Tiles and pipes

So I have the task of going over yesterday and today in this update but I can't really remember yesterday so it'll just be what comes to me from the pictures and that's that.

Sleeping ducks

I do remember that it was another absolutely scorching day, though it started off with a nice bite in the air which kept me a little cool as I was out with the axe (no chainsaw today as I wanted peace and quiet) chopping up kindling for A to tie into bundles. It was quite a relaxing way to start the day and the chickens were also enjoying the peace as they dozed just the other side of the fence.

Just a small spike on this one

My task was to separate out the spiky branches which, after a bit of faffing about trying to remove the thorns, I have decided to leave well alone and maybe burn in a bonfire as they are nasty. The non-spiky branches I stacked up as well for the next day (this morning) when I would attack them with the chainsaw. I also did a fair bit of actually cutting twigs to length as well so there is now once again a developing pile of kindling up there.

Louise and Thelma getting involved

I was still out there gently chopping away, not putting too much effort into it, when A got back with the men and they were straight to their respective jobs. Since the trench was dug Bekir has been focusing on getting that task completed and so the first task was to fill in the trench from the chicken fence back to where the mains will split off into the kitchen. The girls were most interested and did distract him a little bit, but the interest for me in this picture is how the sand is over the pipes and then he is putting a layer of stones as a protection on top. It didn't take long to do this and push the soil over and now all I need to do is move the left over stones that didn't get put back in so I can turn round on the drive once more.

Cement mixing on the patio

Sally and Gyuner were mixing cement for Sally to use in his work in the living room. He is doing the new window sills today and Gyuner slotted in there, when he wasn't helping with the trench, in mixing and carrying buckets of cement up the new stairs.

Working on the balcony

The three other men were also on site by this time and cracking on in the same roles as the day before. Nikolai on the ground mixing the cement with the friendly one hauling the buckets up and the new guy actually putting the concrete into the forms and smoothing it. They had brought some tiles with them, finally, for me to have a look at however it was immediately clear that these were not fit for purpose. They were indoor tiles, made of ceramic, which would crack and shatter if left outside in the elements. I told them that I would go and find my own as I was fed up of waiting and anyway we wanted to make sure we had the exact right look for what is such a major investment.

Finger unwrapped

We had been told by the doctor to go back at about 10am the next morning so after I got as much done as I could for my day job I headed out with Bekir. We went past the little shop at the bottom first to look at tiles and there was one there that I liked a bit so I snapped a picture then we were off to the check up. The doctor wasn't there but there was no queue and the nurse recognised me straight away. We managed to get the bandage off with a bit of snipping and she seemed happy enough with what she saw, though to me it didn't look that different. Sorry for the blurry picture; it's hard to take a very quick photograph on my phone; the focus isn't always easy.

New windowsills in place

The same green gunk was applied again and then I had my finger re-wrapped up and was told to go back on Friday, not Thursday, as we would give it two days this time. From here we went on a bit of a mission around the tile shops in the main town and I found some more that I like so decided that I would show them to A and we'd decide then. I got back and it was just lunch time so Bekir went straight in to his lunch and so did I. Sally had been working hard and all the new windowsills were finished.

Makeshift steps go on

With the stairs now getting some use, but the good wood being hard to come by, Bekir had suggested that he put some old wood from the roof down and fix it into place so at least it is a bit safer. This I thought was a good idea and so he cracked on with this using the chainsaw to trim things down and then fixing them to the metalwork with twists of wire. This is brilliant and the stairway is really good; there is one step which is a bit shallow however we'll get used to that.

Kitchen door step, and living room floor

Sally had a little bit of concrete left over mixed and so when he said "what next" I suggested he finish the floor by the stairs where the platform had been pulled out so he got stuck into this task and very quickly indeed this depression was filled and drying. he then turned his attention to the step outside the kitchen patio doors though I didn't notice this until later in the day.

Progress on the balcony

Up on the balcony the men were resting after lunch but they had made a pretty good go at it as well and the sloping concrete is now over more than half of this part of the balcony. It is really good to see this happening so fast and gives me hope that they will be able to get onto the driveway and garage door and get that done before the weather changes. So much more progress than I expected has happened; it's amazing what you can do when you throw money at something.

