Threatening Storms

Hey I'm back after a day of the threat of storms, but nothing actually hitting us. I'm again tired, however, so onwards as quickly as possible.

Bekir gets to work on the pipes

Sally applies more cement

The first flag of the year

Wood stain on the guttering board

Hard at work in the sun

Fun playtime with the Frisbee

The day dawned slightly foggy but quickly became very warm, even muggy. The men were in on time while I was upstairs supposedly getting a brief burst of hobby but really spending my time trying to find the correct fitting for the toilets. This is an ongoing theme of the day. Sally got stuck into completing the cement on the walls of the porch while Bekir was back to the pipe trying to get it to reach - I'm glad I said "get another meter than you think you need". Rosie has spent almost the entire day outside other than when she was sleeping and so we got to enjoy the first Flag to finally open - we have loads that are close so it's going to be gorgeous soon. Bekir and I went to town to get some wood stain and then Halil painted up the guttering boards. It was a busy morning and also for Thelma as she played with her Frisbee with Rosie.

Cement between the doors of the sheds

Threatening storm builds

Filling in the pipe channel

Skimming over the insulation

One cloud

Working hard on the roof

All but done.

Sally does hate waste and so when he completed the cement work on the porch he used the leftovers to continue finishing the humanure housing. By this time the threatened storm was really starting to build behind us, and the wind was rising. It looked set to hit us. The men continued, hoping to beat the rain, while we decided to drag Rosie's play things inside just in case - Rosie helped to carry some of it. Bekir was putting insulation over the now fitted pipe and then skimming it with terracol. By early afternoon it was clear that the storm, after dropping a few spits of rain only, was going to miss us and the men had not missed a beat. The re-skimming was going a-pace and Halil and Sally were making good progress fitting the guttering boards that had been stained this morning. By the end of the day all the holes cut for the pipes had been covered by Bekir - he is very close to completed on this so maybe we'll need to order metal for the balcony roof very soon! Another thing that happened today was the second application of RoundUp. Hopefully the brambles will go but I'm still not happy with chemicals like that.

Rosie having a good explore

Someone threw it into the tree

Thelma happy to have destroyed the Frisbee

Lovely late afternoon skies

The first poppy as well

Sunset

The evening has involved lots more time outside with Rosie, she loves exploring and both A and I have been following her around all over the land today. Thelma has loved her newly found Frisbee (bought for the Islay trip as it happens) but has also destroyed it. The evening was lovely, the storm having passed totally, and so it was a pleasure being outside - there's one poppy that has flowered as well so I'm expecting loads of them soon enough. The sunset, finally, was stunning. I spotted this after our first attempt to put Rosie to sleep and dashed onto the roof terrace. A did her magic and Rosie has now gone down I hope.

If you were wondering I finally got to call canada about this pipe fitting for the toilets and after a long and confused conversation I think I understand what I need and have ordered a part. We shall see...

Anyway, there you are - ever onwards, here.

Busy day

Today has been a crazy busy day and now I'm pretty exhausted so it'll be a quick one I think.

Sun rising above the ridge

Glow above the chimney

Bekir channeling in a better place

Grass mown and looking lovely indeed

Men on the roof

Almost completed

The day started early as I was giving A a much deserved lie in and Rosie decided 6am was a good time to wake up and start shouting to be got up. This did mean I was able to appreciate the sunrise, however. The men arrived on time and got stuck in; I had a quick chat with Bekir about the route of the channel for the pipe and explained why a higher path was better and he agreed so he got stuck in on that while Sally and Halil continued on the roof, starting to put the planks across the top. Once A was up and about I got the lawnmower on the go and cut the middle section of grass which was very satisfying but it was already warming up quite a lot by the time I completed it. By just before lunchtime Sally had all but finished the task of putting the planks on.

Looking along the length of the lawn

Up towards the raised beds and fenced garden

Storm above the school

Can you spot the school in the distance?

