And more chopping

 Another day of chopping and stacking wood today, so another short update but still it's so good to be back in the saddle and progress being made. There's lots of discussions at the moment about what to get the men to do after they have done the urgent tasks like the wood, repairing the roof terrace, fixing the woodpecker damage and the downspout. I really really want to go up to the mountain house but I think we may decide to just crack through some more outside tasks here and devote next year in its entirety to that task. Anyway, that's for the future. What about today.

The sun is just about to rise

Bekir's puppy, a lovely little dog

Hard work cutting very hard wood

Angela with the giant squash

The pile just doesn't seem to be coming down

Really well stacked wood inside

Another bay, nearly full

It was a lovely sunrise and Rosie was up and to school for the first time since their trip, which was amazing. The men were in on time and Bekir brought a tiny puppy with him to stay in the chicken enclosure. He said it was just too small to leave at home so we may have it visiting us more. The rest of the day was spent with the men cutting splitting and stacking wood. It is a huge task but they are getting through it. Angela found a giant squash that has grown in the wild by the washing line so that is now in and curing. The amount of wood we have stacked is very comforting considering I'm thinking we may have a cold winter. We still have about five cubic to cut and split I think.

Rosie mid-bounce. She loves the trampoline

After school Rosie went on the trampoline and also down the slide and on the swing. It seems she had a very good first day back and has already made friends with the new kids.

And now she's asleep and I wish I was - bed soon then back to it tomorrow. Thanks for reading.

More wood chopping

The update today is going to be super short and sweet, but it's not because of a lack of awesome stuff, just the it was repetitive awesome stuff.

Three now working on the wood pile

Rosie and her "muddy puddle"

The wood shed at the end of the day

A new worker joined us today, though I haven't yet remembered his name, but he started off helping to split the logs then spent most of the day stacking up split logs in the woodshed. He did really well, particularly considering he was being bothered by Thelma all day to throw a stick; this he did and seemed to love it. He was a good worker and hopefully will hang around for a bit to get stuck in for the rest of the year. Bekir and Halil meanwhile cracked on cutting and splitting the wood which is really strong and dry which is just what we want to hear. I was working all day as per usual and at 4pm stopped and went outside with Rosie where I drew puddles on the patio for her to jump in. Of course, if you are jumping in puddles you must wear your boots so every time we drew a new puddle she gave me new boots, and put some imaginary boots on herself. Her imagination is just brilliant. Angela was cooking an amazing curry (and it was amazing) so was not able to be out with us this time round. By the end of the day the wood shed outside was nearly full and now they'll start filling up the wood room inside.

And that's it. Tomorrow will be more of the same as I think there is maybe even two more days of this before all the wood is stored away. Thanks for reading.

Chopping Wood

After the long update yesterday, a far shorter one today. I almost forgot to write it and it is late as I sit here however it just is a short update anyway.

A few minutes after getting home. Finally!

Sun-shadow into the sky at dawn

Rosie bouncing and bouncing and bouncing

Last night, eventually, Angela and Rosie arrived. I had dinner waiting on the table and then Rosie got to go on her trampoline and she LOVED it!!! First thing this morning she was not wanting to wake up or get out of bed until I reminded her of the trampoline and then she jumped up and was straight up and bouncing. What a brilliant thing.

Bekir smiling away at the start of the day

Lots of hard work

Chopped lots, but much more left to do

Rosie playing with chalks

The workmen were in today after their long break and they spent pretty much the whole day cutting and splitting wood. I was hoping that some less skilled workers would come along with them to do this as I've plenty that I want them to do however getting that wood done and undercover is a really high priority now. It is probably another couple of days of work as it stands so here's hoping more workers decide to come along. I was very busy all day but I stopped dead on 4pm and went outside and had a glorious two hours running around the garden playing catch you and hide and seek and drawing on the patio with chalks. Rosie didn't let me out of her sight and she didn't stop talking the entire time. It is SO good to have them home!

Angela was able to spend that time outside (dead heading flowers) with us as well and she was laughing so much (and so was I) at the "hide and seek" technique. When I hid, Rosie said "you hide there, by the tree stump" and then she found me straight away. However when it was HER turn to hide I went to the wrong place a few times "is Rosie here?" and every time Rosie piped up "no, daddy! I'm over here!" Seriously it was awesome. 

