A weekend then the second panel

Another weekend has flown past and we are now less than two weeks until Christmas! Crazy how fast time is flying now.

Lovely autumn/winter morning

Big bumps that needed sorting out

Rosie puts a stone into the wheelbarrow

Weeded and de-stoned; lots more to do though

Rosie sits on top of the big pile of sand

Our little sandcastle that we made together

The train comes into sight

The weekend was a pretty good one all told but had its moments as you'll see. I was woken about 4am by Xena being sick and then later on she started throwing up blood. Once the vet was in his office I dashed her over to get checked out and he gave her some injections and special food and said she had a stomach bug. Fortunately she got better steadily through the day and was fully back to normal by Sunday. When I got back it was time to go outside with Rosie to get some chores done. I raked over the huge bumps in the drive by the front gate and then, with Rosie's help, started to clear stones and brambles from the burned section next to the gate. We worked really hard and I was pretty exhausted by the time we stopped. We then had fun with the big sand pile and also made a small sandcastle next to the sand and stone pile. It was a good day outside and great to get lots of progress done. At the end of the day we spent some time in the lounge and set the train running around the tree which is always good.

Angela re-covered this in the night

Play time in the lounge

Rosie feeds the birds

Angela clearing out the Glass room

Plants on the windowsills, Rosie and the pups look on

Christmas stickers onto the windows

The lounge looking lovely and Christmassy

Rosie with her sparkler

I did not get much sleep, unfortunately, as a storm blew in with really strong winds and it was howling and banging outside and kept waking me up. When I got up the next morning Angela told me that she'd been out earlier putting plastic back over the blocks as the wind was so strong it had blown the tyres off the top of the pile! I got the trolley and shifted them in really quickly. Angela and Rosie had fun playing with some magnetic toys and then the sun came out so Rosie and I went to feed the chickens then did another load of clearing down by the gate. While we were working on that Angela was clearing in the Glass room and preparing a load of plants for winter so then Rosie and I helped by carrying them up to the lounge. It is great to see that room looking so awesome now. In the afternoon Angela and Rosie did stickers on the windows and doors in the lounge and now we really are ready for Christmas. There was time in the evening just before bath time for Rosie to have fun with a sparkler.

Taking the shrink wrap off the final panel

We needed to remove insulation to access the beams

Cold damp and wet on the roof

Not an ideal day for roof work

The securing metal strap in place

Such a beautiful view up here

Bekir takes the pipes upstairs

And so to today which started off foggy and cold and stayed that way for almost the entire day. I suggested to the men that they stay inside because of the weather but they decided to work on getting the second frame put in place just to get this phase of the solar boilers complete at least. Halil removed some of the plaster board and insulation from the place they'd need to access to fit this frame and then Bekir went onto the roof and set to work. It was a much quicker process, as expected, and they managed to get the frame and the final panel in place during today. I didn't get a picture of the panel yet unfortunately as I was busy. The weather cleared briefly during the day which was nice while it lasted but it didn't last long. At the end of the day the men went to pick up some water pipes so they can run these out to the roof, but just cap them inside and out and not attach them to anything, so we can then put plasterboard and insulation and plaster everything inside. I don't know when we'll finally get these boilers fitted due to waiting for some special valves (which I have now ordered) and also the weather not being ideal for working on the roof.

My pizza from this evening

This evening Rosie asked to go out for our dinner so we went and had a lovely time and some good food too.

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

It can't rain all the time...

 ... but apparently it can rain a LOT, and so it has been.

The day looks promising

Here comes the rain (inside)

End of the day glow

Rosie painting the railway

Filthy water that came through the window

It was torrential on Friday and Bekir and Halil didn't come which was a shame but not massively surprising. The weather changed from torrential to promising sun to then absolutely incredible high winds and driving rain that was so heavy it forced its way through our windows and I spent a chunk of the morning running around with towels mopping up floods. It was my final day of work for the year so was a bit busy. The storm blew over and we did get to see some sunset, which was surprising, and at the end of the day Rosie asked again to help with the Model Railway which was just awesome.

There are a couple of videos above the paragraph above and if you can't see them, go here to check them out.

The only picture from Saturday

Promising on Sunday

Rosie and Teddies watching the train

At the restaurant

The weekend was a mix of some sunny periods with lots of rain and wind. On Daddy Saturday we went to the shops and played on the trampoline and with the skittles but I did not take many pictures while on Sunday it was nice enough that Angela got to go into the garden with Rosie which was great. We went out in the evening to our favourite restuarant and Rosie had a great time with a birthday party that was going on there.

