Getting back into Room 13

The sharp among you will notice that this update should have arrived on Friday, based on my new schedule, and that today as I type this is Sunday. Yeah well I wanted to get an update done once I was into Room 13 so I delayed it and, as Bekir finished up for me on Friday, I was actually really busy that evening getting stuff done. So let's go back to the middle of the week and once more struggle to remember what happened while I type this up.

Thelma is asleep but her paw is poised

First of all I had a nice restful Wednesday evening reading my book while sat on my lazyboy and throwing a toy for Thelma. Eventually she got tired and fell asleep but she was making sure that, should the ball move, she would know.

Wednesday's progress

Bekir welding while Rambo watches on

Thelma by her stick, or rather "half tree"

She's just been called inside

Drilling out screw holes to fix it to the wooden top

Yulhan clearing the chimney

The walls in the twin room have begun being scraped

Thursday morning I popped into the Green Building to check out what Ennis had been up to and found that he had made a huge amount of progress, but was making the bundles way too big. I had a quick word when he came out and he was fine. I was not going to be going back to moving the coal dust at all on Thursday, my hip and shoulder was still sore and the dump site was almost certainly still waterlogged, so he had a day of chopping ahead of him. Bekir, meanwhile, was welding together the metalwork that will support the bench in Room 13; making excellent use of the safety equipment we bought him as you can see. Standard, really. The puppies have been loving the improvement in the weather recently and have barely spent any time inside. Thelma particularly loves it and I hardly see her (though she is curled up asleep on my lap as I type this). Louise has been very clingy for a few days and is like a little shadow, following me everywhere I go. Inside Yulhan was carrying on in the twin room and had got round to cleaning the chimney which turned into a bit of a mission. It was jammed with bricks and needed a good going over.

The wooden underneath of the roof has been completed

Black paint goes onto the frame

Manic Louise at the vets

Asleep on the way home

Hard work removing the blackboard

Bekir has chased out for the new electrics

Drying up ready for the next day

Outside Sally was working away as he does just quietly cracking through the task in front of him and around lunch time I went to see him and found that the wooden frame for the roof of the second house is done and he'll be putting the tiles up next. Bekir had finished his welding and drilling and put some black metal paint onto the frame ready for fitting which was very exciting for me to see. I had a slightly less enjoyable task at lunch as I took Thelma back to the vets to get her ears checked. Louise came with me and she hates that place but they were both quite good this time. Thelma was given a big thumbs up, told to finish the course in the next four days, and that she was really much better. After her check she tried to climb on my head so I think she's not a fan of the vet either. Louise also had her ears checked and hated it but they are both fine so that was a relief. On the way home they fell asleep together on the chair next to me, quite a difference to the panic on the way there. When I got back the men were already at work after lunch with Yulhan having moved on to scraping the blackboard off, Bekir now doing the small amount of electrics that is needed in there and Sally on tiling away (no pictures of that stage just yet, though). The metal frame had been lifted inside to the Men's Room to dry over night. We had a laugh about the chimney in the twin room as it turned out that, even though there are three shafts in this stack, only two of them have access points and the third is totally unused. Bekir said maybe the builders had been on the rakia. The tool room/workshop actually shares a shaft with the kitchen, which is pretty bad news really. We'll get that solved when we come to renovate the tool room.

A long river, now with grass

Sally the master roofer

Just missed the best of the sunset

My second dinner awaits me

The smiling Birthday Boy

Lovely Birthday Cake

Louise is wanting to get to bed

I'd been helping the men through the day, making decisions for Bekir mainly, but also I did some modelling which was good. I put flock onto my river sections and then sealed them with glue. They were then put into the sun by the large picture window to dry over night as well. By the close of play Sally had finished tiling the roof and A lot of progress had also been made in the twin room, though I don't have a specific picture for that. It was a lovely sunset and I rushed onto the roof terrace when I got home from dropping the men however was just too late for the main glory. Dinner was huge and I was full but then got a call from The Other Brother to go over and found them serving me a dinner up as it was Usmivka's birthday! I explained that I had already eaten however would have a small amount of each and it was all very lovely, as you would expect. It was a lovely evening and it's so flattering to always be involved. I was tired when I got home, though, and Louise agreed and was waiting at the top of the stairs when we went up to bed.

