Weekend and then several jobs done

Back to real normality today as Rosie was back to school and I was back to work. But first, let's look to the weekend.

The tortoise on the front lawn

Rosie feeds the ants

The end of our game

Rosie riding the machine at Kaufland

More ants, more leaves

After I finished the update on Friday I went down to wait for Rosie and Angela to get back from the neighbours and heard a rustling on the front lawn; I went down to find a tortoise making its way up towards me. I did make sure to show this to Rosie when she got back. More wildlife with Rosie as we went over after this to check out her ants nest and she fed more leaves to them. I then played games with Steve and we finally managed to finish it up. On Saturday morning he headed off back home and I took Rosie into town to do some shopping (Angela's birthday is coming up) and we stopped for a chance for Rosie to ride on the machine at Kaufland. When we got back it was time for a chat with Grandma and Auntie Nods and I am pretty sure we went into the pool as well because the clock stopped and that was very frustrating. We've changed the batteries now and it seems to be doing ok. We also went back down to see her ants and feed them even more leaves.

Rosie jumping in puddles in her boots

I filled 7 big black bags with XPS

Rosie painting her room sign

The sun sets on Sunday

Saturday night I was woken by high winds, and there was a storm forecast, so I went around the house shutting windows; in the morning we found that it was still raining though eventually it did stop. Rosie put her boots on and went to jump in puddles while I got on with a few chores including tidying the workshop, hoovering the stairs and then finally  I went into the roofspace and did an epic tidy of the polystyrene pile up there. Angela and Rosie had a lovely day together, Rosie was full of beans. I got to watch them painting together making a display to hang on Rosie's play room door. Finally here's a shot of a lovely sunset that night.

Bekir removing wall plugs and tidying|

Halil prepares to plaster

Bekir takes down the wooden frame

Spare plaster applied to the sink front

Taking down the old baby chick enclosure

Cleaning, burning and raking

We have a clean duck pond again

And so to today; this morning I put Bekir and Halil to a couple of small but important tasks before they went back to the chicken enclosure. First of all was the little nook in the dining room that needed cleaning up and replastering so Angela can get the walls painted while my mum is visiting. While Halil was doing the painting Bekir went out and removed all the wood from around the garden sink and cleaned it up. Halil then used the last bits of plaster he had mixed to finish the front of the sink. It was then into the chicken enclosure to get stuck into tidying and clearing in preparation for our new flock. First of all the temporary enclosure I'd built for the chicks was taken down; it had lasted very well for having been thrown up in such a hurry all those years ago. With that task done they blitzed that area and removed all the weeds and raked all the stones (15 wheel barrows full, apparently) and burned a load of trash and also cleaned up the pond. There's still a few bits and pieces to do but we are now pretty much ready for birds.

Rosie with the sandcastle we built together

The tortoise once again on the move

After school I went out to the sandpit to play with Rosie and we made an awesome sandcastle together. Then while Angela was making dinner I finally got to switch over the humanure collection point to the newly draining one; my feeling is we should leave the old one to dry for quite a long time before going in there however I may have to get the drill and put some drainage holes in myself as it's very very wet in there - not good. After doing this I heard more rustling and sure enough the tortoise was making its way along the front of the lawn. I do love having tortoises on our land.

So there it is; as I write this a storm is rumbling towards us so that could be some fun. Thanks for reading, back tomorrow.

Weekend away then hot day

There was no update on Friday as I was away to visit a friend at lunch so this update covers Friday as well. Let's get cracking.

Metal covers back onto the drains

Back in the trench

Making the sections strong

Assembling a new raft

Halil digs the trench a bit deeper

First thing Friday morning Bekir fitted the drainage covers again the patio that we had lifted to deal with the toilet explosion. Then the men were back to the chicken enclosure, first of all finishing the top part with more shuttering, and they did have to use more of the new wood to do this last bit, then Halil was throwing the pickaxe to make the sloping bit up deeper before they put more wood up to surround that. The plan was for the cement truck to come on Monday.

Sat in the morning with a cuppa and a book

The game kicks off with Steve

Steve flicking a plane for Airflix

After lunch I jumped into Maisie and, despite getting slightly lost and almost going to Serbia, I reached my mate's Steve about 8pm and sat with him and his wife and chatted and ate a lovely pick-n-mix dinner before heading to bed. Saturday was earmarked for gaming and I was up early with a cuppa and my book waiting for Steve to join me. We had a great game, and his friend Alan came over and played as well, before we headed out for our dinner at a local bar that was very nice indeed. Sunday morning Steve and I played Airflix before I was back in the car to drive home. This time I didn't get lost. Maisie really proved herself for these long drives and was so comfortable! After dinner and Rosie bedtime I sat on the balcony reading and fell asleep on the recliner, though.

