Onto another project

Today has been another busy and successful day so let's get to it.

Halil doing some sanding

More sanding going on

Measuring for cutting the shelf

Painting bezir on the shelf

The shelf is looking great

First off Halil was sanding down around the holes through for the model railway which isn't quite finished even now but is just being done a little every day. I think tomorrow there may be some more sanding required and then it should be done. Meanwhile Bekir was working on the shelf for Angela in her art room. He cut wood, then treated it with stain and finally, later in the day when the stain had finally dried, he fitted it in place. It is going to be perfect for storing things for Angela while she does her art.

Tidying offcuts away

Filthy and needing tidying

The old Christmas Tree base

Lifting the table saw out

Shoveling the dust out

Tiles shifted out of the way

The new project we started today is to clean out, refloor and plaster in the storage area under the stairs. This is a huge producer of dust (the school used to store coal in there so it was filthy) and today we cleared it out, threw some things out and stored some other stuff. This cross that I had used years ago to secure a gate to prevent the puppies going in turned out to be the old base for the Christmas Tree for the school, so I've put it up with the Old School things in the roof. The table saw that SandS gave me has been moved out to the wood shed so I can use it to cut up firewood and loads of dust and rubbish was removed. This has been where we store our spare tiles as well so they were all shifted out and now are stacked under the windows in the entrance.

Halil sweeps dust around

Trimming the slightly high section

Big pile of rubbish back here

New stones spread, but the back is low

That's how low it is

Big lumps of rock to fill in

Stones have filled the end

The work in the cupboard under the stairs is so dusty and horrible. I did persuade Halil to put a mask on which made me feel happier. They shifted all the dust and then worked on getting a level for the floor. Most of the floor is low enough but there was a little lip that needed chiseling out. Round the corner, however, was so incredibly horrible. They had to dig out many wheelbarrows of rubble and rubbish. With that all done they found that the far end of the floor really dropped away a lot, and using the laser they decided to get some big rocks from our rock pile outside to fill the hole before they spread the smaller pebbles as they had over the rest of that area. This was completed before the end of the day.

Rosie helped Angela finish the tree

We covered the room with tinsel

Lifted the tree inside the railway

Rosie loves the tree

Rosie sitting looking at the display

And now in the library

The last couple of days Angela has been decorating the trees in the lounge and library and yesterday I went mad with tinsel in the lounge with Rosie and the lounge was looking amazing. Today Angela finished the tree in the library and Rosie is loving both trees, and all the other stuff we've got to make it festive.

Xena thinks she's a parrot, clearly

Taking one of two broken fridge/freezers

I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of other stuff. First of all Xena being a parrot-dog with Angela, and finally the men loading Thomas up with a load of rubbish they're taking. Tomorrow they will be bringing our cement mixer back (I'd actually forgotten we had leant it out) so needed Thomas anyway.

Tomorrow should be cement pouring day under the stairs - very exciting indeed. Thanks for reading and back tomorrow.

More great progress

Today has been more good progress on multiple projects and tasks so let's get to it without delay.

Smoothing off the sides

Straight edge to check it's flush

Replastering around the holes

Filling the gap in the top

Plastering it all now

First thing the men headed to the shop to get some more plaster and when they arrived they got stuck in with the holes for the railway. First of all they tidied up and smoothed out what they'd done yesterday and checked that everyone was square and then Bekir started replacing the plaster that had fallen off in the Games Room while Halil cut and fitted some offcuts of the blocks we had bought for the roof. These are really light and perfect for filling the large gaps above each hole that we have cut. Bekir was by this time in and plastering inside each hole.

Two deer in the back field

Two puppies having fun on the top bank

New base for Rosie's Railway

Awesome Lord of the Rings bauble

Today we saw some deer on the field out the back. Xena and Dutch were up on the back bank together having fun and then they started barking and Xena ran across so Angela went to look and pointed out the two deer. How awesome is that. Another thing achieved today, once the men had got a break point doing their plastering, was to lift Rosie's Model Railway across onto the new wheeled base. I then hoovered up and pushed it into place. Later on there was more Christmas Decorations but I'm only going to share this picture of a special bauble Angela got me last year.

Halil drills for the TV bracket

TV on the wall

Bekir does some final checks

Drilling to fit the final skirting board

There it is, this room is now finished

Bekir fits supports for a new shelf

The next task for the men was putting up a TV in the gym so when Angela is doing her long walks on the walking machine she can put some YouTube on or a podcast. It didn't take long then there was a little cleaning up for the holes in the wall before Bekir went into the roof and fitted the final length of skirting board over by the doors and windows. The last job of the day for them was putting a new shelf up for Angela in her art room. This was not quite completed today but it's close.

The gym is now really nicely laid out

What a stunning moon rise

After school there was lots of Christmas decorating with Angela and Rosie while I was in the gym putting down more tiles and then, with Halil's help, shifting the machines to be in a better arrangement. All I need to do now is fit the end of the internet to a connection box and then the TV will be in service. After dinner Angela called Rosie and I out to watch the moonrise and it was stunning over the hills. A beautiful sight that the picture does not do justice.

So there it is. A good day all round. Thanks for watching and back tomorrow.

Angela and Rosie return

 The title of this update tells you the most important part of today; they are back and it's been wonderful!! However let's update you on the progress made by the men.

Getting the conduit fixed properly

Halil painting primer on the walls

Sally works on the ceilings

Bekir running the conduit behind my cabling

And now more for the Art Room

Puppies happy with the fire lit

THEY'RE HOME!!!!

They were in on time, and I had another crazy day working so got fewer pictures than I normally would. Bekir started off down in the library fixing up the conduit both that fed the cable into the room and also to tidy away the cable going to the gym. Halil had the primer out and spent the whole day painting it over all the walls. Sally had a nasty job on top of the scaffold as he was fixing up all the damage in the ceiling with cement; it is a really messy job as he has to throw the cement and some of it doesn't stick. With the work downstairs completed Bekir went to do the drilling and conduit to get internet into Angela's art room; we had one little issue because the walls are so crooked but this is now done as well; tomorrow I may work with him to get the cable actually fitted and through into the art room - being up the top of that ladder is not a place I want to be. Coming up to lunch time and I had a message to say Angela and Rosie had left our local town and were very nearly home, and I'd already lit the fire in the kitchen and boiled the kettle once so I boiled it again and went and waited with the puppies by the gate.

Family back together again

Sally still chucking

Bekir starts to knock through

A really good sized hole for my trains

Tidying up as the day closes

What a happy reunion it was, and I'm so pleased they are back! Rosie gave me lots of hugs and kisses and she's been a real doll all evening (once I finished work and could get away from the desk I spent the evening with her). Wonderful. Back to the men and Sally was still doing cement while Bekir had finally reached the point of knocking through the hole into the Games Room where eventually my model railway will run. I set my main camera up and filmed the process which will be on my YouTube channel later this week I think. I'm very excited by this, but of course can't really start anything until the renovation is completed and even then this spur through the wall won't be needed for years I don't think; always good to plan ahead though. As the end of the day approached Sally and Bekir cleaned and tidied while Sally finished the last of the mixed cement and then they were away. Lots of progress, and did I mention that Angela and Rosie are home!

Thanks for reading, again. See you tomorrow.