Sunday 29 April 2018

A very relaxing and enjoyable weekend

Hey all, I'm sat here Sunday evening after playing a game (we're actually half way through it) and I'm pretty tired but gonna power through this update. We do not have the workmen tomorrow either so I'll probably not update tomorrow as well.

A really hazy start to the day
A really hazy start to the day
A is so excited about her room
A is so excited about her room
There was so much dust, even after the men swept up
There was so much dust, even after the men swept up
Thelma "helping" me to hoover the corridor
Thelma "helping" me to hoover the corridor
Time to relax in the sun
Time to relax in the sun
Saturday dawned a bit chilly and quite hazy. The sun was out, though, and while the breeze was cold when the clouds let it through the sun was warm. A headed into the Art Room with Henry and cleaned up the dust; I gave a quick hand with reaching the higher parts of the windows where the old stickers are now peeling off having been in direct sunlight for 4 years. After this A headed in to town to do some shopping and while she was out I grabbed Henry and set to on the corridors and Room 13; it was pigging and that being done makes such a difference. I did spot that my laziness about plug sockets was a mistake and A picked up another fourteen double sockets (my Business Partner will know my addiction to never being short of plug sockets) of the better type so Bekir will have to redo them in the Art Room. A got back after quite a mission in town and around lunch time I headed down to read and then snooze in the sun on the swinging chair.

An artist at work
An artist at work
Puppies asleep, mirroring each other
Puppies asleep, mirroring each other
Thelma mid Thelma-roll
Thelma mid Thelma-roll
Louise loves getting fusses
Louise loves getting fusses
Thelma hates having her picture taken
Thelma hates having her picture taken
Such a wonderful space for A
Such a wonderful space for A
Tired but ready to play a game
Tired but ready to play a game
I did some model work in Room 13 while A headed into the Art Room to paint and after a while I went through, dragged a chair in, and sat to watch and enjoy spending time with her. The sun was out by now and the puppies fell asleep on the rug, mirroring each other as they so often do. It even got a little bit warm and so they were shifting in and out of the sun, and Thelma had some huge rolls on the rug. Louise was in a clingy mood, as always, and jumped up to see me several times. Thelma, for her part, hates having her picture taken and this is the look you get when you persist in snapping pictures. This room is amazing though; A was commenting on how much she loves it and I really enjoyed sitting in there with her; I had to drag myself out and back to my hobby bench as I wanted to get her minis finished for a game on Sunday. We had a short game after dinner which went badly with poor dice rolls but was still fun; it was new forces for both of us and it's good to mix it up, but we were both pretty tired so went to bed after that.

Morning Selfie time
Morning Selfie time
Sassy eating some weeds from the Olive tree
Sassy eating some weeds from the Olive tree
On the lounger waiting for Sassy to go back in
On the lounger waiting for Sassy to go back in
I slept badly, there was music from a wedding again (as there is now) but didn't lie in too much and we headed onto the balcony with our morning cups of tea. It was again a lovely morning with quite  a chill breeze blowing in but it was nice enough to stay out for a while. We let Sassy out to hop around and she was having a great time howevr when it cam time to go inside she hid and I had to find her and put her back in her run manually. I spent the rest of the morning painting miniatures and relaxing as you should on a Sunday.

Another quick game
Another quick game
Louise is snoozing while we play
Louise is snoozing while we play
Thelma is happiest playing
Thelma is happiest playing
The rest of the day was spent playing another quick game and then A painted while I did some miniature stuff and went and sat with her for a bit again. We also went onto the balcony to catch the sun and play with the puppies, though Louise was more interested in cuddles than chasing anything apart from Thelma's tail. It was a lovely day by now, though the breeze was still quite high. This is the way to spend a Sunday afternoon for sure.

Eating dinner on the balcony again
Eating dinner on the balcony again
An amazing beef stew - so tasty!
An amazing beef stew - so tasty!
One caterpillar, and a dead tree
One caterpillar, and a dead tree
Watering with the rain water
Watering with the rain water
Ready for another game
Ready for another game
Bright moon behind tree branches. Honest
Bright moon behind tree branches. Honest
We ate our dinner sat on the balcony and it was an amazing stew that A concocted and served in our Kavarma pots. The sun was still shining and it was great to sit there however we suddenly noticed that one of the trees, one of the ones I photographed for the last blog no less, is dead in the orchard! I headed down after dinner to water the trees and found no evidence of any attack apart from one solitary caterpillar. I can't believe it has been killed so quickly. As I watered around I checked and found no evidence of any other attacking creature. Gutted. We then set up for another game and this is now half way through as we were both too tired to finish it. I came through here and the moon was glorious however I wasn't able to get a good shot of the moon and the Tea Tree branches, so this is what you get.

So there you are - a really cool weekend but now I'm shattered so it's time for bed. I'll probably be back on Tuesday so don't wait for an update tomorrow.

