Two more days of sun

These updates seem to be coming round thick and fast for me at the moment; it seems only yesterday when I finished the last one however it was the day before yesterday. I'm really pleased to be doing less regularly than daily, however; I think I'd burn out if I had to try and do this every day. Anyway, here goes. We start off back on Sunday...

Sunday evening

If you remember I left to go and sit on the balcony while the BBQ was cooking. This was an excellent plan and I'm glad I left this section for today.

A doing a great job as always

Happy with her sausage

Asen brings the BBQ fish for us

Beautifully grilled fish; lots of bones but very tasty

This chair is so comfortable it feels like you're floating

The sun descends towards the horizon

A glorious end to an amazing day

When I got out to the balcony the BBQ was going very well with nothing on fire yet. A was in charge, as per usual, though I also took my responsibility and turned the meat to ensure an even colour. We had a good variety of meat and A had made a lovely salad including hard boiled duck eggs which was super tasty. On the Roof Terrace the insulation people were having their own BBQ of the fish they had caught that day and Asen came down with a plateful to share with us which was really lovely of him. A and I both tried some and we found that while it had lots of bones it was really tasty indeed. While we were sitting eating a bird settled in the top of the pear tree with the most beautiful trilling song; does anyone know what it is? With the BBQ finished I repaired to the recliner and stayed outside until the very end of the sun, enjoying the peace and relaxation. It was just divine. What a beautiful thing, and to be able to enjoy it like that on a day of rest was perfect.

Monday

Monday is always classed as a terrible day, as it's the first day back to work after the weekend. I'm not often one to suffer from this feeling but this time I really did. I struggled until late in the day with feeling a bit tired, down and stressed. I suppose everyone is going to get days like these, even here in paradise.

The sun has gone round and is coming up again

Fixing up the mitre saw with lubricant

Beginning to drill and peg the wall

The whole team on the front wall

The day dawned with another beautiful clear sky however my energy levels as I've said were low so after doing the morning watering round I declined to shovel more soil and instead cleaned up the mitre saw which had got quite clogged with sawdust. It's much better now, after a good scrub and a liberal spray of silicon lubricant. Outside the men were in good spirits with music playing as they began the task of drilling and pegging the wall they had finished insulating on Friday. The builder who had gone back for a few days had returned the night before so we are back up to full strength again.

Sally squaring off the windows

Bekir is temporarily tacking cable in place

He looked up just as I snapped

In the kitchen progress was also exciting. Sally was using some of the insulation panels I'd bought before for the model railway to finish around the kitchen windows, a much quicker process than using all cement as he'd normally do. Bekir's electrical work had reached the point where he was running the cables to the plugs in the dining room, carefully tacking them in place before using teracol to secure it finally. Okhtay was scraping away and then, when he had a good sized pile of rubble, shoveling it out of the way and taking it down to the dump point. His presence has really cheered the whole thing up down there and there is often a lot of laughter and conversation which I love to hear.

The mixer tool is starting to grind

Okhtay gets a mix together for Sally

Climbing the scaffold to the very top

Ready for smoothing over, the back wall of the kitchen

I was pretty busy with work and so didn't get out and about to take pictures with my usual regularity. Mid morning, at coffee break time for Bekir and the guys, I did take a turn around to see what was happening. More glue was being mixed by the insulation men, though the mixing tool (the same as the one I bought for A) was starting to sound a bit rough and struggle with the task at hand. It has been use a lot. Okhtay was outside at this point, working in the var pit to get a mix together for Sally. On the scaffold Asen was climbing like a monkey and looking very comfortable at a height that would leave me completely frozen. They're just so casual. I went into the kitchen as well and found that Sally was about to make a start on smoothing the roughness in the walls behind the spiral staircase, which looks amazing already and I cannot wait for it to be finished with the wooden hand rail and correct steps.

A wasp on Sassy's cage

Thelma sleeps in the hot sun

Sassy has found a new favourite spot

Lunchtime came around and after eating I went onto the balcony to relax and take my enjoyment of the sun. A joined me which was lovely and we sat there watching as a bird of prey circled high overhead. I ran in for the supier zoom on my camera but when I got back it had gone. After a bit A went in and I lay there soaking up the rays while Thelma, Louise and Sassy relaxed in the heat. There were bees and wasps flying around and the sound of birdsong was everywhere. What a lovely thing.

The mushroom cloud dissipates

A butterfly on one of the new flowers

Ivan makes a start at carefully painting the sign

Still working on the back wall, but nearly done for the day

Sally rests after completing this wall

Cables run in the dining room

The first word is painted on the sign

Sunset behind A and Ivan

The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur for me as I got involved in a long debate at work. While this was going on lots of progress was occurring around the building. There was a huge boom at one point that we thought was something falling but then Ivan pointed out a massive cloud of dust in the valley, towards the new road. We're still not sure what caused this. There was on evidence of an explosion or landslide when I drove the men home. Ivan was getting stuck into painting up the old sign for the school which we want to hang back in its original place. He did a really good job and got the big name along the front done as a first coat. The workmen had done a great days effort and finished doing the drilling and pinning ready for skimming the following day. Inside Sally had done his smoothing on the back wall and Bekir was continuing to speed through running the masses of cable we need for all the plugs we've asked for. The journey back was easy and then it was time for dinner on the balcony which was a superbly tasty chilli. We were all tired but I ended up staying up quite a long time after A as I suddenly woke up at bed time. Frustrating but there was no point in going to bed only to disturb her.

