Let's start on the roof

Today was the start of a new and very big project for the men.

Bekir drilling for the tool storage

Halil shifting piles of tiles downstairs

Working hard to get the roof cleared

All done at the end of the day

Before they started that task I asked them to fit two tool storage things to the walls in the Glass Room to keep the gardening hand tools tidier and this they achieved pretty quickly. Once they had finished this they were up into the roof and I spent some time explaining my plans, which was hard with my still limited Bulgarian but we mostly understand each other so by going over it a few times we came up with a good plan. From there it was time to start shifting all the tiles and bricks and other rubbish from this end of the roof and it took the entirety of the rest of the day for them to do this; it was hard work as they had to go down two flights of stairs and then out to the green building for a lot of it. They also headed out and ordered the electrical items we need for the first part of the job which is changing up the wiring for every room upstairs.

Rosie having loads of fun with her balloon

Rosie was in excellent form after school; we turned the tree lights on, ran the Christmas train for a bit, then did some hobbying. After that she was dancing to some music and then playing with her SpongeBob balloon and having a great time. I came up to write this update when Angela called me down and Rosie was inconsolable having just burst her beloved balloon. She did cheer up after lots of cuddles thankfully. Poor wee mite.

So there's another day in the bag; back tomorrow, thanks for reading.

Winter arrived today

Welcome back and after a quite busy weekend it's been a miserable day today; let's talk through the weekend first though.

Rosie very excited about the tree

The sun rises again on Saturday

New sunglasses and huge smile

Grandma's gift

Hanging on the front of the shopping trolley

Rosie and the Grandson in the tree house

Tinsel up over the pictures

Friday night as I said in the last update Angela and Rosie put up the tree in the library. Rosie is getting very excited indeed for Christmas! Saturday morning dawned bright and it was a lovely day throughout. As Daddy Saturday I had fun with Rosie, first of all playing for a fair while with her and her dolls before we headed into town to pick up a gift for Grandma and do a bit of shopping. When we got back we went to the neighbours and she brought the grandson back to visit for a bit; they went into the tree house among other things, before a nap, then going back over to play with the grandchildren again. It was a fun day. Sunday I was up very early (think 3am) to drive our friends to the airport. I got back in plenty of time but I was exhausted so the only picture from the day is of some tinsel I put up in the library. Rosie and Angela had been putting the main tree in the lounge and it looked great but I didn't get the picture.

The mesh at the start of the day

Damp nasty working conditions

Not outside working weather

Rosie, her presents, and the tree

A huge bounce

Painting black on the sand

The forecast for today was for snow and when the men arrived I suggested they start one of the winter jobs inside and let the weather improve later in the week however they were insistent to finish this up. It was miserable and cold and damp but no snow arrived. They worked steadily to add the missing mesh over the remainder of the chicken run and then went round the entire area again adding more zip ties to hold everything really securely in place. As always they have done a very good job. Tomorrow they'll be starting on the roof including fitting the solar heaters I hope. I do hope the weather holds out for that work on the roof. Angela had another great day and among other things she got all Rosie's presents wrapped up ready for the tree (and there are a LOT!) When Rosie got home from school I showed her the Christmas Train that Angela and I had put under the main tree (though she was more interested in the presents) and then she did some bouncing on her trampoline before we came in here and did some hobbying. A lovely early evening indeed.

So there it is; thanks for reading as always and back tomorrow.

Mesh goes up

We've reached the end of another week and we're so close to finishing this chicken enclosure roof it's very exciting for the next task!

An extra run of wire

Angela weeding the flower bed

The mesh is begun

Bekir zip ties the mesh in place

The stick with a nail tool

I once again had the pleasure of dropping Rosie to school which I always like to do, and then it was back home. The first thing the men did when they arrived was to run more of the supporting wire across the gapes to give a better support for the mesh. Angela had a great day again today, first of all weeding and spreading more mulch on the garden and then getting loads and loads of cleaning and tidying done. Out at the chicken enclosure all the wire was now run so they began to lift the mesh over the top and tie it in place. Initially they were using twists of wire but then Halil found some cable ties which were a much better idea indeed. They have managed to cover the whole of the orchard area now leaving only the small dogleg around the build for Monday. Very exciting indeed!

Rosie painting on her castle

Colouring in book time

Getting ready to dress the tree

After school it was time for some hobbying with Rosie, and then books and colouring in and, after dinner, Angela and Rosie are now starting to put up our small Christmas tree in the library while I do this update. Yes, she's very excited!

You'll have to wait until Monday now to see the tree. Thanks for reading.

Ready for mesh

Another day done and in the bag so let's get to this update without any further ado.

Rosie brushing Angela's hair

This morning Rosie was up very early and in good form. She did Angela's hair for her and then tried on her new coat for the first time. I had the pleasure of taking her to school and when I got back it was still foggy, and the ducks were still sleepy. Angela headed off with Halil to collect her car from the garage then went on to see some friends while Halil brought Thomas back and while this was going on Bekir was busy running the thick wire between the poles and the fence. They also trimmed down some of the fruit trees to fit below the mesh. After lunch Halil again went out, this time to get the mesh from the shop which finally they had. When he got back he finished up sweeping and clearing the logging deck. I went out at the end of the day and assisted shifting the wheelbarrows of mulch to the garden and spreading it out. We've now got a very clean area, and three full wheelbarrows ready for Angela for tomorrow.