The day starts with the frame being lifted up

Bekir starts drilling holes to fix it in place

The twin room is very messy

Soot and rubble from the chimney

The sun is out again

Puppies playing outside

And so we get to Friday and I was feeling quite stressed about getting into Room 13 by the end of the day so I could achieve everything I wanted over the weekend. I spent most of the day with Bekir working to help him, make quick decisions, and ensure that the day closed with me in there. First of all the metal was brought upstairs and the three of us worked together to get the holes marked with it perfectly square and level. Then Bekir got to drill ing and Yulhan went back to his work in the twin room. It was an absolutely lovely day outside, though it had been a very light frost the night before which wasn't good news for the sweetcorn and courgettes, both of which were looking very much the worse for wear. The puppies, however, were loving it as usual.

Securing the legs in place

Sally working in the rain on the final roof

Putting bolts in to secure the frame

The first sight of it all in together

Shaving the end and rounding the corner off

With the holes drilled for the wall mounts Bekir got stuck into drilling through the tiles to secure the legs. These tiles are surprisingly hard; it took a fair amount to get through them. It was a much less late morning, unfortunately, and I had told Sally to work inside but he kept at it and worked through the damp miserable cold rain. Inside Bekir had got to attaching the bolts to floor and wall and finally the wooden tops were lifted into place and we could see what it would look like. I got them to bring my work desk into the room and carried my chair up so I could see how it fit; as expected it was slightly too close so we trimmed it down, marked off a rounded corner, and it is perfect. How very exciting indeed!

Yulhan spreading sheets ready for his next task

Which is to throw cement onto this damage in the ceiling

Sally is often smiling as he works

Space trimmed away to fit the sink into

Bekir grinds off the edge of the sink

The girls love watching as we work

Bekir seals the sink into place with silicon

Next door to Room 13 there was also a lot of work going on; Yulhan was spreading plastic and getting ready to put cement on the ceiling and walls to make them stronger prior to plastering. The weather outside had improved somewhat into the afternoon and Sally was up a ladder putting the roof together for the final housing. I caught Bekir about to glue the two long section of worktop together and realised he had not yet measured and cut out for the sink. We spent some time getting this done, bringing out the tool I bought to trim the bodywork on poor Harrison, and then he ground the edge off the sink so it would fit more flush with the side. It was a good thing I'd caught him as had to lift the work surface in and out of position several times. With this completed the sink was put in place, screwed to the wall (and with a bracket supporting it as well) and then sealed into place with silicon which I have left drying over the weekend.

Bekir hanging the curtains

Lots of mess created by Yulhan

Sally fitting the roof

Getting ready to move back upstairs

A glorious show for nightfall

A ray of sunlight shoots across the hills

Steam mop about to get used

Falling asleep before we even get to bed

And so we were very close indeed to the finishing line and, though I had ridden him a bit which is unusual for me, Bekir seemed very happy. I hung the first set of curtains but when it came to the ones above the bench I decided against climbing on the ladder stood on the bench. Sally's task had also gone well with beams rising to a central point and this will look very nice when it is done. Yulhan had thrown a lot of cement around and made a huge mess but seemed very happy with his results as well. Meanwhile, with it clear that I would get a chance to get into Room 13 at the weekend, I gathered together lots of stuff from downstairs and piled it on the dining table in preparation for taking it upstairs. I wasn't too late for the sunset this time and caught it beautifully from the roof terrace. I think spent some time with the steam mop in Room 13 trying to get the worst of the stains off the floor. This still needs me to get in with hot water on my hands and knees and scrub but I'm waiting until Bekir is finally finished; he's got a little bit of planing to do on the surface and he's done. I was pretty tired by the end of the day and got an early night, for which the puppies were also grateful.

Centrally heated greenhouses with wood burning stoves

Beautiful pre-dawn sky

Room 13 starting to take shape

Louise has already made herself at home

Seriously high shelving with model planes on top

A beautiful day indeed

I was up really early, before the sunrise, on Saturday morning as was my plan as I wanted to get loads done and free Sunday up for cleaning. The greenhouses in the valley had their fires going and were pumping smoke which was not climbing very much; you can tell how chilly it was. I had a brew and got cracking, clearing A's desk and taking it all upstairs and setting it up again before breakfast. I then fiddled with the shelving, realised how many more shelves I needed, and got to work stacking all my model planes on the top shelf. I will bring them back into my modelling now that I'm in Room 13 but for now right up there is a good place. Fortunately the step ladder is tall enough that I can reach easily enough. It was a beautiful day and the puppies were able to be outside for most of it which was good as I was very busy and didn't want to keep tripping over them if they were wanting to play.

