It's late starting this blog as we have been out for dinner tonight so onwards straight away I say.
My day started really early as I had set my alarm for 2.30am to get up to watch the NFL season starter. I found out, when I was up and settled, that I had set the alarm an hour early however I didn't go back to bed but watched an hour of the warm up show when I enjoyed a lot. I survived the first quarter and most of the second but I was feeling tired and, with the result pretty obvious already, I headed back to bed. Unfortunately I woke A and then we both struggled a bit to get more sleep, funnily enough she was worse that me. I stayed in bed and slept right in while she did the boys and went to get the men but I got up and did the washing up and had a coffee waiting when she got back as I am not all bad. It was a completely uninspiring morning totally grim and grey and there are no pictures of it. A went back to bed pretty much as soon as she got from the men so I chilled in Room 13 chatting to an old and very good friend and reading my new book.
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| Bekir is under there somewhere |
When it was time to wake her up I took one look and let her have another half an hour or so and then I went to get her up and she was feeling a lot better. A coffee and a tea for me and we were both a bit more on form. The task of the men today was to get the roof as waterproof as they possibly could before the weekend so they were very quickly into their stride. Having done the mokava and plastic on the north side today it was the south that was being finished.
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| More Ralf-proofing for the front fence |
I was just finishing my brew when Bekir came saying they needed some more glue for the roof, and he also had a bit of business in town, so we jumped into Lucy and went down the hill. We got his business out the way first which didn't take that long and I waited sat in a cafe in the centre reading my book and enjoying the relaxation. When he came out we went past a different supply shop and I managed to get the remaining grids for use making the fence safe from Ralf sticking his head through. We had to go back round and to a warehouse with one of the employees to get our items but it was pretty simple and they had loads so if we need more I'll be going back there. After this it was to the normal supply yard for the glue and I got a staple gun for securing the bird netting. When we got back it was nearly lunch time already as the trip had taken longer than planned.
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| Lovely flowers |
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| Shoe for size comparison (size 12) |
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| Poppy starting to flower |
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| Meadow flowers |
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| Zinnias still look lovely |
I was working on and off all day and didn't take that many pictures of the men working as there is only so much "man on roof" photography even I can do. At one point I decided to take a turn around the garden with Ralf and Rambo, and to get me some fresh air, and it was a lovely break. There are some amazing smells from flowers in various points, and I always love spotting what new growth has occurred, or how the old things are coming on. Here are a selection from that stroll.
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| Men putting waterproofing on |
On the way around I did stop when I got a good view of the men working hard on the roof as it wouldn't be right to not show them at all at work when they have done so much. That is your fill of the men today though.
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| Rambo, Mo's grave and the Silver Birch |
I have been remiss recently in putting pictures of Rambo on the blog so when he went up by Mo's grave while we were on the walk I grabbed the camera and got a lovely picture. This remains one of my favourite spots and that little grave stone will have Mo's name, and the dates, put on it this year or early next.
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| Ralf about to pounce on Rambo, who didn't care |
We finished our walk with both the boys jumping into the pond and having a good splash around. Ralf didn't get quite as wet as he had yesterday but he still had fun. The men were at that end of the roof at the time and joined in watching and laughing. Just as I took this picture he pounced on Rambo but the camera was taking the pictures very slowly so I missed the "in mid air" shot sadly. Anyway, they did have a good time.
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| They look pretty. but the storm was intense |
The forecast today was for heavy rain towards the end of the day which was why Bekir had chosen to not do the main town, and roof tiles shopping, today. All afternoon the clouds built and it was pretty clear that the forecast was going to come true if a little later than it had said. I popped out and grabbed some more wood that A needed to finish the headboard and as I was doing so the first drops fell. Pretty soon it was hammering down and I had to do my dash around to close all the windows. While the rain fell the men obviously couldn't be on the roof as it was really slippery. I went up to offer a coffee and found that they were pre-painting the mokava with the black glue - efficient. They took me up on the offer of a drink (with Orhan declining coffee and then saying he'd have some whisky certainly not expecting me to tip up with a glass and a bottle) and by the time they had finished their break the weather had improved enough to get back to work.
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| A smile as I achieved something concrete |
As you will probably have gathered from my posts up til now I am not good at not achieving at least something in a day. Today has largely been lost to paid work, going out to town for the men, and sleeping in but come the end of the afternoon while it was raining I decided I had to finish a task so I chose the bird netting cover. First of all I added some more wood to make it more rigid and provide a fixing point all around for the netting. Then, with A's help, we used the new staple gun to secure the netting to the frame. It did not take long and I am very happy with how it has come out. Now I need to make two more to cover the beds that are currently in use, nad a LOAD more for next year.
And that is your lot on pictures today. The trip with the men was simple and they have left us with the south facing roof all done with mokava and waterproofing, and the tarpaulin stretched over the final bit still ondone. When I got back from dropping them off we went straight out to the hotel I used to stay at when I first started coming here and had a lovely meal that involved a LOT of blue cheese. I am now going to sign this off and get to bed; it'll be a relaxing weekend involving lots of woodwork I think so I am quite looking forward to it. Night.
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