador@yahoo.com.