The first lizard of the year

I'm sitting down to do this update mid afternoon and I'm not totally sure where to start; it has felt like a super busy end to the week but then looking through the pictures (of which there are a few) there doesn't seem to be as much as I thought. Oh well, we'll just see how it turns out. I'm going to go for the chronological update this time; I just seem to miss less out when I keep to a timeline rather than jumping around.

Thursday

Thursday was a day of two halves, for me. The morning was spent on my day job (while A went out to do the weekly shop) and then just after lunch I threw in the towel and took a half day, planning to make up the hours on Friday when the forecast said rain, as it was a lovely day. It's so good to have that flexibility in my work.

The sun rises past scattered clouds

Distant inland cliffs that we drive past going to town

Thelma and Louise making themselves comfortable on A's chair

The first lizard of the year!

The morning dawned bright and blue skied with just a few clouds around. The weather certainly was back on an improving trajectory which was good. As I said I was working at my desk during the morning so not so much happened then to talk about. As soon as A had left the puppies jumped onto her chair to sleep in the sun, as is their wont. It was while walking back from putting the washing out that I saw the little lizard which gives this update its title. I heard some rustling behind the black waterproofing material and thought it was either a rodent or a lizard. Sure enough I peeked behind and saw a lizard which had obviously just hidden as I approached. I ran in to get the camera and in the time I was gone it emerged again so I was able to get a great picture. Of course, with me paying so much attention to that part of the wall, Louise had to go and sniff around and the lizard scarpered and I haven't seen it since. Still, that's pretty early for a lizard - the 11th of February.

Take the afternoon off for the sun; clouds appear

A getting her chainsaw technique going again

Working outside for a change

You make use of anything at hand to get the job done

The potato tower, hopefully we'll get loads of spuds

I wrapped up my work and headed outside to get on with a few things and almost straight away the clouds rolled in and the sun went away. I didn't go back to my desk, though, but stuck at it. A was out in the garden continuing to clear the overgrowth at the top of the fenced area. My task was to make the first of a few potato towers that we need done by the end of the month. I saw this idea on facebook a while back but cannot remember whose page it was on so sorry for the lack of attribution but basically as the plants grow you add more soil in and as the soil goes up you screw more planks on the outside of the frame. Then, when you want to harvest, you can just unscrew a plank and stick your hand in the side and pull spuds out without disturbing the rest of the plant. Or at least, that's the idea. It sounds logical and I figure is worth a go so I went ahead and made one about 1 square meter in plan.

That's a fair bundle of willow wands

Loads of brush cleared away

With the potato tower completed I went into the garden to give A a hand. She had made excellent progress and cleared a lot of the underbrush which was encroaching on the growing area. What we found was very exciting; loads of willow wands were growing back there. Together we cut and collected as many as we could reach, while pruning back the rest of the overgrowth, and by the time we called it a day we had a large pile of willow to be tied, dried and then woven into something. How awesome is this land; there's just so many surprises with all the things that grow here for zero effort. 

Friday

My day started unexpectedly early as I woke up at 2am with the puppies wanting out and then I could not get back to sleep. I lay there for an hour desperately trying to drop back off but too much was running through my mind and I just couldn't get back over so I got up about 3am and went into Room 13 to get my work out of the way. This ended up being an excellent decision as I finished my paid work before A woke up so the whole day became ours. Also the forecast rain didn't appear so it was a beautiful day to be free.

Dawn hasn't reached us, but it has reached the radio mast

The sun is nearly above the hills

The first peak over the horizon

Fully up, with interesting mist and smoke in the valley

I went onto the balcony a few times to capture various stages of sunrise, managing somehow to not disturb A in the process even though I went into our room to check on her a couple of times. It was such a beautiful start to the day I took many pictures. The final one of the series was taken after A had woken up and while we were getting ready for our morning trip out. I had some banking to do and we needed to get to the vets for some tick treatment as with the warmer weather this becomes a risk again. While we were out we picked up a fair few items that I need for my model building and also got the four year warranty for the new battery stamped at the garage so it was a successful trip out all round.

Having lunch sat on the balcony

The cute twosome

Getting some nap time on the balcony

It's hard to sleep with her jumping on you

I was starting to feel the effects of my very early morning by the time we started back from town and so we bypassed a few of the less important jobs for another time. The weather was still beautiful so A made up a really tasty omelette to finish off the left overs from the night before and we ate it sat out on the balcony. The puppies were playing on the back bank while we were eating and kept coming over to say hello. After eating I was ready for a snooze and so I pulled the mattress out into the sun with a pillow and sleeping bag and settled down to rest. I didn't really sleep much but I felt so much better for the rest. It was such a glorious day and A came to join me for a bit just before I decided to quit trying to sleep and do some more little chores.

The bird table, and home made bird feeder, in place

The hills glowing in late afternoon sunshine

Dramatic clouds accompany the sun as it sets

Three very large birds that flew over

We'd bought a really lovely hand made bird table from one of the craftsmen on facebook and we were planning on mounting it on the oak tree. When we got down there we found a better place on one of the walnut trees, next to where A had previously hung out a bag of nuts. It didn't take long with the driver to get a couple of brackets up and now we're hoping to attract more birds to our land. The rest of the day passed with me wanting to go back to sleep but I held out until about 8pm. It was a lovely evening and A was out on the balcony at one point and shouted to get my camera to try and get a photograph of some birds flying over. I had to resort to manual focus and it took a while to get a satisfactory shot by which time they were far away. Oh well. Bed, when it came, was welcome and A stayed up watching a film as it really was very early.

Saturday

After my early night I slept through til quite late. A had slept in the spare room, so as to not disturb me when she went to bed, but she came back through before I was up and about which was lovely.

