Starting to skim the floor

Today's update is going to be short not because not much happened, but because most of what happened was just all the same thing.

Bekir spreads out the wet wash

A scattering of cement dust onto the water

Making a level floor is not very easy up here

Look! BLUE SKY!! And (almost) sun

Cracking on with this new floor skim

First thing the men did a final little bit of insulation however I got no picture of that as I was busy. They then headed out to get more cement in Thomas and when they got back they cracked on with the jobs. The first task was to wash down the area they were going to do with water and sprinkle some cement dust onto the water, which was then mixed in with a brush. This served to both wet the underlying cement to improve adhesion, and also combined any dust into the first layer which will also help it all stick. Then it was all about Halil mixing cement and bringing it up in buckets while Bekir worked doubled over to lay the skim in the back storage area. It was hard work. Mid afternoon something really cool happened, though - the sun came out! I have missed the sun, it was great to go onto the balcony and not only see grey. Anyway, by the end of the day the right hand side of the storage had nearly been completed which is great. We do need to bear in mind that we're going to be doing this for the entire floor up here - it's going to take some time.

And there it is; thanks very much for reading. Back tomorrow.

A very short update

Today's update is super short because I barely got away from my desk for being so busy at work.

Angela weeding in the garden

The floor is now polished and finished

Bekir painting the ceiling

First of all this morning Angela and Rosie were out in the garden doing a bit of tidying and cleaning up. The men were in and first thing they went straight out to get more supplies from the builders merchant. Angela and Rosie went into town to get cash out to pay the men and also buy the new wheels and tyres for Maisie and when they got back, Halil went straight out to get that sorted for me - he really is a star! In terms of building progress they have finished repairing the floor, did some more plastering in spots that needed a bit better finish like around the door, windows and a little bit near the floor, and then finished up the painting as well.

Late afternoon sun from the balcony

After work I went into the pool for a bit with Rosie, Angela and the neighbour's grandson tehn it was out and waiting for Steve who arrived safely. We had a lovely meal and then Rosie insisted on a picture of the sky. I'm now on holiday as well! YAY!

Thanks for reading, back tomorrow!

That Sinking Feeling

It's been a very good day today, the sun has shone and lots has got done.

Trampoline time before school

A large delivery of sand and stones

Halil preparing the wood

Framework taking shape

Egg in a Cup for lunch

Before school (and work for me) after Angela got her ready I had a great time on the balcony with Rosie with her bouncing and then going on her slide that I told her was about to be retired. The joy she had led me to only taking down the swing (which she really can't fit in) and now the slide is on the grass but more of that later. Before the men arrived the delivery of sand and stones turned up which was good. When the men did turn up they got stuck into the task for today which was making the sink (hence my lovely pun title). This was being made with cement so they built a framework of old wooden shuttering and then bent in steel for reinforcement. After an opportunity to get into the art room in the morning Angela made Egg in a Cup for lunch which we ate together on the patio. Very lovely.

Angela drives Maisie for the first time

Rebar in place

Mixing cement in the hot sun

Starting to put it all together

Hosing down the mixing area

A sink is taking shape

After lunch Angela took Maisie for a test drive around the block and had a great time; she was able to get her phone connected to the bluetooth, which I'd failed to do, and we also got the memory settings for the seats all sorted out. After that she headed back out to do some shopping and look for a new car seat to go in Maisie. Bekir and Halil were still at it with the sink, and had pretty much finished the framework so Halil mixed up a load of cement which was hot work in the sun. They carefully poured it, making sure the rebar was correctly positioned, and then Halil tidied up. The sink is looking really good, not too high and big enough to fit our largest watering can fully inside it.

Louise in the shade, Thelma in the sun

Rosie in her new car seat

Slide set out on the grass

Rosie sheltering from "pretend rain"

After work I went to see the men and saw Thelma and Louise on the lawn showing how sisters can be so different; one in the shade, the other in the sun. Angela sorted out the car seat she had purchased while I played with Rosie in the garden on her slide and then we went and got it fitted into Maisie and Rosie tested it out. It looks great, and is good that now we have a seat in each car so it makes it much easier to get around, and less likely to go out and forget a seat. Talking of slides this is now where the slide is situated, out on the grass and Rosie slid and slid and slid for ages. Fun times. She also got her umbrella so she could shelter from "the pretend rain" and kept sharing it with me. She's got such a great imagination!

Rosie's new flowers

The peas, and a sunflower

Tomatoes growing well

More seedlings growing

Melon (I think) and celery (I think?)

Kale, lettuce and more sunflowers

And now a bonus section. The garden is really starting to come into itself now as Angela has planted loads of stuff out in the new raised beds which just look amazing. I think that Angela did a load of work in with the spuds the other day as well but I don't have a picture of that; I'll grab one for tomorrow.

Flags flowering and looking lovely

Tortoise garden continues to deliver

Common daisies, but beautiful

Finally a few pictures of flowers from the garden. Rosie has got in the habit of asking me to take pictures of flowers as she loves looking at them and I love taking them so here you go. It's really nice to see the Flags flowering however this is all that have flowered this year; hopefully once we've finished with all the garden work and they aren't disturbed for a few years they'll come back strongly.

There you are; a longer update than I anticipated but it's been such a day of sun and fun. Thanks for reading, back tomorrow.

Baba Marta Pause

I ended the last update expecting to be back the next day however unfortunately the men couldn't come that day, which was a lovely sunny day and perfect for working outside, and then Baba Marta did her thing and dumped a load of snow and only today have the men popped back to fix a problem, and complete some of the garden work. So, here I am with a MONSTER of an update, and quite a lot has actually happened, so go get a cuppa and then come back. I'll wait....

