Our friends have left

I'm late starting this update due to work keeping me really late so I'm going to be as quick as I can typing it up. I'm also shortly going to take my beer out onto the balcony to sit with A while dinner cooks so it will be a late publish. Onwards.

Wednesday

Wednesday was the last full day of our visitors being with us which was a shame as we've loved having them and they have loved being here. As if the weather knew this the temperature plummeted to a much more UK normal 17 or 18 degrees which was quite a shock after 32 degrees the day before.

The early morning was promising

Lots of A's seeds have sprouted already

Clouds sweep in, overwhelming the sun

Moving sweetcorn to another bed

A parsnip root

Tiny carrot

Huge cauliflower

Thelma hunting a lizard

It was a standard morning as I was working a half day again and A went off to collect the men leaving me to do the watering round and grumble that the seeds she planted most recently have done really well while all the seeds I planted two weeks ago and more have done nothing. After this I got stuck in front of my computer and I hardly left it until lunch time when my half day was over. For this reason there are absolutely no pictures of any progress on the building whatsoever. I do have some shots of A working in the raised beds, though, transplanting some of the sweetcorn seedlings into another bed and then, with my brief help, freeing a parsnip which had grown through the bottom of a seed tray. In our defence we really thought this was a weed and were most surprised to find the root of the parsnip when we went to move the tray. We also have a few carrots coming up so there's a small corner of the raised bed with root crops in it now. Our cauliflower is looking amazing and ready to harvest so we'll probably eat that this weekend. While we were out there Thelma was ignoring her toy and chasing a lizard through the rocks; we've finally found something she likes more than fetch!

A enjoying her kebab

Much cloud came over

Long grass on the lawn to be mowed

Getting started, of course in bare feet

Ivan helps out

Lawn mowed and looking very good

A had gone into town with our guests to try and find a hairdresser and then waited for me to join them for kebab. I was a little late getting down there as I did a wash and hung it out to dry but found them easily enough in a cafe we like in the centre. From there, as everyone was hungry, we rapidly made our way to the kebab house and had lunch and it was excellent as always. While we were eating the threatened clouds started coming in and when we got back to the house it was overcast and the wind was starting to build. Everyone else had had a few beers and so were a bit tired and went for a lie down but I had a job in mind; I wanted to get the other half of the lawn cut before the forecast rain. It was well over due but I got stuck in and in the end it wasn't too bad. Ivan came over and took the mower from me for a bit and did a really good job but then he went off to watch the workmen. Bekir also came out to check on my progress which was nice. I also made use of the sickle again to trim the grass that the mower can't reach and this worked well so not I can really keep on top of the whole area.

Pinning the panels in the porch

Brothers working together

Skim nearly done on this wall

Bekir runs cables

Sally chases Bekir around the walls with cement

A was out with the camera at the beginning of my lawn mowing and she went around and took pictures of the progress that I had missed out on capturing during the morning. First of all the workmen for the insulation had borrowed my work ladder for in the porch and were working there; they had spent the morning putting the mesh and skim on as much of the remainder of the walls as they possibly could. Inside Bekir and Sally were working in tandem on the wiring with Bekir running the cables and Sally following with cement to fill in the channels. It's very exciting how far they have got now with this room.

A low platform to skim the porch ceiling

Sally fills in for above the island

The spud towers are quite overgrown

Half an hour of effort and it's clear again

Lots of grass for the ducks and chickens

It took me about two hours to do the lawn, though I was sensible and did rest a bit during this process, coming in for cake and tea after about an hour or so. With this job finished I went again with the camera to see what had happened; The insulation people had moved a section of scaffold and constructed a low platform inside the porch so they could skim now the pins were in. Bekir was working on getting a light fitting for testing his wiring while Sally continued to go around the channels and fill them in; I think they are both feeling quite proud of their progress and so they should. I was tired but not yet ready to stop working as I had been frustrated at a lack of physical exercise the past few days so after this break I went and cut the grass that was beginning to swamp the potatoes towers. I used the sickle and I'm getting quite proficient with this now. All the grass from my work went into the chickens and they were loving it.

