Away again, balcony program

It's been another busy week as I've been away to Belgium for the past week. Angela was here and snapping pics through the week as she also did everything else. I'll go through my trip away then have a look at what they got up to.

Sat on the plane ready to fly

Spraying the anti freeze everywhere

Stunning sunset from the plane

What a great room this was

Pretty good breakfast every day

Nice beer, chips and burgers

This steak was a very VERY nice thing!

A lot of fun bowling

My flight was an evening one which worked a lot better really. I was able to spend time with Angela and Rosie in the morning before heading off. I had a great seat and just caught sight of them spraying the antifreeze onto the wings; that isn't something you see every flight. The view as we headed across Europe of the sun going down was really special as well. I caught three trains across Europe and reached the final station to find no taxis in sight and so I ended up walking twenty minutes to the hotel. It really was a very good hotel, the room was really comfortable and the food there was incredible. I also went out a few times, had some INCREDIBLE steak at a small place in Bruges and also went bowling which was also great.

I got dropped right here by the taxi

The first statue I found

Going for a ride

Another statue I found

Amazing costumes next to the organ grinder

Walking in the dunes

Getting ready for some water sports

My friend with a sandcastle we found

Bruges is a lovely place and I will definitely be trying to go back with the whole family. I had a lovely time walking around taking boring pictures of amazing architecture. I had a lot of trouble getting there, though, as Belgium just doesn't do public transport it seems. There were horse-drawn carts to explore, lots of statues and also a big group of people dressed up as if they were going to a mask-e-rade.  It was great. I then met up with an old friend and we went to Zeebrugge, walked on the beach in a gale, drank some very nice beer and whisky and then I was back to the airport for a very delayed flight home and finally a loooong drive back which got me home at 5am.

A cold frame that was a pain to assemble

Getting the toilet pumps reassembled

Breakfast time for Rosie

A petchka in Grandma's room

Working on the plaster board in the balcony

Now we have two heaters per side

Grandma is collected, time for lunch

So back to what was happening at home. Actually, just before I left Angela and I put together a cold frame for the garden. But NOW what happened while I was away. First of all the men fitted the new bellows pumps to the toilet pumps and then tried to get the upstairs toilet working however it's been a bit dodgy and today stopped working again; these toilets are so unreliable. The rest of the week was a lot of effort on Angela and Rosie's part to get the house ready for Grandma arriving while the men, with the toilet finally fixed, focused on the balcony. They were fitting the second two heaters and then continuing with the rest of the plaster-boarding. Finally on Saturday it was time to collect Grandma from the airport, and to stop for food at the good Italian restaurant.

Fitting the spot lights

Wiring up the switch

Taking dirt out of the chimney

Xena watches Bekir up the ladder

Getting the petchka fully cleaned

The lights now work

Putting up insulation

I was too tired yesterday to do the update however there really hasn't been much to take pictures of in the current tasks. Yesterday morning they got stuck straight in to fitting the lights in the corridor and then after lunch spent some time cleaning the chimney and fixing the pipes for the kitchen petchka which has been smoking badly. This morning they finished the job with a full pipe clean before going back into the roof to finish the lights (they are all done now). They also took down the old ventilation pipe from the humanure collection point as the wind has been making the metal spinner make really loud noises at night. The final task was to keep going on the insulation task in the roof. There's no sign of the window people coming back to fit the doors yet though.

So there it is; caught up and back to daily updates again. Thanks for reading, back tomorrow.

A week of progress

What a week that has been; I've been back in the UK and while I did get home yesterday afternoon I was too tired to even think about writing this update. So here I am with a whole week to cover in this post. I'll be away all next week as well so there may not be any updates then either. Let's get to it.

