Building season restarts

As hoped I am back for the second day in a row with an update as today we did have the men on site. Tomorrow I think they will not be here as it is forecast for heavy rain all day.

Rosie watches the sheep watching her

Firstly though a picture from last night that didn't get off my phone in time for the blog yesterday; I went for my now traditional walk with Rosie after school/work and we sat on a step and watched the sheep walk past us. She loves seeing these animals, and the cows, and was very excited indeed.

Halil starts to break apart the old slab

Clearing the drainage

Cement poured into the gap

The men arrived while Angela was dropping Rosie to school and got stuck straight in to the first task of the day which was the repair the gap we found by the back door that was allowing damp into the library. This involved chipping the existing cement back, clearing some of the badly applied insulation, and pouring cement into the gap. While they were out there Halil cleaned out the drainage channel which had become completely clogged. I need to add this to my list of jobs to do at the end of every summer - we have some that is just as badly in need to clearing by the driveway, and soon will on the patio also.

Thelma watches as Halil makes a start

Steady progress through the morning

Angela tries to strim but it is too wet

One section cleared

Removing weeds and grass

With that first task done they went out to the front patio and started the main first job of the year. We are going to pour a large concrete slab for our patio and need to put drainage is as the slab will be flat so will not drain well. This is because we are putting our above ground swimming pool on top. We will be fitting drainage channels every 2-3 meters or so to take water away so need a bit of additional depth near the house but Bekir worked out that they don't need to remove more than about 4 or so rows of existing slabs. The first section they took too many out. It will be a big pour, and we'll need to source lots of broken rocks, but with the reduction in number of slabs to lift it should go quicker. There is a lot of overgrowth however and areas where the slabs have been stolen or broken up entirely. It's so good to get a start; I wish the weather was nice enough for them to be here tomorrow as well. There was other progress today; the dining room table is now back in the dining room looking great, and Angela did a huge amount of tidying and clearing; she also tried to strim around the flower beds but the grass was just too wet. We lost power for the entirety of the afternoon which was incredibly frustrating but I was able to tidy some of my stuff as well as cleaning the petchka pipes in the kitchen.

Happy walk with Daddy

One other benefit of the power cut was I got to go and collect Rosie. When we got back we went for a lovely walk on our little round that she enjoys so much. She was very happy indeed to be out with her daddy.

As I say I think tomorrow is going to be a building bust but hopefully they'll be back on Thursday. Thanks for reading!

Rats!

Hello again, here we are once more, though I'm starting this update at about the time I finished the one yesterday which is bad planning on my part, though not strictly all my fault as I've had a pretty full on day and have only just really stopped. Here goes nothing. It's a corker today though.

Pasta sauce boxed and ready for freezing

So as I said I would last night I boxed up the pasta sauce into freezable containers however it was still quite warm so I decided to leave it out on the side until this morning to actually freeze it. I got one large box, four normal boxes and another with a tiny amount in it. I felt this was a pathetic quantity but when A saw the pictures she was pleased. No matter, at least we haven't wasted the produce and that is what I care about.

They pulled the covers tight so I couldn't move

So with this done it was off to bed nice and early with my book and after reading for a little bit I managed to drop off. I was chatting with A on messenger which was lovely and the puppies had decided that I wasn't allowed to go anywhere as one settled on one side and the other opposite and I could not move as the duvet was too tight over me. They joined me on the bed last night and pretty much slept through. There was a noise at some point but I thought it was Sassy and I ignored it and went back to sleep. I don't remember the alarm going off this morning but it did and I didn't have any snooze this morning but was straight up and letting them out.

The rat in the trap

When the puppies came back upstairs they were huffing and woofing a lot, pointing at the rat trap. I had a quick look down and sure enough the door had shut on the trap. A quick inspection told me that we had actually caught one. This is quite ironic considering the things I said yesterday about us not having much evidence of any intruders. No matter, at least we've proved that these traps work, do capture the creatures, and tomatoes work as a bait.

Too much standing and talking....

