Plastering and Christmas Lights

Today is a day of two halves. I'm late starting this so let's get to it.

A big pile of sand has been delivered

Let it burn

Starting to slap the mortar on the walls

Angela takes a stroll

Getting towards the end of the first mix

The men started the day trying to make use of our existing sand to make up the plaster/mortar however that sand was bought mixed with stones and it was really difficult for them to separate the stones out, what with all the rain that has made the sand very heavy and sticky, so we ordered some more sand which arrived very quickly. While waiting for that Bekir had another tidy around and lit another fire to get rid of it. It was quite stinky. Once the new sand had arrived they mixed a load of mortar up and then Bekir got to work in the restricted space, throwing the mortar onto the exterior wall to seal it prior to plastering. Thankfully the rain did stop today, however it didn't really brighten up that much and was miserable and grey all day. In the afternoon Angela went to collect Thomas with the men and also to do some stuff at our friends house to winterise their place so it was only a half day for the men anyway.

Gizmo and Tiny say hi to Rosie

Rosie watching the show

Rosie on my shoulders

Time to meet Santa again

As Angela was out I got to collect Rosie from school and when we got back the puppies from the farm were at the gate again. Rosie loves them and hopped out the car to say hello to Gizmo and Tiny. After that it was time for a little hobby then when Angela got back, much later than we'd expected, there was a huge rush to get back out the house and down to town in time for the lights show. It was pretty awesome with singers and dancers and Rosie saw some of her friends, sat on my shoulders for a bit, then met Santa and got a little gift. We left actually before the lights were turned on as Rosie was hungry and so were we - we had a nice dinner at the local fast food place which we do like then headed back in time for bed time for Rosie and me to write this update.

So there it is. Another weekend is upon us so back on Monday. Thanks for reading.

Who is Santa?

Welcome back to another update covering a weekend and a Monday. It's going to be longer I think so let's get started.

The snow falls on Saturday morning

Low clouds over the hills

Later, blue sky and snow

Driving down the hill

Watching The Hobbit together

At the restaurant for dinner

Saturday morning I was up with Rosie early before it got light and while we were playing in the playroom we noticed that it was snowing; there were huge flakes falling and it was falling quite fast. We both got very excited and watched it for a bit but by the time we headed out to the shops to pick up a few things the snow had stopped and it never started again which was a shame. We began our Christmas tradition on Saturday as well and Rosie joined us to watch An Unexpected Journey. We didn't watch it all with her, but since then she has watched more of all the trilogy and seems to be loving it; she particularly likes the Dragon, and "Elmo" as she calls Bilbo. Sunday was another awesome day and we got more time as a family to watch more of the trilogy. Rosie had such a great time she was crying that she had to go to bed. Our visit to the restaurant was shorter than usual as it was very quiet but it was still lovely.

Lifting the tiles

Drilling a channel

Working on connecting the lights

Bekir running cables through old water pipes

Testing out my new welder

And so to today and the workmen were in and starting on running the electrics for plugs and power to the tools. This involved lifting the tiles to bring power to the island. The cracked on with this while I was out with Angela (of which more in a bit) and when we got back we found they were using the new SDS drill I'd picked up on Saturday to channel through the floor into which a conduit could be fitted. Bekir was also finishing up some work on the lights ring. I went out with Halil later in the afternoon to look at a second hand welder that was many years old and a very good bit of kit. He was happy so I bought it and Bekir also tested it and declared it a very good machine. We have a lot of welding to be done so this is good as I was borrowing a machine from Sally up until now.

All dressed up and ready

Now it is time to answer the question in the title of this update. The answer, of course, is me. I went today to play Santa Claus at Rosie's school for their gift giving and Christmas celebration. I was so very very nervous but the teachers were lovely and I managed to not ruin it for the kids. There were many more pictures taken, of course, but here I am before going down having just got dressed up.

There you have it. Thanks for reading, and back tomorrow.