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.

Christmas, mostly, and the last day of the men

 Welcome back to the final update for 2020 from us, and the last regular update until probably March or April when the men come back. I'll maybe do irregular posts if something happens to warrant it but there won't be many.

So many parts

The finished kitchen

Many books in a mess

Rosie carries an empty box away

All the fiction books are arranged

Mulled wine time

This update goes back to before Christmas and sees me spending all evening putting one of Rosie's presents together. It took me about 2.5 hours to build but in the end went together really well and securely. Christmas Eve I wasn't working and that was such a good decision. It was a lovely day spent with the family; Rosie and I got time together sorting the books for the library, she actually was a help again, and by the end of the day I had placed all the fiction books onto their shelves. Angela and I settled down to Die Hard once Rosie was asleep and enjoyed some mulled wine while waiting for Hans to fall so Christmas could being properly.

A glorious start to Christmas morning

Happy Christmas from both of us!

Puppies helping with unwrapping

The sun shows its face

Christmas tree on Christmas morning

Rosie with her snow globe

Christmas day dawned red skies but no rain. Rosie slept in a bit (the last year that'll happen I'm sure) so we got ourselves up and ready to wake her, Christmas jumpers at the ready. She had a couple of small presents to open straight upon waking which she really liked, but mostly the puppies enjoyed getting their teeth into some wrapping paper. With the first presents opened we got the fire lit upstairs (however it didn't need to stay lit as the weather was so warm) and Rosie got to open her snow globe. She was far more impressed than she looks in this picture.

Bacon, eggs and bubbly

Walking up the hill (Rosie holding Thelma's lead)

Lots of fun in the leaves

Waving to mummy through the window

Amazing roast goat leg

Sat down for our lovely dinner

Sunset on Christmas Day

Whisky in the Library

We had our traditional fizz, though this year it was actually tasty, and I cooked bacon and eggs before we headed out for a walk up the hill. We didn't get all the way up this year, mainly because there were workmen on the road and wild dogs around; Rosie walked the whole way there and back and then, when we got back, stayed outside running around and playing in the leaves. I lifted her up to the window to wave to Angela who was hard at work inside preparing an AMAZING roast goat leg once again. It was really tasty and we all enjoyed our dinner very much indeed. Present opening went on pretty much all day as Rosie got a little overwhelmed however that was also lovely :) we had a video call with both our families as well and all in all it was an epic day. Finally Rosie went to bed, then sun went down, and I settled into the library with a whisky and a good book and read until I finished the book, then went to bed. A good day indeed.

Bubble & Squeak cooking up

Breakfast on the sofa

Thelma & Louise with bones

Chess sets in the library

Boxing day was started as per usual with me cooking Bubble & Squeak for breakfast; Rosie had a more normal one and was very keen (as you can see in the picture) on sharing the toast from her toy toaster with all of us. She spent the day making egg on toast and giving it to us in turn. The puppies also got to have the bones from Christmas Dinner and enjoyed chewing them up outside. I spent a little more time in the library and got the chess sets out on display on top of the narrow units which was a lovely thing to achieve.

Saying goodbye to the old cot

The new bed is put up

A very comfortable bed

Units arranged for the railway

Sunday was all about furniture. I took down Rosie's old cot and built the new bed in its place. Rosie had all the fun jumping on the new mattress that we'd laid in the library to expand and this must have helped her to feel comfortable with the bed as she has since then taken herself into it and slept just the same as she did in the cot. She really is amazing. I also positioned the units for what will be Rosie's model railway for her birthday, on the landing, as I have only a few weeks to get this up and running now.

Arty shot of raindrops on the trees

Bekir fitting plug sockets

Halil fitting shelf supports

A new curtain goes up

Shelves in the wash room

Shelves in the Glass Room

Downpipe being fitted

Moon rise over the hills

Yesterday was the final work day for the men, making up for the Monday they missed last week. It was a rainy nasty day after the nice weekend. They had lots of little jobs to do and completed them all. First of all Bekir fitted all the sockets on the landing while Halil attached the shelf supports to the wall outside Room 13. With this done (and while Angela, Rosie and I were on a large Zoom call with my extended family) Bekir fitted a new curtain into Rosie's bedroom. Next up were some shelves in the washroom to help organise our stuff in there and then it was out to the Glass Entrance where they attached two studs to the wall so I can make a shelf for plants in the sun. Finally Bekir fitted the downpipe outside the porch while Halil tidied and they stayed a while after making sure everything is away. As is now becoming traditional I had a lovely walk outside with Rosie and watched the moon rise, while the sun set. I was getting quite a headache, however, and went to bed at 8pm and slept right through! This is why this update was delayed a day.

Rainbow over the neighbour's house

The library looking great

Clouds, blue sky and the Old School

The first picture is hung

Railway beginnings

And so to today; the wind was so strong in the night and kept up through the day, but we did get outside a bit and first thing there was a lovely strong rainbow as the rain blew in on that wind, but the sun was out for us. I've spent a bit more time tidying the library and now have all the books arranged nicely. Angela had to go shopping today and when Rosie was woken up by the puppies barking for no good reason we went outside to wait for her and get fresh air. I have now also begun to put pictures up in the library, though I'll need more hanging kits to get them all up. Also the actual track plan for the model railway has been laid out.

And there it is; it has been a long time since I've done an update this long. I hope you enjoyed reading it. There will be updates, I'm sure, over the coming months but nothing regular until March or April. Take care, and Happy New Year!