Sunrise is always a lovely time of day

Having a snack sat with me on the lawn

Up on the little bench on the top bank

This Bobcat has had its cage cut off

Rosie loved this shopping trolley

Sat on the ride on mower

Lawn fun time with the puppies

Out for dinner in the evening

Right. Thinking back it was a lovely weekend with glorious weather and we had a great time. There was lots of time outside with Rosie, picnics on the lawn and playing with the puppies on the lawn and the back bank. On Saturday we went for a Daddy Day Out to look at mini diggers (there were none at all even worth looking at, though this Bobcat with it's safety cage ground off did give me a chuckle) and then on to a hardware shop with the best trolly EVER and finally to the Husqvarna shop to see the ride on mower I was thinking of buying. Rosie sat on it for a bit but got a bit scared when the engine was turned on. We had another picnic on Sunday and then went out for dinner in the evening to a lovely restaurant. It was very awesome indeed.

Just a bit of snow fell in the night

The cranes for laying pipes

Angela and Rosie with Sammy

Beautiful blue sky

Rosie makes snow angels

Lovely view from the roof terrace

Icicles on the chair

The next day was a study in contrast. It had started snowing a little bit early in the evening and we woke up to a true dump of snow. It was Rosie's photograph day at school so I cleaned Thomas off and headed down with her but I was not able to get back onto the land because the corner by the gate was just too slippy. I very nearly got stuck but managed to reverse back up the track and just left Thomas at the top of the village. When Rosie got back from school of course we were straight outside and all three of us made another Sammy, this one with sculpted arms rather than sticks. It was such fun and Rosie was loving it, making snow angels while I enjoyed the crispness and the view. It was very cold, though, with some impressive icicles around.

Rosie stacking blocks into a tower

Still some snow around but it's melting fast

Putting air in the tyres to head to get pregletted

Rosie with Sammy's remains

We were given a cool hat

Meet Mo, the Mower

And then there was more snow

Rosie with her tower of cups

The following week was busy for me and I didn't get all that many pictures however Rosie had fun with building blocks and also running around in the melting snow. On Friday I took the trailer to get its preglet which it passed with no problems and that was a relief as, the snow having melted (and Sammy with it, sadly) Rosie and I headed back to the Husqvarna shop and bought the ride on mower! I think his name is Mo. Sadly a kid had turned the ignition on and flattened the battery and they hadn't realised until that morning so we had to wait while the person on a battery-buying-mission returned however when he did it was without a battery. They gave me a substantial discount and after a bit of fun driving it around (Rosie was SO good this whole time, and even jumped on my knee to ride along at one point) I loaded him into the trailer and we headed home. The next day it snowed again. Baba Marta was NOT letting go! Rosie also built more towers. She's getting so good at these!

Rosie playing Buckaroo

Very cold one morning

Xena looking out the window in Room 13

Lots of fun on the balcony

A beautiful colour sky

A small snow fall again

Rosie kicking the ball around

More football on the patio this time

And still we are talking about the time between the workmen being here. Angela bought Rosie Buckaroo (or at least she CLAIMED it was for Rosie but I'm not so sure) and we have had a lot of fun playing that. I'm rubbish at it. The weather has continued to be changeable with some very cold snaps and then even some more snow. We've had fun on the trampoline on the balcony, I marvelled at such a beautiful orange sunrise that I had to photograph to show Rosie as she loves sunrises and orange. We've also recently been able to get outside after school to play, kicking a ball around on the back bank and then I picked up a "real" football and we played for ages on the patio. Such fun!

A bucket on a string down into the sump

Bekir and Halil survey the mess

Cleaning the walls with a dog food tin on a stick

New cover takes shape

This will be much longer lasting

The new drainage channel

The exit is well protected now

A handle so I can lift it; they thought of everything!

And so to today. This actually begins a couple of days ago as I had to trim a branch off a tree that got broken in the heavy snowfall and when I dragged it over to the wood pile in the far section of the chicken house I got a shock as I saw standing water by where the sump was. A quick inspection revealed that the metal lid had completed rusted and rotted through and there was no cover on the sump any more. This, in turn, had allowed a load of dead leaves, grass and other stuff to fall into the sump and now the pump was not running and the water was backed up and filling the container right to the top. I spent the last two days after work with a bucket on a string removing the water and getting it as clean as I could and also I dragged the not-working pump out of the way and went and bought a new one. Today Bekir and Halil were back to have a look at this and they have done an excellent job today. First of all they finished up the clean-up job (Bekir is using an old dog food tin nailed to a bit of wood as a scraper) and they got all the dirt and other stuff out so the sump is nearly pristine. Then the new pump went in and was situated before they built an awesome new lid, a big high wooden structure that I can lift out of the way, and which won't have grass growing over the top of it no matter what happens. They also found where the end of the pipe that the pump exhausts through and built a little retaining stone pile and a trench so now it won't get buried again. Superb. I'm so pleased!

Sifting the soil before making use of it

Digging out for the tyres

Thelma and Louise check out the new tyres

With that task done they turned to shifting the soil that Angela wanted up against the far fence which the completed quickly and then finally they dug out and moved the tyres from the side of the raised beds to now either side of the ramp. They look really good there! It was so good to have them back for the day but now they'll be taking another holiday before the building season restarts some time in April I hope. We have a chicken enclosure to build, and a bunch more other things need doing besides.

That's not all - I got Mo working today and took him for a drive onto the top bank to test him out. He cut really well but I think needs some more fuel and oil before we try him again. It's going to rain all the rest of the week anyway however the best thing was Angela drove him down and I got a video and it is linked above!

Well as expected that was an epic update. I have no idea when the next one will come so watch this space and thanks for reading.