I left the thing in the trap while I went to collect the men as I wasn't totally sure how to go about killing it. When we got back Bekir suggested drowning it which I duly did. I'm not very happy about doing this however the diseases which rats carry are potentially fatal for all of us so I swallowed my animal-loving nature briefly and did the right thing. I had been quite productive with my paid job before heading for the men and got straight back onto it when I got back again. We had another new face on the driveway team when I went past to check out progress however later on, when Bekir and I were driving down to town to order tiles and get more rat traps, we saw him walking down the hill looking angry and Bekir said he had been fired for talking too much!

We were getting close to finished on the wood chopping exercise which was a good thing as I didn't expect it to take quite this long. Bekir has continued ot have to do the chainsawing which is also a frustration as it has taken him away from the tasks that I actually want him to do. When I get a chance and notice that there is some more to be done I have been doing it as well (I did some more today) but this time I was fascinated to watch him cut through the biggest of the logs with my chainsaw. Enjoy.

The metal grid on the slope

Wooden frame in place for the steps

Out the back Sally and Gyuner were working on the steps. The first part was to put some reinforcement down above the slope from yesterday. With this in place they built the wooden frame to contain the concrete. They worked on this really well even though the weather deteriorated again and it has been drizzling on and off all day, sometimes getting heavier as well.

I had pulled the rat out of the water and left it to dry somewhat and was putting off giving it to the girls for fear of what they would do to it. They are very violent with their chew toy. I washed up, cleaned the cooker and did another few chores before deciding to go for it. You can see the results in the video above...

Louise with the rat, Thelma watching on

If you haven't watched the video all the way through here's the spoiler. After some effort throwing the rat, then dragging it around by its tail (which started to disintegrate in my hands; nice) I shook it by its neck in front of them and this finally got their attention and Louise grabbed it, shook it hard, then ran off with it up onto the top bank. I haven't seen it since but when Louise came back down shortly after there was no blood so it has probably just been dropped somewhere to rot. I'll have to go looking for it tomorrow I think.

Stop eating our cabbages and broccoli!

With them having run off up the bank I went in and got the bread together for the birds. On the way out I went past the greens again in the garden and picked off some more caterpillars which this time I had a container to take them to the chickens. They fought over them and the bread and ate everything up. Their feeders inside were completely empty (though whether from our birds, or the sparrows that swarm in there, I don't know). I refilled them anyway and muttered to myself about smaller gauge metal grids on the windows, and blocked up the holes. The door is open all day anyway so those things wouldn't help.

Making use of all the offcuts

After this I dashed into the bank and to the tile shop with Bekir. The tiler had told us that he needed 130 more wall tiles to do the top of the wall as each one had to be more than 50% of the width of a tile and therefore we couldn't double up at all. This is an expensive piece of knowledge but at least we know now. We were able as well to order enough more of the floor tiles to do the back patio though we do not want this tiling started this year. We went past the other shop and picked up six more rat traps to be placed around the building which caused some jokes at the checkout.

Steps poured and smoothed and looking great

I really have been very busy at paid work today and didn't get as many progress pictures as I normally like to but I also like being useful at work. Sadly some of today was taken up in some pretty pointless telephone calls but there was enough positive stuff about actual work to keep me going. While I was doing this Sally and Gyuner had finished the steps off completely. They look great.

There's more concrete here. SO MUCH CONCRETE!

Without their extra man the driveway workmen have been plodding along pouring the concrete. They haven't made as much progress as they did on Saturday but the area of concrete is steadily increasing. It has not been the weather for this kind of task today at all and they have soldiered on well. The best the weather has been was when I popped out just after lunch to chop the logs and the sun almost came out and it was nearly warm. The men were laughing as we all watched Thelma trying to play with a huge log; if only she had been that positive with the rat.

Outside light for the balcony

Bekir had one of his bitty days today, being pulled around a lot, dragged out to town with me when in hindsight he didn't need to come and then doing the wood chopping too. He also distracted himself slightly by rigging up a light on the balcony. It could have just been left disconnected inside and taped off outside however he has a very good trait of wanting jobs completed. I was hoping that today he would start tiling in the living room but this hasn't happened.

