Reservoir done, back to the roof space

Another day and I'm slowly getting back into this blogging every day thing. Let's get to it.

6C this morning, which was a little chilly

I got to drop Rosie at the school today and it was the first day when it was actually a little chilly; autumn is certainly on its way if not completely arrived.

Pool pump, but it didn't work out

Look at all that filth in the bottom of the tank

Water being evacuated out through the wall

There goes the water

Final dirty water being removed

The men were in nicely on time and were up to the roof to get stuck in to the main task for today which was switching out the old water container with a new one. We had the idea to use the pool pump to help get the water out however it wouldn't actually fit into the tank so Bekir just started a manual syphon which worked well. We also ran a couple of the taps around the house to help. Inside the tank there was a lot of sand and mud, this is from when we had really dirty water for quite a while. Disgusting! It didn't take long really to empty the tank and they did the last bits out on the roof terrace.

Bekir getting stuck into the re-plumbing

Vacuuming and drilling going on

Overflow hole drilled out

With the old tank out the way it was pretty quick to get the new one into place and then Bekir set to with the plumbing in. This involved drilling holes, bending in new pipes (as this new tank is twice the size of the last one) and Halil was assisting including with a vaccuum while Bekir drilled holes. They got it done and turned the water on so that the tank could refill in time for bath night.

Halil gets stuck into plastering

Bekir sweeping before joining in the plastering

Finally got this tree dug out

Yet another raised bed built

The tank is nearly filled

What a great success - this early completion of the main task meant that the men could get back in to the roof space which I really want to have completed very soon; Halil was plastering by the stairs while Bekir was tidying and also got stuck into the plastering a bit. I can't wait for the stairs to be done and the carpet to be down! I went outside while Angela collected Rosie and I finished digging out the tree by the entrance gate. I started this weeks ago but then got sick so it has waited for weeks. When they got back we all hung out on the patio and I put together another raised bed for Angela. Just before dinner I checked the tank in the roof and it was an inch or so off completely full so that's great.

So there it is; another day done. Thanks for reading.

Men out and back again

I remembered to update on the day! Wahey! Today has been a day of two halves and hardly seeing the men.

Empty bucket ready for brambles

Totally over-full bucket of brambles

Filling in a hole from the wood store into the enclosure

Hopefully enough to keep critters out

I took Rosie to school this morning then when I came back I grabbed the pickaxe and a bucket and went into the chicken enclosure and dug out all the brambles that were starting to come back since my last blitz. I got this completed before the men arrived. When they did arrive they headed straight out with Thomas to go and try and buy cement and a new reservoir for the roof space. Unfortunately my phone was turned off so when Halil was trying to contact me about one they found I didn't see the message until they were already back here, without a reservoir. Ahh well, I told them to head back out after lunch and they got stuck into filling in the gaps in the chicken house wall, and also blocked the final little gap next to the back gate.

1000L water tank successfully sourced

Knocking out dead plaster into a bucket

Wetting the hole down ready for repairs

All nicely filled

After lunch the men disappeared again and were gone for ages but by the time I got home from collecting Rosie they had just arrived back with a huge reservoir. The men got it manouvered into the roof however it's too big to set next to the existing one so now tomorrow they'll empty and remove the old one and then fit the new one. To fill up the end of the day I asked Bekir to have a quick look at some loose plaster I'd spotted in the games room and before I knew it they were up the ladder, had knocked it out and found it was quite a big hole that would have caused a huge problem if we'd left it. By the end of the day this hole has now been fixed. Great work.

Rosie watering her plants

Before dinner Rosie made a bracelet for her teacher at school, having given them a necklace today. After dinner we did our watering and Rosie watered her plants like a good girl. She also got her scooter and bikes out for a ride.

So there you go - that's today. Thanks for reading, back tomorrow.

Daddy Weekend and Digging

It's been an awesome and busy weekend over here, so lots of pictures and let us get this blog written.

In the car ready to head off

Rosie in the trolley about to go into JUMBO

A huge dolly, and a new favourite

Picking out what we want to eat

Rosie with her new slippers

Angela took herself off on a very well deserved break for the weekend leaving me with Rosie which was brilliant. On Saturday we got ourselves into the car (with Bombur the giant teddy) and drove all the way to JUMBO to do some toy shopping, and buy some clothes for me amongst other things. Rosie was very good the entire time, had a great time looking around, and picked one thing to buy (though I sneaked a few bits in for Christmas) which was a dolly that is bigger than her! We then went on to a restaurant I've been to a fair few times and had a nice lunch and after that back in Thomas to drive home. I was exhausted by the end of the day but Rosie was still going strong. I'd picked up some new slippers for her to wear at home and she loved them and modelled for a picture for Angela.

