Gave myself a headache today

I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get this update done today or not. I am only here typing due to the magic of Anadin Extra. It didn't have enough magic to get me out this evening to our favourite restaurant as I had initially planned but fortunately I found the pizza in the freezer so that will be going in the oven shortly so I don't have to do anything complicated for dinner. Anyway, onwards before I collapse again...

A damp start to the day

The morning was a wet one, it was raining quite heavily when I woke up though it slowed slightly by the time I was off to get the men. I had slept well but still had my morning routine of let the puppies out the front door and turn round and go straight back to bed. Thelma was the only one to return this time as Louise stayed outside and then she started barking at something down by the chicken house so that got me out of bed to check it out. I've no idea what was down there but both Rambo and Louise were sniffing around Julian and were very excited about something. The birds were happy though as being there, even though it was still dark, I let them out. It was a one brew morning today though and off for the men.

Waterproofing and metal grid down

The journey to pick the men up was pretty uneventful as mornings normally are. When we got back it was the second day in a row that the other workmen were just going through the vehicle gate as we reached it and so Bekir didn't have to get out to open it. They all went to change and then came down and got straight into their work. Sally and Gyuner were back out on the back patio and had made themselves ready to pour cement. The waterproof membrane was done and on top Sally had laid the metal for reinforcing it.

The men spread the stones out

On the driveway the stones that had been delivered yesterday were being spread over to make the surface level for later application of cement. Later on in the day I was asked to get involved and shown what their plans were which was not to my satisfaction at all. They were going to have the cement so high that it would be about 30cm above the level at the front. This would require much more work in the first place, and then a huge ramp would be needed to get the cars onto the driveway. No matter, I explained that they could slope it more towards the entrance and everyone looked happier so that is what they are doing now. I doubt I'll get a discount for the reduction in materials and effort, though.

Cleaned up and hung

Bekir was straight on with the electrics in the living room. The first task he set himself was to get the central lights working. We'd decided to use the old light fittings again for these two and so first of all he sat and cleaned them up with a bit of sandpaper and then he put them in place. This took him almost no time so all the effort made at the end of the day yesterday really paid off.

The last bits of the walnut tree

All chopped up in half an hour

Kindling gathered from around the place

For myself I decided that today I would actually not do any paid work (as I'm only paid to do four days a week and often end up doing more) and get stuck in to a load of tasks that have been building up outside. First of all I wanted to get all of the rest of the walnut tree cut up. Fortunately the rain had completely stopped by now and so I was able (as Hikmet wasn't around today) to use the proper chopping block and get into a good rhythm. It took me about half an hour to finish. I even filled a whole bucket up with kindling which went into the growing pile in the garage waiting for A to come back.

Just starting to work on the switch for the central lights

Inside Bekir was working on the switches for the central lights. The lights in the living room are slightly more complicated than the other rooms as we have two banks of lights, each with two switches. One switch for each is set by the bedroom door, and the main door out on the corridor. It took some explaining that we wanted to have the central lights as one bank, and the wall lights as another but we got there.

Nearly completed the cement pouring on this new slab

Sally and Gyuner had made super progress on the second bit of slab for the back patio and by the time I had drunk my brew (post chopping effort reward) they had nearly completed it. This is a slight change to the original design as I envisaged it finishing where the gap is but it will make the drainage better and also give us that little bit more space to play with. I don't think we'll have enough of those tiles left over to cover this area unfortunately so I think I'll have to see how many more we'll need and then get them ordered in case they stop selling them.

The final large chunks of our snow-damaged trees

All chopped and ready for splitting

I was back outside after said brew and this time I set my sights a little higher. We've had these logs, from around the land, sitting for ages next to the wood chopping area but previously I wasn't confident enough with the chainsaw to chop them up. With all the practice I have been getting, however, I was very happy by now and so I hauled them all over to a clearer spot and then set to. The chainsaw ran out of fuel just before I finished the job but despite this it only took me about half an hour again cut all of these up into splittable lengths. It felt like longer, I can tell you, as the chainsaw vibrates a lot while you're using it and now the temperature has dropped the fumes hang around as well.

My two lovely constant companions

All the time I was out chopping wood the puppies were playing near me. Thelma had her ball and I would pause very often to throw it for her. Louise isn't as interested in that but she did find some rawhide from somewhere or other and this she chewed on for a long time. They are just so lovely, they really are constant companions for me.

