Another epic day

Today has been an epic day and we have achieved loads so let's get to it without delay.

Dutch checks out his pillow

Dutch likes his new house

Lots of rubbish to clear

Much tidier now

The chicken gets her leg treated

Blowing dust off the filters

After doing my exercises this morning I went out and stapled Dutch's pillow down to the pallet and moved all his bedding over; he seems to have settled in to that already which is great news. After dropping her at school I got stuck into moving the pile of sticks, leaves and other wooden junk from the edge of the patio and swept some other leaves up from around the place. It's looking much neater now. When the men arrived they went straight in to treat the chicken, which is a pretty simple task that I'll have to do tomorrow and Sunday. She seems a lot better. After that they went into Rosie's rooms again to clean the filters in the air conditioning units.

Bekir fitting the new lights

Lifting the unit upstairs

Probably not its final resting place

I hate flies inside so much!

Kill all the flies

Taping the door up to keep the smoke in

The first inside task was the finish up fitting the lights as my new bulbs are on their way but not here yet. I spent a bit of time tidying in the balcony and decided to move the unit in there upstairs to replace with a better shelving unit to help the balcony toys stay tidy, so the men helped to lift it up and put it in place. I noticed that once again we've got a huge fly problem out there so this prompted the next task - setting off a smoke bomb in there. It went off so fast and then we found that the doors to the balcony are not very well sealed so we had to rush to tape up the doors into the lounge however it was too late to seal the door in the bedroom so that had to be shut off and abandoned for 24 hours. It was stinky!

Halil fits the bulbs he found

Drilling for the first frame

Lots of frames going up the wall

Fitting the Lord of the Rings posters

Right at the top of the ladder

And all the posters are up and look GREAT!

The men then had to head out to get better screws and wall plugs for the next task and they were able to pick up some bulbs for the lights so the ones coming from the internet will now be in spare. And now the main task for the day, that I expected to take all day, which is hanging the posters up the stairs to the roof space. They went up super quick and before I even realised it all of them were up and I had to work to decide where each poster is going to be set. I was bouncing around and so excited to see these up and done but now I need to buy more posters and frames to complete the walls (and one of the frames I bought is actually empty so yeah I do need more).

Using the laser to ensure everything is level

Cutting through the plasterboard

Starting to drill it out

Holes punched through

Sweeping up the rubble

The four holes looking great

I expected that job to take all day so I was even more excited that now the men were at least able to make a start knocking the holes through from outside Room 13 into the Games Room. I explained what I wanted and they got the laser out to get the holes actually matching and discovered the floor really isn't even out there; one hole is 1.5cm closer to the floor than the other! It was then out with the grinder and cutting through the plasterboard and then the big drill bit and knocking the holes through and I could barely believe it but by the end of the day they had completed all the extra three holes and so we now have the four holes through. Amazing progress!

Pitched the tent for tonight

Rosie set up for Movie Night

As I mentioned earlier the bedroom is out of action (and I went into it after dinner and it is so bad I had to hold my breath the whole time) so I pitched the tent and me and Rosie are going to camp out tonight. She's having a movie night with Angela while I'm typing this up and then we'll go out with some hot chocolate and have a nice night out there.

So there it is. We've a busy weekend lined up so expect another long one on Monday. Thanks for reading and  back Monday.

A bits and pieces day

After the epic progress of yesterday, today has been pretty cool as well. Let's get into it.

Sorting out inside Dutch's House

Halil works on the grout for these tiles

Bekir puts some more tiles in

Fixing the damage to our roof

Evidence of an owl roost

Light fittings going in

The first thing the men did today was look at the chicken and treat her (however I missed seeing this) and then they finished up their tasks in Dutch's new home by clearing out some of the old pipes and then putting a pallet in for his bed. I'll need to get in there to do the next steps but that'll be tomorrow. After this they headed inside to do some finishing up tasks upstairs. First of all Halil did the grouting of the slope by the stairs while Bekir put some small tiles by the roof terrace doorway. The next task involved two trips to the shop as initially they got the wrong size of roof tile for the ridge however now I'm very happy that all of this is fixed and repaired as we have weather forecast incoming. While he was up there Bekir pointed out an owl is living under some of the tiles and he took a picture to show me. The final task of the day occurred after I legged it to town to try and buy some lights for the stairs up there. I found some and they began fitting them and then we found I'd picked up the wrong size bulbs! I've now ordered the correct size online and they've already shipped so hopefully they'll be here soon!