Rosie on the trampoline with new dolly

A little time on the swing

Walking the puppies up the hill

A very very deep trench

Playing in the sand

Sunday started with trampoline time and Dolly Boy (or now, Big Dolly Rosie - she's not yet settled on a name) had to join her. She had a great time. It was a cool enough day but we wrapped up warm and went into the garden where she swung on her swing for a bit before declaring she wanted to walk up the hill to the echo pipe (the new gas pipeline that is being laid). We got the puppies ready and headed off up the hill. It was good apart from when Louise tripped Rosie with her lead but that got sorted out and we made it to the pipe, shouted down it a bit (Louise was most confused by the dog barking back at her that sounded the same as her) and then went and checked out the trench that has been dug to bury the pipe. It's huge, such a deep trench. They are making great progress. After that it was back home for lunch and to wait for Angela to get back, which she did safely and she had had a great time. What a lovely weekend, and such a pleasure to have Rosie being so good all the time. Thankfully!!

Halil gets started on the grouting this morning

Looking down at the hole we dug

Getting to the end finally

Shovelling and digging

A trench for the water pipe

More fun for Rosie

And so to today. The men were in on time and went onto the roof terrace where they had more grouting left to do than I realised however they got stuck in and got it completed soon enough. There's a little more cleaning up to be done tomorrow and then that job is finally finished (though we will need to put up some barriers, and put the wooden seats around the walls, soon enough). They then went downstairs and got the pickaxe and shovel out and dug out a deeper trench to put the new water pipe into. This took the rest of the day and shows just why I am thinking about buying a digger. More on that in a minute. Rosie came home from school and came to see what was going on then after a little Peppa we went onto the balcony for more jumping then play time before bed. It was a nice evening, and we really are regularly contemplating just how lucky we are right now.

So to the digger. I'm still not convinced whether a large digger is what we need; we're now thinking about getting a smaller tracked back hoe and a small bobcat style loader. It's a big thing, and we know we NEED one for all the jobs up at the mountain house (and around here) so getting it right is very important. There's no rush, now the digging here has been done, so we'll talk and consider and listen to advice and make a decision when we are fully happy with it.

Thanks for reading, and see you tomorrow.

Windy Day

 I was awake very early this morning, after another early night last night, so I'm pretty tired right now however I'm not feeling unwell/tired just "20 hour day" tired so that is a huge relief. Onwards! It has been an incredibly windy day today, which is also something that makes me feel a bit tired with the constant rush of the wind in the trees.

Precarious perch

A beautiful peaceful evening

Last night as I was typing up the blog a pigeon kept trying to land on the window frame (which didn't work very well) and then flying off before I could get a picture. After the blog was published it came back a few more times and I got a snap. It had a ring on its foot so I hope it managed to find its way home. It was a lovely evening last night and as I went to my early night I snapped a picture.

Lifting more slabs

The fog clears

Drilling through for the tap

First pipe in and held down with sand

Extending the other trench

Tightening with the monkey wrench

As I've said I was up very early and started working about 3am, getting most of the workday out of the way before anyone else was in the office. I took Rosie to school, which was lovely (but, in her words, "Foggy AGAIN!!) and when I got back Bekir and Halil were already in and digging out more trenches. This was the route for the pipe to take the borehole water to a tap on the new wall.It took most of the morning for them to get it all done including drilling through and fitting the pipe and then burying it in sand but then they were on to the task of extending the main run off the edge of the patio at each end so they could fit the main pipe, and T junction. This was completed just after lunch.

Covering over the pipes with sand

Where the electric cable runs

And the other end, by the front

Halil starts sweeping

And slinging rocks

With the water pipe done next Bekir put the armoured cable in place that will take power to the toilet pumps, and also to some plugs on the front wall. He has put this into the storage cupboard and there is a spare slot for a breaker in the consumer unit in there so that will work well. He then started tidying up, with Halil cracking on, and they sorted the good slabs from the bad. Some of the bad were slung into the general filler piles while others Bekir used to layer over the sand above the water and electricity. They left the place looking very tidy indeed.

Goodbye sun

And so there it is; I did just run up to the roof terrace (which will be the job to do after they've finished the patio) to get a picture of the stunning sunset that I have been enjoying from my desk in Room 13.

Thanks, as always, for reading.