Tuesday

Today has been a far better day than yesterday, for me personally. I'm glad I snapped out of that mood. It's also been a really hot day for the workmen and we've suggested that they start to work earlier in the morning, as soon as it starts to get light, and take a 3 hour break during the heat of the day. This has been rejected so far but we shall keep suggesting it, if the temperature remains.

Early on, the fog is wispy and the sky is glorious

A fine mist hugs the floor of our ridge

As the sun comes up, the haze increased

Tomatoes and peppers on the balcony

I got to sleep eventually last night but was then woken at 5am by Louise yipping to come through and didn't really get back to sleep again after that. I snoozed after A got up but didn't stay long as I don't feel good doing that. It was a foggier start today, lifting as the sun came up to engulf the valley. A beautiful start, though, and A was safe despite the limited visibility so that is all that matters. Because of my disturbed sleep I didn't have the energy for shoveling again so after doing a morning watering round I set to planting seeds into trays. I planted all the seeds from the new packet of tomatoes but only got about half way through the peppers as there were so many in the packet.

The men start the huge task of skimming the walls

The big window covered in plastic

Ten seconds before he was smiling

Bekir using teracol to secure the cables

The insulation workmen started a little later today but were out and at it by the time Bekir and Sally were back. Their task for today was to skim, apply the mesh, then two more skims over the three walls that have been insulated and pinned over the past few days. This was a huge ask for them as it is a massive area. Inside Sally had masked off the huge nook window and was working to finish around it with cement while Bekir continued with his work of cabling, now putting glue up over the cables and removing the temporary tacks.

The puppies tried to steal my seat

A gets the other side of the shelves stained

Not too hot yet, so still happy

Getting close to finishing the first wall

Thelma and Louise hanging on, while Rambo watches

With this quick trip around to check out the progress I was back to working on paid work. The puppies were both really lovely this morning, more affectionate than usual, and I had them both sitting on my chair while I was working, Thelma behind and Louise on my lap. A was finding work slow today as there wasn't much being offered so she got downstairs and finished the staining of the shelves. Outside the men were making great progress and had almost finished the first skim on the first wall. We took a few minutes to step away from the computers, as A had finally received some work, and played with the puppies who have really been loving the hot weather and not shivering in front of the fire.

Resting his foot, while playing with the puppies

A plants yet more pepper seeds

A few rogue loose pins are sorted out

Sally on the back wall filling in Bekir's channeling

Ivan had trodden on a nail the day before and his foot was quite sore so we persuaded him to go to the doctor. They pronounced no infection, gave him an injection, and sent him back. We weren't convinced so we persuaded him to take a chair out to rest it so out there he sat, watching the men working and waving at me as I took a picture. A had once again run out of work so she headed downstairs to plant out more peppers. We were running out of compost so that went onto the list for my trip to town later on. The men had finished the first wall and gone round to the back to check the pins and re-fit any loose ones. They found a couple so it was a worthwhile exercise. Inside Bekir continued to run cables but now Sally was chasing him along the walls filling in the channels and finalising the cable locations. What exciting progress.

The narcissus all flowering already

Putting a third coat on this wall, all in one day

Handsome Rambo

The back wall has a coat on it also

Today the men found the truth in these words

Balcony BBQ with just extinguished flames

It was lunch time by now and I had worked over most of it so I took a late rest to catch some snooze only to be woken by my alarm for the daily photograph. I woke feeling quite groggy but eventually this passed; the sleep had been worth it, short as it was. I worked until it was time to head into town with Bekir for our kitchen lights but on the way we got the mole scarer (however it comes with no batteries so now we've got to get some huge ones for it) and also a load more compost and seed trays. The lady for the lights almost undercharged me but I noticed and re-did her sums for her. It was a super fast trip for all the chores we did but it was really very hot at 31 degrees. On April 5th! When I got back I found that very sensibly the workmen were taking a break from the sun and they only started back just as I was taking Bekir and Sally and Okhtay home. During this trip I saw some of the craziest driving I've ever seen while over here but fortunately no car was coming the other way round the blind corner. I got back safe to see that the back wall had been done and Ivan was watching as they kept working into the evening. A had started the BBQ and set the chicken on fire, as is traditional, so I went up to join her before starting this blog post.

The end wall is plastered

Evening draws in, and still they are outside

Another awesome BBQ

The sun descends in golden glory

BBQ sausage

After the hour or so he had given them off during the worst heat of the day Ivan had decided to stay outside until the light went to get as much done today as possible. He was sat watching, with Rambo being calm for once settled by his side, as they put more skims on the walls. A had repaired to the balcony to do the BBQ while I was typing away madly at this. Eventually food was ready but the breeze had picked up and it was cool enough for us to put a jacket on. The food was lovely, with the unusual sausage I'd found in Lidl being very tasty. Ivan came in with the men just as we finished on the balcony and ate inside in the living room with A while I've finished this update.

Now I'm going to go and relax for a little bit before bed. It's later than I wanted it to be, finishing this.