An entire week

This week I had no interest in doing the blog on Tuesday nor Wednesday which meant yesterday I just decided to leave it until today; I am now going to regret that as this update takes up the entirety of my Friday evening but never mind. Here goes.

How the roof was looking at the beginning of the week

Bekir constructing a frame

The blackboard area we are saving is framed

Ready to put the final cement on these damaged areas of wall

A whole lot of room to prime

Sally sorting more wood for the roof

Bekir working on the roof in the cold rain

Water overflow from the reservoirs is working

Byulhan reaching the edge of the ceiling

Happy Easter from our neighbours

I have no photographs of Sunday afternoon and evening when our friends came to visit but it was a lovely time, really awesome to show them around our place and then spend the evening eating and then sipping whisky in  the lounge and generally enjoying their company. They didn't leave us all that late which meant we got to bed not too late ourselves and were back to the routine on Monday morning. It was a cloudy and overcast day which got progressively worse until it was raining rather heavily. We were out in the morning to do our Bulgarian lesson and when we got back found that Bekir was working inside to put the frame up around the section of blackboard we are saving in Sassy's Room. Sally was in the Green Building choosing planks, saved from the old roof, to be used for the chicken house roof. Byulhan was skimming the final cement onto the walls and then  priming all the walls and ceiling that hadn't got finished on Friday. With the blackboard framed Bekir had the unenviable task of being on the roof working away in the rain while Sally continued inside the Green Building getting wood. The rain did mean we were able to test the overflow from the water collection tanks and my trench worked well to take the water away from the pipe. Byulhan was taking full advantage of working inside and cracked on well, finishing the priming and getting started with the first skim of the ceiling. The neighbours popped over during the day with an Easter gift for us of painted eggs and bread which was just lovely. It had been a busy day for me with my paid work and I was tired so we headed to bed relatively early.

Sally once again salvaging boards for the roof

Bekir pulls a face as he copes with the weather

The roof is getting boarded

Getting the reservoirs fixed so they don't leak any more

Scenery set out on the kitchen island again

Six of the models I have painted up recently

The final turn and the cart reaches the castle - just!

Tuesday was such a busy day for me at work that I barely left my desk all day; it was just one of those days. I got out to get a picture of Sally in the Green Building still sorting wood out while Bekir was still up on the roof fixing it in place as quick as Sally could provide it. I didn't get any pictures at all of Byulhan but he was just cracking away in Sassy's Room putting the plaster on the ceiling. The rain of the day before had allowed the overflows to be tested and three of the four had failed with slight leaks around the screw-lids. Bekir sorted these out during the day, putting silicon around them to make the screw seal better. This was then left until the next rainy day for another stress test. Despite us both being exhausted we decided to play a game in the evening and this was a great idea as we had a lot of fun with a scenario I have made myself. It took almost exactly an hour and was really close but ended as designed with the civilians reaching the safety of the castle. I got to use my new miniatures I have been painting up over the past few weeks as well.All in all it was a lovely evening after a tough day.

The day begins and there isn't total cloud cover

Lovely colours on the distant Greek Mountains

The boarding of the roof is completed

Sally building a low wall around the edge

Bekir twisting metal for security

Like a pretzel

Rambo chilling out in the orchard

Thelma waiting with her ball

The face of a man at the end of a long day of plastering

Three men discussing how to do a job

Three men fixing a metal sheet to the roof

And so we reach Wednesday and for the first time for ages we had a sunrise. I was out with the camera to capture it. I collected the men as A was not feeling well unfortunately and the sun glinting on the Greek Mountain was so beautiful I stopped to get a picture on my phone; once again I wished I'd picked up my good camera. The weather was much better all day and the men really cracked on with putting the wood on the roof, finishing the task by mid morning. With this done the next job was to build a small wall around the edge to close up the gap below the wood so wind cannot get under and lift it off and, to reinforce this, Bekir was twisting metal rods around the ends of the poles. He had constructed an awesome tool to help him with this and I was so pleased to be up there to catch it and get pictures. How handy they are! Inside Byulhan was 2/3 of the way across the ceiling and still plastering and I was starting to realise just what a huge room it actually is. With the edges secured it was time for the men to fix some battens and put the first of the metal sheets in place and I was up there watching as it was time to take them home but they were still working away. It secured in place very easily and quickly, however, so they headed home very satisfied that there were no problems ahead.

Working together to get the metal onto the roof

Progress with the plastering and we're onto the walls

Sally working away on the roof again

Thursday was another full day for me as I was finishing off my paid work. Fortunately after her unwell day on Wednesday A was back up and running on Thursday and feeling much better. That was a relief. She was also busy with her job and so there are only a few pictures from the day. First of all Byulhan was outside helping Bekir and Sally by passing up the sheets of metal as this was a three person task. The weather was back to not co-operating and the wind was really whipping across the land; not ideal when you're manhandling four meter long lengths of sheet metal. With that done Byulhan headed inside and got on with his plastering. Towards the end of the day there was an emergency dash out to get more washers and screws as Bekir and Sally had run out up on the roof and in the shop we each got to count out 100 of these washers so I ended up with four hundred of them. I also picked up the adaptors to connect taps onto the reservoirs so that was good. In the evening I had my demo and it went very well again so that's me done with that project. I'm hoping there may be some more work there for me next week. I was very happy, however, with the prospect of Friday off.

Glorious sunrise for a Friday a morning

Fristy frosty start to the day, though

Hills through the haze

The haze keeps rising, faster than the sun

Shiny metal roof

More metal is brought across

A's beautiful flower bed

Yet more plastering

This beautiful weather sadly did not last long

Nearly 100% germination of these seeds

By this time it was very very cold

I did this during the afternoon

And so we reach today and this update hasn't taken as long as I expected; I may even get to have some of an evening to relax. It was a glorious start to the day however the forecast had been proven correct and there was a frost; thankfully we had covered all our plants and everything was OK in the garden. A collected the men while I was very lazy and sat on the sofa with the puppies and didn't move all the time she was out. After a brew I headed to get a picture of the men and the state of the roof and watched while they gathered more metal to be passed up. A headed out for her weekly shopping trip and I got busy with my chores and when she got back I was just getting my inner tube changed on my bike. Frustratingly there must be a bigger problem as it's already gone flat with the brand new tube in it; more investigation required. Byulhan was really making good progress today and next week really should be the final week of having the men here. At last. It's been a longer visit than we planned. Around lunch time both A and I decided to get some stuff done so she planted out all the radish seeds which have sprouted so well in the plastic boxes and I went into the garden and did a bit of weeding. I was going to do more after we ate but cancelled that idea as the temperature dropped and the wind picked up. A was made of hardier stuff and went back out and weeded around her spuds while I sat inside and did some painting. The final bits of the roof were worked on during the afternoon as Bekir secured the side edges with metal sheets. Sally was again into the Green Building and the little section of sloping roof above the outside toilets is now having its roof done. Exciting times.

And there you have it; only just over an hour to put that all together which isn't too bad. I've also had to climb out of a window to secure a fly screen and change the catch as the wind is up. The weather is cold again and A is downstairs with the fire going. We've got a long weekend as we've told the men to take Monday off and it's my birthday on Sunday so I'm looking forward to that a lot. Thanks for reading and catch you next time.