Two days, loads done

I clean forgot to do the blog last night; too focused on working on the Serpent Temple for the March challenge and it slipped my mind. Tonight I've been determined to do it so I'm sat down early.

A glimpse of sun, which did not hang around for long

Hikmet hard at it, clearing the land

Halil cleaning as he grouts

The edging tiles look great

Bekir on electrics as Sally enters

Sally grouting, Halil sweeping

Yesterday began cloudy with the slightest glimpse of the sun which did not last. Bekir and Hikmet were having a conversation about the next steps down by the driveway as Hikmet was now clearing more of the thorn bushes and generally tidying the place up. Inside Halil and Sally were continuing to grout, and the 5cm edging tiles also were going in nicely. Having had his conversation with Hikmet, Bekir came in as well and got stuck into more electrical work, making sure all the wiring is done for both rooms. The men really like to keep the place clean and organised and Halil is often with a brush in his hand sweeping. They are very very good, it is a pleasure having them here and working again it really is.

Rosie running across the balcony

Sally applying grout on top of the edging tiles

Bekir fitting a plug for the airconditioning

Hikmet is stashing the woodfall into our outbuilding

Blossom on the old plum tree

Lovely panorama in the afternoon

At lunch we went onto the balcony with Rosie as the weather had improved a lot and fresh air is good; I ate my lunch during my meeting straight after my break. The men were cracking on, grouting, sweeping, doing electrics and outside Hikmet was gathering wood and stashing it in the outhouse to dry for next winter. I took a brief stroll round after my meeting and enjoyed the sights and smells of spring as the blossom is coming on our pear and plum trees. Beautiful it really does smell lovely. The evening was another stunning one, and I got some pictures of the clouds over our local town as the sun was setting.

Fitting the bracket in the bedroom

Drilling through for the exit pipe

The first unit is installed

"Traditional" techniques at work

This morning dawned misty but was crazy busy. The air conditioning installers arrived at exactly the same time as the workmen and got straight stuck in, after they had been shown the locations and we'd had a bit of a chat about where the external units should go. They had some serious drills that went through the 1m thick walls downstairs without any trouble. I popped into town with Bekir and when we got back (with a door this time) we found the guy had arrived to find water on the land. Now I had been expecting a man with lots of high-tech radar equipment however this was a bloke with two bent sticks wandering around the land. He did claim to find a suitable drilling spot however I'm not totally sure I trust it. We shall see what happens with this adventure.

Starting work on the next major task

Sally building a wall

Sally built a wall

Bekir fitting plugs

Hikmet collecting rubbish, Louise chasing his rake

The view across the valley now

While the fitters were on site it was very difficult for the workmen to get on with their tasks so I asked Sally and Halil to begin preparing the ground for the toilet reservoir, and the new entrance we're putting in front of the kitchen door. The fitters finished at lunch, however, so they didn't get much further than this. After lunch Sally got stuck into his next job, laying the bricks to fill in the final gap into the bedroom. This is Sally at his happiest and the wall shot up and was done very quickly indeed. Bekir continued with his electrical tasks, fitting sockets into each of the rooms. Outside Hikmet was on to clearing and tidying the patio and other places around the land; he's made such a huge difference! This evening we went out for dinner to a local place and I really enjoyed the view as I came round the Green Building to open the gate. Wonderful.

We're so close now to completing this first task and getting stuck into fitting the toilets. Very exciting indeed!