Back to the garden

After the day off yesterday the men were back today; let's get to this update as it covers both days.

Angela in her new raised bed garden

Balcony play with me and Grandma

The bouncy thing with Grandma

Yesterday was a beautiful day and Angela made the most of it by being outside a fair bit getting a load of stuff done in the garden. I was super busy and was very pleased when it was time for Rosie to get home from school, though she was later than normal as Grandma and Angela took her to the park for a bit after school. We had a nice time on the balcony with her new house and also the rocking donkey before it was time to head downstairs for quieter play then books.

We get to the bar for our night out

Band in full flow

For the first time for years, literally, Angela and I went out together last night. We headed to a local bar to watch our friend the policeman play in his band. It was so lovely to get out and we had an awesome time. Hopefully we can go again some time as well.

The sun rises on another day

Bekir and Halil laying slabs

Checking out the damp

There it is; time to dry out

Today dawned bright and beautiful, but frosty, and the sun stayed out all day. I took Rosie down to school this morning and when I got back the men were in and laying slabs around the raised beds. When the finished the first length Bekir came in to look at the dampness in the library and after moving a load of things we pulled the carpet up to find that indeed the dehumidifier had been leaking and there was a very damp area through the carpet and underlay and onto the floor. We have left this carpet pulled back to air and dry it and will reinstall it at the end of the week. Frustrating, but at least we found it wasn't water coming in through the wall.

Angela shifting stones in a barrow

Using the stones to edge the garden

Seedlings starting to sprout

Xena and Louise having a play

It really was another glorious day and again while I was stuck at my desk Angela made the most of it to get into the garden. I did help her with this barrow, after taking the picture, and she was making a lovely edging to the garden with some stones she found in the excavations for the chicken enclosure and other places. The seedlings she planted with Rosie are also coming up really nicely. It wasn't only Angela enjoying being outside; Thelma, Louise and Xena had a great time, with Xena in particular playing a lot with Louise, while Angela threw the ball for Thelma.

A little bit of pickaxe work

All cut out now

The men finished up the slabs and then turned their attention to the final front section. We had a bit of a chat and decided to have a central slope in line with the middle aisle and have a wall to each side of it with slabs at the bottom. They had to chip out some stone and made use of the breaker for this and by the end of the day were ready for concrete which is awesome as that can be poured tomorrow morning.

So there you are; another awesome day here and more of the same tomorrow I think. Thanks for reading.

Return of the Men

Today is a day of two updates as I managed to complete the Christmas/New Year one first thing and then the men returned so now it's time for regular style updates.

Red sky of pre-dawn

Bekir working out heights

Mesh and sand for drainage

The slabs are laid

Angela and Xena tidying up the Glass Room

Slab progress; they look great

Halil chips old mortar off the slabs for reuse

The strong wind of yesterday had fortunately died down over night and this morning was a calm and sunny start and it stayed sunny all day. The men were back and able to work outside trying to get the garden finished before the weather closes in again and their task for today was to work on the paths around the raised beds. First off they laid the mesh material over the top of the stones and covered it with sand and then once they had the sand to the correct height the old concrete tiles from the patio were recycled and laid on top. Angela had a very productive day as well and among other things she tidied the Glass Room and planted a load of seeds and sorted out some other things in there and generally made it a much less messy space. Outside the men were cracking on and finished the middle path and also got started on the sand for one of the side paths. The forecast is for rain tomorrow, however, so we'll see if they're able to get back to this. They missed a whole week of good weather for this, sadly (and frustratingly).

New pan in use

This evening we had a lovely steak and stout pie that Angela made in her Christmas present and it was so tasty and awesome to get first use from the gift from me, my mum and my sister.

So there it is; back to it but for how long who knows. Thanks for reading.

 Today is a day of celebration. The final log has been split and that task is complete. Yay!

Glorious colours, and a slice of moon again

Bekir and Halil get started

Louise found a sun patch on the sofa

Angela cleaning and planting

Just an arty farty shot

Deconstructing more raised beds

The day started early with a very beautiful sky indeed. It has been another glorious sunny day all day however it was pretty cold before the sun came up. The men were in and again only Bekir and Halil and they got stuck in to the final pile of logs, Bekir doing the cutting and Halil stacking inside. I found Louise on the back of the sofa in the lounge having found the sun and she was very happy indeed. Angela wasn't feeling great this morning with the cold that Rosie gave both of us however she got stuck in to clearing out the gardening room and Glass Room and did an awesome job, planting new seeds and generally tidying and clearing. When it got to lunch time I got an arty shot of the axe in a log then did some of my own task, taking down raised beds. Unfortunately the screw driver bit fell out and I lost it - I spent AGES looking, and that stopped my progress. I'll be back to this tomorrow.