Friday 27 April 2018

Two days in one

Friday evening and the loud music season has very much begun; there is a wedding in town and it's almost like it is taking place on our patio. Not the most joyous of things. Maybe one day I'll develop a love for poorly played Turkish music; but not this day.

Of course this update covers Thursday and Friday as we were out last night so let's try to rewind to yesterday morning when we had still not been reminded of quite how loud those weddings can get.

Eating porridge on the balcony
Eating porridge on the balcony
Hikmet keeps chipping away
Hikmet keeps chipping away
Mesut gets started on painting in the Games Room
Mesut gets started on painting in the Games Room
Bekir starting on the ceiling lights for the Games Room
Bekir starting on the ceiling lights for the Games Room
A made us porridge to eat on the balcony when she got back from collecting the men, which was just lovely. It seems like ages ago now. I had totally forgotten until I saw the photograph. It was just good to get outside and away from the dust that has got EVERYWHERE with the work that Hikmet is doing. It needs doing, though, and has saved us a lot of time when we come to the corridor as a task Mesut was doing his awesome thing and painting on into the Games Room now while Bekir had picked up the ceiling lights for in there.

Plums growing on the big tree
Plums growing on the big tree
A's garden is doing so well
A's garden is doing so well
A plum on one of the orchard trees
A plum on one of the orchard trees
An ant inspected what is either an apple or a pear
An ant inspected what is either an apple or a pear
Beautiful wild flowers on the back bank
Beautiful wild flowers on the back bank
An orchid on the thin earth
An orchid on the thin earth
Mo's Grave
Mo's Grave
An alternative view of the estate
An alternative view of the estate
We both love this tree; it's look and smell
We both love this tree; it's look and smell
A bunch of poppies blooming now
A bunch of poppies blooming now
A headed out for some reason, I can't remember why now, and I took myself for a walk around the garden to take lots of pictures (as you can see) of various things that are coming into bloom or fruiting or just generally looking amazing. We're so lucky with the land we have and the variety of different types of soil and micro-climate. Such variety. It is also awesome to see fruit on our orchard trees. If it doesn't rain soon our routine is going to have to expand to include watering out there every night again.

The chooks have dug a hole chasing grubs
The chooks have dug a hole chasing grubs
Lots of strawberries
Lots of strawberries
One of many spud areas
One of many spud areas
Tomatoes looking healthy
Tomatoes looking healthy
After walking around the top bank I took a turn around the raised beds and garden areas which A has been doing such awesome work on. The chickens have really been giving the humanure in this raised bed a going over; they've nearly dug a tunnel to chase the tasty grubs in there. Our strawberries are looking really positive, we've loads of spuds showing up, and the tomatoes are also doing well; we've not planted quite as many this year.

The first of the ceiling lights
The first of the ceiling lights
We have ceiling lights in the Games Room
We have ceiling lights in the Games Room
Now time for the plug sockets
Now time for the plug sockets
Inside Bekir had the first light hung and very shortly afterwards all the ceiling lights were up. They look really nice and I'm very happy with the choice I made there. With this done he headed into the Art Room to begin fitting the plug sockets around the walls; it was getting very close to completed and A, who was super busy with work, was getting very excited.

On the patio once again
On the patio once again
Lovely prawn and salad in pita
Lovely prawn and salad in pita
Rambo and Thelma hide from the sun
Rambo and Thelma hide from the sun
Louise barking at something or other
Louise barking at something or other
By this time it was lunch time and A fried up some prawns which we put inside some garlic pita bread and ate while sat on the patio. It was roasting warm and too hot for Rambo and Thelma who took to the shade of the Tea Trees. Louise was pottering about and took herself over onto the grass and barked at random things. It's lovely to get to spend time out there at lunch now the weather is so much better.

By Room 13, scraping and tapping away
By Room 13, scraping and tapping away
Painting the top half now
Painting the top half now
Tiles set in place on the windowsills
Tiles set in place on the windowsills
Cutting tiles for the windowsills
Cutting tiles for the windowsills
Hikmet saving the old school bell
Hikmet saving the old school bell
Back inside and the men were still hard at work with lunch out of the way. Hikmet clearing the walls by Room 13 (which made the tap tap tapping very close indeed). Mesut had done the lower half of the back wall in the Games Room and was now up a ladder painting the top part while Bekir was working on the final bits for the Art Room which included putting the tiles around the window ledges. He had his tile cutting machine out and was making very short work of it indeed. I had Hikmet save the school bell outside Room 13; we may end up wiring this to a door bell but then again, maybe not. Maybe we'll put a switch so we can stop it working if it annoys us too much.

