This is going to be a long update so grab a brew and enjoy.
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| Mummy heads off to the airport |
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| Rosie the artist with her hand drawing |
Friday evening Angela got away as planned to collect our friends from the airport and bring them back to their house which left me to have lots of fun with Rosie before it was time for bed. We did art and played games and read books.
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| Rosie the princess ready for the road trip |
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| Getting ready to run the mower |
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| Rosie waiting like a very good girl |
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| Back in the trolley-with-a-car |
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| Checking out the mower for the first time |
Angela was back very late on Friday and so I got to choose Rosie's clothes for our trip out on Daddy Saturday. She asked to be a princess so the pink dress was chosen. It was a glorious day and we drove to the Husqvarna shop to look for a small petrol powered push along mower. They remembered us and the lady gave Rosie a banana and some cookies while I went with the man to check out the mower I thought I wanted. It was good so we bought it, then went past Praktic to pick up some more fruit trees, some potting compost and some boxes for the trip to the Whisky Festival. When we got back Angela was awake and I wasted no time in getting the mower out and pushing it along for a bit to test it out; it is very good indeed, and I'm very pleased with it.
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| Rosie tests her sleeping bag |
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| A lovely day for a picnic on the lawn |
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| Rosie having fun with her bubble machine |
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| I pulled all these tiles out of the back bank |
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| First mow down; feeling good! |
We'd also had a delivery and included in that delivery was some new sleeping bags for Angela and Rosie. It was so lovely that we pulled the rug out onto the front lawn and had a lovely picnic out there for lunch and then after that I got the mower going again and mowed the back bank while Rosie was watching and blowing bubbles on the back patio. I had to pull so many more old chunks of roof tile out of the ground it was crazy - the amount of regret I have right now for throwing the old roof onto the back bank and not paying a digger man to clear it all up!
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| The tent is up and ready for us |
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| Rosie happy with her new sleeping bag |
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| Sipping hot chocolate with marshmallows |
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| A very very excited Xena |
Later in the afternoon I set the tent out so we could camp as we hadn't been able to on Friday night with Angela being out all evening. I tested out the new sleeping bag I got for Angela and it was very nice; Rosie also loved hers. We had the traditional hot chocolate and then Xena came and joined us and she was even more excited than Rosie. Once I got them both calmed back down we slept pretty well and it was a good night sleep for all.
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| A lovely sunrise as we left the tent |
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| Moving rocks from by the chicken enclosure |
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| The top part is completed |
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| Working my way down the side |
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| I broke the wheelbarrow |
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| Rosie along for the ride in Thomas |
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| The lizard making a run for safety |
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| Second load going to the neighbours |
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| Ready for another picnic |
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| Rosie on the monkey bars |
Sunday we woke with the sunrise, which was very lovely across the valley, and after I got my vlog done and we had breakfast I headed outside to do some chores. The first part was finishing up clearing all the stones from around the edge of the chicken enclosure. It didn't take me as long as expected however the wheelbarrow is starting to look very old and needs some urgent repairs. This had been so quick that I decided to jump to the next job which involved backing Thomas up over the patio to load the old wood from the original raised beds and shift it over to the waste area. While clearing we disturbed a lizard which dashed for safety as we held the dogs back. I did the first load and then The Little Lady came running over and asked me to deliver the next load to her which I did with pleasure. It was then time for lunch and once more we had a picnic on the lawn. After a good rest (I was pretty shattered from all my chores) we headed out to our favourite restaurant and Rosie had lots of fun in the play area.
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| Red sky in the morning... |
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| Bekir cuts out sections of the carpet |
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| Running the underlay |
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| Setting out the carpet |
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| Fitting the skirting board |
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| Angela making soup with produce from the garden |
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| It's not an orange... |
And so finally we reach today. It was a purely stunning sunrise and with the clocks changing Rosie was awake in time to see it. I had had a text from Halil saying that they weren't coming in this week which I initially didn't mind but then I asked if they could come just to do the carpet. They agreed but then Halil's car broke down so in the end it was only Bekir here today. I helped him lift the carpet out onto the patio and then he got stuck in measuring and cutting and fitting. Today he has done everything I wanted, including putting the skirting board along the back wall. I'll be able to start to put stuff away inside this crawl space now which is a relief. Angela harvested some experimental early broccolli today and made some soup with it and stilton. It tasted lovely! We also had what we thought were small mandarin but turned out to be Calamondin, whatever they are. They were quite sharp but I liked it.
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| Rosie's peach tree |
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| Two apple trees |
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| Very happy Beard on a Mower |
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| Rosie watches |
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| Grass all cut |
After work I went out and planted the three fruit trees that I'd bought on Saturday with Rosie - two apples and a peach. Angela had soaked the roots during the day and it was a very easy task to plant them. After that I thought I had to go and collect Halil however he worked out that I didn't need to so I jumped onto Mo and cut the grass all along the front. Rosie sat in her tree house and watched. It was very exciting for me and I didn't stop grinning once. It was also perfect timing as while we were eating dinner a thunderstorm blew in and it has rained quite heavily while I've been writing this update.
So there it is; it is now Rosie's bed time so I'd better run! I won't be back until at least next Monday as the workmen are taking the rest of the week off to do their own thing. Thanks for reading.
