Pump house lid, and balcony fans

As my mum would say - "Phew what a scorcher" and hasn't it been today! The forecast is for this very hot weather, up to 39 or 40 degrees, to stay until the end of Monday when it's due to drop to "only" 32C. We shall see though.

Grinding down some rough edges

Sheet metal work starts

Bending for the overlap

One side is done

Rivetting the other side

As the title of this update suggests today started off with Bekir and Halil creating the two hatches that are going over the top of the pump house. We need access, though not regular, to be able to service the pumps, check the batteries and switch from one collection point to the other. They have made the hatches overlap to prevent any water getting inside, which is perfect. It is thin sheet metal that has been rivetted in place. Next week, or maybe in September after their break, they will put a leg on each hatch that will swing down and support the hatch. Right now it is totally sufficient though.

On top of a ladder. Again

Grinding out to feed the wires through

Each of the holes plugged again

Really neatly finished off

With the hatch finished enough it was time to come up onto the balcony to complete the work on the ceiling fans. This could have been a really quick job but Bekir wanted to run the cable behind the insulation and it turned into quite a struggle to do this, as the insulation had no gap behind it and forcing wires down was not easy. They did manage it, however, and I'm sat here now with both fans running on 2/3 and it's making a nice breeze - not quite as strong as we hoped, but certainly a huge improvement. The finishing off from Bekir was very neat as well.

And there you are. There's probably another couple of days of work before the men take a few weeks off, very well deserved as they've soldiered through very hot weather. I'll be back on Monday.

A couple of days of progress

A missed update, due to going out last night with Dincher, means this is going to be a two day update - let's get stuck in.

Steel for the doors and hatches

Halil splitting wood - very hard work

Roughing out the framework

Trimming overhangs

One course removed for access

Pipe insulated and plastered in

Yesterday we were making a start on the door hatch for the pump house, and the two access doors on the back of the reservoirs. After some measuring and discussion I went with Bekir to get the metal down at one of the metal yards in town and then headed back to find Halil was slaving in the baking sun splitting wood. We've now decided we will leave that task until September as it is just too hot for that kind of work for anyone. With the steel in hand Bekir and Halil set to working out the basic frame for the double hatch that will go on top of the pump house. After that they trimmed the doorway a little larger at the back of each collection point so I can get in to empty them, and finally they put the first skim of plaster over the toilet pipe that is going up to the guest suite.

Angela and Rosie in the pool

Beer and a book - good living

First Iskander Kebab for a long time

After school Angela and Rosie went in the pool together and then I joined them before Angela got out to prepare dinner for her and Rosie. I stayed in a little with Rosie then after they had eaten I dropped down to town to meet Dincher. I had a bit of time with my book and a beer before he arrived and then we had a lovely meal and lots of chat. I walked home in the dark and it was very hot and sweaty even at 10pm. It was a really enjoyable evening though; I'm really pleased I managed to get out to see him.

Getting to welding it all together

A huge hornet on the fly screen

Fitting plug sockets

We have a hinged hatch or two

Today was a day of welding and hammering as the frame for the hatches was made. There was also lots of grinding and drilling but it was productive, though again it has been very hot at about 39 degrees and that is no weather for welding. They kept at it and finished the hatch, including adding some extra strengthening, and then Bekir got started on the electrics. This is now also all finished and connected at the house end. Tomorrow they will look to fix the sheet metal on and hopefully also get to finish the fans up on the balcony.

The cloud looming

Fascinating shapes in the cloud

Fifteen minutes later

The last couple of days have been super hot, up towards 40 degrees, but late afternoon both days there's been an overcast. Yesterday it was a boring blanket of cloud that spread over just enough to get above us then stayed but today was far more interesting. It even rumbled a couple of times but within an hour it was basically totally gone. The second two pictures are fascinating cloud shapes taken about fifteen minutes apart. Lovely.

Pump house progress

 Another hot day today, and good progress indeed.

Sunset

Laying the blocks

Shuttering for the top

Metal reinforcement for the top

The concrete is poured

Slightly filled in trench

Sealing the drains

Toilet pipe goes up the wall

First last night was a classic summer sunset, oranges and reds and fire going down over Apple Tree Farm. This morning I dropped Rosie to school as Angela's foot is still very sore and when I got back the men were in and working on the blocks for the pump house. It did not take very long at all for all the courses to be laid and then they worked on fitting the shuttering around the top; I have asked for the roof to slope down onto the collection points so that is what they have done. After reinforcement mesh they poured the cement into the space, and also filled in part of the floor which we realise we didn't need as a trench. Then the remains of the cement was used to fill in gaps around the drain pipes coming from the patio. Finally the task of cutting out the insulation to fit the pipe for the upstairs toilet began; this is not far off completed.

