A lot of time has passed since then; we have been living in our own house in Paraguay for a few months now. We actually have electricity, water, and internet at our property. The electricity supply started on October 7, 2020, and shortly after that, we spent our first night in our new home.
The apartment we lived in for 11 months was able to be returned shortly thereafter. It’s an indescribable feeling to live in your own house, on your own land, in this peaceful rural area.
Since my last blog post, the driveway, carport, and path around the house on our property have all been completed. We also had a water filter installed directly at the house’s water supply connection, and the electrical work is almost finished.
The electrical wires for the lighting all came from above the walls. I had to extend and install them accordingly according to the final position of the lamps. I installed all the lamps and light fixtures myself, first on the terrace, then around the house, and finally in all the rooms.
I even installed the network cables myself. The cables were already run for me, and I then wired all the junction boxes myself. On the other end, I installed a network distribution cabinet with a patch panel for us.
This enclosure neatly houses all the other networking devices. In the end, I measured all the cables, and everything fit perfectly right away.
Furniture manufacturing in Paraguay
We’re still living a rather frugal life because we lack some furniture. Unfortunately, the wood needed for making the furniture isn’t yet available in full quantity, but we’ll manage for now. I visited the sawmill again last year; unfortunately, the solid wood wasn’t dry enough for use.
We waited another three to four weeks, and by then it should have been dry enough to start the sanding process. Unfortunately, I’m still waiting for the goods to arrive today. In the meantime, I ordered multiplex boards from another supplier and received them promptly.
So, at least I was able to build a workbench and start working on the cabinets for the washbasins in the bathrooms. After that, I’ll continue with the kitchen. Once the solid wood arrives, I can build our bed and the bunk bed for our children, as well as some other projects we have planned.
I’m curious to see if there will be any developments regarding the delivery of this item. At the end of last year, I sent an email expressing my disappointment. There was at least enough understanding on their part, and they said I would receive the material after the company’s holiday period. Unfortunately, I haven’t heard anything from them yet.
Currently, we are using the sink next to the washing machine in the storage room for everything, as it is the only water outlet in the house so far. The shower and the bathtub are working perfectly. The stone slabs for the window sills and both washbasins have already been delivered and installed.
Now I need to finish installing the cabinets so we can set up the bathrooms accordingly. At least I installed curtain rods in all the rooms and hung curtains before moving in, which already makes the atmosphere much more cozy.
Planting trees on the property
Meanwhile, we started working in the garden. We ordered another four loads of compost for the area in front of the house, to bring it to the same level as the path and then slope it down towards the road. Some of the compost has already been spread around; thanks also to the help from the digger operator!
The rest can be done by me now. Additionally, we received two loads of gravel to fill the area between the house and the road. It looks quite neat already, but it really took a lot of effort (and some sweat) to complete.
Of course, we wanted to start planting as soon as possible, because it will take some time for the trees to grow to the appropriate size. I think after a year, you should be able to see considerable growth.
So far, we have been able to plant 40 to 50 trees of different species. As soon as I have distributed all the compost in front of the house, along the road, we will plant more trees. Planting trees is actually a lot of fun! 🌳
We’ve only prepared the vegetable bed yet; we haven’t actually planted much in it yet. We’re still deciding whether we need to provide some shade for it. It will probably be useful, especially for tomatoes and other sensitive vegetable varieties.
We currently have two butternut squash plants that are producing quite large and delicious squash. We also have two large cassava plants that we will be able to harvest soon, as well as two sunflowers. Stephanie recently planted watermelons in the garden; let’s see when they start to bear fruit.
I plan to upload another video about our trees and the property soon. After that, I will keep posting new updates regularly to monitor the progress. I check on the trees every day, and I’m very sad when the leaf-cutting ants eat all the leaves.
Unfortunately, we’ve already lost three papayas and five eucalyptus trees due to this reason. It feels like they’re growing too slowly, but you really don’t get a sense of the actual progress until you compare the old photos or wait for a few more months.
Before planting, I used a motorized lawn mower to cut down the entire area of our land, and then I continued to tidy it up with a manual garden fork several times. I will keep doing this until the end of the year; of course, now I’ll work around the trees as well. Once everything looks just the way I want it, we can plant grass in between the plants. That’s all for today’s update. I’ll be back in touch soon.
In the coming days, we’ll continue with the work to finish making our furniture. The weather will be unpredictable, and I won’t always be able to work outdoors. Of course, I do all the cutting and sanding of the wood outside under the carport; but when it rains (and it usually rains here quite heavily), everything gets wet anyway. 😅
It’s time for me to have the workshop under the carport built into the wall; that way I’ll have my own dedicated space and be able to work regardless of the weather.
Best regards,
Sebastian