Toasting a superb holiday

My kebab - Iskander, and superb it was too

John had been enjoying himself playing on my guitar while I was out doing that, and both the girls got a rest, and after I took the men home which was painless I got back and had a quick shower then it was time to go out for dinner to round off a wonderful week with our guests. The weather had really deteriorated during the afternoon so we decided against the restaurant on the lake and chose the really good one in our local town instead. This ended up being an excellent choice as the food there is far better and we could sit inside and be comfortable while a gale blew outside. We had a lovely time with three courses and excellent company and when it was time to go Ivan hugged them both goodbye and it was a slightly sad party to think the holiday was over. We didn't stop up long when we got back as the alarms had been set for around 4am as they were on the 5am bus however the wind was howling so it was quite tough to get to sleep.

Thursday

Today has been long. I am now exhausted, post dinner and beer and drinking tea and hoping to get this completed. Here goes, today..

The tomatoes survived

This tree didn't though

Not even looking slightly windblown

So last night the storm was really bad. While I was taking the men home one of our silver birch trees, planted two years ago by my own fair hands, snapped right at the base and it is written off. The wind was blowing so hard and we also found that the balcony door in our bedroom was not shutting correctly so we had a breeze even though it was "secured". When the alarm went off it was calm and that was a relief as I was concerned by what more damage we would find. I'd persuaded A to plant out the big tomatoes the day before and even though they were well staked I was concerned they may have become shredded. Anyway, at 4am we were up and about and our guests were in Thomas with A at 4.30 while I went back to bed. I didn't drop back off and when A got back we both dozed but fitfully and so it really was an early start for us as well. I had humanure to empty this morning, again, and then I went to assess the damage and found the tomatoes aren't as bad as I feared. The silver birch is a gonna though. A's flower bed by the parking area is stunning and survived fully intact, as did all the flags which I was very surprised by.

Drask Mazilka starts

Round the corner and along the wall

Looking really good from behind

Now round the corner onto the bedroom wall

Still working at 7pm

Sally applying grunt to the ceiling

Bekir with his problem light switch

My day today has been even busier, work wise, than Wednesday so again there are not many pictures from through the day. I didn't leave my desk from when A got back with the men until about 2.30pm when I finally took a lunch break and went and rested on the balcony in the sun. The workmen have all been working really hard today and loads has got done, though. First of all regarding the insulation today was drask mazilka day and they started at one end and basically made their way round the entire building and only finished a little while ago, at 8pm, when the sun went down. They've also been putting more skim on where there were too few coats from the day before and finally doing some turning of windows. What an effort. Inside Sally was picking up where Okhtay had left off and scraping the ceilings before painting them with grunt. Bekir continued on his electrical odyssey though he seemed to have some issues with the wiring of the double switch for the main lights; I hope there isn't a problem.

Lots more seedlings on this shelf

Doesn't she look beautiful :)

Rambo paused for a while to watch the men work

Ready to eat our dinner on the balcony

I took this by just pointing the camera but not looking

This was taken straight after the sunset shot

A had been into town to get her hair cut, as there hadn't been an appointment free on Wednesday, and when she came back she did stuff with plants like potting some up to go on the shelf in the living room and generally tidying around. I continued to be busy and disturbed my work to rush the men home, they were waiting and learning English from Ivan when I finally got away from my desk, but the journey was easy with no delays. When dinner was nearly ready I took a beer onto the balcony and got away from my desk and then we sat in the sun and ate a lovely pasta bolognaise while the sun set and the moon rose and it was magical. Since then I have been in here typing this up and trying to stop myself falling asleep. I've got a brew and am about to take it into the living room to sit with A and Ivan and then it'll very much be time for sleeping.

Thanks for reading.