I haven't been able to record aerial photos of the construction activities at the Orchard for quite some time now, ever since both the Mavic 2 Pro and Mavic Air started having issues. With the arrival of a new drone - a Mavic Air 2S - aerial imaging is again possible at Maambal. I was limited to just a few minutes of flight time in this visit (April 26th), as light rain started to fall even before the first battery of the drone was half used.
THE ENTIRE MAAMBAL ORCHARD. With the camera facing west and the drone flying way above the treetops, the whole 1.6 hectare property is captured. In the center is the farmhouse and beyond it is the outdoor kitchen, both under finishing work. To the lower right of the farmhouse is the garage building. At far right, the shiny GI sheet roofing of the caretaker's quarters can be seen.
FLYING JUST ABOVE THE FRONT GATE. An isometric view of the facade and eastern side of farmhouse is taken with the drone at low altitude. At the back of the farmhouse, the 10-meter high water tank tower also serves as support for the electrical wires that emanated from the electrical entrance tower by the garage building.
ROOF GEOMETRY. The roofing sheets of the farmhouse and the outdoor kitchen have a uniform slope of 0.40 (nearly 22 degrees above the horizontal). This slope was chosen because it strikes a good balance among the three factors that influenced the roof design - aesthetics, safety and economy. A steeper slope will look nicer, but it's less economical and unsafe to walk on during maintenance work without the aid of safety rope and harness. A flatter slope will be safer to walk on and more economical, but the appearance would leave something to be desired.
FACING EAST. The faint outline of the Caraballo mountains can be seen in the far horizon. The outdoor kitchen dominates the foreground, while the garage building at upper left is partially obstructed by the water tower. The gray main gate of the Orchard is just beyond the right corner of the farmhouse. The lush leaves at left belong to a row of Bangkok santol trees that are just starting to reach fruit-bearing maturity.
WATER WELL NO. 2. With the underground water table at its lowest from April to May, we decided to dig a second water well that will back up well no. 1 which is just beside the water tower. We chose a spot in the rear area of the Orchard for well no. 2 (the temporary shed of the digging crew is near the center). Ground elevation here is 7 meters lower than that of the first well, plus the chosen spot is near the intersection of two dry creeks. We hope we'll get lucky and strike water in this second location.
The railings of the two bedrooms' terrace, as well as that of the porch and main stairs, are fabricated and installed, ready for painting. The blue grass in the pocket garden has grown well, to be trimmed later.
The installation of spandrel exterior ceiling is nearly done. Construction of the low retaining wall for the 7-meter wide gravel driveway is under way. Back-filling of the driveway prior to gravel lining is also in mid-swing.
A large portion of the CHB retaining wall of the gravel driveway is embedded under the ground, only the last layer of CHB will be visible. Runoff water during heavy rains will be channeled to a selected flow path nearby, so the retaining wall should be sturdy enough to resist flowing water in case of spill-over.
The driveway and its retaining wall as seen from the rear - much back-filling has to be done to tame the rolling terrain into a gentle slope. A bahay kubo will be placed later underneath the mango tree at left.
The railing of the kitchen landing and rear stairs is done. The space beneath the landing will be utilized as a storage area for LPG tanks (connected to the main kitchen above through a long hose), as well as garden tools.
The split-type A/C units for the bedrooms and the common areas are all installed. Also seen in the photo are the downspouts leading down from the roof gutter to the catchment basins - all connected to the rain harvesting system. During downpours, rainwater maybe discharged to the water canal, or channeled to deep well no.1 (10,000 liter storage capacity) from where it will be pumped to the elevated water tank.
A utility electric pole is being erected about 60 meters to the rear of the outdoor kitchen and roughly 90 meters from the back end of the Orchard. This will provide power to the bahay kubo nearby (right), deep well no. 2 (to be dug shortly, as a backup water source), and to various power tools that may be used in the area. The solar powered floodlights that will illuminate the middle and rear portions of the Orchard will be installed also at this pole.
Power from the utility company will enter the Orchard through this entrance tower by the garage building beside the road. The garage building houses the power room that will contain the backup genset and the main distribution panel. Much work to improve the aesthetics of the fence still has to be done in the near future.
From the power room in the garage building, the power lines are connected to secondary racks at the water tower, for distribution to the farmhouse/outdoor kitchen/utility pole, caretaker's quarters and the water pumping system. The main line is 30 square mm in size - enough capacity to carry the Orchard's power needs.
Another low retaining wall is built in front of the garage building to contain the gravel bedding of the driveway. This retaining wall is cut in two to allow room for growth of the mango tree's trunk.
The sliding aluminum windows and grills of the outdoor kitchen had been installed. A new bahay kubo will be placed under the mango tree beside the outdoor kitchen. In the meantime, the open dining area serves as a venue for construction meetings.
Finishing touches are done to the grilling area by the outdoor kitchen. Inset are a pair of stainless steel grills that can be be used singly or combined into an 18 inch x 24 inch assembly.
Tile work for the laundry counter at the outdoor kitchen is nearly finished. This counter will also serve as a hand washing station, as well as a place to clean fish and other messy kitchen stuff.
Tile work for the outdoor kitchen counter has started too. The counter at the left is lower by 10 cm compared to that at right to allow for the additional height of the stove, making cooking and stirring less of a challenge .
Insulation, ceiling and electrical works have been going on for quite some time now. Floor tiling works will commence as soon as the ceiling is fully covered.
Finally, a panoramic view of the farmhouse and the gravel driveways - the one at right leads to the garage building, while that on the left passes in front of the farmhouse and outdoor kitchen, running towards the rear of the Orchard nearly 200 meters away.
