Edging the stairs

Today has seemed like slow progress however it's been lots of annoying fiddly things that take a long time to complete.

Bekir working out where to drill

Yet more flames

The top step is finished nicely

Metal edging down the side of the stairs

Halil drills each metal strip

Getting towards the top

First for the day was to get the strip attached below the highest step that they had been fighting with yesterday. Halil again heated that rod over and over again during the day to melt holes through the carpet. The strip really did finish up that step nicely. Next up was the super fiddly job of putting the edge on the steps on the open side. This involved cutting and bending and drilling and melting and drilling and hammering and screwing. Over and over again. By the end of the day they had completed all that side. Tomorrow I think they'll be working on the other side of the steps.

Xena running behind me mowing

Nice striping

At lunch time I took Mo the Mower out onto the top bank and cut down the dry grass which were covered in seeds and had been sticking to Rosie who has been enjoying playing with Dutch and Xena up there.

So there it is. Back tomorrow and thanks for reading.

A weekend of graft, and Monday

Welcome back and it has been a super busy weekend so let's get to it without any further delay.

The outside fix for the roof box

The inside fix for the roof box

Space in the boot for more stuff

The girls help me assemble the flat pack furniture

Saturday I was out the door to town a little later than expected for various reasons but my shopping was successful and I had time to try and get the roof box on Maisie before my call with my mum and my sister. Unfortunately I ended up spending about 40 minutes or so fighting to shut the box and it just wouldn't go. I stopped for the family call and while on that remembered the missing rivet and sure enough that was exactly the problem - the catch had rotated 180 degrees so was not engaging. I managed to effect a fix with a screw, a left over flat pack part and some scrap wood pieces; thank goodness as the new roofbox is quite expensive. Anyway with that fixed I finished up the rest of the packing and have plenty of space so that is good. After this I finished building the first chest of drawers and then assembled the second as well so that was my chores for the day. I was ready for bed by the end of the day!

The overgrown garden before...

... and after my weeding

This little critter was too slow to escape

More of the garden needing weeded

And now that is also weeded

(L-R) Tiny, Daddy Dog, Mummy Dog and Socks

Saturday was busy but Sunday was crazy. I was up and outside early to finish up the weeding that I began on Friday. It was a really nice session and I got everything done in about an hour or so, despite being attacked by hornets, though I did manage to kill a few of them. I worked my way all the way around below the patio, leaving only the flags and the poppies, and did about 4 or 5 wheelbarrows full of weeds. I was also watched from the lane by the four farm dogs, including Tiny here on the left of the picture.

Thelma grinning, Louise and Xena snoozing, in the sun

Happily on the mower again

Can you spot Xena, poised to pounce

Xena climbs on my shoulder

Taking up her station

Some flowers on the top bank

All mowed and looking lovely

I had some breakfast, rested a little in the office while the puppies enjoyed the sun, then I was outside again onto the ride-on mower to get all the grass mowed in one day if at all possible. I started out on the top bank and that took me a fair old time, Xena was in close attendance for all of it, hiding when I emptied the collection bag (I was putting the cuttings in with the chickens again) then jumping around when I got back on and finally following very close behind while I drove around. She did also do a lot of running like a loon around the garden as well. There were some lovely flowers in places and it is always a bit sad to cut them however it needed doing and now it's done I'm very happy how it looks.

My first tortoise sighting of the year

Looking across the freshly mowed garden

Lovely flowers in Angela's garden

My saved walnut tree is alive and well

A view of the house with the lawn nicely mowed

This was my reward

I took a short rest for a drink of water and then carried on down to the front lawn which also went really well. I saw my first tortoise of the year and also, sadly, Xena killed her first lizard. Not good. I completed all the ride on mowing, took a quick break again for a drink, then got the new push along mower and worked around all the bits that I couldn't do on the ride-on. While doing this I was able to enjoy the sight of Angela's flower garden next to the drive which is looking lovely, and also was happy to see the walnut sapling we transferred last year into the orchard is alive and flourishing. I did not get every little bit of the mowing done; there were some little bits by the vehicle gate and down the drive, but I was very tired and needed to start to cook my roast so I headed in and poured a very welcome beer which all disappeared over the course of the evening. A very tiring but super satisfying day indeed.

Bekir with the trap for the polecat

Fly screen fitted, and also drain pipe repaired

Halil loads up yet more buckets of sand

Xena watches as the lime is added

Bekir watches the water run in

All hands to the mixing

Slapping it on the walls

And so to today. Bekir and Halil were in on time and I went to grab them to ask to do a quick early job for me however they actually had something else on their minds first up; a polecat trap that they have set near the chicken enclosure. It'll be interesting to see if anything is caught. Xena was NOT happy with what it smelt like either. After doing this they did put the fly screen back on the woodstore window so I can now leave that window open to air it as the balcony is leaking very badly and it was very musty in there. After this they were back to their scheduled task with Halil carrying many buckets of sand up and then this was mixed with lime and water to create the mortar that they then slapped onto the walls. It's hard and slow work but it should result in a good strong finish.