Bekir refines the strengthening

Throwing soil in to fill in some gaps

Halil is clearing away stones

A small fire, and a smooth bank

And so to the heat of today. It was a hot one indeed. Angela took Rosie to school and I have been working at my desk on the balcony all day. The men spent the first part of the day preparing for the cement wagon to arrive but then they had a call putting it off until tomorrow. This meant they switched to the other task, tidying up around the already poured foundations. They are doing a great job, clearing rubble and stones and raking it all over so it will be mowable when the grass grows. They also burned a load of rubbish during the day. Hopefully tomorrow the cement will arrive.

Rosie with her pew pew

Rosie with the flower she found

After work I got Mo out and did the front lawn before heading onto the back bank to check it out; it is too long to mow in places now so that's going to be a challenge for tomorrow. Rosie came home and we had a nice play time with her AK-47 before she helped me to do some clearing in the garden and then we found a lovely flower.

Angela is recovering from her illness, which battered both of us last week, thank goodness. It's really dragged on and has been a really horrible time for her :( She managed to get a load more stuff planted out over the weekend, while Rosie "helped" and played in the garden, so now the raised beds are looking really full and awesome! I'll get more pics of those tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.

A bitty day today

 It's felt like a bitty day today, and I've been pretty busy with work as well, so I'm sat here wondering exactly what has been achieved; I hope the pictures I took tells me!

We got to play a game!

First of all to last night and Angela and I are once again making time for playing some games together; it's so good to get this regular again (and by regular I mean two weeks in a row!) I'm currently winning the game which we'll finish next week.

Raking, weeding and tidying up

Really low cloud

Looking nice, now it is all weeded

Halil tidies up around the place

Undercutting the path

I took Rosie to school this morning and when I got back the men were already in and getting started. They spent the first part of the day clearing away weeds, raking out lots of rubbish, and generally tidying up along the patio in preparation for the next step. Bekir also got the drill out and chiselled underneath the concrete path; this is so the cement can flow in underneath and it'll prevent weeds from breaking up through - very good thinking indeed. It was such a miserable day most of the day, with regular rain showers interrupting them during the morning. Really not ideal building weather.

Angela and Rosie in the afternoon sun

The metal grid finally being put in place

It is quite unweildy

Puppies happy to be outside

In the afternoon Bekir and Halil ran out of wire so popped to the shop but mostly they were working on putting the grids down that are needed as the final step before the cement pour. The sun had come out (and it is now a lovely evening) and Rosie and Angela had a lot of fun on the balcony while I had to do a bit more work. The forecast for tomorrow is terrible but we shall see as while it was miserable today, it was not torrential; it's likely the forecast is again wrong. Thelma and Louise were very relieved that the weather lifted so they could get outside to play for a bit.

The men will be in either way as we have some inside tasks for them.

Thanks for reading.

Weekend and Tuesday progress

 I'm back, after a longer than expected break as the men couldn't get in yesterday so no update. This will cover the weekend as well however I forgot about writing the blog (working too hard so my schedule was all out) until just now so it is late and I want to get this written as quickly as possible.

A lovely golden start to the day

Visiting the Mountain House

Paddling in the fishing pond

Getting one of many games in

Dinner out

First of all the weekend, which was awesome and incredibly tiring as Steve's visit involved lots of games, a visit to the Mountain House, loads of talking and fun and company and enjoyment and it was altogether awesome. We even got to go out for our dinner one night which was a lot of fun.

The little lizard that is in our wood pile

Such a lovely day

Autumn colours slowly spreading

Yesterday was a really long and busy working day however I did get to snap a picture of our little lizard who is currently living in our indoor wood shed; we're going to have to do something about it. It was a glorious day and when I got a chance to get outside with Rosie I took it; the autumn colours are really finally setting in. Beautiful.

Bekir starts grinding the wall

I made him wear ear defenders

The wall has been shortened

Bracket starting to be engulfed

A mushroom

More grinding, more dust

Washing down the balcony

Sat with Louise

And so to today. I had another crazy busy one, but the men were in (obviously, or I wouldn't be writing this) however Sally is still not back. I suggested to Bekir that he get the balcony wall adjusted and so that is what they did all day; marking off the cut, then grinding it down, popping the tiles off the top to be reused, and generally making a mess. I got some time outside when Angela had to go to the dentist to get something looked at and had a great time running around the front garden with Rosie playing catch. What a laugh. While down there we saw that the support for the bird feeder has started to be encased in the wood of the tree, and also I spotted a large mushroom. Bekir and Halil were hard at work still making the wall the correct height for our windows and after that they washed the balcony down; the dust up there had been atrocious. I headed into town, picked up some deliveries and materials, while Angela was at the dentist and then it was back to work when Angela got back, though I got to sit on the front lawn with the puppies and Rosie waiting.

Cleaning old mortar off the tiles

A beautiful sunset to end the day

The day ended out with me still working, Halil cleaning the old glue off the bottom of the tiles, and the sun setting in a glorious display.

Tomorrow I think they'll complete this work on the wall then get back inside for more stairs and landing progress. We shall see, and so shall you. Thanks for reading.