And that's that; a short update today. Thanks for reading, back tomorrow.

Tidying and pottering

Another day, and a slightly calmer one like a deep breath after a race. The men still got a fair amount done, though, so let's get to it.

Not a golden start to the day

The trailer has been pushed into it's place

Bekir going up to finish the plastering

There was very heavy rain over night however the new roof made no noise at all from the rain which is great news. When we woke the rain had passed but it was still cloudy and threatening. When the men came in they set to tidying and clearing out underneath the carport (and checking for leaks - we're going to have to re-tile the external balcony sooner rather than later sadly... more un-asked for jobs. Oh well. They got the trailer pushed in, cleaned out the drains and Bekir mixed up some more plaster for a second coat over the holes he filled yesterday.

Angela mulches in the garden

Lots of sweeping and tidying

Mixing a small amount of mortar

A pole is put up

Right in the centre of the washing line

While tidying up the men had gathered two wheelbarrows full of broken up bark and sawdust so Angela took it and used it to mulch around some of her plants in the garden; that should help keep the weeds down and also protect the plants should the temperature drop suddenly. With all the tidying done the men went into the chicken enclosure to put up the final poles for the mesh roof while I headed into town to pick this material up. Unfortunately it was not there at the shop yet; we'll have to go back tomorrow.

So there it is. I think there's more rain forecast for tonight. It's a good thing, as even with the two days of rain we've had so far already the grass is starting to green. Thanks for reading, back tomorrow.

Carport is finished

Another week and another Monday without the workers however they were back today so let's catch up on everything that has happened since Friday.

Reading as a family which is great

Rosie draws a face on the scarecrow

Rosie with our scarecrow

Angela getting into the garden

Incredible clouds

Thelma and Xena with a log

Daddy Saturday was an epic day. First thing I sat with Rosie and read through loads of her books while the puppies slept on my legs which was awesome. Once we'd both properly woken up, and Rosie was out of her PJs, we went outside and made a scarecrow for the chicken enclosure. Rosie really enjoyed this and was very proud of it indeed. We then had to go into town for a few bits and pieces and when we came back Angela was up and in the garden. We had a lovely call with my Mum and sister then were back outside into the garden for more planting for Angela while I lay on my back and watched the clouds and played with Rosie and the puppies. It was, all in all, a great day.

Rosie doing some hobbying with me

The tent is pitched and ready for us

Xena sat on my lap

Hot chocolate in the tent before sleep time

Sunday was a very windy day and we spent more of it inside, Rosie did some hobbying with my which was great fun and then, while she was having a nap in the afternoon, I pitched the tent so we could camp that night. The weather slightly improved so we went ahead with this but were woken in the early hours by a pretty impressive thunderstorm with very strong winds, heavy rain and lots of bangs and crashes. Rosie was very brave and we stuck it out, eventually falling back to sleep and then waking in time for her to head to school. It was really awesome to get to camp again this year as I think this'll be the last time before next Spring.

Angela working in the garden again

Lots and lots of planting out

The pallet arrives

Our solar boilers

As I've said we didn't have workmen yesterday but it was still an exciting day. After the storms over night the day was a bright and blustery one, very autumnal, and Angela took advantage to get into the garden again and do loads of planting out of things she received last week. The garden really is filling up now! Just before lunch the courier arrived with the solar boilers from Greece and we had the fun task of unloading them. Luckily the driver was happy to help, which is unusual here to be honest, and we got everything shifted and stored safely in underneath the car port. I'm now very excited to get these mounted and find out how well they work.

Moon over the pre dawn glow

Golden autumn morning

Old drains ready for blocking off

Carving insulation to fill those gaps

Halil stacks and stacks and stacks

Finally we reach this morning and it really was a beautiful start to the day, clear and colourful. First of all the moon above the pre-dawn glow and then, later, the sun bright over the fog in the valley. That fog did rise up to our level soon enough but I was in town with Halil talking to the bank by that point. When we got back we found Bekir had finished all the work on the carport and was doing the final finishing up which was to trim the drains from the now-covered balcony and fill them in with insulation and later on plaster. Halil, for his part, went into the woodstore to finish that job as well. This morning we had lots and lots of fighter jets flying over head and I did manage to get a very bad video of one of them.

Lots and lots and lots of wood

Bekir plasters while Halil tidies

As far as they got digging by hand

Bekir resorts to power tools - sensibly

Not long later the major job that is stacking all of our wood was completed - what a great task and stacked so well as you can see. With that job complete Halil set to tidying all the tools that had been scattered all over the garage and the windowsills while Bekir continued with the plastering and insulating of the gaps. They were both finished and so jumped to the next job which was to complete the digging of holes for poles to support our mesh roof for the chickens. Sadly the incredible winds we'd experienced on Monday night (while camping) had actually snapped our scarecrow in half however Bekir has saved it and he is standing strong again. Tomorrow we'll get the mesh and hopefully this will be a really quick task to get completed as well. I'm so excited for the boilers and the roof space to be done!

So there it is; another long one but that's how these long weekends for the men go. Thanks for reading, back tomorrow.