So busy, no time

The title gives you the hint that this blog is being done in a rush... so without further ado.

So overcast and nasty first thing

Last night was a much better sleep, after heading to bed really early, and I woke just before the alarm and went to see if Ralf had returned in the night. He hadn't. We had another snooze this morning and then straggled ourselves out of bed for a brew. It was a filthy morning, overcast and cold, and getting out of that warm bed was a very difficult thing to do indeed. I was collecting the men this morning as we were off to Isat's for materials for the roof terrace and as I went to go I saw that we had three cows and two goats on the land, right down by the vehicle gate, cropping away happily at our uneaten and lush grass. A had left the vehicle gate wide open all night and they had just come in. We chased them out and then I was off and to the men.

A convocation of workmen, and Rambo

Isat was nowhere to be found when we got to his yard and after waiting a minute or two Bekir just headed off and started picking up the things we wanted and stacking them in the back of Thomas. Isat turned up eventually however, in time to be paid, and then we were off and back home with our purchases strapped in the truck bed. I arrived just as A got back inside having been out throwing the wood for burning into the hole by the back doors. She set herself inside to do some work while I made breakfast for me (she didn't want any, honest) of bacon and eggs. The men were stood outside in a semi circle, with Rambo bothering them running from one to the other, chatting about what to do next and then soon after they were at it and working hard.

Twenty minutes of stacking did this

Tidily stacked for next year

After breakfast I went out and started throwing the wood up onto the ledge by the back door for carrying inside. I worked away for about twenty minutes or so and in that time filled the ledge so no more wood could be put on there. I then went round and inside and started lifting it into its storage. As I got to the end of the wood I had thrown up A came out and set on with the wood I hadn't been able to fit and then threw more down and passed that up. It was a really good session and we got loads done and I was feeling nice and exercised by the end of it. We had a rest and then we went back out, shifting a load of wood from another "to burn" pile on the top bank and throwing it into the pit, then shifting all of that along to the store room as well. All in all we have done well and we are now left with the planks to shift and the final stack of beams (as well as more to be sorted but it is mostly buried in mud so we'll probably leave the digger machine to shift that lot).

Concrete around the other other chimney

While we were working away doing this the men were not idle. Bekir was up at the far end putting the finishing touches on the chimney which will service the open fire in the kitchen and the bedroom. I still need to confirm that we do want the third chimney, which will do the first guest room and the living room, but that can wait until next year; so long as the roof is secure we are fine and we have no need to light any fires feeding it for a year or so anyway.

Ilhan posing with the pulley

I made Sally laugh

Working on the ridge tiles

Ilhan transporting cement out to Sally

Loads of footprints on the tiles

Now we have a flurry of pictures as I don't have time to type loads of words. Basically the men were finishing off fixing down all the ridge tiles (we had bought 10 more as we had been short on the initial order by that amount) so Okhtay (the young new worker) was down mixing cement while Ilhan (the older new worker) was taking the buckets and transporting them across the roof to Bekir and Sally who were doing the actual cementing. A well oiled machine indeed.

Turning into autumn here

One photograph I have really wanted to take over the past few days but kept forgetting when the sun was out is of the tea trees which have suddenly started changing colours into autumn. These trees really are beloved of me as I have watched them all year go from no leaves through the gorgeous smell of spring when their flowers were out and then the really heavily leaved summer when they provided such awesome shade and now finally they are turning to autumn. I can't wait to see the complete cycle when we stay next year and don't have to leave for winter. Fingers crossed.

Pastoral view

And so it was time for me to head out to my meeting this afternoon and this took five hours and has given me a headache but good progress has been made. As I was leaving I snapped a picture of the sheep huddled together, and me being barked at by the sheep dog, and then the camera stayed in the footwell of Lucy and didn't move once. When I got back at 7.20 or so I found an empty house as A was still returning the men; as it is dark I have not been able to check out all the progress from this afternoon but they worked really late and apparently were hefting the insulation around; who knows tomorrow I may go up and find that we have the beginnings of our roof terrace done!

My plan to cook stuffed marrow went out the window with the lateness of both our days and so now I'm sat here listening to an impromptu pasta dish bubbling, while both our stomachs rumble. I have loads more to do after publishing this post as well hence the fast and short nature however I do have some other good news in that we won't be homeless when we arrive in Manchester; my mate got his flat sorted. Here's to finding a job now!