Build Diary 15

The past month has been all about slowing down and enjoying the peaceful atmosphere that the end of the year brings about. And what a year it has been!! Since we’re just about finished with the inside of the house, we are turning our attention back outside for a little while. Although we’re now officially in the middle of rainy season, it has been unusually dry - perfect for re-modelling our driveway and entrance area.

While we already have a narrow concrete road leading to our property, the climate and local building techniques mean that nothing really lasts very long. Eventually, concrete will draw moisture and once moss and grass occupies the little cracks and crevices, it doesn’t take long until something that was built only a few months ago is starting to look rather old. So we made the decision to pave over the top of our concrete road and create a “proper” road once and for all.

While we were getting all dirty and stuff, we also decided to tackle the entrance area and the space in between the front stairs and the neighbouring rice terrace. Since rice terraces are porous by nature and our property is located right next to one, at the bottom of a small hill, we receive a lot of excess water, especially after heavy rainfall. So in order to protect the entrance area from flooding, we put in a narrow drainage canal, locally known as Subak. This Subak will lead any excess rain water from the paddy into a drain and then through a pipe straight into the Jungle. Sounds complicated but it’s how the locals do it and it definitely works!

As the house is becoming more and more comfortable, we’re really starting to feel like home in Ubud. We enjoyed a beautiful Christmas meal with a lovely group of people, which kind of also happened to be an accidental house warming as it was the first larger gathering at our place since the start of the build. Hopefully, the next Christmas will be spent in the pool with a cocktail in hand!

Wishing everyone a peaceful end of the year, and we hope you’ll continue following our build journey through the next year. Thanks for following along so far and encouraging us along the way. It truly means the world!

Love,

Anna + Sean (and our furry kids!)