Been too busy to blog

After all my good intentions of blogging every night this week I got into bed every night realising that I had completely forgotten to do an update. I have been working very hard on my website (if you are interested you can click here, though it is not yet open for registrations) and every minute I've had at my desk has been devoted to that.

Saturday morning is here, however, after working until 2.30am or so this morning I got a lay in until about 8 and have just had bacon and eggs and I'm feeling like a New Man. I've not got all that many pics and will sweep through this quickly as we are heading out in an hour.

Tuesday

Pink and blue for the morning

Mesut ensuring his levels are right (they were)

Painting wood stain on lots of planks

Mesut approaching the end of the basic tiling

Tuesday dawned red and bright and stayed glorious and warm all day - I think it was up about 28 degrees inside. Amazing for October 30th. The awesome weather also supported some amazing progress as Mesut flew through the tiling in what will be the Tool Room (and my airbrush booth) and Bekir was getting set with the bezir on the wooden boards. I took some time away from my desk to help out with this which was great - I like to get involved as I'm sure you've noticed. All in all it was a very pleasing day. We also headed over to the garage to collect Thomas and were told that everything had been changed, all the fluids etc - all set for winter.

Wednesday

Pre-dawn colours

Sun appears for the day

It was another glorious start to Wednesday, though with fog in the valley this morning. 

Leaking Thomas

Coordinated wood-staining, with Rambo "helping"

Mesut contemplates the Final Tile

A collected the men and then we had a look at the oil leak she had spotted underneath Thomas and decided that he needed to go to the garage (having just come back from a full service - not cool). A was feeling pretty rough with a cold but insisted on going so I was left with Pat to head out and get some more bezir as we were running out. Of course the shop had now also run out so we bought their final stock and were told to come back the next day for more. Just as I arrived back A rang to say that Thomas was not well at all and it would take a fair while to fix him so I turned round and went and collected her. Not good news as we had Okhtay now working with us so Pat would have to transport three workers each way.

Starting to put up the scaffold

Mid way up

There it is

At the top

Taken down, moved, and being put back up

After lunch Bekri and Okhtay set to assembling the Scaffold in the first spot to begin putting the wood up under the eaves - they chose the most complicated and convoluted area to start with and it was quite a thing to watch how they managed it. I once again was left saying "there's something I will not ever do" but they are fearless. The completed the wood at that little bit and were half way through erecting the scaffold in the place, round the corner, when the day ended.

The edging really finished it off, and protects it as well

A makeshift bridge over the wet tiles

Caught by surprise by the camera

Grouting in progress

Mesut for his part was cracking on with the Tool Room. He put the 6cm lip up the walls in very quick time and then got started on the grouting. He made very creative use of the top of my little internal scaffold as a bridge over the most recently laid tiles by the door, to allow entry. By the end of the day about 1/3 of the floor had been grouted, as the final task of the room.

Doesn't look like the end of October, huh

Sad at being out on my own

It was OK - not great, though

It really had been a glorious and warm day however A had not been able to enjoy it at all as her cold was at its worst. I took myself out to the fast food place on the way back from dropping the men and had a lonely meal down there, but I did get to try something new out. Fortunately that marked the point where A started to recover and now she is all but completely better again, which is fantastic.

Thursday

A foggy and cold start

Louise cuddling on my shoulder

And then fast asleep

Warm enough for November 1st

We were up and about to collect the men when Bekir called with a family emergency and they weren't coming, which was far from being the worst thing for us as it was a day less to travel in Pat. It was a misty foggy start that ended up clearing into another absolutely cracking day, 24 degrees sat at my desk. A headed out for some reason and Louise did her parrot, and then they fell fast asleep to wait for her to get back. It was a day of me at my desk and A recovering still from her cold.

Friday 

Cool and damp start

Friday again was a cooler start and it stayed overcast and foggy for quite a while before clearing later, though reluctantly.

Three man job getting these bits up

Okhtay clambers up

Meh - it'll do :o

Hammering up the beams

Large ladder and makeshift outriggers

Working into the evening gloaming

A collected the men and then headed off to do her shopping while I rushed around like a crazy person - it was such a busy day yesterday, and long. The men finished erecting the scaffold and set to fitting the boards. This was fiddly work with a lot of angle cutting needed but they made great progress and by the end of the day were mid way through the next dismantling and erection of scaffold, to go along the front of the building. To my great pleasure they had to bring the large ladder out of its storage so that purchase got another proof of its usefulness.

All the grouting done

Taking dust into his clean room

Tools storage

Damping the dust ready for sweeping

Cracking on still, into the dark

End of the day

Mesut finished all the grouting then spent some time cleaning it up, only for me to then tell him we had to shift all the dusty tools in there to clear the Men's Room. He also helped lift up the big units, one into the top corridor and one into the attic, which was hard enough work as they are very heavy. With the Men's Room cleared he damped the dust down, swept it out, and got stuck into tiling. By the end of the day he had made a good start in the final hour or so left to him.

