Another epic day

Today has been an epic day and we have achieved loads so let's get to it without delay.

Dutch checks out his pillow

Dutch likes his new house

Lots of rubbish to clear

Much tidier now

The chicken gets her leg treated

Blowing dust off the filters

After doing my exercises this morning I went out and stapled Dutch's pillow down to the pallet and moved all his bedding over; he seems to have settled in to that already which is great news. After dropping her at school I got stuck into moving the pile of sticks, leaves and other wooden junk from the edge of the patio and swept some other leaves up from around the place. It's looking much neater now. When the men arrived they went straight in to treat the chicken, which is a pretty simple task that I'll have to do tomorrow and Sunday. She seems a lot better. After that they went into Rosie's rooms again to clean the filters in the air conditioning units.

Bekir fitting the new lights

Lifting the unit upstairs

Probably not its final resting place

I hate flies inside so much!

Kill all the flies

Taping the door up to keep the smoke in

The first inside task was the finish up fitting the lights as my new bulbs are on their way but not here yet. I spent a bit of time tidying in the balcony and decided to move the unit in there upstairs to replace with a better shelving unit to help the balcony toys stay tidy, so the men helped to lift it up and put it in place. I noticed that once again we've got a huge fly problem out there so this prompted the next task - setting off a smoke bomb in there. It went off so fast and then we found that the doors to the balcony are not very well sealed so we had to rush to tape up the doors into the lounge however it was too late to seal the door in the bedroom so that had to be shut off and abandoned for 24 hours. It was stinky!

Halil fits the bulbs he found

Drilling for the first frame

Lots of frames going up the wall

Fitting the Lord of the Rings posters

Right at the top of the ladder

And all the posters are up and look GREAT!

The men then had to head out to get better screws and wall plugs for the next task and they were able to pick up some bulbs for the lights so the ones coming from the internet will now be in spare. And now the main task for the day, that I expected to take all day, which is hanging the posters up the stairs to the roof space. They went up super quick and before I even realised it all of them were up and I had to work to decide where each poster is going to be set. I was bouncing around and so excited to see these up and done but now I need to buy more posters and frames to complete the walls (and one of the frames I bought is actually empty so yeah I do need more).

Using the laser to ensure everything is level

Cutting through the plasterboard

Starting to drill it out

Holes punched through

Sweeping up the rubble

The four holes looking great

I expected that job to take all day so I was even more excited that now the men were at least able to make a start knocking the holes through from outside Room 13 into the Games Room. I explained what I wanted and they got the laser out to get the holes actually matching and discovered the floor really isn't even out there; one hole is 1.5cm closer to the floor than the other! It was then out with the grinder and cutting through the plasterboard and then the big drill bit and knocking the holes through and I could barely believe it but by the end of the day they had completed all the extra three holes and so we now have the four holes through. Amazing progress!

Pitched the tent for tonight

Rosie set up for Movie Night

As I mentioned earlier the bedroom is out of action (and I went into it after dinner and it is so bad I had to hold my breath the whole time) so I pitched the tent and me and Rosie are going to camp out tonight. She's having a movie night with Angela while I'm typing this up and then we'll go out with some hot chocolate and have a nice night out there.

So there it is. We've a busy weekend lined up so expect another long one on Monday. Thanks for reading and  back Monday.

Busy garden day, and plastering

It has been a busy day for me in the garden, and I'm now home alone with Rosie as Angela has gone off on a very well deserved spa break. Busy busy let's get to it.

Loading out firewood

Old Martenitsa on this wood

Sheep manure covered over so it doesn't fly away

Finishing up the unloading

Cleaning Thomas with the hose

A load of manure for the raised bed

This all needs shifting

Loaded in Thomas and away

I took Rosie to school this morning and when I got back I got stuck in to shifting more of the kindling and starter wood in from the outside store into the room off the garage. While doing this I found a stick that still has a martenitsa tied around it. As I was working Bekir and Halil arrived in a very laden Thomas full of sheep manure. It did not take long to drag it all out of the back of Thomas and then Bekir got the hose and cleaned the back very well indeed. As soon as this was completed, and after breakfast, I went and did a layer of the sheep manure into the new raised bed. Then I lifted all the old wood left over from the first raised beds and loaded it into Thomas and took it over to The Little Lady who was very happy for the wood.