Which came first....?

I worked on after this and had a really productive time and then mid afternoon went with A to see if we had any more eggs. Wouldn't you know but there was another one sat nestled in the nesting box so with much celebration we picked it up and then showed it to Kat, who we think is the one laying the eggs. She showed some interest but then scattered to peck the ground elsewhere.

The SDS bit stuck in the wall

The end of the day for the workmen and me ended with some amusement. I had been thinking about the water and how we would get it from outside and in the roof to where I want the boiler to be for the kitchen and downstairs. I went and explained my thoughts which Bekir agreed with and so he started drilling a hole from the kitchen into the first room on the corridor. This went very well until the drill bit on the SDS got stuck. There then followed a quite amusing period as Bekir, Gyuner and later on Nikolai all worked to widen the hole and unjam the drill bit. It eventually did come loose which was again met with cheers.

Chicken with local vegetable side

Louise sitting on Thelma

Sun goes down once more

Puppy love

And so the day came to an end, I took the men home, and got back to refuse to write a blog as I was fed up from the night before having spent the entire evening stuck trying to write the update in front of my computer and when it was done A was already in bed and I felt I had ignored her all evening. Anyway, this I refused to do just this once and so we did our chores and ate a very lovely chicken dinner sat on the balcony while watching the sun go down with the puppis being super cute. Lots of pictures above which cover all that, I know.

After we ate and did a few more chores it was time for a shower (with a hand that I can't get wet I had help) and then CJC rang on skype which was just brilliant. We chatted for about 40 minutes and caught up on lots of news before his yawning (his son is an early bird, apparently) prompted us to say goodnight. After this we did something we have talked about for a bit but never got round to before; we took our drinks up (cups of tea, I hasten to add) to the roof terrace and lay back on the lounging chairs and looked at the stars. It was a lovely clear night and we saw one particularly amazing shooting star which blazed across the sky looking like it was leaving sparks in its wake. It was a lovely way to spend the evening and one we shall have to repeat.

So to this morning and I slept OK until waking again about 5 and not getting back to sleep. I was able to drift a little so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I got up pretty much straight after A and we made our brews then we went back onto the roof terrace and found that we could watch the sunrise from there as well. I didn't have my camera with me so no picture proof today; maybe tomorrow. I actually haven't taken many pictures at all today until the afternoon so it's just words for a bit. First of all it was an emptying humanure day which as per usual didn't take that much time at all. I did the chainsawing while A was out and chopped some big logs up and then spent the balance of my time trimming down the quince tree so tomorrow I have plenty to be getting on with both with axe and chainsaw.

I had just stopped and was inside when A got back as the heat had picked up fast and I was feeling quite bleary even after two cups of tea. A made breakfast this morning which was lovely; non-posh scrambled eggs, bacon and fresh bread. We still haven't got round to our own eggs yet as we're using up the bought ones first. After breakfast we didn't hang around but went straight out to do our tile shopping. Just before we went we were shown another stack of tiles brought by the builders but we didn't like any of them. We went first to our local shop and the lady there helped us by laying a few of the ones I'd liked on the floor however now we saw them we decided neither of us liked it. We did, however, see some tiles which we think will go very well for the roof terrace which is very exciting indeed. We'll probably order them tomorrow.

From there we went into town and spent a fair amount of time in the other shop where we found the tiles for the balcony finally, then spent another long while looking for some to go around the wall. With these chosen we turned to the living room tiles which are also on the list and after yet more time we found some we liked, only to be told they were not able to supply those ones. We paid a deposit for the balcony tiles and headed round the corner to the big shop however none looked good. By this time I was feeling quite fed up of tiles so said I wanted to go straight home however on a whim I turned us towards the final tile shop I know of and there we think we've found what we want for the living room. We didn't have enough money on us for a deposit so that will also have to be done tomorrow.

The hole for the water pipes

And so we turned towards home, after lunch time already and having spent a large chunk of cash. No matter, these are all important things to have done. When we got back the puppies were yipping (but no destruction again) and the men were on their lunch but it wasn't long before they emerged and carried on with their day. Bekir had finished drilling through the hole between the kitchen and the utility room which is really rather a large hole now. It will have at least five pipes running through it, though, so it needs to be a bit large.

