The last day of the men this year

We have reached the end of the working year. After today, the men have a holiday that was originally planned to last at least until April but, as you'll see, we may see them a little before that. Anyway, onwards.

Rosie loves her new top

What a stunning view it was this morning

The sliding slope is almost gone

A stunning sunrise this morning

Today was also the last day of Rosie at school and she was very excited indeed. Angela found a lovely top for her to wear for her last day which was awesome. The sunrise we enjoyed this morning was also just stunning. I rushed out to get pictures from the top bank and also saw the remains of our slide. I really hope that we get loads more snow so we can do that again. It was a beautiful sky indeed!

Bekir starts tiling

Lots of progress down this first wall

Halil welding the frame

Dutch watching me watching Halil

Getting the window frame fitted

Bekir with his picture

The men were in and on time and Bekir got stuck into the tiling while Halil mixed up mortar and then when he was able to get away from that he began working on the window frame. This involved lots of welding and we tripped out our electric so many times. With the frame made it was fitted in to the window space and then they added some finer mesh (to keep flies out) and this looks great. By the end of the day Bekir had very nearly completed the tiling however there was no way it was being completed today. When Rosie got home from school she gave Bekir and Halil the pictures she had drawn for them as a gift for Christmas. We waved goodbye to them at the end of the day and suggested they come back early new year to wrap up this last task.

Rosie, Sammy and Xena

I'll leave you with a picture of Rosie with the remains of Sammy - there's not much left now!

So there it is. I'm not sure when I'll be back for another update. Thanks for reading.

Plastering, electrics and tiling

Today has been a good day with a fair amount of progress. Let's get to it as I've got plans this evening.

Dutch cuddling Angela

I'll start with a quick picture taken of Dutch with Angela when I got back from dropping Rosie to school Dutch is settling in so well and is such a lovely puppy.

Halil putting another plaster coat on the ceiling

Bekir tidies up the window

Bekir working on the wiring

Dutch falls!

Angela labels for some seeds

The glass room is looking nice

Lots of planting out being done

The men were in and on time and began the day with yet more plastering. I really thought that was done and it made me a little unsure about how well the progress was going. While Halil did the plastering, Bekir was working on the electrics so they could get rid of the power cables providing power to the lights. Angela was also being busy this morning and I managed to get down to get some pictures. One time Dutch was laying in the sun and when he saw me he started to roll over for a belly rub but mis-calculated and he fell off the step. He's so funny and clumsy! In the glass room Angela was planting out a load of seeds and also sorting and tidying the room generally. It was looking great.

Halil wires the light switch

Bekir sorting a junction box

A little more final plastering

Fitting the first light fitting

Lights are perfect

Working out the tiles

With the interior plastering completed both Bekir and Halil worked together on the electrics and focused on getting the wiring done for the light switch. Halil did get a little distracted with some more plastering as he finished up the little slot window we've added in, but after that he returned to fitting the light. With all three lights fitted it is really well illuminated in there, and now they could work on the tiling. They lined up the laser and found out how much would need trimming as the walls are in no way square. Tomorrow they say they'll get cracking on the tiling so we may be able to start using the cupboard under the stairs soon!

Rosie with a diminished Sammy

Dutch with the old basketball

I'll leave you with a couple of pictures taken after Rosie got back from school. It's been a warm day but Sammy is still hanging on, just about. I was pushing Rosie on the swing when I noticed Dutch with the old basketball and snapped a picture just before he jumped up.

So there it is. Time to go downstairs to finish the first bluray of Return of The King. Thanks for reading and back tomorrow.

More plastering today

Another day and we're back to the update. Another short one today so let's get to it.

Bekir starts working on the shelf supports

Halil starts plastering for the day

Bekir working in tight spaces

Lots of cleaning!

Looking at the leaky tap

Shiny new tap

Bekir plasters inside the new window

When the men arrived I asked Bekir to pop up into the roof to swap the uprights that were the wrong size for the supports however because the screw holes were in a different place it was better to ask him to do the drilling. While he was doing that Halil mixed up plaster and got stuck into applying the second layer. Bekir joined him as soon as he could and went into the really low area to do the plastering in there. Angela was getting a really good deep clean going on in the kitchen which is looking great! Mid afternoon Angela noticed that the tap in the kitchen was leaking so Bekir had a look and found the broken part however we were not able to source a replacement so got a new tap instead. We'll now get the old tap repaired and it can be held in reserve for another application. The final task for Bekir was working on the outside of the new window. Halil was just plastering and plastering all day.

Rosie with Sammy

When we got home from school there was time for a visit to Sammy and then a little playing outside before we got to our Lord of the Rings video.

So there you are; thanks for reading and back tomorrow!

Plastering, mainly

Today will be a far shorter update than yesterday, thankfully, as I'm once again late to start as we continue our Lord of the Rings marathon. Let's get to it.

Skipping into school

I'll start with Rosie and her little friend walking and skipping into school together this morning when I dropped them off. How epic is that!

Bekir checking out the gaps

Lots of filling

Halil polishes the plaster

Working to unblock the toilet

Plastering the other side now

Bekir fits well in the smaller gaps

The men were once again in and on time and set to in the cupboard under the stairs to continue getting it finished. Bekir was working on filling the gap above the door (as he'd made the gap bigger than we told the window people, so the door would definitely fit) while Halil carried on plastering around the walls. After lunch we went out and all looked at unblocking the toilet and finally, using both Halil's compressor to blow air through and my cleaning tool from the pump end, we got it flushing again. I'm sure it will block again soon however as there seems to still be a problem in there however I've now ordered a much longer cleaning tool which should help us to get it unblocked. I hope. The afternoon was more plastering and the entire thing has been done now. Bekir had to do the really low section as Halil couldn't fit down there!