Making stew for the freezer

Bottle Kill to end a hard working week

A had also been super busy and the final thing she did was make a large batch of stew for the freezer, and an awesome curry that we ate half of last night for our dinner when I got back from dropping the men. I was then up to my desk and at about 2am or so I finished this tiny drop of whisky to bottle kill this bottle and headed to bed.

Now I'm about to make us late so I'm going to dash; see you next time, thanks for reading.

What a (birth)day!!!!

Today has been a hell of a day, I'm certainly pleased that we took the weekend to celebrate. It started out and ended brilliantly, it was just the bits in the middle that were tough. But onwards, and you shall see why.

The beautiful pre dawn

Such a bright sunrise

Just before we knew she was sick

So first thing we were both up really early as last night was a crazily early night. We were up at about 5am as Louise woke us but we weren't sure why at that point. The sun rose and it was glorious but chilly so we waited a little bit before going onto the balcony. It was still a bit chilly when we went out there so it was my turn to cuddle Louise but then when we put her down she threw up several times in short order and this was the start of the most stressful thread of what ended up being a stressful day.

It's a very big unit indeed

These units are looking awesome

Hikmet gets going on the scraping

Egg in a cup for breakfast

One of the puppies throwing up, even twice in short order, isn't so unusual that it really worried us then so A went to collect the men and I did my chores with Louise trotting around after me as normal. When A got back we distributed the tasks and the men shifted the units around to clear space for them. I helped to carry the two in six hole units into the Games Room but A was busy cooking my breakfast so there's no picture. And what a breakfast it was - Egg in a Cup is my favourite way to start the day but it's a mission to make so I always appreciate it when its made for me. Hikmet, after helping with the shifting, got stuck into the next horrible task we have for him; scraping walls in the corridor. He does get the worst of the jobs.

This BLT was so awesome

Louise does not like visiting the vets

The morning was crazy busy with work and also the fact that Louise kept throwing up and throwing up. It started to really concern us so after lunch (a lovely Bacon / Lettuce  / Tomato wrap I made myself) we headed into town with both the girls to the vets. We tricked Louise by taking another route to the vets but she started to panic as we parked up. I carried her in and calmed her down and she was very good through a temperature test and then there injections. Thelma had her ear checked and they were also a little bad so she got some drops. It was a panicky moment for us both and continued through the day.

Hikmet is scraping

Mesut edging the Art Room

So close to completed now

We spent the afternoon alternating between thinking Louise was recovering, and then she threw up again. It was not a very happy afternoon. Progress around the building was going well, though, with Hikmet making better progress than expected on the scraping around the corridor while Mesut had finished the tiling in the Art Room and was now completing the edging; what a trooper. In the Games Room Bekir was making a really good go at finishing the tiling; unfortunately he ran out of tiles.

Poor sick-note Louise

Hikmet up the scaffold

Relaxing in the garden again

Flags being beautiful

Louise was feeling very sorry for herself and we were getting very worried, particularly when one time she threw up there was a touch of blood in the bile. We were pretty sure that it was not from her stomach and Bekir suggested a splash of milk and this seemed to settle her stomach a lot. Back to the building progress, we had Hikmet up a scaffold scraping the top of the walls (the ceilings are so awesomely high here) and the tiling went on until they ran out of tiles; back to the shop tomorrow. A took Louise outside and she was running around and barking and looking so much happier which was a relief. I also noticed for the first time that the flags are showing colour now finally.

The table full of food from the neighbours

What a lovely time that was

A huge lettuce as a gift

When I got back from dropping the men, which was only interesting in how long it took for me to drive back down the cheren put behind another vehicle, we headed over to the neighbours for a meal. I nearly share my birthday with the Special One however sadly he was still at work and not home yet however they wanted to celebrate with me so it was just a meal for me and A and it was a lovely time with lots of laughter; the food was great and they bought me a bottle of Rakiya which I will take with me to Islay to share with my friends over there. As we left we were given a lettuce to transplant into the garden which A put into a spud tower while I waited on the Roof Terrace, but more on that in the next paragraph.

A beautiful way to end the day

Savoring the nose on this super beer

Very happily pouring this wonderful beer out

The sun descends

Very pleased for this flower

Good night

I had saved myself a bottle of the Islay Ales, just the one, for a good time and this evening was that time. I took myself onto the roof terrace to get a picture of the sunset and then we decided to take a beer up and enjoy the evening and take some time together and just enjoy the evening. It was stunning, and the beer was awesome. We spotted some poppies growing in the big mound of earth at the back. Eventually the sun went down and Louise was shivering and we came inside and so I've been able to get this update out, even though I didn't expect to write it up.

And so there it is; the day is done, and now I'm heading to bed. Thank you for reading, and the birthday is done.