Final touches being put on the back patio

One reason it hasn't is that after finishing the light fitting he got involved with the back patio which needed drainage doing on it. I'm sure that Sally and Gyuner could have managed however I'm pleased that it has been done correctly. They worked well together to ensure that the slope was correct for the guttering we've put in and I think I'm correct in saying that this now means the work out here is completed. They have covered the steps over with polythene this evening which is a good thing as it is raining quite hard now. Tomorrow I hope the work begins on finishing off the Living Room which is so close now. Just the doorway, tiles and a railing around the stairs to go.

Louise leaving her mark as always

While I was watching them do these final adjustments to the drainage Louise came down the stairs behind me and went and stood on the top step. I laughed so much as this had just been smoothed by Sally and the prints were completely clear. I briefly toyed with the idea of getting them to leave them but decided against it. In the long run these will be tiled over anyway.

The secret isn't behind this hand....

Blocked this hole up from outside

And this one leading onto the landing

It was getting close to the end of the working day for me and I was starting to feel tired of doing computer work. There was a list of tasks that I had to do yesterday which didn't get done due to the time it took me to preserve the tomatoes and so, after a conversation with A, I got off my backside and did them. The one task I can't tell you about as it is a surprise for when A gets back but the other was spraying squirty expanding foam into the gaps around Room 13 and leading down from the roof into the living space. As you can see I've still not quite got the hang of it and since I took these pictures it has expanded even more. Oooops.

The journey back with the men was uneventul though Hikment said he had finished so I paid him off but then found that the smaller logs were still there needing to be chopped. I have rung Bekir back and told him "one more day" so that'll be tomorrow and then all the chopping is done and we are set for winter. This evening I used up the small amount of pasta sauce that had been spare after freezing and it was actually very palatable which is a nice surprise. I've still not set any of the new traps (Bekir took one upstairs) so I may do that now quickly before bed. I'm tired though so it'll shortly be time to go read then sleep. Night.

Gave myself a headache today

I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get this update done today or not. I am only here typing due to the magic of Anadin Extra. It didn't have enough magic to get me out this evening to our favourite restaurant as I had initially planned but fortunately I found the pizza in the freezer so that will be going in the oven shortly so I don't have to do anything complicated for dinner. Anyway, onwards before I collapse again...

A damp start to the day

The morning was a wet one, it was raining quite heavily when I woke up though it slowed slightly by the time I was off to get the men. I had slept well but still had my morning routine of let the puppies out the front door and turn round and go straight back to bed. Thelma was the only one to return this time as Louise stayed outside and then she started barking at something down by the chicken house so that got me out of bed to check it out. I've no idea what was down there but both Rambo and Louise were sniffing around Julian and were very excited about something. The birds were happy though as being there, even though it was still dark, I let them out. It was a one brew morning today though and off for the men.

Waterproofing and metal grid down

The journey to pick the men up was pretty uneventful as mornings normally are. When we got back it was the second day in a row that the other workmen were just going through the vehicle gate as we reached it and so Bekir didn't have to get out to open it. They all went to change and then came down and got straight into their work. Sally and Gyuner were back out on the back patio and had made themselves ready to pour cement. The waterproof membrane was done and on top Sally had laid the metal for reinforcing it.

The men spread the stones out

On the driveway the stones that had been delivered yesterday were being spread over to make the surface level for later application of cement. Later on in the day I was asked to get involved and shown what their plans were which was not to my satisfaction at all. They were going to have the cement so high that it would be about 30cm above the level at the front. This would require much more work in the first place, and then a huge ramp would be needed to get the cars onto the driveway. No matter, I explained that they could slope it more towards the entrance and everyone looked happier so that is what they are doing now. I doubt I'll get a discount for the reduction in materials and effort, though.

Cleaned up and hung

Bekir was straight on with the electrics in the living room. The first task he set himself was to get the central lights working. We'd decided to use the old light fittings again for these two and so first of all he sat and cleaned them up with a bit of sandpaper and then he put them in place. This took him almost no time so all the effort made at the end of the day yesterday really paid off.