Rosie, Dutch, Xena and Sammy

Rosie swinging above the snow

After school I went into the garden with Rosie to check on Sammy, who is still hanging around and Rosie put a new head on her, while Xena and Dutch played around us. Then we went and did some swinging before it was time to go inside and watch Lord of the Rings.

And there it is. Another day done, we'll be back tomorrow. Thanks for reading.

Snow, and a new door

What an exciting and fun weekend, and sooo many pictures and videos to go through and share. So settle yourself and get ready for an epic update!

Pickle with her snowman drawing

First of all the antics of Pickle on Saturday morning as she drew a Sammy Snowman on the window of the lounge and then was hanging upside down by her boots. Rosie thought it was brilliant when she found her.

First thing Saturday morning

Rosie and Dutch playing in the snow

Thelma bouncing through the snow

Xena and Dutch chasing each other

Rosie loving the snow!

Saving the peas, I hope

The snow building up even on thin branches

This is foreshadowing as it snowed from Friday night all night and pretty well all through Saturday and we had epic fun with it! I was up just before Rosie and let the puppies out onto the fresh snow. It was very beautiful! After finding Pickle (and waking Angela up with her excitement) Rosie got wrapped up and went outside to play with Dutch while I got my exercises done and after that I also wrapped myself up and went out. Thelma joined us for a bit but mostly it was me, Rosie, Xena and Dutch having lots of fun. I was heading to start building a snowman when I noticed that all the pea plants were totally collapsed, and the frame had gone with them, because of the weight of the snow so I called Angela and we both worked together to recover them and tie them all back up. The snow was very sticky and sitting on branches which was potentially causing damage to other plants as well.

Rosie placed this snow on Sammy

Bringing more snow

Happy playing together in the snow

Rosie is happy Sammy is taller than her

Our Snow Angel

The flower still hanging in there - just

Xena bouncing through the snow

Very festive with real snow now

With that done Rosie and I set to rolling and gathering snow and built ourselves an absolutely epic Sammy Snowman. Rosie was gathering snow from all over and she was doing very well patting it in place and helping with the assembly. With the body, head and shoulders done we grabbed some sticks, egg shells for eyes, a chili for the nose and a plastic shape for the mouth and we were happy with him. After that there was plenty more snow play, and I also went round a load of the trees and plants and freed them from the snow, and then we spent quite some time throwing a toy for Xena and Dutch. It was fun but we were ready for the fire and dry clothes when we went back in.

Rosie working on the jigsaw

The awesome lego box is out

Thelma and Louise cuddle up

After drying off we had a lot of fun inside as well, with more progress made on our jigsaw (Rosie was doing SO well, she found loads of pieces without help and slotted them in correctly) and also we pulled the lego out for a bit and she had a lot of fun playing with it, then put it all away herself. That evening we once again settled down for some Lord of the Rings films and then bed. It was a brilliant day.

Rosie so light she doesn't break the surface!

Sunday morning is one picture and LOTS of videos. We took ourselves outside as soon as it was a little warmer (it was a glorious sunny day) to the slope by the chicken enclosure and made ourselves a sledding slope then spent a good hour or so sliding down and having all the fun (and getting cold and snow inside our backs and all that good stuff too). Rosie really impressed me as we went up and she just jumped on the sled on her own and went down the slope without any fear! It was brilliant fun and I'm gutted that today (as I'm typing) has been so warm that the sun melted this too much for us to go again.

Heading back in after finding Pickle

Very cold and icy conditions

The tree got snow damaged

Frost on the vehicle gate

It was so cold last night I had to wear socks in bed and we were up very early because of the snow as driving Rosie to school was a concern with how icy the roads would be. First off, however, we had to find Pickle who was outside on our sledding slope in her own sled. It was too dark for a picture of that however Rosie was very impressed and amused. The drive to school, I left with Rosie 15 minutes earlier than normal, was OK with only a couple of slides on the hill but on the way back up it was freezing fog and -6 on the hill, though a little warmer up by us. I had to stop and push one of my neighbours out of the deep snow as he was stuck. Unfortunately I hadn't thought of my Silver Birch trees by the driveway and they have once again been damaged by snow. It was super frosty indeed, but the sun was already coming up and burning the fog off.

Bekir gets started

Hammering bricks to size

Getting ready for the door

The new door is delivered

Super quick fitting

And so to the men, who managed to get up to our place even in Halil's little Golf. They weren't even late! The first task was to get the beam, poured on Friday, out of its shuttering which they did and then they slotted bricks into the gap above it to fill that in. They were working away on this until the window people arrived with the new door and fitted this in very short order indeed. It is a big door and looks great and will give us very good access into this storage.

Such a beautiful winter day

Halil plasters at the far end

Bekir continuing on the electrics

It really was a glorious day today however I didn't have the best one as the upstairs toilet blocked. Twice. I spent about an hour unblocking it the first time and was successful but then towards the end of the day I found that it had blocked again and this time our cleaning tool wasn't long enough, even from the extra access port we fitted on the wall downstairs. Hopefully we can get it resolved soon. The men were now continuing on the tasks in the cupboard under the stairs with Halil plastering while Bekir worked on the electrics. I've told them I want this completed this week so let's see how they do!

Rosie, Sammy and Dutch

After school me and Rosie went to check on Sammy who has lost her head but is still standing tall - taller than I expected after the heat of the sun. This evening we have watched more Lord of the Rings and I'm now thankfully done with this update!

So there it is, an epic update indeed. I hope you watched all the videos, they're all short but very funny. Thanks for reading and back tomorrow.