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View of the front of the house. Built on a hill, the back wall is partially below ground level. |
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Inside view of the lounge showing the original archway and the stains caused by water seeping in during winter. Also showing is a photo of grand dad. |
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View from inside the lounge before the work has started. |
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The concrete lintel removed from over the window showing the edge of the archway. |
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Once the old window was removed, a larger window was to replace it and the old plaster of the archway can be scraped off to reveal the stone. |
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A new re-enforced concrete slab and side pillars was being built. |
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The old archway was faithfully extended about 70 cm thanks to the rare skills of a local stone mason, Mohammed. |
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Meanwhile Nabil and Rola are stripping the many paint layers off the original door. |
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The archway extension getting built. |
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With the archway extended, the blacksmith is measuring for a new wrought iron window. |
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Meanwhile, the back wall is getting re-built around the archway curve. |
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Late night and flood lit, Nabil is priming and painting the wrought iron window. |
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Locally quarried limestone tiles before being used. |
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With a new under-the-archway stone seating area, the floor is getting tiled using locally quarried limestone tiles. |
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Last piece of stone skirting board laid by Joseph. |
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Grouting is being applied by Joseph. |
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The stone of the archway is getting cleaned. |
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Joseph is polishing the stone tiles while Radi is pointing the archway. |
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The pointed archway, showing a cubby-hole. Where oil lamps were traditionally placed, halogen spotlights are now fitted. |
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The finished floor, with a fig and an apricot tree showing in the background. |
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All's done. Still to come are tradiotionally-covered cushions for the seating area. |
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Cushions and spotlights in place. |
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The door lock getting re-fitted. The pattern at the top of the original window showing here was copied in the new wrought iron window. |
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