Bekir splitting the final logs

Halil brings a box of kindling in

A very very full wood room

Rosie's frizzy hair

Through the afternoon the splitting continued and then suddenly it was the final logs and then they were tidying up and bringing in kindling for fire starters. The inside woodstore is more full than I've ever seen it and we couldn't fit much more in if we tried. Incredible, and very good to have as we probably now have enough for two winters and can keep this level stocked up every year. This evening just before bed time Rosie went for a bounce on the trampoline and her hair got really frizzy with static; it was very funny.

So there you are; tomorrow on to the next tasks. Thanks for reading.

Covering a long time

 This update covers the previous two weeks, but I'm going to try and keep it short and sweet.

Angela and Rosie head off to Ireland

Tools all tidy at last

Bekir on the roof across the village

Moving terrain into the corridor

Running network cable around Room 13

Angela and Rosie headed off to Ireland to see her nana, going for a long time so they could quarantine and still get the chance to get out for the visit. It was very sad waving them off and they return on Wednesday and I cannot wait! While they have been gone the men have been working on a house in the village fixing the roof and only actually returned on Friday. I have been really busy with the paid job but got a few chores around the house done like hanging all the gardening equipment on the wall in the garden storage room, which looks great, and I also emptied out the Games Room in preparation for  Bekir to knock the hole through for my model railway. I have also run the network cables around the house for internet, though I'll come to some more detail on that in a short while.

The sun breaks above the fog

Still have butterflies

A glorious sunrise

Middle of October temperature

Sunbathing puppies

Fire had to be lit though

It has been changeable, weather-wise. We've had some absolutely glorious days, and some stinking cold miserable days. Mainly nice, thankfully, however the mornings even on those nice days are getting colder and colder and so finally the fire had to be lit; the puppies were very pleased and I'm doing OK at keeping Room 13, which I managed to move back into just in time before the first really cold damp morning, warm and comfortable for us all.

Bekir after the drilling incident

Sally getting the finishing off started

A route for the network

Power for the kitchen, waiting to be fixed

Networking through the roof

On Friday I asked the men to come in mainly because the hole for the networking into the library just wasn't large enough. There were other little jobs to be done as well like finishing around the window there. Unfortunately Bekir drilled through the main armoured cable the fed the kitchen, by mistake of course, and so what should have been a really quick job for him became a digging-out-and-replacing-cables monster task. He got it done, and also sorted out some other badly-run cables at the same time, as well as putting in all the pipes that I wanted so I could run the cables on Saturday. Which I did, though it took me nearly all day to get everything done. Bekir and I got to town to get steel for the balcony, so the windows can be measured, and also tried to find tools and other items to fit the carpet with but failed so that is now on its way from the UK and we won't have carpet for at least two weeks still.

Morning sun through the tea trees

The pans are now hung

Such a lovely hot day

Evening sun

Sunday was a beautiful day; I got my shopping done and when I got back put the hooks up in the kitchen to hang our frying pans from; this was a surprisingly difficult job as that beam is REALLY hard. After that I rested and hobbied and did a few other bits and pieces but I also got to sit outside which was lovely; I've not been outside very much the past couple of weeks. The sun in the evening on the hills was lovely, as was my roast dinner.

Measuring, though they didn't cut there

Welding the beam back together

Sally puts a second coat of plaster on

Bekir and Halil fit the beam in place

Another casualty; easily fixed though

And the tile on the inside window as well

A very messy floor, but a clean repaired wall

Sally covers over the pipes again

And so we reach today. The men were back in and the first job was to put the steel up on the balcony that will have the windows attached to it; this was a good job that they spent the morning doing and, other than trimming it too short which I caught and pointed out just before they started fitting it, they did a great job and it is very secure. While Bekir and Halil continued with this Sally came into the library to put a second coat of plaster around the window and door. There had been another breakage of tiles on the balcony as well so Bekir fixed this then took the glue and fitted the tile on the inside windowledge in the library. Upstairs Sally and Halil had some cement and were fixing the walls; Halil made a huge mess and had to then spend ages clearing up; I'll suggest he puts cardboard down like Sally did tomorrow.

And so finally I've finished what wasn't a short and sweet update, but an epic! It's been so lonely and weird without Angela and Rosie here; I've seen them on Skype every day pretty much which has really helped but tomorrow being the last full day before they get back is a Very Good Thing in my book. I cannot wait. Thanks for reading, though!