Starting to fit the new lights

Confusion at the garage

Guitars back on the wall

Boiler back installed

New angle for the timer

And so to today. It was raining all day and horrible so the men worked inside all day. First of all they fitted the two new lights into the balcony so now we have good illumination throughout. I had to head out a couple of times, including to the garage to get Thomas looked at, and while I was out the men fixed my guitar hooks which is great. Angela and I did a Bulgarian language lesson today as well and the final task for Bekir and Halil was to refit the bigger boiler. While doing this they changed the timer so now we can see it. At the end of the day we looked at the windows and found that our drains empty behind the insulation, and are blocked, which is far from ideal so that will need to be fixed.

Of course it cannot rain all the time and right now it is snowing...

So there you are; the long weekend and today. Thanks for reading.

Pipes and storms

 The title of this update says it all really.

Halil shovelling, Bekir letting the puppies out

Bekir starts chiselling through the slab

Broken clouds

First hole done

First thing Halil was filling in fully over the first pipe, that was fitted yesterday, making sure the ballast and sand was well set over the top to protect it. Angela was doing a few chores after dropping Rosie at school and the puppies heard the men arrive so Bekir let them out; they are very noisy when they want to be. Bekir then got the big drill out and began knocking holes through the cement side to allow him to fit the pipe through to the downstairs bathroom. At this time it was warm but with interesting clouds; clouds that often foretell of heavy rain. Bekir's plan was to knock a few small holes in the cement and then tunnel through between them and pull the pipe, making the task quicker and also damage the slab less.

More holes dug

More stones to be moved

Pipe in to the wall end

And out to the pump end

Securing the pipe in place

When Bekir and Halil collected the pipe yesterday they had also picked up a couple of good quality pallets for Angela who had an idea to make an easy-to-maintain garden for Rosie's plants. Today she went and got wood preservative and painted it on the first one, then worked out the size of hole that was needed to sink it in and got that started. Meanwhile Bekir was continuing to drill holes through the slab and was making good progress. Halil, for his part, shifted more large stones and began filling in past the ramp. By mid afternoon the pipe was run from the wall of the house out to where the pumps will be and Bekir and Halil were covering it fully with sand and stones and making sure it was securely in place.

The storm, before it hit

Watching the rain falling, with Rosie

And that is about where they stopped. As you can see from the three videos above a big storm blew in very suddenly indeed (though it had been building for a bit it just hit fast) and it rained heavily and without let up so I sent them home a little early. It was hammering down when Angela got back with Rosie and we spent our time reading on the balcony and then watching the rain fall.

Sunshine over Apple Tree Farm

Now, of course, it is a lovely evening. I don't think it'll be lovely over the weekend, however, though fingers crossed we can still get outside a bit.

Thanks for reading. Back Monday.

Windy Day

 I was awake very early this morning, after another early night last night, so I'm pretty tired right now however I'm not feeling unwell/tired just "20 hour day" tired so that is a huge relief. Onwards! It has been an incredibly windy day today, which is also something that makes me feel a bit tired with the constant rush of the wind in the trees.

Precarious perch

A beautiful peaceful evening

Last night as I was typing up the blog a pigeon kept trying to land on the window frame (which didn't work very well) and then flying off before I could get a picture. After the blog was published it came back a few more times and I got a snap. It had a ring on its foot so I hope it managed to find its way home. It was a lovely evening last night and as I went to my early night I snapped a picture.

Lifting more slabs

The fog clears

Drilling through for the tap

First pipe in and held down with sand

Extending the other trench

Tightening with the monkey wrench

As I've said I was up very early and started working about 3am, getting most of the workday out of the way before anyone else was in the office. I took Rosie to school, which was lovely (but, in her words, "Foggy AGAIN!!) and when I got back Bekir and Halil were already in and digging out more trenches. This was the route for the pipe to take the borehole water to a tap on the new wall.It took most of the morning for them to get it all done including drilling through and fitting the pipe and then burying it in sand but then they were on to the task of extending the main run off the edge of the patio at each end so they could fit the main pipe, and T junction. This was completed just after lunch.

Covering over the pipes with sand

Where the electric cable runs

And the other end, by the front

Halil starts sweeping

And slinging rocks

With the water pipe done next Bekir put the armoured cable in place that will take power to the toilet pumps, and also to some plugs on the front wall. He has put this into the storage cupboard and there is a spare slot for a breaker in the consumer unit in there so that will work well. He then started tidying up, with Halil cracking on, and they sorted the good slabs from the bad. Some of the bad were slung into the general filler piles while others Bekir used to layer over the sand above the water and electricity. They left the place looking very tidy indeed.

Goodbye sun

And so there it is; I did just run up to the roof terrace (which will be the job to do after they've finished the patio) to get a picture of the stunning sunset that I have been enjoying from my desk in Room 13.

Thanks, as always, for reading.