The last bits of the walnut tree

All chopped up in half an hour

Kindling gathered from around the place

For myself I decided that today I would actually not do any paid work (as I'm only paid to do four days a week and often end up doing more) and get stuck in to a load of tasks that have been building up outside. First of all I wanted to get all of the rest of the walnut tree cut up. Fortunately the rain had completely stopped by now and so I was able (as Hikmet wasn't around today) to use the proper chopping block and get into a good rhythm. It took me about half an hour to finish. I even filled a whole bucket up with kindling which went into the growing pile in the garage waiting for A to come back.

Just starting to work on the switch for the central lights

Inside Bekir was working on the switches for the central lights. The lights in the living room are slightly more complicated than the other rooms as we have two banks of lights, each with two switches. One switch for each is set by the bedroom door, and the main door out on the corridor. It took some explaining that we wanted to have the central lights as one bank, and the wall lights as another but we got there.

Nearly completed the cement pouring on this new slab

Sally and Gyuner had made super progress on the second bit of slab for the back patio and by the time I had drunk my brew (post chopping effort reward) they had nearly completed it. This is a slight change to the original design as I envisaged it finishing where the gap is but it will make the drainage better and also give us that little bit more space to play with. I don't think we'll have enough of those tiles left over to cover this area unfortunately so I think I'll have to see how many more we'll need and then get them ordered in case they stop selling them.

The final large chunks of our snow-damaged trees

All chopped and ready for splitting

I was back outside after said brew and this time I set my sights a little higher. We've had these logs, from around the land, sitting for ages next to the wood chopping area but previously I wasn't confident enough with the chainsaw to chop them up. With all the practice I have been getting, however, I was very happy by now and so I hauled them all over to a clearer spot and then set to. The chainsaw ran out of fuel just before I finished the job but despite this it only took me about half an hour again cut all of these up into splittable lengths. It felt like longer, I can tell you, as the chainsaw vibrates a lot while you're using it and now the temperature has dropped the fumes hang around as well.

My two lovely constant companions

All the time I was out chopping wood the puppies were playing near me. Thelma had her ball and I would pause very often to throw it for her. Louise isn't as interested in that but she did find some rawhide from somewhere or other and this she chewed on for a long time. They are just so lovely, they really are constant companions for me.

Cooking fire just lit

It was still not quite lunch time by this point and I popped in to make myself a brew, and made coffees for the men as well. I forgot that Hikment wasn't in and made four cups by mistake but Bekir kindly gave one to the tiling man, who was working away today even though I neglected to take any pictures of the balcony today. The driveway men had lit a fire for a lunchtime BBQ and laughed a lot when I took this picture. It was much warmer by now, with the sun trying to break through, so this was purely a cooking fire.

Switches done, the central lights are finished

Before lunch time Bekir finished the central lights in the living room. This made me think to the worries I'd had yesterday that this job wouldn't be completed by the end of the day today and realise I had been wrong. They look really well, and fit in perfectly in the position we have chosen for them. This room is going to be so comfortable when it is finished.

Full wheelbarrow of split wood

I did some wood splitting before lunch, carrying on a little over midday until I realised just how hungry I had become and had to stop and go in. This was a little silly as it probably contributed to the headache that blighted the afternoon but I wanted to get a full wheelbarrow and get that unloaded inside before stopping. The trunks were really hard and the vibrations were quite tough as well which probably also didn't help my head.

Unwanted inhabitants in my split wood

KitKat munching the ants

Some of these logs were quite rotten to begin with and ants have moved into them. As I was splitting these I kept disturbing loads of flying ants. I decided that putting these logs, with their wood-eating inhabitants, into my wood store was a bad decision so every time I found a bit of wood that had ants I lobbed it over the fence into the chicken run. Sure enough the chickens went straight over to investigate (they are out during the day now it is so much cooler) and started munching up all the ants. I'll check these lumps of wood tomorrow and if all the ants are gone then they can be split further and put into storage. Thank you, KitKat and Beaker and Balls.

