Balcony door

This is the second update I'm writing today however it will be MUCH shorter than the previous opus magnus. This is mainly because not much has happened but also largely down to me not wanting to spend much more time typing this evening.

Bekir chipping out the bricks

When we got to bed last night at about 1am I was aware that the 6am alarm would be brutal but even with this warning I was shocked at just how much I didn't want to wake up. I can remember lying there bargaining with myself: "I'll keep my eyes shut for another four breathes, that'll be fine won't it?" but when A got up to let the puppies out I dragged myself up also so I wouldn't pass back out and miss collecting the men. It was raining this morning so there was no balcony but I don't think either of us were in a fit mood to do much anyway. A's collar bone was even worse this morning so I jumped into Thomas and collected the men. There was no Gyuner tomorrow due to baby birth but both Bekir and Sally were ready and in a good mood after their week holiday. Bekir rang the window people early doors and found that they were still planning on coming out today so he started off knocking through the hole for the doors.

Sally on with the plastering

Sally got straight on with things and made a start on the task which he would stick at all day; plastering the walls. He got all of the window wall done, and half of the wall up to the staircase, including polishing it all. He works so hard and fast and we had some good laughs every time I went in and saw just how much he had achieved since my last visit.

A rainy delivery

The other builders had said they would be working today but with the weather as it was, raining more and more all the time, we pretty much realised that we wouldn't see them. They surprised me a bit when a van arrived with a load of wood on the back and they unloaded it all but then they disappeared again pretty quickly as the downpour continued. The forecast is for better weather tomorrow and for the next few weeks so that is good.

Soaking tiles

It really has been a miserable day today with quite a lot of thunder rumbling around all day, though nothing over top and not much lightning to be seen either. The tiles are shedding their water well out of the drains however the rest of the balcony soaked up quite a lot of water during today, and the walls really did also. We need to get the rest of the tiles down, and fast.

Hole nearly big enough

Bekir bashed away until about 2pm and made a big enough hole for the double door to fit in. I went out and helped him at one point in a break in my work (that's all I have been doing today; working) to throw the bricks off the roof and we settled into a good rhythm. I think he was quite pleased that I picked up on how he wanted to do this as a convey belt and fitted in with his working pattern. It was nice as well for me to get some fresh air.

Finishing the hole off

Not long after he finished the window people turned up and set about fitting the door. I had to help every time they went to their van as both of the guys who turned up are not good with Rambo. They found that the hole was not quite the right dimensions so there was a bit of effort in trimming some overhanging bricks out of the way and after that was done I left them to it and went back to work.

I don't have pictures for this next bit but when the window people left (after fixing up our back door which no longer held shut unless you locked it) they left the gate wide open which mean the sheep dog brought the sheep onto our land. Rambo was barking, but didn't chase them, and when A told me I went out and just told them to leave and the sheep dog took them. Literally. They are so well trained, these sheepdogs.

And bricking the gap back up

Once they left Bekir got cracking with bricking up the gaps around the outside of the door. He didn't get this completed today but there isn't much left to do now. It was then time to take them home and again we had a bit of banter in the car which is just so lovely; they have great senses of humour and it's good to laugh along. There wasn't anything else of interest really about the journey though I do hope to maybe have another body on site tomorrow to take over the task of chopping and splitting all our wood.

The petchka is lit once again

When I got home I found A had lit the petchka which was excellent as I had been thinking about it all day. Today hasn't been all that cold but there is a certain comfort to having the fire on when it is damp and miserable like today. I started the update that I published before this one and haven't really stopped typing since. Dinner was an absolutely amazing pork stew thing that A threw together which was so tasty.

Now it is time for me to stop this typing thing and head to bed. It's been a long day, what with A not being well and me being worried about her. Tomorrow I'll probably be taking her to the doctor. I hope she is OK.