The Gazebo That Got Away

We had some friends who wanted to get rid of their gazebo, and since we have a huge rooftop terrace, we decided to buy it from them.  Their house is only about 15 minutes from ours, but we had to go through a huge ordeal to get it considering we have no vehicle, and we live in the middle of nowhere, (It really is hard to express just how literal I am being when I say that.) but we eventually got it over to our place.  

We also borrowed a truck and went to a close town, Mala, to buy some plants to make our very own 'jungle'.  We bought so many plants, we had to take the plants home then go back and buy pots for them to go in because it wouldn't all fit in the truck.  The large pots are made of concrete, are super heave, and are no fun carrying up 2 flights of stairs to the roof; then I had to pot them all.  All of this takes a couple of minutes to type, 30 seconds to read and 3 WEEKS to do!

Anyway, we finally have all the materials we need to make our own little rooftop getaway, so we spend Saturday afternoon putting together the gazebo, without directions of course, which is a test of true love.  Then we spend Sunday finishing off planting the plants and placing them around the terrace so that it's nice and cozy.  When we finished, it was beautiful.  We faced the gazebo so that when we sat in it we could see the ocean, but it was secluded enough that we felt like we had our own little oasis.  We thoroughly enjoyed it on Sunday evening.  I had bought some candles, so it was nice and romantic with the waves crashing in the background.  

So we get up and go to work on Monday morning, and the guy who is in charge of all the offsite housing, Tony, comes up to us first thing and says, "I hear you guys put a gazebo on your terrace this weekend and that it's really nice."  We say, "Yeah, it's fantastic."  He says, "That's nice.  You have to take it down.  It's against community rules."  I'll end the dialogue there because what comes next isn't too nice.  Let's just say that Tony and I aren't the best of friends anymore.  Kidding, but needless to say I was not a happy little camper.  

Since we don't get home until well after dark during the week, we decided that it would have to wait until Saturday to be taken down again.  (and hopefully we get at least one week to enjoy it)  Well, on Wednesday, apparently there was a formal complaint sent to the corporation who owns our complex (in Colombia) about our gazebo!  I guess when you're good, you're good.  Anyway, we took it down and put a table there instead, but I took some pictures, so that we'd remember the week that we had our own little oasis in the middle of the desert.

And if anybody is looking for a gazebo . . .