Cut off drainage pipe

Gyuner was back hard at work digging away at the trench in front of the porch and he was keeping an eye out for our drain from the trench. The last few days it has started to get really backed up and not drain at all, no matter how much I plunger it, and from what A had said about when the drainage had been done I was pretty sure we would find that they had cut the pipe. After a while Gyuner uncovered a pipe coming from the building and when Bekir poked it with a stick the most disgusting rush of stale water and food came out of it. There is no way that this is where the drain used to end before the drainage was put in as it ran fine last year with food in it so I got a bit irritated that the builders had been so stupid as to cut through a pipe. We told him to look on the other side for the continuation, and proof.

Bekir had been working away on the rest of the plumbing and had done the tap on the outside of the chicken house, and also run the pipe inside which will eventually have a ballcock to keep their water trench full all the time. He had also run the power cabled into the utility room where the consumer unit will be, and done the hole for the water into the same room. So much progress it was very exciting to watch. Just because I've not mentioned Sally doesn't mean he wasn't cracking on as well and today he has pretty much done all of the cement around the edges of the windows in the living room. There is just a little bit of tidying up to do and it will be finished. In one day. He doesn't half just get on with things.

The water pipe gets attached to the free supply

I did some work and then felt pretty whacked having not had my lunchtime lie down so we both went to read in bed and I actually fell asleep while reading my kindle so it fell out of my hands as I dozed off. I woke up to hear the sound of the pipe being rolled out along the front of the house so I grabbed the camera to go down and see what was happening. I was in time to see Bekir and Gyuner working to connect this pipe to the free water supply as it is the one which will be going to the chicken house.

Relaxing and watching the plumbing

While we had dozed Gyuner had uncovered the other half of the chopped drainage pipe so that is now added to the list of things that need to be done before we can close this trench. I don't know if I will complain to the boss about it but it does irritate me a fair bit. Oh well, at least it is fixable.

Woot running water

As we were watching Bekir gave a thumbs up and said that the water was now connected so off we went to the chicken house and I turned the tap on. Nothing happened. We waited a bit and after some time we were rewarded with a load of water running from the tap. How excellent! A used it to clean out and refill the water for the chickens which is already a bonus and once Gyuner is done with his other tasks he'll be starting to dig out the pond.

Splitting our drinking water out

Before he left Bekir fitted the water pipe for the ViK and it is now down along the front of the house with a tap shutting it off. We had a brief chat about drainage and what we want to do with it from the downpipes and I said we'd tell them tomorrow and then it was time to leave. The journey home was easy without any real excitement and I got back to find A still sat on the porch with the puppies, feeding Rambo, and with the chickens already done. Excellent.

Nicely finished windows

Hopefully will stop our bedroom flooding

I took a quick turn around the property to get some pictures of progress elsewhere including the window surrounds that Sally has done such an excellent job on, and the drain which has been put in by the bedroom balcony door. This will actually have a drainpipe leading from underneath down into the garage which will then take the water off into our drainage. Brilliant and just what we needed, after we realised the depth of the slab wouldn't be enough to have these running the length of the wall like I originally wanted.

Gorgeous rays of light

It has been another scorcher today as I said (and still shows as being near enough 29 degrees inside) and the thermometer in Thomas said 36 degrees when we left. There has, however, been a few clouds around the horizon, some looking quite thundery and threatening, though nothing has come of that at all. All it meant was the sunset was a little more dramatic than it has been with just totally clear skies. I just adore the way the light streams in beams through the clouds.

Steak dinner

Dinner was steak and A did everything but I did the steaks and when it was ready we took it up onto the roof terrace again and sat and ate it as the sun set and it got darker. It was a lovely peaceful evening though and we stayed there a little after we finished before heading down to water. One other frustration is that the ViK water, having been on so strong, suddenly failed just as A was putting water on the peas to cook them. It lasted one day! While I was doing the watering round she headed over to the neighbours to check if they had any and they didn't; apparently the kmet was on the phone to someone to find out just what has gone on.

And so this update draws to a close and it's taken a while but it was worth it for the night off last night.