Stopped by the train at the crossing
Stopped by the train at the crossing
Lots of rubble from the ceiling on the floor
Lots of rubble from the ceiling on the floor
One and a half walls done
One and a half walls done
Tiling the window sills
Tiling the window sills
Painting the walls
Painting the walls
Games Room awesomeness
Games Room awesomeness
I headed out to the builders merchant after lunch to get some more paint for Mesut and only just arrived in time as another lady was looking at the tubs of my paint. Fortunately she was told to come back the next day and another order was put in as I was leaving. I went both ways via the old bridge and was delayed on the way back by the train going past the crossing. The rest of the day involved a lot of rubble and dust, painting tiling and general awesome progress. The Art Room just needed some paint and a bit of grout to be completely finished while the Games Room is getting very close indeed.

The trail of engine oil on the cheren put
The trail of engine oil on the cheren put
Dinner party
Dinner party
Lovely lasagne
Lovely lasagne
I took the men home and we marveled at a trail of engine oil that went all the way up their cheren put; someone had taken it too fast in too low a car and drained the sump. That would surely not end well. We were heading out for dinner over at Nik and Emma's and so A was waiting at the top of the village with the puppies so I collected her and turned straight round and drove to their house. It was a lovely evening, with awesome lasagne and good company. We spent a chunk of it sat out on their lawn with the sounds of crickets and frogs for company and not much else. We also saw some fireflies which is very early for them. It was not a late night as I was getting tired and we drove back carefully in the dark.

A lovely pre-dawn sky
A lovely pre-dawn sky
The plants have been moved to the balcony
The plants have been moved to the balcony
And so to today; the problem with doing blogs less regularly, this one is going to be a long one, though there's less to write about today as I've been under the weather with a migraine most of the day. The day started with me with a headache and A feeling quite unwell. After a brew (we tried to go on the balcony but it was quite chilly with a bit of a breeze coming in) A went back to bed while I collected the men. I had a panic about the car keys then found them still in the ignition from the night before; we haven't done that for a fair while.

Hikmet still scraping away
Hikmet still scraping away
Bekir working on the strimmer
Bekir working on the strimmer
And now he's putting the door trim on
And now he's putting the door trim on
Sat in the baking sun waiting for my turn
Sat in the baking sun waiting for my turn 
It's a repetitive thing to type but Hikmet was back up on his scaffold scraping away; the corridor is such an expanse with 3m high ceilings and so long. He's doing really well and this will help so much as we plan when they will come back to complete the electrics and plastering in there. I'd wanted Bekir to look at the strimmer as it wasn't working and I'd like to cut some grass before we go away on holiday. Unfortunately he could not get it working so I planned to take it to the fixers today. He then got on with a few odd jobs including fixing the surround on the Art Room door. I had chores to carry out in town and set off for what I thought would take an hour or so but ended up taking over three hours. Suffice to say I was pretty shattered when I got back.

Sweeping up the rubble
Sweeping up the rubble
A wall light in place
A wall light in place
Grouting begins
Grouting begins
Cleaning after grout application
Cleaning after grout application
The corridor looking clean
The corridor looking clean
I spent most of the afternoon in bed with a stinking headache that was bordering on a migraine. Plenty of progress occurred during the afternoon, however. Hikmet got to a stage where cleaning was the priority and spent ages sweeping up and then removing the plaster and concrete and then spreading it on the driveway to help bind it together next winter. Bekir fitted all the wall lights in the Games Room so now there's only plug sockets and all the electrics are done. Mesut had finished the painting task in there complete and was grouting and Hikmet joined in with the process as soon as his sweeping had been completed. The corridor is going to look awesome once it is finished.

Early evening sweep of cloud
Early evening sweep of cloud
A wasp with its nest
A wasp with its nest
Dramatic storm clouds that didn't come near us
Dramatic storm clouds that didn't come near us
Beautiful flags by the entrance path
Beautiful flags by the entrance path
The weather was changing as I took the men, with some impressive storm clouds developing. When I got back I did some chores like dragging in everything from the balcony and then headed onto the roof terrace to get some pictures. I also found a birdsnest, with baby birds, underneath the tiles (not ideal really) but couldn't get a good picture of it, while there are a few wasps nests appearing around the place. The clouds were still impressive but not as awesome as they had been. We had dinner sat inside as the weather outside was not appealing and then then brought the swinging chair inside, at which point A prompted me to grab the camera again to take a picture of the amazing show the flags are putting on. Not to be outdone the sunset was amazing; it continued to be even after this picture was taken as well. A lovely country.

The lovely Games Room
The lovely Games Room
I'll leave you with this picture of the Games Room. What a space this will be.

Which makes the fact that at nearly 11pm we can still hear god-awful Turkish music from the wedding and this is nothing compared to what the summer will bring even harder to bear. Oh well, plans are in play and solutions will be found.

Thanks for reading this uber epic long post, after the couple of short ones this more than makes up for it huh.