First week progress

Welcome back and this is the beginning of a new chapter; here we start the saga (hopefully a simple one) of the build up in the mountains at the Mountain House. Not that it is REALLY in the mountains; it's at about 400m or so max, but it's a lot higher than where we are now so the name suits. I'm going to be doing some more vlog style videos for this process to go alongside the photographs. so I hope you enjoy.

Day One

About to go begin work

It has been quite a saga getting a builder who will do work up at the Mountain House. We are hoping to get a wooden chalet up there that will require ground works to be done before the guy comes to fit the chalet however it has now got too late in the year to begin that work, and a large chunk of my funds have anyway gone to buying Dincher's house next door, so this will have to be put off until next year. We were always aware that the demolition, however, really could not wait and when I failed to find a "real" builder (to invoice via my company) who could reliably quote for the job I managed to persuade Bekir, with Mesut driving him, to agree to do the job. Finally on Wednesday this past week they began. They came past the Old School for some tools and supplies and then I went up with them and spent the entirety of the first day up there with them. It was amazing.

A tent for shelter and storage

Bad tiles being flung

Autumn colours on the ridge behind the house

The first task for me was putting a tent up, which I managed to do even with some winds trying to turn it into a sail, while the workmen went straight onto the roof and began the process of taking the tiles down. We're planning on keeping as much of the good material as we can for reuse around the project so they were picking the good tiles and slinging the bad ones. It was really good to get the two neighbours involved and working; I like to employ locals where possible and they have so far been really amazing; that will help a lot as we go forwards, knowing there are good labourers right next door.

Workmen pause for a coffee

Good tiles stacked, bad tiles chucked

Dincher's Place is a wreck

It has AMAZING views, however

A see through spot

Mesut waves from on top of the roof

After the tent was up I made coffee and then it was back to it, continuing to take the tiles down. They were finding far more good tiles than I expected. I took a quick walk around with the camera to get some more pictures of the property, and Dincher's Place next door, to share on Facebook and record the state at this time. I was determined, however, to not have a lazy day and had planned my task for the day already.

The downstairs ready to be cleared

A very camouflaged scorpion!

Cleared downstairs room

The damage is getting worse

Old record player

Rest spot

My task was to clean out the downstairs; it's a job that would need doing and getting it done made me feel productive at least. It was not the most pleasant of tasks, with lots of dust and creepy crawlies and, as you can see above, I saw some wildlife I'd rather avoid - a scorpion. Later on I spotted an albino one but that disappeared before I could video it. I avoided being bitten or stung and after lunch completed the clearing task (I did remove that table that is in the picture as well). There was the usual stuff left behind including an old valve record player but sadly it was completed wrecked. After finishing up I was quite shattered so took advantage of just how lovely the day was and went and rested for ten minutes under the tree by Dincher's Place - that photograph is taken with front then back camera on my phone without moving the phone - what a view!

I would not be able to do this job

They are so comfortable up there

The afternoon sun disappears slowly

Dusty business, taking down houses

Water damage

The team in full flow

End of the day

The rest of the day I pottered around and the men continued to remove tiles. They were getting a really good sized pile of good tiles on the bank. I strolled around inside to get more pictures of the state of the building, and so you can see why we're tearing it down, and then finally it was the end of the day. I gave Bekir the key and left them at the water tap, looking forward to the next day.

Day Two

I headed over the next day for a quick visit to get some snaps and check on progress. It was not until about 11am that I reached the house.

The view as I arrived

Saved tiles

Roofless

They had made a really great start to the day, removing the final few tiles and beginning to take the timber off the roof. When I arrived they were about to start clearing it so, true to form, I got stuck in and helped out shifting the wood into a pile and making way for the next load to be chucked down. It's so much easier when you do this regularly than having a massive pile of beams that you cannot reach the top of. After that task was complete I headed off as I hadn't planned on staying even that long. I did get a video for you, however.

Day Three

Puppies excited to be heading off

Friday came around and once again I headed over to the Mountain House early on, but this time with Thelma and Louise along for the ride. They were fine for the journey but Thelma got a bit sick on the way and threw up out the window. Not ideal.

The view as I arrived

No roof on this house any more

Getting a burn

This is the damaged corner

Looking down from the bank

Fire gets going

Mesut sorting through bricks

Looking back as I left

When I arrived I walked up to see the roof completely gone, now, and the workmen getting started on another tidying effort; they were shifting the stones and bricks to one side and also had brought a load of combustibles from in the house to set a bonfire. I took watching that fire as my task and stayed until the final item had been thrown on. There were a lot of old rat eaten clothes and other things like that. Louise stayed by me the entire time while Thelma went and found herself a huge stick to play with. Mesut was sorting the bricks, chipping off old mortar to make them easier to stack. It was so good to see everyone getting stuck in together. I headed off feeling pretty pleased with progress for the first week.

Day Three point five

On Saturday I went to meet S of SandS and while doing that made my way up to see progress and get a few pictures.

The site on Saturday morning

Bekir's haul

A view of prorgess

Looking down you can see no timbers

Huge old roof timbers

It is now empty inside

I arrived to find slightly less done than I hoped, considering where they had been at when I left on Friday, but still it was a super tidy site so they had obviously spent time cleaning to make it easier on Monday (this morning, as I type this). They had taken the chimneys down completely which is actually quite a large task. There was a small pile of stuff that Bekir must have saved to show me, and the neighbour came over to say hello as well. I got the pictures above and headed off after about ten minutes.

What a week - I'm going to publish this and get straight in Thomas and head back over there now to pay them for last week and see how it's going now. I'll probably do another update either midweek or at the end of the week; we shall see how it goes.

As I type this my parents have just reminded me that five years ago today I booked their return flights for them to go home after the drive to Bulgaria!! What a lot has happened! WOW!!!!!!