It is truly very exciting to see how close we are now, though there's a fair amount of metal welding work to be done before we can say "complete". Thanks for reading. Back tomorrow.

A week, then toilets

Bekir and Halil took last week off entirely as it was Eid, which was both a welcome break and also a frustrating delay. It is what it is, however, and we made the most of it.

Collecting dried leaves for the toilet

Relaxing while the ladies are in the pool

A stunning sunrise

Rosie with a lollypop

F16 flying past

One of the things that has been concerning me a bit is running out of leaves and sawdust before the new toilets are working again. On Sunday I headed out briefly to collect more leaves and now I think we have enough; there really are loats on the back bank. After that Angela took Rosie into the pool while I lay on the swinging chair in the sun and watched; it was a time of feeling massively blessed, which of course I am! The rest of the week has been taken up with awesome sunrises, visits to the neighbours where Rosie got a lolly pop. The Other Brother and his son came over to swim in the pool as well which was just lovely. We've also had a fair few visits from NATO F16s, I got a very bad video (above) as well as this not so bad photograph.

Rosie watching it pour with rain

Tidying the porch

Birthday BBQ

Rosie on Big Nemo

Playing Oak & Iron

I was just thinking that we were set in with no chance of rain for months when a storm blew through and threw loads of rain. Since then the weather has been sunny but there was days of north wind - not cold as such but very very strong and gusty. Angela has taken advantage of the new patio to empty the porch and clean it out so that's now a much cleaner room. It was the Other Brother's son's birthday as well and we went over for a BBQ to celebrate, Rosie had a great time until she decided she was too tired. On Friday my mate Steve arrived to stay for the weekend; he always brings excellent gifts for Rosie and this visit was no different, turning up with a Big Nemo which was an instant hit and Rosie has LOVED playing with in the pool. Steve and I got as much gaming in as time and energy would allow and it was a great weekend indeed. He headed off and arrived home safely today.

Bekir removes the roof supports

The small hatches are also tidied up

Halil soaking the patio

Pump house takes shape

The new pipe being installed

Getting the pump out to test it

And so we reach today when the workmen returned. The first task they set to was removing all the wooden shuttering around all the cement that was poured previously, including taking down the wood inside the toilet collection points and opening up the hatch on top. This will have a fine mesh and an opening metal door on top. With this done Halil then wetted down the patio (which we should probably have been doing during the week, on reflection) while Bekir measured up the pumps. I took time to work with him on this so we were confident in the size of the pump house. They then started laying the bricks but then Angela had the VERY good idea of proving that the pumps worked at that distance. This involved Bekir and Halil removing the old pipe from the wall into the downstairs bathroom and plumbing the new one in. We then moved the pump (which wasn't the nicest task for Bekir) and connected it all up. It worked first time so tomorrow I will probably ask them to do the same for upstairs and then they can really focus on the laying of blocks. It will be SO nice to be using these new toilets again.

So there you are; it's good to be back seeing progress again. See you tomorrow and thanks for reading.

A day of consolidation

 Another Friday reached, and the last update for a while as the men are taking next week off.

Halil starts to remove the cement from the drains

Tough work in the hot sun

Bekir scraping as well

Nearly done on this task now

Putting up a curtain pole

Today has been all about the patio and smoothing and scraping it. It has been a long hot day for Bekir and Halil but by the end of it they really had taken a lot of the roughness off the surface. It's such a pleasure to see it all done and now they are left with the toilet pump house, and then the grates and doors on the collection point. It's a bit frustrating to lose all of next week as well as it probably means they'll have to work into August to get the toilets done now. After finishing up outside they came in and put up the new curtain pole in Rosie's Playroom so now that can be kept dark at night for her, and cooler during the day.

In the shade

Super happy Rosie with drawings by Mummy

After I finally finished work, and it was hot on the balcony again today, I played with Rosie for a bit then we went in the pool. It's so good to have that and the way she loves being out there is wonderful.

So there you are; another week done. Thanks for reading.