BIGGERING CONTINUES--EARLY MARCH EDITION

In January I put up a post about the loss of our scruffy but shady trees along the canal by our house.

As the trees went down the girders went up for a multi-story addition to the assisted living complex nearby.

 The construction workers have put in long hours assembling this big structure.  They wake us up before sunrise with banging and rumblings and are still toiling away long after dark.   It looks like a life-size K’nex Toy set at this point.

 At the same time a new bridge is being built to provide access across the canal.

 Manufacturing skills of all kinds are being put to use.

A variety of heavy equipment such as cranes, fork lifts, bull dozers, and cement mixers come and go all day.

 No matter what the weather the workers have been busy making this job happen.  A few weeks ago the outside walls started going up in a shocking shade of green.  We’re hoping there will be an outside layer to cover that up.

 We watched three stories and an elevator shaft take shape.

 Then some kind of rooftop decks appeared.  Oh, great.  Now there will be neighbors watching from above as we come and go.

 

They brought in the big gear to rip out the tree stumps and move the canal over so our street could be widened.  A wider street with curb and gutter may be nice but it will also bring more traffic to our quiet neighborhood.

 Another backhoe arrived to take on shrubbery which had overgrown the canal banks.

 The debris was cleared and hauled off in dump trucks.

 One day there were so many rigs at work that it looked like the sandbox at a daycare.

 There were three backhoes in the canal, plus a front loader, dump trucks and a compactor.  There was also the beep-beep backup alarm from the crane and clanging from girders coming from the nearby building construction.  At least when this is all over the new neighbors should be very quiet.

 It was entertaining to watch this backhoe operator work and work to loosen and pull up the old tree stumps.  Even though there is only a city block of canal bank to clear, we are guessing they will be at it for days.

 Still, it is amazing what can be accomplished by one guy in a piece of heavy equipment.

STREET VIEW, MAJORCA, SPAIN

February is almost over and it is a good thing it had an extra day this year.  I needed time to finish my watercolor paintings for The Virtual Paintout.  This month we virtually explored Majorca where the members of Spain's royal family spend their summer holidays in the Marivent Palace.  Wikipedia says it is a popular tourist destination and I could see why.

Settlements dating back to the bronze age have been discovered there along with artifacts left behind by Phoenicians and Romans.

I liked the rustic buildings, the narrow streets and sunny skies I found as I moved the little yellow Google Pegman around the map.

Majorca has a long history of seafaring.  In the harbors I saw small and unusual boats.  Turns out they are crafts called Llauts which are specific to this area.  The design is a part of their history of fishing boats.

I call this one, "Neighborhood Watch."  I followed a narrow street in Palma and found this white haired lady gazing from her balcony.  The timeless buildings plus the variety of textures and colors made this a painting waiting to happen. 

Google Street View is a great tool for armchair travelers like me who will never in this life be able to afford trips to exotic places like Majorca or scuba diving along the Geat Barrier Reef.

As always these paintings and more are for sale at my Etsy Site, Watercolors by Leenie.