And they are done

Another week is done and it's Saturday after dinner as I finally sit down to start typing this post; I've been putting it off as I'm aware it is going to turn into an epic. Indeed I'm pretty sure that I'll not complete it this evening which is fine; this will be the final update from me for a while anyway as I'm heading off on a whistle-stop tour of the UK to see family and friends next week and, as the workmen have finishing working, there'll not be as much to update about anyway. I won't go away fully and I'll ask A to do an update next week while I'm away so we can try and keep up at least one update a week. We shall see, however, if this happens. Only the future knows.

Byulhan carrying a heavy bucket of plaster to the scaffold

Bekir welding metal to use as tie-downs

A barrow full of bricks

Sally doing more roofing

So I rewind my mind to Tuesday morning, a day which ended up being very busy and tiring for me but began with the workmen still getting on with their assigned tasks. Byulhan was plastering away with good will and was onto the final wall that had up to then had no plastering done. Bekir and Sally were working together on the final section of roof on the chicken house; Bekir was welding metal together to use to fix the ends of the beams down while Sally was building the shallow wall around the edge and, with that done, fixing the roofing wood in place on top of the beams. They were really cracking on fast up there and clearly were close to finishing up.

Lifting out one of the units we found which I liked

Carrying that unit through the front door

Happy that it is safely onboard the trailer

Loaded up and ready to go

The four units I saved

Just before 10 I got Thomas hitched up to the trailer and headed out for my trip with one of our friends to another old school; someone they know has bought it and wants it cleared of anything that we want before they just burn the remaining items prior to a full renovation. We arrived easily enough at the location and were met by the very friendly owner of the bar over the road who ended up helping me as I carried the heavy furniture items out to the trailer. There was so much amazing stuff there, exactly what I have been looking for to display the models I am making, and also some great storage units for our friend, so we took everything we could fit (and a big stash of maps for me) and then after a coffee at our new friend's cafe (which he refused to let us pay for!) we headed off. The journey home took us past their place where we unloaded their stuff, I had a brew and a quick tour of their place, and then drove carefully home. By the time I got back I was pretty shattered as it hadn't been a short trip nor light work, but I was very pleased with what I'd returned with.

Moving the scaffold back to go over the wall again

Bekir and Sally working again on a roof, together

Bekir nailing down the wooden struts

Sally shaping a brick to size

Bekir and Byulhan helped me unload my stash into the Men's Room where I could tidy them up a bit before moving them to their final places. While I had been out a lot of stuff had been done and Byulhan was working on the second layer of plaster on the back wall. Out on the chicken house roof the wood work was nearly completed, the small wall was almost finished around the front, and Bekir was already starting to attach the small strips of wood onto which the metal roofing sheets would attach. Clearly they would be finished on this on Wednesday. It had been a really busy day (A had been very busy with her paid work as well so she didn't escape) but satisfying and I had decided that we would have to get back to that other school before the workmen left, probably on the Friday, to collect a few more bits I'd seen but needed more help to move and also pick up two shelves for one of the units that I had forgotten.

First section of garden dug out of the grass

Roof ready for metal

Bekir measuring out the metal

Cutting it to size

The cut sheet is passed up to Sally

Bekir fixes it in place

Louise having a rest in a warm hollow of dirt

After such a busy and tiring day on Tuesday I took it slightly easier on Wednesday however I had a chore to complete which was to weed some more of the side bed in the garden. It didn't take me long and I felt a lot better for doing it. Out at the chicken house they were ready to begin the metal work. First of all each sheet had to be measured and cut to size and then passed up and secured into place. I stood and watched this process for a while and Louise joined me and curled up in the sun.