All of Rosie's cuddly toys out in her play room

Cuddling up with teddies and Xena

Getting on a plane face

It'd be awesome to be walking those ridges

Frost on the Peak District

I'll get my trip out the way, then show you what the men have been on with. I spent as much of Saturday as I could playing with Rosie and enjoying time with her before I was off to the plane early Sunday. I did get to go in and give her a kiss goodbye just before I left, which was a bit of a relief for me. I got to Sofia easily, boarded the plane first and settled in to an easy flight to Manchester. I really enjoyed seeing the mountains poking out through the low clouds just after we left Bulgaria, and the sight of the snow on the peaks as we were landing was cool also. I collected my car and drove down to my destination without any problem until right at the end when I couldn't find the car park however my colleague, staying at the same place, had sent me a pin which took me there really quickly. Without that I may still be driving around looking!

A really nice meal out with a friend

Pretty good breakfasts at the hotel too

Part of our quiz team, ready to win/lose

Lamb Jalfrezi, waiting for my peshwari naan

Flying home over the French coast

I went out for some food with my colleague that evening which was a really nice time but it was an early night (and every night, actually, as I managed to keep myself in Bulgarian time zone mostly). The hotel was nice, the breakfast was good, and my visit was very profitable and fun including an enjoyable pub quiz where we called our team "In First Place" and duly came last. On the way back to the airport I went to see my old school friend and we had a lovely curry with his family. I then napped a few hours, drove back to the airport and travelled back home. It was another long day but easy enough and I was home just before Rosie got back from school which was great.

Testing the heaters and they do make a difference

The access holes are nicely filled

Putting rock wool insulation in

Up the scaffold to reach the high ceiling

Lots of boarding being done

End of the week, just past the half way point

For the men, they have spent the week working in the balcony first of all getting the wiring done to be able to turn on the two heaters we had bought and then filling in the gaps, including putting the plaster skim back in place. After feeling the heaters we decided they are good but two more were needed so now we have a couple more that will be fitted next week. With the heaters up we decided to carry on out there and get the insulation and plasterboard up which was by no means in the plan but it will really help with Rosie's birthday party, and generally in keeping those nasty flies out we hope. By today they had installed all the insulation and are working their way through the plaster board. It's a very high ceiling and is a bit difficult to do but with the scaffold that has helped. When the plasterboard is up they will fit the other two heaters, then fill the gaps and we will probably leave it like that and not paint it just yet. It's great to see this room being finished; another unexpected bonus success.

So there it is; back travelling again next week as I said so I'm not sure if there'll be any updates - it's tough on your own with Rosie! Thanks for reading, and back when I can be.

Heaters in the balcony

Last night there was such strong winds and heavy rains that the earthquake that occurred about 60km away from us or so didn't even register. I felt it but thought it was psychological from the howling wind. Thankfully there was no damage.

Angela made some pickle

We'll open this update with some preserving that Angela did first thing, which wasn't the only thing she did - lots and lots of clearing and tidying went on and Rosie (who was off school again sadly) helped. I was even able to find some time to sort through the Christmas Things boxes and tidy them out of the way.

Bekir and Halil getting ready for today

Halil rewiring to remove the plug

The two heaters are now hung

Here is where we'll have the switches

Precariously cutting out access

So to the day, which was a thundery, rainy and windy day with patches of sunshine. Honestly it feels more like March or April than January right now. Still no sign of the snow. For today I asked the men to hang the two ceiling heaters we've bought for the balcony to warm it up for Rosie's birthday. First off we spent some time working out roughly where they would hang then they legged it to get more heavy duty cable and with that done they got to work. It didn't take long at all to hang the heaters (we may end up with two more I think) and the rest of the day was spent in the wiring. We removed the plug cables that they came with and have hardwired the power in as we'll be having switches on the wall to control them. They cut small holes into the insulation and then ran the cables between the holes, to minimise the damage to the wall. It did take a little longer than I expected, but then it always does with electrics, but hopefully on Monday they'll be wired in and then we can decide if we want two more.

Very strong rainbow (and faint double)

I'll leave you with this photograph of an awesome rainbow (the second today, as it happens) that Angela saw and called Rosie and I to see. Amazing

Angela will be doing the blog next week so it'll happen when she gets a chance. Thanks for reading today.