Cooking fire just lit

It was still not quite lunch time by this point and I popped in to make myself a brew, and made coffees for the men as well. I forgot that Hikment wasn't in and made four cups by mistake but Bekir kindly gave one to the tiling man, who was working away today even though I neglected to take any pictures of the balcony today. The driveway men had lit a fire for a lunchtime BBQ and laughed a lot when I took this picture. It was much warmer by now, with the sun trying to break through, so this was purely a cooking fire.

Switches done, the central lights are finished

Before lunch time Bekir finished the central lights in the living room. This made me think to the worries I'd had yesterday that this job wouldn't be completed by the end of the day today and realise I had been wrong. They look really well, and fit in perfectly in the position we have chosen for them. This room is going to be so comfortable when it is finished.

Full wheelbarrow of split wood

I did some wood splitting before lunch, carrying on a little over midday until I realised just how hungry I had become and had to stop and go in. This was a little silly as it probably contributed to the headache that blighted the afternoon but I wanted to get a full wheelbarrow and get that unloaded inside before stopping. The trunks were really hard and the vibrations were quite tough as well which probably also didn't help my head.

Unwanted inhabitants in my split wood

KitKat munching the ants

Some of these logs were quite rotten to begin with and ants have moved into them. As I was splitting these I kept disturbing loads of flying ants. I decided that putting these logs, with their wood-eating inhabitants, into my wood store was a bad decision so every time I found a bit of wood that had ants I lobbed it over the fence into the chicken run. Sure enough the chickens went straight over to investigate (they are out during the day now it is so much cooler) and started munching up all the ants. I'll check these lumps of wood tomorrow and if all the ants are gone then they can be split further and put into storage. Thank you, KitKat and Beaker and Balls.

A split log with a twig in its centre

After eating a superb lunch of cheese and cooked meat butties, with a snickers bar and a huge chunk of A's lovely cake (nearly finished now) I headed back out and continued to swing the axe. Eventually I finished the job, though there were two bits that I was not able to split at all and I have left these for Hikmet on Monday morning as I hope he is back then. There was one really interesting moment when I split the first log after lunch. At the point where it split there was running up the middle what looked like a twig, right in the heart. Fascinating.

Grid laid over the stones

Little mounds of concrete describe the contours

By the time I finished this job the men on the drive had completed the spreading of the stones and were watering it down and laying the metal grid over the top. They then mixed up some cement and used it to build little piles at regular intervals across the stones, to describe the slopes that we will have, and also maybe to hold the grid in place.

Don't the wall lights look lovely

I went to bed when I got in as I was feeling so whacked. I lay there for probably just over half an hour but didn't sleep which was frustrating as I really wanted to. I did wake up feeling a little better than I had, better enough to walk around and think about doing some more work at least. In the living room I found the wall lights had all be fitted and they look just as good as A had said they would.

Boards showing width of steps at the back door

I had been called on to make some decisions about the back steps today. First of all it was how wide should they be. At first I agreed with Sally to have them just overlapping by 10cm each side of the door but then, when I went out to see the frame, I realised this was leaving a gap to one side between the steps and the ledge that I asked Gyuner to keep so we can put some plants on it. Sally was very happy to change what he was doing, particularly as he hadn't got that far, and so now the steps will lead down to this ledge and the final one will be level with it.

Bekir working in the roof, this time with a light

After this pressure decision I went back and lay down again for a bit but again didn't really sleep though it was worth the rest; I am determined that I am not that feeble and work doesn't knock me out however the evidence is pretty damning. It's embarrassing. When I got up again I found Bekir in the roof doing the wiring for the wall lights. The amount of cable running along that back wall know is quite impressive and I'm very pleased I did some cable tidying and didn't let it just turn into a tangle. I'm going to have fun working out which each is and labeling them, though.

Stones being used to build up the base for the steps

The second decision on the back steps was whether to have them with a gap underneath or solid. I ummed and ahhed for a little bit, having had this discussion with A just the other night, but eventually went for solid as it would be longer lasting and easier for them (it was also A's suggestion). I told them to make use of the white stone to build it up which would also save on cement and speed things up and so they got going without any more delays.