Barrow Wights, Captured Hobbits, Tom and Goldberry

This is called "Azog's Legion"

My fledgling Harad force; much much more to come of this

A healthy collection of paints

Convenient storage under the bench as well

Magnetic strip for metal tools; I've got another to go up as well

The duck pond empties

Now for a blast of models as I brought up those which I have painted over the past few months and set them out on some of the scenery I've made; these went onto the bookshelf next to the sofa along withe the boxes containing other miniatures and the boxes containing unmade miniatures. Eventually I'll need to get something more suitable for display which keeps the dust off but for now it is nice to see them. I also spent some time setting my paints out into the rack which I bought, made, and then had to store since before Christmas. I've a few duplicates but that is fine as they are for paints I use the most. I also brought a load of stuff up from downstairs and arranged it on the shelves. It is a bit higgledy piggledy at the moment because I'm trying to keep the actual bench clear for Bekir on Monday so a lot of this will come down for every day use. I was very pleased to find that the awesome plastic storage units I have lots of fit perfectly underneath and don't even restrict my leg room. I also was able to put up the magnetic tool storage thing and it worked so well I've been out and bought a second today to finish that job. Finally for the day, and on a totally different subject, I decided to empty the duck pond as it was disgusting. I was very tired, as you can imagine, and was in bed for 9pm.

About to start the first ever hobbying in the new room

All the river sections have been dammed

After some excitement the resin is all poured

And so we come to today; an epic update this time for which I apologise but a lot has happened. I did a bit of tidying and taking up first thing, and had bacon and eggs as well which was lovely (and the puppies enjoyed their bacon as always) but then I decided that I'd get some hobbying done; the first in the new room. I was pouring resin into all my river sections which is nearly the final task on these and first I had to build a dam at each end out of hot glue to prevent it spilling. I got them all completed and carried them down into the garage to begin pouring. Of course the first one I did was a near disaster as my dam wasn't nearly high enough and also had gaps. I spent a long time, and got filthy, trying to save it and eventually I did so then I went round and reinforced all the other boards before pouring their resin. It took me a lot longer than I expected, and used a lot more resin as well, but by about 10.30 I was done with these and only had the ferry scene to complete, the largest of them all. I took the last bits of stuff up into Room 13 and then got the hoover out and started the mammoth task of cleaning the kitchen.

Sat in very warm sun having my lunch

Louise laid on the sand pit, small as it is

Thelma having a sniff around the front lawn

Celebration! We have a dining table again

Loading Thomas with firewood

I got the entire kitchen hoovered before I broke for lunch and it was so warm outside I took my cheese and tomato butties and sat on a chair on the patio. Lovely. Louise went and hid on the sand pit while Thelma took herself off for a wander and finally lay down herself in the sun on the front lawn. So idyllic. I couldn't stop for long, though, and before long was back inside pushing the hoover around and finally with great cheers (literally) we had a dining room and then, shortly afterwards, the nook was done and I was complete. Finally we have our downstairs back. To be fair I'm still sat down at my computer now as I am waiting to move myself up until tomorrow but that won't take long. I headed out to the shops to pick up some carrots and was asked for help by the neighbours with a pile of wood they had chopped. When I came back I took Thomas and we loaded him up and quickly carried it to their yard.

My Chicken roast dinner

Distractions while I type this update

Sunset from the nook

Since then I've finished off the resin pour and all the sections are currently going off in the garage, which absolutely stinks. I've also done a little more tidying around including hoovering the lounge, cooked my dinner, written this update, eaten my dinner, fed the dogs and tried to do this update while the puppies have wanted to play. The picture window really came into its own this evening and as the sun moves round it'll only get more and more beautiful with the sunsets.

Right, I'm going to finish this now and spend a bit more time playing with the girls before I take myself to bed. Only two more sleeps until A is back and I cannot wait. Not long! The next update, she'll be back!