A big push

I left you on Wednesday without having updated you about the day.

On Wednesday morning we had Deveta Sally (Sally 2) with us as we may be getting the floors in the last two remaining rooms replaced and waterproofed etc. soon, if we can actually get a quote off the guy who did the kitchen and who currently is not responded to the request. I don't really know why they do this; perhaps they don't need the work! He didn't take long to get on with the job and before I had even had a chance to get photos, due to being out on a material run first thing, he had made good inwards!

The kitchen units we were unable to use in the kitchen are still being kept for use in the garage and he had already moved them all up to the attic by the time I got back.

Kitchen units all gone

Stored nicely in the attic

Our Sally was beavering away and tidying up around the door edges, making sure we are as sealed as we can be for winter. This was pretty important for me, given the rat issues over the last couple of years. Thankfully now our living space is sealed, even if they do get in to the unfinished section, there will be nothing enticing them to stay as there will be no food within that area at all, so fingers crossed.

Beavering away

Bekir was also cracking on and it was on Wednesday I realised (and I think so did he) that he was not going to get this whole terrace finished before they had to go to their next job on Monday. A shame, but he was feeling the pressure; I could tell, so no point adding to it.

More tiles

Thursday was another work day for me and I don't mind admitting that this week has been a shock for me. Getting up at 6.30, collecting and dropping the men off, working and also tending to all the normal chores has certainly taken its toll. However, I survived.  The men were back to it and Sally 2 was making great progress with clearing the room.

Of course, there were still the old windows and frames to move in the little back room, so he was far from finished.

Windows

What else has happened? Well, the birds are still enjoying their freedom and mostly have spend their time scratching around underneath the fruit trees at the top of the drive, so hopefully they will have been eating lots of nice natural stuff to make their copious amount of eggs eggsellent. Yes, I did.

Enjoying the freedom

By the end of Thursday, Sally 2 had been making a great start to the window room. I can vouch for the fact that this would have been quite hard work as the windows, if glazed, are actually quite heavy and with broken glass something to be wary of, it was not a simple fetch and carry job. He made an excellent space for them in one of the rooms in the green building though.

Window stacking

Bekir meanwhile was making progress on the roof. albeit, not as fast as I hoped, but he was doing a good job and taking care that it was done properly, which is the right way. We want it sealed for winter after all.

Careful laying

Our Sally was working carefully also and steadily making his way through as many doors as he could. The most important one being to Room 13 as again, we will be spending a lot of our days (or at least mine) in here whilst we work.

Sealed!

Next was the second guest room and the attic.

Guest room

Attic

And Bekir was pushing hard up on the roof. He really stepped it up a gear.

Almost there

Friday was brought to me with nausea and an very upset tummy. It may well have been my curry which poisoned me, but I was not very well at all on Friday. I made a start on cleaning out room 13 but I was overwhelmed with sickness, so I spent a lot of the day resting, sleeping or moping around. I am a terrible patient.  The one thing I needed to distract Bekir with was the chainsaw, so on one of his trips down to get water, I grabbed him and got him to have a look. It had been starting when the Beard was home, but stuttered and then cut out every time. Bekir opened it all up and very, very carefully pulled back the filter to expose quite a bit of sawdust which had made its way underneath and slightly caked around the entrance to what I think was the petrol chamber. Cleaning it out carefully and washing the filter in pure petrol, it was back to business and was up and running again. Great for me as I have a huge amount of chainsawing to do in the coming weeks as all of our oak we had chopped last year is now dry and ready for the winter burn.  He improvised and dried the filter out on Julian's aerial.

Chainsaw clean

Aerial dried

A couple of other things happened during the week and I cannot remember what days, so here you are. A delivery of stuff the Beard ordered and an early gift from his parents for Christmas.  In the middle you will see a nest of tables which is actually made from the same wood as our dining table and matching metal joins. Beautiful. The photo does not do them justice at all. Not content with his lazy-boy, he also decided to join me in the geriatric area with his very own rocking chair. And on the left is a wall mounted chiming clock which is surprisingly less annoying than I had feared.

Deliveries

The end of Friday was welcome for both Sally's. They had both worked hard and achieved all they were supposed to. Sally 2's efforts in the men's room and end room were brilliant.

Cleared box room

Cleared men's room

Bekir had been cutting and placing the last of the edge tiles and was starting on the chimney edge by the end of the day. Quite a big push made on Friday to finish as much as possible. He had agreed to also work Saturday to seal it with the grout and keep it right until he could come back again next week.

Light at the end of the tunnel

I didn't get much done really with room 13 due to feeling very queasy, so I left it and decided to get stuck in on Saturday when I hoped to feel a bit better.

The two Sally's had a spare half our or so at the end of the day and continued to tidy around the place, so I asked them to help me by moving the last two doors for the living room and the completed guest room out of the corridor to avoid any damage. They are now safely stowed in the twin guest room, which we hope to complete next year. So much for a year off, eh?! lol

Saturday, no lie in.  Up and at it, still feeling a bit rough and off to collect Bekir. He was grouting to seal the tiles off in case of any rain (none in 3 months, but would be sods law the minute you lay tiles that it will rain for 40 days and nights).  He said that we would not make a start on the walls until next Saturday as it was more important to seal what he had put down - fair enough. I really didn't intrude too much through the day, only with his coffees and when he needed to pop to the shop for more grout. He just cracked on and at the end of the day, we had this:

Floor all done

I did do a little bit throughout the day and moved myself back into Room 13 again.  The temperatures are dropping at night and in the morning, so it is better to be in here just in case the fire needs to be lit at some point and also, I had help to move my desk back in again, so I took full advantage.  Looking cosy.

Room 13

I managed to eat on Saturday night and decided I wanted something tasty after two days of toast and tea. White wine and garlic spaghetti with prawns (the ones that cost about a tenner, yes, I bought them, Beard. I did. In four weeks you will have forgotten) mixed with our own peppers and courgettes. It was extremely tasty and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Expensive dish

Today has been spent mainly with a little lie in, a brief shopping trip to town to pick up some more vegetables for dinner and pottering around, sitting in the sun on the balcony, playing with the dogs, watching the chickens roam and seeing how much happier they are and eating this.

Roast dinner

I am going to leave you now so that I can relax a while before tomorrow dawns and the chainsaw will have to come out. I am hoping my limbs all remain intact.

Leka nosht.

Ax