Rosie's playroom is back!

She's very excited to be back in her bedroom

Angela had a super busy day today getting the playroom and bedroom completed cleaned and made ready for things going back in, and then put everything back in. It looks great! After school I spent time with Rosie (and when I got distracted ordering the previously mentioned light bulbs Angela took over) going through the toys we had packed up a couple of weeks ago and sorted them into each of the red boxes. She's got plenty of space for more stuff, and it all is kept nicely tidy now.

So there it is; a good day indeed. Tomorrow hopefully we can start (and maybe finish) putting up the pictures on the stairs, and then we'll be done! Thanks for reading, back tomorrow.

A little sick, meh

Angela woke up this morning a lot sick (she is already a lot better now thankfully) while all through today I've felt steadily worse so hopefully mine is just as short lived. I've been busy as well, and the men have just cracked on as usual so let's get to it.

Halil attaches the mesh

Bekir attaches the light fittings

We have a light switch, nearly

Plastering away

Planning tomorrow's tasks

The first thing Halil did was mesh and plaster over the expanding foam he had squirted into the gaps yesterday and then he was on to doing the same but over the wood work on the unplastered wall to the left of the double doors. Bekir was working on the lights still and through today he got them all wired up and even the light switch in so now these lights are working. With the mesh over the wood Halil continued his plastering and has done the entirety of that part of the wall. We are quickly moving towards the time to move all the electrics and then work on the stairs, which is very exciting. Tomorrow Bekir will be running the pipes from the solar boilers out along the crawl space so we can consider that area completed.

Very dark clouds heading our way

I'll leave you with a picture of the weather heading our way; April is treating us to some storms and rain. Fun.

So there it is; here's to waking up feeling well tomorrow. Thanks for reading and back soon.

Mainly more lights

Last night I was in bed for 8pm and slept through, other than a bit of disturbance from Rosie, and I've really felt the benefit of it. She was back to school today as well which really freed Angela up.

Bekir and Halil get the ducting in place

Fitting the plasterboard back up

Angela using her shredder

A nice fine mulch for the garden

Lots of spots in the ceiling

The men have been working on the electrics and lights all day; first of all they were running the conduit behind the plasterboard and then wires through these. They did have to head out briefly to collect some more materials such as more lights as we've decided to use these spotlights throughout this area of the roofspace. Angela was busy as well, outside and inside planting and clearing and getting ahead of the spring. We also got the new garden shredder working and she had a quick go with a branch. It shreds very well, though it is slightly violent if the branch isn't dead straight. By the end of the day the men had pretty much done the lights for the end room and also the left hand storage area. Tomorrow they'll be onto something else.

So there it is. Another day done and what a windy day it has been - it is still howling outside and I really hope it calms down soon; it has been blowing a gale for days now. Thanks for reading, back tomorrow.

Lights are done (plus apartment day)

Today has been a pretty cool exciting day; let's get into it.

Rosie and Xena cuddles

Glorious golden morning

The remaining wood to stack

Drilling a guide hole for the cable

Putting bigger nails in the cable clips

Power is run down the centre now

Halil makes more storage

The morning started with lots of laughter and puppy attacks and a really glorious golden start to the day; autumn is late but now it's here properly. Bekir and Halil were in at their usual time and Halil went to get more wood stacking done; all of the wood is now inside and being stacked. Outside Bekir was continuing to run the cables for the lights, drilling a hole through the wooden supports to run the central bus cable through. He then swapped out the small nails in the cable tidies for larger more secure ones before hammering these in place to hold the light cables neatly to the roof. Halil ran out of pallet store for all the wood so he made a temporary extension to stack another row up - we have so much wood!

Xena climbing on my shoulder

A view from our new apartment

Lovely lights in the car port

Stunning sunset

After lunch, and after Xena decided to use me as a climbing frame, we headed into town to have another look at the apartment that we are thinking of buying. It was a good trip, and nice to spend a bit more time rather than feeling rushed, and I think we're going to go for it. The final decision will be up to the bank though. We were out all afternoon and when we got back (Bekir had stayed working) we found the lights for the car port are all but finished. I think Bekir said he has a tiny bit more to do but they are on and give a really good illumination which is great. The sun was just setting as well so I grabbed a picture to share.

So there you are; what a day. Have a good weekend, back tomorrow.