Halil finishes off the wall

Bekir patching the hole

Thelma and Louise found a sun trap

Getting ready for winter

Yet more plastering

Bekir polishing new plaster

Inside the men were at the task for the day which was to apply a second coat of plaster all over the walls by the stairs. They also used some of the plaster to cover over the hole made above the stairs below when they removed the odd bricks. It was a lovely day and when I hung the washing out the puppies got a sunbathe on the sandpit. I then fitted the fire guard, having waved Angela off for her weekend away, as it is getting cooler and soon we will probably have to light the fire in the evenings. It's a lot later to do that this year than normal. Upstairs the men were continuing their excellent progress on the plastering. I'm getting excited about the carpeting now.

Not how I would like to work

Ready to collect leaves

Rosie helps me empty the wheelbarrow

Rosie and her giant care bear driving the police car

Eating dinner on the balcony

I collected Rosie from school and while I was pushing her on the swings for a bit we were entertained by a group of workers skimming a building on slings hanging down the side of the building; very much braver than I. The chore we had when we got home was to start to rake up the leaves and collect them into our now empty compost bins. Rosie helped for a bit but then got her police car out and drove around in it, which was fun. Dinner was eaten on the balcony again and then it was time for a rush around the chores before bed and blog time.

So there it is. A good day indeed. Thanks for reading, and back tomorrow.

Weekend and back to it

Well it's Monday and my good intentions to write up about the weekend last night went the way of forgetfulness. Oh well. Let's get to it.

Rosie caught two bubbles after blowing them!

Heading out for a walk

Hazy view across the valley

Thelma proudly bringing her stick back

Out for our dinner in the late summer warmth

Rosie climbing like a monkey

Saturday was a great day. Rosie was in great form and we had lots of fun, blowing bubbles then taking the puppies for a lovely walk over to the headland. It was a nice morning, but pretty hazy across the valley. The girls all had fun, Rosie collected sticks and stones and pine cones and we walked back after a lovely time. That evening we went out for our dinner at the restaurant with the awesome play area and Rosie had a great time on the swings and climbing and our food was pretty lovely also. As I said, a lovely day all round.

Emptying out the pool shed

Rosie sifting flour as she bakes

Mud wasp nest

It is still occupied

All smiles as we play our game

Sunday was also a beautiful day. I took advantage to finally get the pool shed emptied (which did involve emptying the sand out of the filter which was quite a messy task) and clearing everything out so we could move it to the side of the patio. Inside Angela and Rosie were baking some buns which turned out amazing. I found a mud wasp nest inside the shed while I was moving it and had to remove the nest sadly; hopefully it'll be ok where I relocated it to. We also had a really fun role playing session in The One Ring. In the evening we took our chairs out onto the outside balcony and sat looking for shooting stars however we didn't see any. We did see lots of satellites however.

Clouds with the sun breaking through

Securing the new downpipe

Smoothing the face of the steps

Making the slope smooth as well

Setting out the remaining steps

And so to today. It was a cloudy and miserable start to the day however after I dropped Rosie to school and headed into town for a few bits the clouds broke up and the sun came out and it was lovely for the rest of the day. The first thing the men did was to sort out the down pipe on the balcony. This had blown off and every time we have rain it floods the balcony, which then leaks everywhere. Now we have a really secure downpipe diverting the water onto the car port roof and away. Success! With this done the men went back to working on the stairs and they cracked on really well today. They completed the fronts of all the stairs they had already done the tops, smoothed out the angled section (which will later be tiled) and then set out and finished up all the remaining stairs. This is awesome.

So there it is; thanks for reading and back tomorrow.