Christmas, mostly, and the last day of the men

 Welcome back to the final update for 2020 from us, and the last regular update until probably March or April when the men come back. I'll maybe do irregular posts if something happens to warrant it but there won't be many.

So many parts

The finished kitchen

Many books in a mess

Rosie carries an empty box away

All the fiction books are arranged

Mulled wine time

This update goes back to before Christmas and sees me spending all evening putting one of Rosie's presents together. It took me about 2.5 hours to build but in the end went together really well and securely. Christmas Eve I wasn't working and that was such a good decision. It was a lovely day spent with the family; Rosie and I got time together sorting the books for the library, she actually was a help again, and by the end of the day I had placed all the fiction books onto their shelves. Angela and I settled down to Die Hard once Rosie was asleep and enjoyed some mulled wine while waiting for Hans to fall so Christmas could being properly.

A glorious start to Christmas morning

Happy Christmas from both of us!

Puppies helping with unwrapping

The sun shows its face

Christmas tree on Christmas morning

Rosie with her snow globe

Christmas day dawned red skies but no rain. Rosie slept in a bit (the last year that'll happen I'm sure) so we got ourselves up and ready to wake her, Christmas jumpers at the ready. She had a couple of small presents to open straight upon waking which she really liked, but mostly the puppies enjoyed getting their teeth into some wrapping paper. With the first presents opened we got the fire lit upstairs (however it didn't need to stay lit as the weather was so warm) and Rosie got to open her snow globe. She was far more impressed than she looks in this picture.

Bacon, eggs and bubbly

Walking up the hill (Rosie holding Thelma's lead)

Lots of fun in the leaves

Waving to mummy through the window

Amazing roast goat leg

Sat down for our lovely dinner

Sunset on Christmas Day

Whisky in the Library

We had our traditional fizz, though this year it was actually tasty, and I cooked bacon and eggs before we headed out for a walk up the hill. We didn't get all the way up this year, mainly because there were workmen on the road and wild dogs around; Rosie walked the whole way there and back and then, when we got back, stayed outside running around and playing in the leaves. I lifted her up to the window to wave to Angela who was hard at work inside preparing an AMAZING roast goat leg once again. It was really tasty and we all enjoyed our dinner very much indeed. Present opening went on pretty much all day as Rosie got a little overwhelmed however that was also lovely :) we had a video call with both our families as well and all in all it was an epic day. Finally Rosie went to bed, then sun went down, and I settled into the library with a whisky and a good book and read until I finished the book, then went to bed. A good day indeed.

Bubble & Squeak cooking up

Breakfast on the sofa

Thelma & Louise with bones

Chess sets in the library

Boxing day was started as per usual with me cooking Bubble & Squeak for breakfast; Rosie had a more normal one and was very keen (as you can see in the picture) on sharing the toast from her toy toaster with all of us. She spent the day making egg on toast and giving it to us in turn. The puppies also got to have the bones from Christmas Dinner and enjoyed chewing them up outside. I spent a little more time in the library and got the chess sets out on display on top of the narrow units which was a lovely thing to achieve.

Saying goodbye to the old cot

The new bed is put up

A very comfortable bed

Units arranged for the railway

Sunday was all about furniture. I took down Rosie's old cot and built the new bed in its place. Rosie had all the fun jumping on the new mattress that we'd laid in the library to expand and this must have helped her to feel comfortable with the bed as she has since then taken herself into it and slept just the same as she did in the cot. She really is amazing. I also positioned the units for what will be Rosie's model railway for her birthday, on the landing, as I have only a few weeks to get this up and running now.

Arty shot of raindrops on the trees

Bekir fitting plug sockets

Halil fitting shelf supports

A new curtain goes up

Shelves in the wash room

Shelves in the Glass Room

Downpipe being fitted

Moon rise over the hills

Yesterday was the final work day for the men, making up for the Monday they missed last week. It was a rainy nasty day after the nice weekend. They had lots of little jobs to do and completed them all. First of all Bekir fitted all the sockets on the landing while Halil attached the shelf supports to the wall outside Room 13. With this done (and while Angela, Rosie and I were on a large Zoom call with my extended family) Bekir fitted a new curtain into Rosie's bedroom. Next up were some shelves in the washroom to help organise our stuff in there and then it was out to the Glass Entrance where they attached two studs to the wall so I can make a shelf for plants in the sun. Finally Bekir fitted the downpipe outside the porch while Halil tidied and they stayed a while after making sure everything is away. As is now becoming traditional I had a lovely walk outside with Rosie and watched the moon rise, while the sun set. I was getting quite a headache, however, and went to bed at 8pm and slept right through! This is why this update was delayed a day.