Bekir cutting glass for my cabinets

A little more digging done

The front bed, before I dug

And afterwards; a good result

Anti-bird bead curtain

At lunch time Bekir brought his glass cutting tool out and trimmed down some of the old windows to the correct size to fit into one of the units I'd saved the day before. It was another glorious day, to go with the beautiful weather on Tuesday, and I was enjoying being outside. I went back to the garden later in the day and dug over the rest of the side bed, and the front bed as well, and finally for the day I hung the bead curtain we have bought to keep the sparrows out of the chicken house up over the doorway. Unfortunately I was feeling really unwell by this point as an incipient migraine was breaking through so I took myself to bed and slept pretty well through until the next morning, with a brief break to eat dinner.

The sun rises to herald a glorious day

End of yesterday progress; the roof is sealed down

No more water damage inside, we hope

Sassy's Room is finished

Bekir with the new eggs

The Hidden Chicken

Kit happily climbing back on top of the eggs

When I woke up on Thursday I was still a little battered but mainly better. I collected the workmen as I had a demo booked in for the evening and A went round with the camera to capture the progress of the day before which I had missed due to being asleep. The roof was done, as was Sassy's Room plastering. On Tuesday we thought we'd lost another chicken however it turned out that Kit had made herself a nest in the Green Building and was sitting on some eggs, having got broody. Bekir very kindly brought a box of fertile eggs from his village and so the first task of Thursday was to replace the useless eggs with these ones. I was sat on the chair resting still so A went in to help as Bekir shifted her into a box to make the whole thing more secure. We now have to wait 21 days and maybe we'll have 12 or 13 chicks running around. How exciting!

Shifting the shelves back into place

Fixing up badly fitted doors

Sally making another door

Display cabinet goes up the stairs

Fitting the glass back in

Puppies hunting on the back bank

Safety first as they seal the windows

Double doors hung in place

With the major tasks all completed the day was a "finishing off" day for the men. Byulhan had swept out Sassy's Room and now, with Bekir's help, lifted the large shelving units back into position and fixed them to the wall with brackets. Bekir, meanwhile, worked on all the doors that were no longer shutting including the two into the Men's Room and the Lab which had somehow become quite badly damaged; he had to shave 1.5cm off one of those doors! Sally, for his part, was outside still and making a double door to go in front of the final water storage tank. The next task for Bekir and Byulhan was to lift the units upstairs into Sassy's Room which I had cleaned up a bit and then re-fit the glass into the doors, including the sheets Bekir had cut the day before. He used silicon to seal these in and also small nails and they are now solid. I'm very excited! The last task of the day was to put silicon around the windows which had leaked so badly a month or so ago and this was achieved quickly at the end of the day. Sally also finished the doors and so we completed everything we needed and then took the men home.

Ladder strapped to the trailer ready for the day

The other school, in the beautiful morning sun

We really can only just lift it all together

Carefully beginning to come down the stairs

The end in sight as Bekir and Byulhan get onto the trailer

And it's on; I wasn't looking forward to getting it back off again

And so to Friday and the final day of the workmen this building session. As everything had been done by the end of Thursday we were able to stick to our plan of heading back over to the other old school on Friday. We arranged to pick the key up on the way and met our friend very conveniently for us both and made good time to get to the place by about 9.20am or so, still over an hour with the three men sat in the back of Thomas which is not a very nice place to be. Anyway we got stuck in straight away and cleared out a path to the huge workbench that I had spotted that was my main target of this visit. Eventually we managed to extract it from the room and it took all four of us a lot of effort to manage to get it down and into the trailer. That was very heavy indeed! After this we tried to go for coffee at the cafe but it was shut and, sadly, it wasn't open at all so we couldn't go in and give him our trade which disappointed me.

