Steel and windowsills and weekend

Friday's update went the way of a splitting headache/borderline migraine so today you've got Friday, the weekend AND Monday so buckle up.

Angela and Grandma in the garden

Bekir plastering the windows

Halil tidying up the mess

Some more wood stacking is done

The pool trolley is fully treated

Friday was a lovely warm day, as forecast, and Angela and my Mum spent a lot of the day in the garden pottering and weeding and generally having a productive day. Bekir was up the ladder most of the time he was working, plastering the new windowsills. Halil assisted and then, when he wasn't needed, tidied up and also did some more wood stacking. Just before lunch we went to try and order steel for the new car port and went to three places though only one of them was willing to take our order because of the amount of long beams we need to cut, but leaving behind a fair proportion of each beam. In the afternoon Halil also finished treating the pool trolley/storage thing so it was a pretty productive day for the men.

The water was cold!

So I threw myself in suddenly

Grandma finds out the water temperature

Having fun in the pool anyway

On the trampoline with Grandma

When Rosie got home from school we decided to give the pool a try. I'd run Robbie to clean it up and left the cover off for a fair few hours in the hope of warming it up but it was a shock to get into. Those pictures tell a true story. I just threw myself in to get the pain over with and in the end we stayed in for about 20 or 30 minutes before getting out and it was a lovely time. After the pool we went onto the balcony and Grandma and Rosie had fun on the trampoline but as I was sitting watching I suddenly got smacked by exhaustion and a terrible headache so about 5:30pm I took myself to bed, woke up to eat dinner, then went straight back to bed and slept right through.

Rosie and Xena on a deck chair

A yellow grasshopper in the garden

Awesome rock formations on the way to the river

Rosie exploring

Walking across the sand with Grandma

Look at the size of this bird footprint!

Donkeys in the old buildings

Fortunately when I woke I was feeling a fair bit better, though not 100%. We sat on the patio and had a nice chilled start to the day then Grandma, Rosie and I got into Maisie (Angela's stomach bug was still bothering her so she decided not to come which was a good decision in the end) and we went for a drive up to the Old Pumping Station that I had found when I first moved here. We had a nice drive but when we finally got there we found the water was too low and scummy really to paddle in, which was a shame. We did see some huge bird footprints, and also some fish in the water, and it was just a lovely place to spend some time together. There were some donkeys in the old pump houses on the main site as well.

At our table on the boat

Rosie playing in the little play area

Finally eating our food

We headed back and stopped for lunch at the lake at a restaurant that is actually a moored boat. Sadly we were not able to get a table on the main deck with the lovely views and the service was pretty awful while the food was a bit mediocre. We only go to this place for the views so yeah. There was a play area for Rosie and she did very well while we waited and waited first to get our orders taken and then to get food delivered. On the way back to the car Rosie then tripped and fell up the slope and there was blood everywhere from a scrape on her knee. We did get her calmed and cleaned up and then she slept in the car on the way home which was definitely for the best. Other than Rosie falling over it was a good day all round and we enjoyed eating dinner and watching the cycling on the balcony that night.

Glorious sunrise

The puppies having fun in the sand

Maisie gleaming after her wash

Powerwashing the chicken house floor

A frog was blocking my drain hole

More clearing in the roof

Sunday was a super busy and productive day. It dawned with a glorious sunrise and before breakfast I got outside and cleaned out Maisie both inside with the hoover and then soap and powerwash and polish for outside. She was gleaming. Angela had got busy with sweeping and clearing out the chicken house and after I did Maisie I took the powerwasher in there and spent quite a bit of time lifting all the dried on bird poop and washing it out down the drain. At one point the drain blocked so I fired the washer at full pressure down the hole only for a very surprised looking frog to pop its head out. It did eventually get the message and it made its escape towards the pond. The rest of the morning before lunch I headed up into the roof and managed to achieve what I wanted up there as well, clearing all the camping gear and Christmas stuff out from the corridor to the roof terrace into a semi-permanent new home and clearing the racks away. It's so good to make progress.

The chickens have been fed - run away from the rain

Torrential rain along the valley

The moon and a planet? maybe?

We went out for dinner to our favourite restaurant and Rosie had a wonderful time in the play area while we also really enjoyed our food and the relaxation. We were quite early going so we headed off a bit early as well and got back to feed the chickens just as the rain started to fall. It was forecast very heavy however we got barely a drop in the end. It did look impressive however. What was also impressive was the moonrise later that night, with a planet in very close attendance peeking through the clouds.

Rosie watching the fish feed

Getting the ladder in place

Taking the wooden frame off

Putting in mesh for reinforcement

And the windowsill is done

And so we reach today. Before school Rosie fed her fish and then sat watching them for ages while they were feeding. We almost forgot to feed the chickens but just got it done as she left. The men were in and got on with the windowsills, first of all checking out the small toilet window but it was fine, then they worked along the windows doing Room 13 (both of them) and some of the games room windows. They made slightly less progress than expected as we were continuing the saga of the steel. They went down to the local shop to finalise the order only to be told that they had also decided to not take the order because of all the left over material. I had a bright idea and Halil and I worked out that if we took all the offcuts (and rejigged some of the other order) we would be able to leave with no waste at all. Tomorrow they will go and place this order but with another shop that deals more in bulk and hopefully will give us a cheaper price.

Crazy long legs on this spider

Eating at the restaurant

Family game of Sorry!

Grandma reading bedtime story to Rosie

After school we went next door to see the neighbours so they could say bye to my mum. There was a really large and awesome looking spider on the gate post. We had a lovely time sat over there but then had to leave to get out to the restaurant for our farewell (for now) meal with Grandma. It was a really lovely meal and we got home with just enough time to break out the Sorry! that I bought with the plan of playing during this visit and we just have not found time at all until now. This was a huge laugh (though one time Rosie got sent "home" and was crying because she didn't WANT to go home!) and in the end Angela won. Then it was time to go to bed and Grandma read the big book for her. What a day.

So there it is; what an epic. Thank you for reading and I will be back on Wednesday (not tomorrow) so see you then.