She's back (again)

It's a two day update today as yesterday I was out all evening collecting A from the airport. I've actually not got that many pictures (I've been insanely busy with paid work for the past two days which has sadly limited my photograph taking opportunities). Anyway, here goes... Yesterday morning.

Nikolai loves the puppies, and Louise loves attention

I barely remember sleeping but I know I did and I know when I woke up that once again I jumped out of my skin with shock at the alarm. Louise had been in and out of the bed all night which was quite nice and she didn't really disturb me at all. I sipped my tea, let the chickens out on the way to collect the men, and returned without any real dramas other than Sally almost having to take the day off to work at his own home but then coming with us anyway. When I got back the other workers were already there and Nikolai came up the stairs and greeted Louise; he really does love these dogs.

Driveway work gets going again

Outside they were already working on the driveway. The guide tramline had to be scarred a bit before new cement would easily adhere to it and prevent cracking. It's such a large area there's no other way of getting it laid (other than getting big machines) without doing it in stages. It will be interesting to see in a couple of years time how well it has survived being driven on every day and the winter/summer weather cycle.

Misty and chilly start

Talking of winter it was cold that morning; 6 degrees when I left to get the men and not much warmer by mid morning. The early fog did eventually burn off and we were treated to a glorious warm afternoon but there was a definite autumnal nip in the air to greet me when I got up. I was that cold that I lit the petchka when I got back from getting the men. Shocking.

Deciding where to drill

Trimming some more of the floor away

Bekir inspects

Bekir had to head off as soon as he arrived as he had some paperwork to do in town and he said he would be back in an hour. He left Sally and Gyuner to fit the door into the living room which needed more grinding out at the base, holes drilling into the surrounding brickwork for securing it, and then it actually being placed and leveled correctly, including lining up the top with the guest room door which is next to it on the corridor. Woodwork is not Sally's favourite task but he got on with it and by the time Bekir came back, not much more than an hour later, there was some substantial progress made.

Fitting the door with a jamb

Bekir immediately took stock (he is the wood-man after all) and quickly secured the door into place with a lump of wood. It was pretty much there and he didn't have to do much at all which I think cheered up both Gyuner and Sally who hadn't been very confident. I was pleased with how they had paid attention to the details like matching up the door height with the guest room next door, as I said.

Small bits on the bottom of the wall gets tiled

Outside the tiler was working away on the final little bits at the bottom of the wall. Now that these tiles are in place the slope for drainage is much easier to see. It's looking absolutely brilliant out there and when the tiles are cleaned and grouted I might explode from excitement.

Window people meausring again for a final invoice

After waiting for them for quite a long time I got Bekir to nag the window people this morning and they arrived at about 1pm. It was a long visit for them as first of all I described the new units we want (the huge window in the kitchen nook and both the front and the bottom back door). Gyuner was helpful in translating and clearing up some questions about the design of the huge window. I am also looking for a bill from them so I can pay them as they haven't had any money from me for about 18 months now. Bless them they were concerned I wouldn't be happy that the price was more than originally quoted, bearing in mind they have done a lot more than they originally quoted for. Now I am waiting for that bill with slight trepidation, and hoping they come out with the doors and window soon as that is the last work they will do this year. There are only three windows left to do after this as well. Exciting.

Curtain rail up in the living room

When Bekir got back and started to do the doorway Sally picked up the next job which I had actually wanted him to start on rather than the doorway; he put up the curtain rails in the living room. These are really high up (and the curtains are really long - we can't hang them til the tiling is finished which is frustrating) and he had some trouble with the raw plugs and ended up using the traditional method of a wooden plug hammered in. All four rails were put up by mid afternoon and that is just one more step towards the completion of the living room.

Tiling for A

The big task that we have been really wanting to get started is the tiling in the living room. I was hoping it would be started yesterday but then the betonkontakt had to be left to dry. After the window men had finally arrived I headed out to fuel up Thomas and went with Bekir to pick up the terakol so he could begin this job. Both the puppies came with us for this trip and they happily sat on Bekir, Thelma falling asleep, for most of the trip. When we got back I was teasing Bekir that A was demanding the tiling be started, and he was joking that he may not start it til tomorrow.