More unit stacked up to pack

An old battered record player

The unit I had to leave behind

So much stuff just left behind when the school closed

Thomas and trailer being loaded

Thelma, of course, found a stick

Louise sniffing out the new interesting smells

This school was in a beautiful location

The rest of the time was spent gathering a few other bits and pieces for both us and, eventually, some desks which Bekir wanted along with a load of stuff for Byulhan's kids. The school was largely in very good condition apart from one end room which the birds had gained access to and covered in their droppings; I was most disappointed that this huge old unit was ruined but as many times as I went back to it to see if maybe I couldn't salvage it I had to decide eventually it was no good. Finally for the house clearance side of our time there I had the men help me gather together a bunch more of the units that our friends had wanted; these are now easily stacked where they can just be loaded the next time they are there, rather than fixed up high on top of other units. A had come with, which was brilliant, and she spent some time walking around the grounds with the puppies getting pictures and enjoying the day. It is in a lovely spot and the guy who has bought it has found himself a gem. I still prefer ours, though.

Out for lunch on the last day

Two hand made handles for the double doors

The drive back was pretty easy, even though we were quite heavily loaded, and the men were in much better form as well. I think they had enjoyed themselves and were happy with the items they had picked up as well. On the way they asked if we could go out for lunch in our local town which sounded like a great idea. We went up to The Old School first, however, to drop off the trailer and they also unloaded the back bed of Thomas before we went into town. It was very hot by this time, over 30 degrees in the shade, and after a short walk we found a place to eat and had a really enjoyable meal. What a top bunch of men this is. After that we headed back up the hill and they spent the rest of the afternoon tidying around and making sure to not leave a job half done. I had another phone call which delayed my taking them which was a shame as A had gone down to town to meet our friend however this gave a chance for handles to be put on Sally's Double Doors. After I dropped them off I went straight into town and met up with A (our friend had had to go) and we had a meal out and then went home. It was such a lovely way to end the building season but we were both exhausted. A fell asleep on the sofa at 7 and I took myself up to bed at about 8 and we both slept right through - we really must have needed it!

To put into perspective it was exactly three years ago that the window people arrived to begin putting the windows in Room 13 and on the landing; the first of the major renovation tasks to be started. To look back to then and see now where we are, how much has been achieved and how much further along in the whole process we are than had been imagined even in the wildest of dreams - it is astounding and amazing and so much down to the calibre of worker who has been on site. What a lovely home we now have and it wouldn't have been possible at all without Bekir and Sally and the collection of excellent helpers they have brought along.

And so to today (and it looks like I may complete this at a sitting after all, though I am starting to flag now).

Chilling out with the puppies

Unexpected spuds in the spud tower

Tomato plants, and a sweetcorn

Radish seedlings growing well

A did her weekly shop this morning, which had been pushed from its usual spot on Friday morning by our other school run, and I did my morning chores and then settled myself in a chair and sat with the puppies and read until she got back. It hasn't been an entirely lazy day for me as I helped A weeding the potatoes in the main garden, however it has largely been lazy. I did a bit of painting for my models. A has been working hard in the garden today and got the spuds earthed up in the spud tower; an unexpected growth as we must have accidentally left some in there last year which have now started growing really well. She's also tidied up a load more things in the garden and planted out some more sweetcorn.

The beautiful Flags are back

A's stunning garden in full bloom

Such a beautiful colour

A bee on an alium

Mrs Lizard sunning herself

Another bee; I love bees

The Flags are coming!

Little Lady with her new lemon tree

I'll leave you with this selection of photographs taken today around the garden showing off the beautiful flowers we are blessed with. We are very excited indeed that the Flags have suddenly bloomed but I'm most impressed with how beautiful A's little garden is next to the driveway. I think we'll have to tidy further down and extend that with more bulbs for next year - it is stunning and so lovely to see as you drive up to the house. We're also starting to see lizards around (sometimes even when the puppies aren't hunting them) which is always a welcome sight. Finally A was called over by The Little Lady who has bought herself a lemon tree which she is very proud of, and who wouldn't be!?

So there you have it. We will not be neglecting this blog however don't expect as regular updates from now on; it's a large drain on our time (I've not got to spend this evening with A, for example which is a shame) and we'll only do it when there's something worth updating you on.