Rays shoot from behind the cloud

A raft of cloud blew in and stayed

A, with her attendants, heading up to harvest willows

The framework around the sides of the platform

The sun was up by the time I got up and went through for a cuppa and it looked like it'd be another lovely day. Unfortunately it didn't stay that way and a couple of hours later it was overcast and miserable. The day before, while wandering around feeling tired, I'd gone up to the top left corner of the land which I don't go to very often. In between throwing the stick for Thelma I found that there were loads and loads more willow wands growing up there so A braved the colder weather and took the wheelbarrow up and harvested many more. While she was doing this I was in Sassy's room continuing to work on the floor. The task at hand for me was to put the wooden framework around the platform and this proved quite fiddly so it took me ages.

Super excellent drying weather

Rambo sheltering from the wind

Lots of willow wands

We've started to run the washing machine over night again, to save money on electricity, and the night before A had put our winter bedding in. When I went to hang it out to dry, though, I found it was wringing wet. I put it back in and set it on a spin but when this finished it was still soaking. Worried that the washing machine was broken I did some online searching and, after a bit of discussion with A, found the manual which told me where to check the filter. Sure enough there was a fair amount of stuff stuck in there which I removed. The next spin worked fine and so we don't need a new washing machine. It really was very windy by this point so it dried super fast on the line. Rambo was finding it too windy so he found a sheltered spot, behind a raised bed, in which to lie in the intermittent sun. A had collected so many willow wands that morning and she gathered them on the porch and proceeded to tie them together. While she was doing this, and I was still upstairs working on the floor, The Other Brother and his wife came over with some post, and to have a look around at what we have done. It was lovely to see them, particularly as she hasn't been well. She seems to be fully recovered which is good.

Lots of joists to support the floor boards

A detail of the joists

The boards fixed down on top of the platform

How the day ended; nearly there!

While she was down there tying and tying, I was up in Sassy's room working away on the floor. I finished the joists around the edge before lunch, then got on with cutting and fitting joists and floorboards to the top. I put supports around the edge as the board on top will overhang and I really don't want these boards to break. It was fiddly and slow going but before I called it a day I finished the platform and also did a little more on the main floor. Now I was left with the final bits of the main floor, and then putting small pieces around the sides of the platform and I'd be done. That would wait, though, as A encouraged me to rest and I'm glad she did.

Our sides;grilled chilis and cheesy chips

A waiting to dig in to her "lamb in the oven"

I had pizza. "Had" being the operative word

After relaxing for a while we had quick showers and headed out for our dinner at our favourite restaurant. This proved to be a fantastic decision as the food was perfect, the service exemplary, and we were back not too late having had a really relaxing, and super tasty, meal. All the serving staff greeted us like old friends and the Singer with the Unfeasibly High Heels came past as well to say "hi" also. When we got back we settled down to watch the first two episodes of Band of Brothers, having finally finished Sopranos. It was amazing to watch, particularly now we have the 5.1 sound system, and we both got an enormous laugh when Thelma, during the scene where the Dakotas are taking off heading towards D-day, stood staring at the screen and then ran away looking back over her shoulder as the sound came towards her!

Sunday

And so we come to today, and yes there has been a lot happening so I wasn't mistaken. We've had a really good day today as well so it's not over yet.

Distant clouds on the horizon

The sun up, but still behind the clouds

All our rugs having been beaten, getting aired

The puppies were kicked out while A cleaned

Soft boiled eggs and soldiers, on the balcony

We were awake before the sun came up once again this morning, proving that the days are lengthening and summer is on its way. It was a stunning sun rise with distant clouds adding to the drama, and I was in and out with my camera as usual. A was a bit sleepy this morning so I brought her morning coffee in bed while I stayed up and started on the cleaning task. We cracked on so well that by 9.30 we had finished the majority of it and were able to sit down for our breakfast. It was such a beautiful warm morning that we took our soft boiled duck eggs out onto the balcony to eat them. This is the first time we've done this since last year. On Valentine's day, no less.

A with her buns out

A generous helping of icing

All the floor boarding done in Sassy's room

Testing one idea to seal an old blackboard

With breakfast out the way, and enjoyed very much indeed, we finished off our chores (I had humanure to do while A was hoovering Room 13) and then it was on with our chosen Sunday jobs. A stayed in Room 13 and baked some outstanding buns (I stole one as soon as it had been iced and it was lovely) and then later made some really nice sausage rolls. For my part I was back in Sassy's room and determined to complete the job. I refused to rush and took my time, measuring everything twice, and after not that long I put the final short piece on the surround of the platform, having earlier completed the main floor, and the job was complete. Now I have to scrape the walls then mount more wood as wall joists onto which we'll screw plasterboard. It's getting there, though. My final job, before stopping, was to try spraying some clear lacquer onto the blackboard in there. I'd really like to put a "window" through the plasterboard so this is not hidden away but it needs sealing or it'll all just fall off. I'll check this test area tomorrow to find out if it's worth trying.

So that is all the pictures. Other than that there are a few additional things to mention. We're still not sure whether the basketball court will be begun tomorrow or not; I've asked the builder to start but not yet had a confirmation. I guess we'll know when they turn up or not. Talking of which we've had a quote from that builder for the insulation on the outside of the house and it was massively more than expected. That's actually the main reason I didn't sleep on Thursday night. We got a quote for materials from our little local builders supply and it came in at 1/8th of the price the firm had suggested which seems a rather steep markup. Our seeds are starting to sprout out in the raised beds which is very exciting and the vegetables we left growing over winter are really coming on well.

Right, I'm done. I'm off to relax on the balcony in the last of the sunshine (while trying to stay out of the wind though looking outside it's dropped from it's gale force gusts of earlier today) and wait for the awesome roast dinner that is cooking right now.