Working out where the patterned tiles are going to go

There was some discussion about where the central patterned tiles should go. I wasn't too worried but I rang A, at the hotel in London getting ready to think about heading to the airport by this time, and we agreed so I told Bekir. He wasn't convinced but I explained the thinking behind it. The next thing was whether we wanted to try and line up the patterns on the normal tiles and I agreed with A that this was pointless so I asked Bekir to make it random. This took some translation via Gyuner but he understood the thinking in the end.

Tiling in the glorious afternoon sun

Smoothing out the next section of concrete

Out on the balcony the bottom of the wall was finished and he was making a start on the top of the wall. He was doing quite a large overhang which later on I got a bit concerned about due to snow but when I asked Bekir he confirmed it was fine and wouldn't be damaged by snow. He wanted about a 5cm overhang so rain and melting snow would not run down the concrete on the outside of the wall. The driveway cement was still being poured and looking better and better all the time. I do wonder if we may end up wanting to clad the walls with tiles, but that can wait for now.

Tiles getting on

The tiles we have chosen for the living room are really large, about 50cm square, and so Bekir was enjoying laying them as he could make pretty fast progress. They also look brilliant. I was popping through every now and then to see where they were up to and grinning like a fool about the tiles.

I have asked the men to leave these

As is always the way the puppies were not avoiding the newly laid concrete. As I was on the balcony just checking things over I looked down and saw Louise running towards the wet concrete. I shouted down for her to stop and she looked up, wagged her tail, and ran faster. Typical. At least Rambo hadn't gotten on to it.

Gaps around the edge bricked up

While Bekir was laying the tiles Sally and Gyuner were bricking up the gaps around the outside of the door. Gyuner made the start on this while Sally was finishing off the curtain rails which was great to see but then Sally took over while Gyuner mixed the cement and brought it up the stairs. They finished this job, and cleaned up, just in time for home time which meant my final surprise for A was not doable. I had wanted to get the curtains in the bedroom hung today.

Tiles at the end of the day

Bekir had done quite a lot of the tiling, considering the distractions of the day, including staying on top of the builders on the driveway. He left saying that if A didn't like where the central tiles were he could easily pull them back up and move them. I was a little worried that it wasn't quite right for her but for me it looked OK.

And so it was time to take the men which I did without any excitement. I'd spent the last part of the afternoon cleaning around, and already eaten my dinner, so when I got back I just had to mop Room 13, have a quick shower, and get on the road. The one thing I didn't do quite right was the puppies beds so they had their cushions rather than their normal travel bed however it didn't really matter as they dozed on it on the front seat the whole way. I was there about 15 minutes before the plane was due but it was about 20 minutes late. When A came through the gate I'd already sorted the parking and so, very excited, we headed on the road. Our journey back was as easy as mine there had been (though I had had the excitement of overtaking a convoy of white vans on the winding roads) and my entertainment was us chattering rather than Metallica on the stereo.

Gorgeous sky this morning

We were both wired when we got back but headed to bed pretty quickly. It was not a good night unfortunately. Both of us were convinced we had heard a rat trap spring and then the rat trying to get out but when I went to look I found seven empty traps. Very strange. I dozed on and off and finally fell asleep but A really struggled. It was not a nice alarm call this morning but I declined the lie in and got up straight away. It is lovely to have A back and just before she left to get the men we went onto the balcony to enjoy the sunrise.

Louise chewing on a small stick she found

One definite benefit of A being back is that I don't have to collect the men in the morning which frees that time up for doing the tasks that are so important to me to complete. I was outside and chainsawing as soon as she went and I worked my way through the wood I had piled in the tent, then did a few more bits besides. Unfortunately because of the work on the driveway I've not been able to put it inside yet but there's no rain forecast so it'll just have to wait til tomorrow now. I did a bit more chainsawing later in the day, when my paid job got too frustrating for me, and also A and I gathered together the remaining wood from around the land so now I have more wood to chop than when I started this morning. Typical.

The puppies always want to play

The driveway men were back and finishing off the last bit of the main driveway section before starting on the ramp at the front. They had asked me to put Rambo on his lead today as once again he was right in their faces and getting in the way however the puppies are too cute for that and were let to stand and get involved. The men were throwing sticks for them and generally enjoying having them around, though when Thelma dug in the cement mixing pile I had to go out and give her a good clean.