The switch for the wall lights was next

Bekir was done in the roofspace shortly after that and came down to fix the switches and finish everything off. I was starting to feel really quite unwell by this point and when I climbed the stairs just prior to taking this picture and swayed at the top I realised I should take some pills (I hate taking pills) and lie down. The puppies joined me this time and snuggled up with me which helped and even though, once again, I couldn't drop off fully it was the right thing to do once more. I lay there and all I could taste was petrol fumes and my head was pounding. Not nice, and then Rambo barked outside and I couldn't get the energy to check it out.

And here they are, illuminated

When I got up the men were already in the roof getting ready to leave so it's a good thing I did rouse myself at that point. Bekir had finished off fully in the living room and spent the balance of the day sweeping and getting ready for tiling. How very exciting is that! WOOOOO!!!!

The slope is now finished (this is an earlier picture)

By the back door Sally and Gyuner had built a slope of cement and stones on which, on Monday, they will set the actual steps. The progress that has occurred today is just amazing, what with my insane morning and the men working so hard as well. After feeling quite frustrated yesterday it's great to be sat here and looking at a very good place for the week to finish. With the forecast what it is tomorrow I don't know whether we'll see the driveway men working but even there they're making excellent progress.

The journey back with the men was totally uneventful but when I was driving back up my hill I saw one of the men from my village and stopped to give him a lift. He was very grateful, and very very drunk, but I let him out in the middle of the village without any mishap and headed home chuckling to myself. Dinner has been, as I said it might, a pizza and now I'm going to get this published, let the puppies have their final run of the day, talk to A for a bit and then sleep. No alarm is set for tomorrow. Yay.

A day of two halves

Today I am starting writing this much earlier as we may watch a film this evening (after the total failure to do so last night). It's been a brilliant day so far, very much one of two halves, and I'll tell you all about it now.

Pile of stones and soil to move

The music I mentioned last night wasn't coming from the farm but was from a wedding in town; it didn't go on too late anyway and wasn't all the audible in the bedroom as the wind got up quite high over night. We both slept well and when A had taken the girls out, and let the birds out, she came back to bed and we had a lovely lie in; just what Sundays are for. After a brew and some breakfast (bacon and egg butties; nom) we headed outside to do our tasks. We had one each. Mine was to shift all the stone and rubble that Gyuner had dug out for the pond.

Puppies excited by the chainsaw

A's task was to get the chainsaw going and chop as much of the paid for wood as she could in the time it took me to shift all the stone and soil. It was a lovely morning, a few clouds about but they just meant it didn't get too hot too soon. Thelma, Louise and Rambo were all hovering around as well, enjoying the fact that we were out and about together. I had to tell Rambo off at one point as he went a bit mad at Beaker and Balls but other than that they were very good indeed.

Brief rest as the chainsaw ran out of fuel

I just kept plugging away at my task, first of all moving three or four wheelbarrows full of stones out of the way and then swinging my shovel and filling up 9 more with soil by the time A came to her first stop as the fuel ran out in the chainsaw. It is a small machine and its fuel tank is also quite small so it needs refilling often but that isn't a big issue. After a brief rest, and getting us a drink, she got back to her cutting and I had carried on anyway in the meantime.

Fifteen trips and the soil is shifted

Caught playing in the soil pile

After fifteen trips with the wheelbarrow I had finally shifted all the soil out of the chicken enclosure into a big heap just on the other side of the fence. I've kept it as we have plans for planting a load of fruit trees next year and we can always use soil anyway as we are lacking in quite a lot of places. I was dripping with sweat by the time I finished as the temperature had got up with the clouds clearing. Thelma was having a ball as well as soon as I put a load onto the soil pile she climbed to the top and looked around.

Whole lot of chopping gone on

Just as I emptied the final barrow A came over saying she had finished up as well for the time being. She had cut loads of logs while I was working and is getting really quite good at this chainsaw lark. In that hour and a half or so she has probably cut just under a cubic so at that rate it'll only take another 11 hours of continual cutting to finish the job.

