The other side of the room

Here's what the other side of the cupola room looks like. We found those wooden screens down in the basement and cleaned them up. The tile mural was in pieces in a rotting cardboard box. We pieced it together like a jigsaw puzzle -- and then found out that each tile was numbered on the back! Duh. Would have made it a lot easier! We've got two big Mexican leather chairs ordered to go in this blank space under the mural.

The wool rug on the floor was made by our new friend Raul from Oaxaca. He and his family are up here for a while, because the troubles down in their area have really cut into the tourist trade. He and his family still use the natural dyes made from indigo, pomegranate, and cochinea to get these deep colors. They don't fade either. My neighbor, Jeanette, across the street swears by them. And to clean them, you spread them out on the driveway and hose them down!