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| Why I woke up I don't know; but hey - great view |
It was my turn to wake up this morning just before the sun rose and I grabbed the camera, cracked open the balcony door, and took the required photograph of the gloriousness that is pre dawn at my place. I then went back to bed and become a person who did not want to wake up and despite my Special Guest being chatty at me I got a fair old lay in, til at least 7.30. Yes. Seven Thirty. Anyway, the boys had been good up til this point and not barked or howled but a brew was what made us want to wake up and so a brew was made and then on to the feeding round which was unusual in that Ralf didn't eat his entire portion but left about half. Maybe he is finally learning that food is not something he needs to panic about here.
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| Lavender, and my lettuce run |
After this we did some planting of the lavender plants bought from Kaufland the other day, and a run each side of the path of lettuce; curly leaved on one side and iceberg on the other. We're not going to grow that much this summer but having fresh lettuce is a really good thing. The lavender is now protected from Rambo damage by some more chairs and I for one am starting to like them on the flower beds; maybe I can train some climbing plants over the next year.
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| The upright for the bed footer |
Breakfast was toast and was just enough and then it was back to doing making. Now the first major making task of the day was the head and foot boards for the bed. We decided on the foot board first and so set to with the tools at our disposal. First of all a saw, then moving on to using a chisel and finally (after much effort, swearing and sweating on the first upright) I used the electric saw and the axe on the hammer and cut a 15mm notch 200mm up the length of the wood. I then used the drill to recess three screws each for fixing it to the frame.
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| Footer fitted |
We then took them through to the bedroom and fitted them, with a combination of power driver and manual driver, and then lined up the cross piece and countersunk the screws in for that. It was a far longer task than I expected, mainly from using the wrong tools for cutting the notch, but it looks great. It took so long that there was no drive left to do the headboard so this had been left for another day.
We stopped for a rest and made a brew then went out to the pile of wood at the back to select some pieces for the next making; a bed side table. This rapidly degenerated into clearing and sorting more wood from the random junk that had been thrown off the roof. So much for a rest. We had also started a fire so every now and then went up to chuck more stuff onto it. She went inside after a while and I popped back up to the fire to put more stuff on and threw on the empty expanding foam can. We were sitting having fishfingers butties when it blew. What a great bang that was.
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| Using power tools |
After a really lovely lunch it was back to it and we took the selected plank of wood, measured it twice and cut it once and it was my Special Guest who was operating the power tools. I was limiting myself to a purely advisory role and she did really well, and really enjoyed herself (or at least, that's what she told me anyway). We had to trim the boards down, then join them together and the wooden struts we tried first weren't the greatest success so I made use of some of the metal strips I have left from England. The table top was complete.
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| Making friends |
Before we started on the legs we were both really amused to see Ralf and Sassy once again meeting and sniffing and this time I had a camera to hand. The angle I was taking them at wasn't the best but still. It's so lovely and Ralf wasn't snarling and growling at all, he was just wagging his tail and sniffing.
After this my Special guest chose a couple of sections of wood and cut four legs from them, which proved tough as the power saw has quite a wide cut and so one of the legs was actually the wrong length. No matter, when we screwed it all together we put a wedge of wood in to make it the correct length. Perfect bodging.
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| Getting some sanding action |
I had had the Tour de France on the laptop with the sound up so I could hear the commentary while we were doing this and, once the table was complete, we took all our stuff up to the roof so I could watch while sat in the sun, and she could sit in the shade and sand down the table top. It was so hot up there I was loving it and sat in the shade she did a brilliant job smoothing the top and now this little table is slipped in its home next to the bed and already it has junk on it.
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| Been working hard. Or something. |
Because it was so warm up there that my Special Guest couldn't sit out with me I suggested we go sit on the balcony which had a breeze and was a little cooler. We made our way down there, carrying everything, and I once again sat in the sun with the cycling on and she took a few minutes of rest. This was curtailed by the flies that kept buzzing around so she got the Raid and got rid of them.
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| Flames licking the chicken |
Shortly after this it was time to put the BBQ on and so I made the BBQ (which is really flimsy, but it did the job) and then lit the coals and sat waiting and waiting and waiting for it to get ready. Eventually I got so hungry that I just put the chicken on to cook anyway, hoping that the fat dripping would help and it did.
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| Yep. Cloud. Must be BBQing |
It seems the tradition of putting the BBQ on and having the weather turn bad is just as valid over here as in the UK as a huge raft of cloud started blowing over as soon as we lit the fire and it just kept coming and coming, initially turning the baking sunshine into a hazy sunshine and finally dropping the temperature so much I actually shivered, though I am told it was never that cold. Anyway. I was glaring at the clouds while keeping an eye on the food and watching the cycling which was really good as always and we were having a good laugh.
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| Loaded up with meat |
All this time the meat was sizzling on the BBQ and first the kyufte were ready (they were good; so good I went and got two more each to replace the first set) and then the burgers (home made from the accidental 3kg of mince I had bought the other week) which were incredible and finally, after the second helping of kyufte, the chicken was ready and all of this was accompanied by a really lovely salad prepared by my Special Guest. Washed down with beer, and sat in the overcast, what a lovely way to end the day.
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| Can you spot where we stopped BBQing? |
Of course, as soon as we had stopped eating, the cloud suddenly narrowed in the distance, with a 90 degree turn (what is THAT all about! I was only joking about the BBQ weather but it seems it is actually the case) and so it was that we were sat, with our legs dangling over the edge of the balcony, laughing at Rambo who was running around doing his patrol, and Ralf who was up on the balcony and stalking Rambo around the edge, with the sun shining on us and still with some good warmth to it.
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| Going down in a blaze of glory |
Then it was time to reluctantly come inside to type this little blog for you and aren't you glad I did so. I've sent my Special Guest out while I've been typing to take the required photographs of the oh so stunning sun set and, with some grumbling, she has obliged so you do have a photograph of that to feel jealous of.
Ralf has been sent to the compound (ok, not sent, carried and locked in) a couple of times today for snapping at Rambo very nastily. I really don't know what gets over him but there is just no need it isn't when he is threatened he just runs over and snaps. He knows he is wrong because as soon as you walk towards him afterwards he runs and then when he is cornered, he submits on his back. I really hope he grows out of this as most of the time they are great together.
Tomorrow we are dropping the two olive trees at my friend's then heading to the garage to hear the bad news. Depending on how depressing/expensive that is we will then go to town to buy tiles for the bedroom, an extension lead and bedside light, and maybe the light fitting for the bedroom as well. I really hope the news about Lucy isn't too dreadful.
EDIT
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| Beautiful red sky |
Yep. Even before I published the blog I have been presented with a photograph which "must be put in the blog" and I agree. What an incredible red sky. I hope the shepherds are delighted tomorrow, though I'm sure the men are hoping for overcast and a bit of drizzle; It is SO hot up on that roof during the day. No wonder they don't normally work summers.
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