The best cuddles

We headed inside for a rest after this. Both the puppies jumped onto my lap and fell fast asleep in the sun and this (and only this) meant we stayed inside for half an hour or so. I love the cuddles from the puppies; it reminds me of when they were tiny and would come and fall asleep on me all the time. They do it less now, not least because they are too big and can't both fit on me easily now. This time Louise was the one who huffed, jumped off, glared at me, and curled up on the floor.

One egg a day from this lot at the moment

There was no way we were stopping for good now though so after a quick clear out of Room 13 (I had sulked and demanded we clean the floor as it was getting horrible in here) we both headed back out to do more tasks. A was again chopping wood while I was into the chicken house to wire in the movement sensing light by the door. The girls were relatively OK with me being in there, having freaked out slightly a couple of times while I was doing the shoveling, and just pecked away or sat and watched me as I worked.

Simple wiring done

It took a little longer than I planned but not much so for me to wire everything in. Eventually I will have a proper lighting circuit in here to allow us to switch on lights inside and outside to help in winter when it gets dark early so they can still go out and maybe even not stop laying. It'll also help us when we have to clean and feed them in the dark. For now, though, it is just this one movement sensing light for when we go out to lock them away at night. While I was inside I heard A shouting at Thelma; she had jumped up on the chopping block while the chainsaw was cutting a log! This is not good and we may need to think of a way of preventing them from running around our feet while we're working on such a dangerous thing.

Thelma on her way up the stairs

With the outside wiring done I headed in and repurposed the cable that was for Julian's hookup. I took the hookup connector off and then pulled the wire through into the kitchen and finally did a temporary diversion to get it into the utility room where the black cable for the chicken house comes in. We do have the correct thick cable to bring power here but it was quicker for me to do this while it is just for the chicken house. Eventually we'll have a big consumer unit in here as well. With this done it was lunch time and so we made our way upstairs. While I had been working on the inside electrics Louise had been whining a bit but I had just told her to be quiet. A spotted, however, that Thelma was climbing the spiral staircase and this is what Louise had been getting excited by. Louise still won't even think about doing them but today Thelma climbed all the way up, to much applause.

Snoozing on their new beds

Lunch was an "exploded sandwich" by which I mean we had bread and cheese and meat and slices of tomato all on a plate and we just made up each bite into a new combination as we went. It was lovely. The puppies were very interested but after a few times of "no, in your beds!" they finally settled down and curled up to sleep and wait in the hope they got something afterwards. Cute as they were, they didn't.

Cleaning the lovely black and red tiles of Room 13

With dinner out the way we got on with cleaning Room 13. I got the dustpan and brush while A got the broom and we swept it out then I ran the hoover round to get the last bits before A got the mop and bucket and scrubbed up all the dirt. I also hoovered the bathroom floor and after doing Room 13 that got mopped as well. It's so hard to keep rooms clean in here, particularly with all the building work going on with workmen walking dirt in every day all week. As we finish each room, though, the dust does reduce and it becomes easier and easier to clean.

Temporary stack of what she cut this morning

And covered in case of rain (none forecast for a week or so though)

While we left the floors to dry (not that that would take very long) we headed outside to finish up the chopping. Once again I stacked while A filled the wheelbarrows and we shifted all the wood she had chopped this morning onto a pallet next to the patio door. She did a cracking job, I think you'll agree. This is all the good paid for wood and so we have covered it up with polythene though hopefully soon the wood store will be done and I can move it all under cover there. After this we put the tarpaulin back over the stack of uncut wood but not before I had a go at splitting logs. I did quite well as it happens but I still think we'll want the machine if not this year then next.

And so I get to the end of my pictures and typing. I'm not going to publish yet as it is not far off dinner time and a bit early to sign off. I'll be back to wrap up before we settle to our film. Talking of which I need to choose one.

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I'm back again, listening to home grown potatoes bubble on the stove while A is out feeding Rambo. I've plenty more to add before publishing so I'll crack straight on.

Potatoes and Onions are harvested

While I was finishing up typing the blog A was outside harvesting onions and potatoes (as mentioned above). She was digging out the potatoes and Thelma saw this and wanted to get involved so she helped; what useful puppies they are. The onions have done really well this year though the potatoes, while there are lots of them, aren't very big. Next year we will try the potato growing tower idea; we'll do four of them I think, and hopefully get a huge crop.