So there you are; back to the normal short updates. Thanks for reading.

Interlude

It has been a far longer interlude than planned, in more ways than one. I have over 350 pictures and videos taken since the last time but I'm going to just pick a few, do a short explanation of what has been happening, and then tomorrow the men are back and normal service can resume.

Bruce doing his thing

She's not scared to mix it with big kids

A storm approaches

Such a stunning red moon

Sat on the patio playing with chalks

One of the few tortoises we've seen this year

An incredibly vivid rainbow

Carefully positioning the Fairy House

So first of all, before Angela and Rosie headed off we had a lovely busy time. The pool was still up and we did swim a bit, but not as much as I wanted to, however Bruce the Pool Vac did arrive and proved to be a mixed success; I think with practice, and putting him in from when the pool opens rather than so late in the season, he'll do good. We went for lunch at our favourite restaurant and Rosie had a great time in the park particularly bouncing with the big kids. There were storms and an amazing moonrise and we drew on the patio with play chalks and saw a tortoise and then there was the most amazing rainbow and made sure the fairy house was well positioned but all too soon Angela and Rosie climbed into her car and they drove off to the airpot for a planned two week holiday back at her parents.

Cleared the weeds next to the path

A seriously lovely day

Gammon egg and chips; dinner of kings

Spud towers gone

Emptying fifty cubic meters of water

Another stunning start

Labourious pool process

The trampoline for Rosie is up

Patio cleared (and rained on)

I got stuck in to my alone time with a list of jobs I wanted to achieve around the place before Angela got back. The first was one I've been looking at for ages - clearing the weeds by the front path. It did not take long, though I was COVERED in burrs - I've actually thrown away the old clothes I was wearing they were so bad. The weather was lovely for a while and on the whole while I've fed myself well, though I have taken my book down to the fast food place a few times which has also been nice. Another task was to clear the spud towers as we look to make that into a nice plantable area and then I began the very difficult task of taking the pool down. It took a long time to empty completely and then was really hard work to fold and pack (as you can tell from how spread out these pictures are) but I did get it all done eventually and The Other Brother helped me carry it inside just before that rain. Oh and I bought and assembled the trampoline for Rosie on the balcony - I cannot wait for her to see it!

For various reasons Angela's return has been delayed by two weeks which has been very tough on both of us, finally she is very nearly home as I type this. This has meant that I've got more to show you about being alone than I expected.

Thelma's amazing shitty neck

The shed for the generator

The woodpecker did this!

Missing Mummy

Snuggled up for warmth

Thelma returning her ring

Thelma returning her kong

Moon behind the clouds

A beautiful Black Satin spider

Raised in a defensive posture

Such a beautiful sunset

A really messy attic

What is this insect?

Collecting leaves for the toilet

So... there are the pictures, and here is a very quick run down of what has occurred. Thelma got an incredible shitty neck, but it cleaned up quickly. I ordered a small shed to put the generator into and it arrived really quickly and went together pretty well - it was very very hot work though. I then got The Other Brother to help me lift the heavy generator into the shelter. I have been fighting woodpeckers all the time, and they have done some seriously terrible damage to the insulation which will need fixing. Thelma and Louise have both been missing Angela and Rosie, at least as much as I have, and they have, and the weather has been up and down though cooler at night and recently very much warmer during the day. I have spent as much time as I can playing with Thelma, throwing her kong and ring but not as much as I should have done. The puppies have woken me early a few times, but the benefit is seeing beautiful moonlight behind clouds. Another thing that happened the other way was this amazing spider came to visit - it turns out that it is actually poisonous and it also disappeared so that was interesting. The other night was the most amazing sunset, just stunning, that I spent ages photographing from the roof terrace. Talking of the roof I actually finally got into the attic to start tidying it which was a mission and I barely scratched the surface. And so to today, with Angela and Rosie on their way finally, I saw two beautiful bees (or insects of some sort anyway) around the flowers while I was raking up leaves.

So there you are; it's so good to know they are nearly home and I can't wait to welcome them back, and tomorrow to get the men back and the tasks done that are desperate, like chopping firewood and fixing the roof terrace leak and repairing the downpipe that blew off in a strong wind, will be great.

Thanks for reading.