Finishing off the inside

Pipe being fitted from the upstairs toilet

Sally using a bucket for height

The final stretch is being widened

Rest time

Before and after lunch I got back to the lawnmower and was able to finish mowing all the grass which was good as there was some storms brewing and a huge one blowing past to the North. it didn't actually hit us but threatened us nicely. I went to town with Bekir and got a shot of it over above our house, which is visible on this shot but hard to see. The rest of the day was taken up with Sally skimming the cement on the inside of the upper walls while Bekir channelled and fitted the pipe from the bathroom all the way down to where the pump will be. Exciting progress indeed. I hope the weather holds so this can be finished soon. I got a rest after the men had gone, falling asleep with the puppies on my lap for ten minutes on my recliner. A was out with Rosie giving me some peace which was hugely appreciated.

So there you are; short but sweet but good progress.

Cheers for reading, as always.

Roof mainly

Another day of progress and sunshine today; let's get stuck in to the details.

We have water to the upstairs toilet

The fog burning off, but still in the valley

Reaching his tools

Making sure the chainsaw is really clean

I found out this morning that the water supply was already in to the bathroom for the new toilet; this had been completed yesterday. Awesome. It was a really foggy and cool start to the day however it quickly burned off into a gorgeous sunny day. The main task of the day was the roof over the porch and all three of the men got stuck in to this task. Halil and Bekir took the chainsaw apart to clean it as it was filthy and starting to run rough and then they worked together on shaping some beams while Sally prepared the tops of the walls. I suggested that they use the table saw to do this shaping (thanks, SandS for letting me borrow that!) however Bekir made the point that the beam wasn't totally straight so that wasn't suitable - makes sense and so they got stuck in with the awesome hammer/axe tool that everyone uses a lot over here.

Rosie helping mummy plant out seedlings

This weed mess is the hugelkultur

I cleared a small patch for spuds

A flower has appeared on our strawberry plant

We were outside as well, A going out early to start digging over another raised bed and I joined her a little later and attacked the really overgrown hugelkultur with first a fork and then the hoe and that worked much better. It didn't take long to clear this and I'll get stuck in to the rest later - it was time for Rosie to have her milk by this time. Our strawberries have begun to flower now so we'll need to think about bird netting over that bed so we actually get some crops.

Bekir positioning the first beam

Measuring and ready to cut

More beams go in place

Sally bricking up the sides

End of the day state

The main task of the day progressed well; Bekir and Sally and Halil worked well together cutting, trimming and hammering into place all the beams that were required for the frame of the roof and this was completed before lunch. After lunch I went into town with Bekir on another failed attempt to find a fitting to complete the installation of the toilets and while we were out Sally and Halil bricked up the sides and started on the front of the eaves below the roof line. This will make the structure more wind and weather proof, which is great. I was considering putting small windows in the angled sides but decided against it today.

Awesome old spray machine

Weed killing the chemical way

A channel... to nowhere, maybe?

Bekir had brought some roundup (which I hate, but yeah) yesterday to put on the brambles that are so persistent and today he brought his pump which is an amazing antique but seems to work fine. He sprayed all the areas we asked him to and tomorrow will finish off and hopefully this will make the front lawn safer for Rosie in the coming years. I'm still not very happy about spraying, however. Bekir also continued cutting the channel for the pipe however he's done it in a very strange direction - unfortunately while this was happening I was in bed with a headache brought on by the storm that was building all afternoon; this storm dissipated however the headache meant I didn't catch this work being done so I'll have to find out tomorrow just exactly where he thinks this pipe is going to go from here!

Streamers blowing in the wind

A beautiful little plant I spotted

The weather cleared, and my head with it, which is good. I took Rosie onto the top bank for a bit while A was cooking and we took streamers from my birthday popper thing which she really enjoyed watching blowing in the wind. Then we sat together on the bench at the top where I saw this beautiful little plant and took a while getting a clear photograph. Identification is welcomed!

So there you are; time to wrap this up and get on with the rest of my evening. Thanks for reading and don't forget to subscribe if you want to know when I publish.