Lots of rearranging

In what is now quite clearly a pattern, once again I'm writing an update covering two days of activity here at The Old School. This time I have a really good excuse for not updating last night however we'll get to that shortly. So I'll get started so I can get it finished.

Rain water seeping through

So the theme of the past few days has very much be "rain". After the downpour on Thursday, Friday we had slightly less rain but it was still constant and didn't let up. The other builders didn't turn up at all for work which wasn't really all that surprising. One thing that A did spot on the Thursday evening was that there was water coming through the back door which is really frustrating as we hoped this was now sealed with the work done by Gyuner and Sally. I took a picture to show to Bekir the next day to get his advice.

I managed to take this one down

We both slept pretty well and woke up on Friday ready for the day. As soon as I had had a little sip of my tea I got on with my first task in Room 13 which was to take the light fittings down. The first one was simple enough but when we moved the scaffold and I had a look at the next one I decided to leave it to Sally; it was just too stuck to shift and I didn't want to drop it.

Nearly all healed now

Louise was continuing her improvement, though she had managed to tear open the scab the previous night by scratching it and then later on tear the flap of scab completely off in the night. We never did get back to town to collect the collar for her to stop her doing this but it seems to be healing well anyway so hopefully it won't be a terrible thing. She has a small amount of stubble now growing where she was shaved as well.

Sally works on Room 13

A went to get the men and left me in Room 13 where I started working for the day. I was doing some overtime today and so I wanted to get it out the way early as possible. When they got back it was straight on with the tasks as previously set; Sally, for one, mixed up his cement and then got stuck in with finishing off the bits and pieces he had left the day before.

Bekir using the orange grout. The colour calmed as it dried.

Before any work was done I headed down the hill with Bekir to get some grout for the living room. He had been going to finish all the tiling however our plans for the weekend called for the majority of the floor in there to be done and finalised so he was very happy to change plans. I was put slightly on the spot in the shop when they asked me to select a colour for the grout and I nervously picked one hoping it would be OK. I was stupidly careless while driving across the narrow bridge and managed to smash my drivers side wing mirror; I was chattering away to Bekir and drifted slightly off line. When we got back Bekir cracked straight on while A headed out to town with instructions for the purchase of more grout - we had bought our little shop out of stock.

Gyuner out in the cold

Gyuner was back working again and had definitely pulled the short straw for the day. I did tell him to get his waterproof coat before going out and the choice was a correct one as all day it was cold, wet and miserable. I went out a few times to check on him and he was always philosophical however I felt quite bad for him. He refused gloves all days and his hands looked raw.

The builders packing up for the winter

I heard a van pulling up and thought maybe the workers for the balcony had come in however it was just the van arrived to collect all the bits from the driveway work. All the wood was pulled off from around the steps and so this part of the task is done and dusted. How exciting.

Julian parked up in his winter berth

I hit a block with my work and decided to head out and put Julian into his winter berth, now that the building work on the drive was done. He started first time, then stumbled and took a bit time to settle down but once he was running he ran smooth and fine. I was a little worried about getting stuck on the corner as it has become very muddy over the past few days but he pulled fine and I was able to reverse him up onto the driveway. As I got close to the back wall A got back so I waited for her to give me a little hand with sights of how close I was. Together we got him really close and now he can be safe and sound all winter.

Very unimpressed puppies

A had bought a load of things while she was out but the most important, and funniest, was coats for the puppies which she picked up from the vets. He had asked how the puppies were doing which is a good sign as he seems to actually care about them. Anyway we dressed the puppies up in their new winter clothing and they were very much not impressed. Both of them refused to move at all until we took them off. Oh well.

Lots of empty jam jars

I was really busy working and didn't get out the room again until after lunch when I spent a little time packing away the jam jars that we won't need now until next autumn and hopefully a more fruitful harvest season. This was all pushing towards getting everything tidy for winter.

Cleaning the sofas

A was tidying as well and after I had a doze I found her out cleaning and washing the sofas which we planned to move into the living room the next day. There is so much stuff out in the corridor right now, particular as Room 13 at that point was emptied, that both of us were feeling quite stressed by the mess but we stayed focused as best we could on moving steadily forwards to a goal at the end of the weekend.

The light fitting full of green disgusting water

By this point my working day was over and I was in and out helping A and then assisting Sally as he continued to work in Room 13 trying to get it all done for the end of the day. I had asked him to take the other light fitting down and also scrape the ceiling so any really loose plaster was down and wouldn't fall on us over the winter. He had to get the wire cutters out to get the other light fitting down and when he passed it to me it was so heavy as it was half full of mouldy green water. It's a relief that this is no longer hanging over our heads.