Fully committed to the snooze

The chicken house is nice and clean again

A look, a poppy!

More slapping going on

It was a slightly less sunny day today, and we have had some rain late afternoon, however most of the day there was sun and the girls have slept all day on the sofa in the sun. At lunch I got outside and cleaned out the chicken house which was one of my chores, then got the push along and did a very little mowing. I was out again towards the end of the day to do the final patch and now everything is mowed and ready for my holiday. The first poppy has come out as well, by where I weeded yesterday, so I'm glad I didn't disturb those poppies. The men were just working away all through the day mixing and slapping and have made good progress there.

Louise got a shitty neck. YES!

A flash of gold which was the Oriole

And that's it, other than two very exciting things. First of all Louise today got a shitty neck; more signs that she is returning to her true self again. And finally I opened the window in Room 13 very fortuitously just as two Golden Orioles were singing and dancing around between the tea trees and the oak tree. I did capture one of them on camera, and stood for a fair while listening to them sing and filming it. A great end to this blog post.

There you go. Thanks for reading what was a quite long update in the end. See you tomorrow.

Missed yesterday with a headache.

Yesterday I completely forgot that I was supposed to do this update as I went to bed so early with a horrible headache. Oh well, just makes today's update a little longer. Let's cover the weekend first.

Dippy Duck Eggs for breakfast!

My favourite starter at the Italian restaurant

Louise enjoys my bivvy

Getting the tent sorted

Rosie's new toy

Saturday was a day of food and travelling at first; I had dippy duck eggs for breakfast, which was great, and then drove Maisie up to Jumbo to give her a work out and pick up some things I wanted and needed which was a great success. On the way back I stopped at the Italian restaurant for lunch which was excellent as always and then my drive home was good, though I was tired when it was done. I did not stop, however, as I pulled the bivvy out and pitched it out just to check everything was still OK, which it was. Louise particularly appreciated the soft bedding I've bought. While at Jumbo I picked up a few things, one of which were these two bags that are perfect for the additional stuff that came with the huge tent. Now I just need the trailer and we're set. I also bought a basketball hoop for Rosie (the reason I went) which I assembled. She's going to love that!

The bricks are tidied so now I can cut the grass here

This area was getting very overgrown

The birds are loving the grass cuttings

All neat and tidy right down to the gate

Maisie has a bars on now

Everything fits fine, with space to spare

Sunday I was out relatively early with the new push along mower taking down all the areas I hadn't been able to do with the ride-on before it rained last time. I also tidied up a load of bricks that had fallen onto the grass and was able to cut all along the front of the Green Building with no problem. I had the idea of giving the grass cuttings to the chickens and ducks and they were loving it so I continued this for all my grass cuttings. This session I managed to get all the way down to the gate done and it was looking a whole lot better. I didn't stop there, however, as next I put the roof bars on Maisie and then went to try and fit the roof box only to find that we had no keys for it! I'm sure we used to have more than one key however I could not find the spare, and the other one had headed off on holiday with Angela. This one is now with a courier being brought back! I practiced packing anyway, just into the boot, and fitted pretty much everything in so that makes me happier.

Bekir is fine with these beams

Halil is less happy to put his weight on them

They got some new boards to use

Bekir working the other side, on the old beams

Halil much happier now with the new beams

The grass is all cut and tidy now

Working away together upstairs

Filling gaps carefully

The men were in yesterday (and so I should, as I say, have done this update then but never mind) and they were back into the roof doing the plastering of the ceiling above the stairs. Halil was very unhappy about the old beams that Bekir was using for the scaffold so they ordered and then collected two large new wooden planks, after which he was happy to stand on them. I headed out during the afternoon on the ride-on and mowed the two front lawns that were starting to get a bit shaggy; about half an hour after I finished it rained so that was perfect timing. The men made some pretty awesome progress upstairs with before they headed off and then I had some food then took myself to a very early night to try and recover for today.

Xena sat on my shoulder

Halil plastering more of the ceiling

Bekir working on the wiring

Yet more plastering being done

Wiring up a new distribution box for the guest suite

I did sleep through however still woke feeling very groggy and shaky first thing; Xena was up on my shoulder checking I was ok which was nice, and thankfully I've recovered a lot through the day. The men were in again and this time split their tasks. Halil continued with the plastering while Bekir began the process of moving the electrics from where the current distribution box is on the stairs over to the new one in the crawl space. This is required so they can then finish and plaster the walls on the stairs. This is something I've been waiting for them to do for a long time so I'm pretty excited indeed!

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