A split log with a twig in its centre

After eating a superb lunch of cheese and cooked meat butties, with a snickers bar and a huge chunk of A's lovely cake (nearly finished now) I headed back out and continued to swing the axe. Eventually I finished the job, though there were two bits that I was not able to split at all and I have left these for Hikmet on Monday morning as I hope he is back then. There was one really interesting moment when I split the first log after lunch. At the point where it split there was running up the middle what looked like a twig, right in the heart. Fascinating.

Grid laid over the stones

Little mounds of concrete describe the contours

By the time I finished this job the men on the drive had completed the spreading of the stones and were watering it down and laying the metal grid over the top. They then mixed up some cement and used it to build little piles at regular intervals across the stones, to describe the slopes that we will have, and also maybe to hold the grid in place.

Don't the wall lights look lovely

I went to bed when I got in as I was feeling so whacked. I lay there for probably just over half an hour but didn't sleep which was frustrating as I really wanted to. I did wake up feeling a little better than I had, better enough to walk around and think about doing some more work at least. In the living room I found the wall lights had all be fitted and they look just as good as A had said they would.

Boards showing width of steps at the back door

I had been called on to make some decisions about the back steps today. First of all it was how wide should they be. At first I agreed with Sally to have them just overlapping by 10cm each side of the door but then, when I went out to see the frame, I realised this was leaving a gap to one side between the steps and the ledge that I asked Gyuner to keep so we can put some plants on it. Sally was very happy to change what he was doing, particularly as he hadn't got that far, and so now the steps will lead down to this ledge and the final one will be level with it.

Bekir working in the roof, this time with a light

After this pressure decision I went back and lay down again for a bit but again didn't really sleep though it was worth the rest; I am determined that I am not that feeble and work doesn't knock me out however the evidence is pretty damning. It's embarrassing. When I got up again I found Bekir in the roof doing the wiring for the wall lights. The amount of cable running along that back wall know is quite impressive and I'm very pleased I did some cable tidying and didn't let it just turn into a tangle. I'm going to have fun working out which each is and labeling them, though.

Stones being used to build up the base for the steps

The second decision on the back steps was whether to have them with a gap underneath or solid. I ummed and ahhed for a little bit, having had this discussion with A just the other night, but eventually went for solid as it would be longer lasting and easier for them (it was also A's suggestion). I told them to make use of the white stone to build it up which would also save on cement and speed things up and so they got going without any more delays.

The switch for the wall lights was next

Bekir was done in the roofspace shortly after that and came down to fix the switches and finish everything off. I was starting to feel really quite unwell by this point and when I climbed the stairs just prior to taking this picture and swayed at the top I realised I should take some pills (I hate taking pills) and lie down. The puppies joined me this time and snuggled up with me which helped and even though, once again, I couldn't drop off fully it was the right thing to do once more. I lay there and all I could taste was petrol fumes and my head was pounding. Not nice, and then Rambo barked outside and I couldn't get the energy to check it out.

And here they are, illuminated

When I got up the men were already in the roof getting ready to leave so it's a good thing I did rouse myself at that point. Bekir had finished off fully in the living room and spent the balance of the day sweeping and getting ready for tiling. How very exciting is that! WOOOOO!!!!

The slope is now finished (this is an earlier picture)

By the back door Sally and Gyuner had built a slope of cement and stones on which, on Monday, they will set the actual steps. The progress that has occurred today is just amazing, what with my insane morning and the men working so hard as well. After feeling quite frustrated yesterday it's great to be sat here and looking at a very good place for the week to finish. With the forecast what it is tomorrow I don't know whether we'll see the driveway men working but even there they're making excellent progress.

The journey back with the men was totally uneventful but when I was driving back up my hill I saw one of the men from my village and stopped to give him a lift. He was very grateful, and very very drunk, but I let him out in the middle of the village without any mishap and headed home chuckling to myself. Dinner has been, as I said it might, a pizza and now I'm going to get this published, let the puppies have their final run of the day, talk to A for a bit and then sleep. No alarm is set for tomorrow. Yay.