Lots of plaster from the ceiling

Grouting like a demon

Sally finished scraping and Bekir finished grouting by their leaving time. Sally went to clean his tools and in that time A and I tidied lots of Room 13. We had planned to go out and meet SandS for dinner and so when I left to take the men that was the last opportunity for tidying last night. It was an uneventful journey, if still slightly strained between Gyuner and the others, and when I got back I had a shower and we headed straight out to meet them. It was an absolutely lovely evening which we all enjoyed thoroughly. It is very nice to have friends close.

All the mess of cables, now tidy

When we got back we made a brew and then took it to bed rather than face the mess in Room 13 and when the light was switched off we both slept really well. It was 8am before either of us even looked at a clock and nearly 9 before we got up; this is a lie in of unprecedented extent. The first thing we did, once we had a brew, was get on with cleaning and tidying in Room 13 and steadily we managed to get this done. We also put the curtains up and they look great. I got finally angry at the mess of cables by the internet and so got some tape and tidied it all into a box.

Lots of bits, and a cuppa

It's easy, see!

Once Room 13 was basically back together and it was just a case of stacking the shelves with stuff and putting things in their right place I headed into the living room to get on with the next job of putting the bookshelves together. I took the flat pack out of the box and went "hmmm" is the instructions were not that clear and there were a LOT of pieces. I set myself to it, though, and worked it out slowly by trial and error.

Sun breaking through, but we have had a LOT of rain

The rain of the past three days had finally stopped around now and the sun was even trying to come out. It was nice to see it reflecting on the tiles in the living room though it was still quite cold and the draft coming up the stairs was bitter. I was feeling the onset of a little headache and so took some pills to blast it before it could get too bad, which was a good idea as it cleared up fast after that.

We had wondered if Thelma at least may decide to move in her coat if we threw her ball for her so A dressed them both up and we gave it a try. As you can see from the video this worked well, though at first she only chased the ball then stopped and refused to move. Before long both of them were running around perfectly happily which is good; they'll be happy for the warmth in a few weeks time. This video is really funny; well worth watching.

Proud with my handy-work

Potential location

It took me just under an hour to get the first bookshelf built but by this time I was really confident in my technique and so the second one didn't take nearly as long. I stopped for lunch after finishing the second one then went back out and put together the TV stand which proved to be a real pain at the end, trying to get the top on and line up 12 dowels and 12 screws. I gave up on four of the dowels and it went together fine which meant I was able to use three of these new spares to replace the missing three from the second book shelf. They will look really good either side of the stairs.

Mopping the grout from off the tiles

I was still feeling a bit battered so after this I headed in for a bit of a rest. I didn't end up sleeping at all but the short rest did me good. When I eventually felt too lazy for laying around and got up I found A was busy mopping and cleaning the living room so we could do the next step. It is still a very dusty place and it'll take a while for us to get the dust out of the building but each of the rooms that we clear and tile makes such a difference.

Lovely blue sky and no rain

By this time the sun was out and it was a rather nice day. My hope is that this will continue tomorrow and I'll be able to go out with the pneumatic drill and do some hole digging so Gyuner can become free to work with Bekir on the chimney for the living room as early next week as possible. Once the chimney is done the only big job left is the guttering and downpipes. Sally will be starting on the garage door on Monday as well.

Living room starting to become finished

We had a bit of a rest after this with a brew then cracked on again. First of all we hung the rest of the curtains in the living room which didn't take all that long, using the scaffold, and then we dragged the sofas in and after some thought positioned them in a mutually agreeable location. They may not stay there but right now we're both happy. I then legged it to refuel Thomas and pick up some EU/UK adaptors, and two EU plugs to put on the electric sofa. I got back, wired them in, then went back and forwards on them a few times for fun. I then rigged the TV up to the DVD and sound system and finally got myself to work sorting the DVDs out into alphabetical order. I put some ZZ Top on the TV and listened to it while I worked which was great. For some reason no sound was coming out of the TV which I need to look at but I just left it on the TV speakers which were sufficient.

Settled in for the evening

After finishing off this I came through into Room 13 and the warmth to start typing up the blog. Originally our plan had been to watch a film this evening but without the petchka in there, and with breeze up the stairs at the moment, we decided against it and instead have spent the evening in here, watching the moon rise through the windows, typing the blog, watching some rugby and then eating pasta made with my pasta sauce from the other day which was very tasty indeed.

The puppies love the petchka

It's so lovely in here now we've rearranged it and the petchka being in the corner between us gives us plenty of warmth, and the puppies are close when they are sleeping in front of it, as they are right now. We really will not do any more work on this room now until after the kitchen is finished when we'll take it all apart and be left only with our office furniture. At least it is sealed and warmer with the curtains up.

So I've just got a brew (A is finishing her beer, I finished mine a little while ago) and it's probably going to be an early night tonight as we have another full day tomorrow to continue this rush to clear up and be ready for winter. Cheers.