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.

Starting lights

Another busy day, and some really awesome progress outside, so let's get stuck in.

Lovely morning sky this morning

Big (dead) spider

Halil trims the pallet down

Opening up the light fittings

Stripy clouds over the hills

Light supports attached to the roof

The day started blustery and cloudy with an awesome sunset that I had to snap first thing. Angela had found a big spider that the cold nights had obviously got to, sadly, which was laying on the shelf outside. I dropped Rosie at school which was lovely to do and shortly after I got back the men arrived and got stuck in to their tasks. Halil was back to moving the firewood and first of all had to trim down some of the existing pallets to fit more on the floor as we are running out of space in there. Bekir was on with actually fitting the lights onto the ceiling of the car port. By this time the day had clouded over and while it was never cold today it was pretty windy and blustery. Angela saw some fascinating stripy clouds that I snapped a picture of as well. Bekir initially suggested hanging the light fittings from chains but I preferred a solid frame so he made these up in the workshop then started hanging them from the ceiling in the locations I'd suggested.

Lots of wood really well stacked

So much wood stored for winter

Throwing more in through the window|

Bekir fitting a junction box

Progress being made by both

The rest of the day was much of the same. Halil stacked all the wood that was already inside the wood room then went outside and threw the rest through. We're very nearly done with this now, thankfully. There really is a  lot of wood! Bekir fitted every light fitting (I had him space them a bit wider than in that first picture) and then made a start on running cables to each light to a central bus line down the middle of the car port. This is really nearly done now! It is very exciting.

So there it is; a good day indeed. Thanks for reading, back tomorrow.

Run out of Ondolin

We made it to Friday, and had both Bekir and Halil working today which was awesome.

Having a fun early morning play time with Rosie

Here comes the sun

Halil stacks logs so neatly it is awesome

Bekir sorts through an old box of screws

Nearly done with the battening

Starting to shift logs under cover

Bekir adds extra screws to hold the roof down

The last of the Ondolin is fitted

Rosie was still sick today but her temperature was largely a lot healthier which is a relief. I had time to play with her before it was time for work, and also to grab a picture as the sun rose above the hills and haze. As I said, Halil was back in today and he was in the wood shed shifting the huge pile of logs and stacking them super neatly into our storage. Up above him on the roof Bekir first of all spent some time sorting through some old screws then got stuck in to cutting and fixing the battens for underneath the Ondolin and he got them all done. When Halil finished stacking all the wood that had already been thrown into the inside storage he went and started to shift the mass of split logs under the shelter of the car port. We are expecting rain on Sunday and tomorrow I'll need to get stuck in on this as well to get as much out of rain as possible. Bekir was still going and finished installing every sheet of Ondolin that we have; we're now waiting until Tuesday for another delivery so we can finish the roof which is a shame as it will rain on Sunday as I say, but we can't help it now.

Sat watching the men work with Rosie

Getting covered in leaves

Towards the end of the day I sat with Rosie again watching the men work as the sun was nice and warm. A bit later on she was out on the patio playing with Angela and I went and joined her and had leaves thrown all over me a few times - she was having a great time. After that we sat and watched some Planet Earth and then it was dinner time and now it is now.

So there it is; another week done. Have a good weekend and back on Monday.

Plastering done

We have made it to the end of the week and so let's get this update out the way before relaxation and sleep.

Rosie and all her teddies

This morning I spent some very fun time with Rosie putting her teddies out on the bench in the play room. Actually I've just remembered they are still there so we'd better get them done before Rosie's bedtime!

Working through the morning together on plastering

Bekir sticks with the plastering

Halil gets stuck into the stacking

Bekir reaches the end of the wall plastering

Halil splits logs on the driveway

Now Halil sharpens the chainsaw

Halil holds Rosie up next to his wood stack

Fixing up the floor now

More wasps - so much of a problem this year

So to what Bekir and Halil got done today. They were working together in the chicken house plastering for the morning which made a lot of sense as the morning has the sun strongly shining on the wood store and driveway. After lunch Bekir continued while Halil got stuck into stacking. They both made very good progress and by mid afternoon the plastering was all but done. I went for a chat with Halil as he was cutting and splitting some logs and then sharpening the chainsaw. We also found a load more wasp nests in Julian (who is going to go with Halil relatively soon as he will renovate him and make use of him finally. By the end of the day the woodstore was all but fully filled and Bekir had completed the plastering and also done a load of fixes around the edge of the floor and started to fill in the holes in the floor of the chicken house. Very good progress indeed. Bekir also went onto the roof of the porch again and found three more wasp nests, and another behind one of the air conditioning units. They really are a problem this year!

Rosie doing her arting

I'll wrap the update up with Rosie painting with me after the end of my day. She had a lovely day with Angela playing games and then a lovely time with me doing art and crafts. Great fun.

Thanks for reading; we'll be back on Monday.

Tidier wood and plastering

Today has been a blustery day but still sunny at times; I was also very busy during the day but tried to get out to get pictures of what was going on.

Very dangerous wood stacking

Rosie and Halil discuss the wood store

Bekir gets started on his job for the day

Halil makes a start

It all had to be pulled right out again

After the request we made to check out the state of the stacking Halil took over and the new guy spent the day bringing logs over. Bekir worked on his own all day plastering inside the chicken house to really seal in the dust and keep the building tidy. Halil had to pull almost every log out that the other guy had stacked over the past days and put them back but he did a great job, with more logs being delivered to keep him stocked up.

Bekir plastering the ceiling

Wood stacking ongoing

The final section of ceiling is finished

Bekir now working on the walls

Inside the chicken house Bekir carried on plastering the ceiling and made good progress while Halil was taking wood from the other helper. When he finished the ceiling Bekir went onto the walls and then they went to buy some more plaster so they could finish the whole thing. The other helper probably won't come back now as he isn't actually adding anything, and Bekir seems frustrated with him.

Rosie sprinkles gravel on the terrain piece

Rosie playing some guitar with me

During this morning Angela and Rosie did a load of tidying and got a lot done; at some point during this Rosie came to help me with some hobbying on a terrain piece I am working on with her. Later on we also painted this black together which was such a joy. Just before dinner she played some guitar also. Great fun.

And that's the day. Thanks for reading, back tomorrow.