Rainbow over the neighbour's house

The library looking great

Clouds, blue sky and the Old School

The first picture is hung

Railway beginnings

And so to today; the wind was so strong in the night and kept up through the day, but we did get outside a bit and first thing there was a lovely strong rainbow as the rain blew in on that wind, but the sun was out for us. I've spent a bit more time tidying the library and now have all the books arranged nicely. Angela had to go shopping today and when Rosie was woken up by the puppies barking for no good reason we went outside to wait for her and get fresh air. I have now also begun to put pictures up in the library, though I'll need more hanging kits to get them all up. Also the actual track plan for the model railway has been laid out.

And there it is; it has been a long time since I've done an update this long. I hope you enjoyed reading it. There will be updates, I'm sure, over the coming months but nothing regular until March or April. Take care, and Happy New Year!

Friday is finishing up

 Welcome to the last day of the week, and a week of great progress. Bekir is saying that they'll start work on the metal so the balcony glazing can then be done, on Monday. Exciting.

Moon in sunset

Old power gets removed

Halil gets to plastering

Sally plasters as well

Last night the moon rise was lovely behind the clouds when I went onto the balcony late evening. This morning I cancelled my early morning start because we had guests coming, and they arrived safely this afternoon. The workmen were in and carrying out the final tasks for the entrance, with Bekir ripping the old unused cables out so that hole can be filled, while Sally and Halil were back to doing more plastering. 

Wiring up some plugs

Entrance hall looking clean

Sally on a bucket

Fixing an additional catch

And that was pretty much the story of the day. Bekir fitted the plug sockets that will be in the glazed area, but we've run out of sockets so the inside will need doing next week (and the actual external sockets as well) but we're basically done. The light fitting is hung and the switches are in. Late in the afternoon Bekir quickly added a temporary catch to the upstairs stair gate for the weekend and then our guests arrived and we have just had a lovely meal at our favourite restaurant and now I'm typing this quickly before joining them again for the evening.

Here's to the weekend - thanks for reading.

Two days and great progress

The eagle eyed among you will have noticed I didn't get a blog out yesterday; this is because I was out in the evening with Dincher having beer and a pizza and by the time I got home I went straight to bed. So you get two days today.

Sifted sand ready for use

The doors come off

Working fast to return the power

Halil starts priming

Bekir working on the lights

Cement covering the cables

All done for the end of the day

So to yesterday, and first off I found that while I was dropping the generator to the garage they had sifted and collected the sand into a wheel barrow, but nothing more. The first task of the day, after they had removed the doors again, was to complete the work on the main incoming electrical line. We're removing the generator (as it doesn't work, and it'll be more useful up at the mountain house when it is fixed) so Bekir worked super fast to get the power back before my morning meeting - he achieved this with about 3 minutes to spare. After that it was a priming job for Halil and Sally while Bekir continued on the electrics. Once Bekir had finished running and securing all the cable Sally went around after him with cement and filled in and by the end of the day the electrics inside were all run and the walls were ready for plastering.

Grinding a channel for the power

Sally gets to plastering

Halil also plastered all day

Preparing secure attachment for the plugs

A channel for the power

Second coat goes on

Finishing up the electrics

This morning the men got stuck in again with roughly the same division of labour. Sally and Halil were focusing on the walls and first of all smoothing the cement from the day before and then spent the day applying two coats of plaster while Bekir worked on the electrics in the porch and taking power to the external sockets we are mounting on the outside shed. He has done a really lovely job of this, guiding the power inside the insulation, then down through a channel in the concrete (which is already covered) and inside the shed and he will feed the sockets through the wall. He also mounted a solid wooden block to the main structure of the building, through the insulation, to ensure the sockets have a solid base to sit on. More painting to be done, now, as we have more and move of a patchwork of unpainted areas on the outside of the house.

We really are very close to complete on this part of the project now; there may be a trip to the shops in my future tomorrow for plug sockets and also wood for the shelves that we want floor to ceiling on one wall. Now I can't wait for the window people to become free so we can enclose the area in glass and then we have another area of the project totally complete - steel work on the balcony to support the glazing up there is the next project, and then the gym and finally the library - exciting times!

Thanks for reading.