Slapping cement on around the door

For his first job of the day Sally was showing off his plastering and cementing skills to fill in the final bits and pieces around the new door. I stood and watched him for a while and commented to Gyuner that if I tried that "slap it on" approach then the cement would end up on the floor. It was very quick and accurate though and a good skill to learn I reckon. I'm really trying to encourage Gyuner to pick these things up as well; work is hard to get around here.

Clearing away the wooden frames

Lovely looking steps

With that job done Gyuner and Sally went straight out to the back patio and removed all the wooden boards from around the steps and also by the edges of the actual patio. They also filled in the trenches left and generally tidied up. This has really worked out well, even better than I imagined it, and the slight extension they did on the other side of the drainage was a brilliant idea that has worked excellently.

Gyuner drives Thomas up onto the top bank

The next task they worked on was one given by Bekir who said that all the spoil, including the white stones I had asked them to save, and whole bricks from pulling down the small section of porch wall, had to be moved so it didn't cause us drainage problems over winter. I immediately said that Gyuner should use Thomas for this moving rather than shifting everything by hand and so he gladly accepted and drove Thomas up and down to shift all the white stones to my stash by the green building, and the bricks in a stack with the others. It's good that he can drive as it left me free to be tied to my desk, as I have been all day today.

Usmivka leaving with a new window for his house

At one point I realised that the background noise of Bekir thumping tiles with the rubber mallet had stopped and went to see what was going on. I found that Usmivka had finally come over to get the window from us. He had a broken window frame and of course, with all the old windows I've kept in the back store room, I was more than happy for him to have one. It's good to be neighbourly.

A trench dug, and reinforcement installed

Lots of work has gone into this

By this time the driveway workers had made a start on the ramp at the very front of the drive. This is my biggest worry as it will take the most punishment.  They took a lot of time over getting this right, really compacting the cement in and with a good strong section of steel in there as well for extra reinforcement. By the end of the day they had pretty much done this and now it's just the drainage and the steps at the back and the job is complete. Their boss popped over today for the deposit for the work on the drive which gives you an idea how it works here; they've nearly finished it and he's only just come for the deposit. It's good to pay ones debts, though.

Going through to fit the curtain rail in the bedroom

By this time I had persuaded Sally to leave Gyuner to the shifting of rubble and get back to skilled jobs. I really wanted the curtains done in the bedroom and so he headed in there with the scaffold and set to work. It isn't such a quick job as I always think to do this as he measures everything really carefully and checks before he drills. It was during this time that I got annoyed with what I was trying to do and went outside to chainsaw and gather wood once more.

Drying in the warm afternoon sun

The tarpaulins we had used to keep the wood dry were still outside and with puddles of dirty water on them. A suggested that we dry them by putting them over the trailer so we dragged the green one up at first and have left it there. It's quite threadbare in places but still serviceable so we may as well save it. Tomorrow we'll dry the blue one and stash them away safely.

Curtains hung in the bedroom

It was now coffee break time so we made the men their brews, and gave Gyuner his present for his baby. Sally had done the curtain rail so I climbed onto the scaffold and hung them up. They fitted perfectly and look great, though maybe could do with lining at some point in the future. They will keep us warm over winter as it is, though, and that is what matters.

Shifting the pipe away from the wall

Glowing away and warming the room up

Talking of keeping as warm once Sally had finished that, and drunk his coffee, I asked him to work on the petchka pipes that I had so labouriously put up as one of A's surprises. Bekir had taken one look at it yesterday and declared it was too close to the wall and would damage the bricks. My bracket is now useless and will need to be removed as the pipes are suspended from the ceiling with wires. It was good that this got done as it has been a cooler night this evening and we had the petchkas on in both Room 13 and the bedroom, the latter largely to take some of the damp out of the air that we've started to notice in there. This little petchka burns really well and puts out some good heat with just glowing coals in the bottom of it which is perfect.

Plenty of progress made today

Bekir had quietly got on with the tiling all afternoon and has made excellent progress again. He has done it so that we still have access to the bedroom and tomorrow will fill in those gaps and do some other bits so that we will always have a path over which we can walk. He reckons he will get this done by Tuesday which, looking at his progress over the past day and a half, seems about right. What a buzz.

And so it's been a back-to-normal evening after that, the men were taken with no excitement, I got back to lovely smelling dinner being cooked which, when eaten, tasted even better. I've spent the rest of the evening sat right here typing this up and now I'm going to get all 33 pictures in place, finish my brew, and head to bed in our warm fire-heated bedroom with the lovely new curtains in it.