A bag of our own onions

Hung up to dry

We did have a lot of onions; we filled up one left over bag from shop bought onions and then had so many left over we had to create our own version using bird netting and string. It isn't quite as strong as the shop one but it seems to have worked out OK. We took both bags and hung them on nails underneath the stairs where they will hopefully store well. Again next year we will probably grow more of these. It's fun, getting your own food from the garden.

Seedlings doing really well

Talking of which look at how well my winter veg seedlings are doing. We haven't had the greatest of hit rates from the seeds but those that have started are doing really well. They were old seeds so I'm not totally surprised that they didn't all germinate. These will need potting up soon and then when the tomato plants are done in the raised beds they'll get put in there. The tortoises will have to be evicted at that point though.

Lined up in the sun

Peppers and tomatoes

We did a further sweep around the garden to harvest anything that was ready and got a pretty good haul of tomatoes and peppers. I think I may well be making a small batch of chutney tomorrow, using these and some of the tomatoes we were gifted last week. While we were doing this the Little Lady called us over for a coffee which we agreed to and spent a lovely few minutes sat on their balcony drinking coffee and eating walnuts from last year. I asked how soon til ours will be harvestable and they said five or six days which is very exciting indeed. We also saw what they do with their pears as they have sliced them and dried them. So many of our fruit went to waste this year and if I'd thought of this I would have done this. Next year (if we get a good harvest that is, of course).

So now dinner is very nearly ready and I'm going to sign this off and publish it. See you tomorrow.

The return of mains water

It has been rather a hot one today; 38 degrees according to the thermometer on the dashboard in Thomas, and it is set to continue like this for the rest of the week. A final blast before we start entering autumn I think. What a lovely year it has been though; this is what I expected when I came out here, not the storms of last year.

Moon up in a deep blue sky

I had a slightly better night last night but was still pretty battered when A got up and stayed in bed a bit longer; it's great being able to be a bit lazy in the morning and I'm always a bit better if I can wake up slowly. I was jumped on by Louise though which stopped any ideas of a really lazy start so got up and we had our morning brews in Room 13; tomorrow I may suggest we go sit on the top bank with them and watch the sun come up. When A went to get the men I headed out for my morning chores. First of all I raked together the grass that A had cut the other day, then I went and turned all the other piles of drying grass which will probably be ready to put away tomorrow or Wednesday at the latest. Finally I headed down to the boundary fence to start taking down some more dead trees.

This needed to come down

Loose brush collected

My first target was a stump that had split with a large part of the trunk now laying on top of the fence and outside over the bank. Before I could attack that I needed to take down some of the smaller branches which I did without too much hassle. I also cleared quite a lot of other bits of deadwood from around the area and I pulled quite a large section of the fallen tree from down over the fence however try as I might I could not get the purchase or leverage to get the main trunk free. It would need two people and some rope.

Ants on the new stump

Having failed at that I turned my attention to the larger trunk and made some good progress towards chopping a V out of the side so I could control its fall on my own. I stopped when the chainsaw started smoking a bit too much and decided I would ask to borrow Bekir's bigger chainsaw for this challenge. I noticed that the stump of the smaller bit I had cut was now covered in ants which must have started to eat this dead tree.

A pair of stick thieves

The girls had been very good all the time, coming to me obediently when the other builder arrived in their van, and then staying relatively close so I could make sure they stayed away as the van left again. As I was throwing sticks and twigs around they were having a ball at the same time and kept running off with unfeasibly large chunks of wood, normally with both of them holding it together one at each end. They are dangerously cute.

Cement goes onto the balcony

I had pretty much finished my work when A got back and she came down to see what I had done. It was good to achieve this even with my bad finger but as that was still sore I am glad that I am limiting myself a bit. Anyway on to the other work happening. The men had gone onto the balcony and started on putting the cement covering down, using the forms they had created the day before. The one of them was down on the ground mixing cement while the other hauled it onto the roof with a rope and the third packed it in and smoothed it down. Teamwork. In the meantime Bekir did the very small task of switching the house over to ViK and the sound of the boiler suddenly filling up brought both A and I jumping from our desks and cheering.

