Sreedaralayam - photos

This is the nameplate of my house, Sreedaralayam, in Muttacadu, Kovalam.

I spent an hour or so this morning cleaning the floors. About 50% of the effort was in just trying to keep upright - wet marble floors are very slippery! The other 50% was spent trying to chase the water into a drain or outside via the front and back doors. Of course these are not the lowest points so it turns into a bit of a race!

One of the problems in sharing a house with a lot of spiders is the webs. It wouldn't be so bad if you didn't need candles - the soot sticks to the webs making them more visible and less easy to sweep off the ceiling with a brush. You just end up with lots of sooty smears! There are also many concrete shelves set at a height of about 190cm. The visible bottoms are smooth and have probably been plastered. The less visible tops are left rough and collect dust which is difficult to remove because of the roughness. So basically I have an excellent excuse for not cleaning away the cobwebs or dusting the filthy shelves! I need a vacuum cleaner....

I took some photos of the house today and will post them in the next few days - you won't be able to miss the cobwebs! But first, here are some showing the house exterior. The interior is better than these photos might suggest!

This is the view down my street. Next door to the house is a shack where I buy my bananas and eggs. The chap and his wife have virtually no English at all, so it's impossible to ask if the bananas are ripe or the eggs fresh!

This is the house viewed from the road. The hut on the roof gives protection for the stairs which lead up to the roof. The metal rods sticking out to the right will be concrete reinforcement for the upstairs floor when/if it is eventually built.

The verandah is my house - beyond that is the neighbour's house. Note the outside tap and base complete with mouldy wall: it's where they have their showers (clothed!).

A drunken view of my verandah and front door. Note the single chair - the other was loaned to the neighbours but didn't return. The windows are reflective but not completely so - I still need to fit some curtains. This is where I sit and eat my breakfast, listen to the raucous crows, and admire the view of the wall!

A view of the side of the house, looking back towards the road.

The same, but with blurry chickens this time!