Not a tomato in sight

After finishing my work, and sending a missive to my boss, it was time for me to go into town with Bekir, go to the hospital for my finger, and then get the pipes and other stuff we needed for the water being taken to the chicken house. Our first stop was the hospital and after a quick diversion to the staff quarters to ask where Bekir's mate was we ended up waiting in a lean to and then after a short while being ushered in to see a very friendly man who had three nurses helping him out. I had been building up my courage to have the thing lanced however he took one look and they put some nasty smelling cream on it, wrapped it up well and told me to not get it wet and come back in the morning. And that was it, we were away.

My music library arrives

Sally and the windowsills

I knew some books that had been brought from England were being ekonted to me but wasn't sure if they had arrived as the phone was still in A's bag. No matter, I know that the lady at the shop knows who I am so when Bekir said he had some chores I agreed to meet him down at the ekont shop. When I got there she came out and pointed at "this box, and this, and this, and this...." until we were laughing. A total of nine boxes, and I loaded them all into the back seat of Thomas and then sat on the tail of the truck in the sun waiting for Bekir, who was not long. We then went past the builders merchant and got all the plumbing stuff we needed, and some metal for Sally doing the new windowsills, and we were back and home.

The trench gets filled in, with water pipe and cable in it

The middle of the day was taken up working, then having some lovely blue cheese and cooked meat butties for lunch, then an hour long kip which I woke from very reluctantly and then going back out with Bekir to buy the armoured cable to take power to the chicken house, as well as a metal plate to cover the manhole I want outside the kitchen but as I type this I'm questioning whether I actually want it. When I went back outside later on I found that the electric and water was run from outside the chicken run to where it needs to go by the wall and both Bekir and Gyuner were hard at it in the baking heat back filling the trench.

Our flock, flocking

All of the birds were outside pecking around in the disturbed dirt loving all the bugs they could now get to. I stood and watched the men worked and talked to the chickens and particularly the ducks who were making a huge amount of noise. It did not take long at all for the trench to be filled and packed down so I headed off to find A to show her what they had done.

These chickens are hand reared. See.

She was just getting the bread ready to feed to the birds so we went back up there together and A showed off by feeding KitKat out of her hands. They are getting more used to us, though they still run away a lot; how long that will last or if it will ever stop happening I don't know. We went to check the nesting box again and were most pleased to see that one more egg had been laid! We're getting regular eggs finally. Now it's just the ducks who have to worry about when Christmas is; I doubt Ginger/Baker will start laying anytime soon as they are so much smaller.

Balanced and reaching back for rope

While Bekir and Gyuner were up that end of the property and briefly at a loose end I decided to ask them to help me with the large section of tree that remained laying over the top of the fence. Bekir had a look and climbed up on it and hooked a rope to one of the branches and then he and Gyuner hauled it up and inside my land. Excellent work.

Showing me how it is done

He then took a look at the trunk I had failed to cut in the morning and said he would do it with my chainsaw. I brought the machine to him and good to his word he set to and pretty quickly he and Nikolai had the log on the ground where Bekir cut it in half and then they hefted it up and into the growing pile of wood on the scrub ground there.

The final length is chopped down

Finally Bekir turned his attention to the last broken stump on this tree and again with Nikolai using his huge strength to assist this has also now been chopped down and is waiting my attention. I'll leave these down here for a bit while I clear all the brush that is still up near the washing line however it is looking more and more like we'll be burning our own wood for a lot of the winter.

Just about to eat our lovely meal

And so after a while it was time to take the men and the heat was still up (it still is now, near enough 30 degrees in Room 13 with no breeze to speak of; warm!) so it was quite a lazy drive there and back with all the windows down. When I got back I found A well on the way to preparing lovely enchillada dinner for us which when it was ready we took onto the roof to eat again. It was hot in the roof space but there was a breeze which cooled the roof terrace very nicely.

Sitting in the same position

The puppies were being good again while we ate and I kept watching them as they sat in exactly identical positions more than once. They are, as I've already said, painfully cute and they seem to work together at it.

Another stunner

The sunset was, again, absolutely beautiful but I'll only bore you with one picture of it this evening, trying to show off how the sun beams split around that ridge in the middle distance; just stunning. We sat up there until the sun had disappeared then headed down. I went straight outside to do the watering but the free water was pretty slow so it took a while. Eventually A took over from me and I came in to finish this.

So now I put the pictures in place and I go to bed as I'm shattered and A has already gone.