Back to the holes in the wall

Today has been a day of slow progress, but progress is good. Let's get to it.

Rosie having a blast in the leaves

First of all is Rosie this morning as I dropped her at school. She saw the huge pile of leaves underneath the tree by the school front door and I told her to go play in the leaves. The teachers were watching and laughing so much. She had a great time.

The fire is lit!

Today has been damp and cold enough that I lit the fire and have kept it lit all day. We still don't have any more snow though. Despite it being such a cold day Angela got outside today and dug over the raised beds - I forgot to get pictures but it was a great bit of garden progress.

Bekir trimming some of the bricks

Chiseling away at the bricks

Bekir hoovers up and tidied

Shuttering being put on

Cement ready for use

Hole starting to get tidied

Halil getting stuck in

A little plastering

The task for the men today, who were a little late this morning, was to keep working on the holes punched through the wall for the model railway. First of all Bekir trimmed a few bits off the bricks that were in the way of making the hole totally square, then he tidied up and finally put a few lengths of wood on as framing for the next step. Halil mixed some cement and so they got started on building up the base and walls. They also put some plaster on some of the walls. There was a lot of depth to fill so they had to go out to get some faster drying mortar as well.

Rosie painting some decorations

Getting ready for Christmas

After school Rosie and I spent some time with her painting some Christmas Decorations, which she did really well, and after that we went up into the lounge and put the lights around the tree. Right now Angela and Rosie are working on the tree in the library.

So there it is. Right now the wind is howling outside but still no snow. Thanks for reading, back tomorrow.

Gardening weekend and fence fixing

It was a great weekend and today was good also so let's get into it straight away.

Rosie enjoying her hot chocolate in the tent

Sunrise over the hills

Camping was a lot of fun with Rosie; the new beds were very comfortable, the new light was superb and gave us really good but warm illumination and was easy to turn on and off at need. Angela and Grandma brought us out our hot chocolates which went down very well and then, after some chattering, we were both asleep and Rosie slept very well. When we got up we found that the promised freeze hadn't happened so it was even warm enough to get out of the tent. A good night indeed.

Raking up some leaves

Rosie shows how strong she is

Up in her tree house all on her own

Doctoring her dolly with Grandma

Policewoman Rosie on patrol

The weather was so nice that I headed out into the garden and started to rake up the leaves on the lawn and flower beds at the front. Rosie was outside with me on and off and was "helping" a bit. At one point she took herself off to the tree house and climbed up all on her own. Angela was suffering from a very bad back which was really frustrating for her indeed. Rosie also got to play doctors with her teddies and Grandma and was driving around a lot on the patio in her police car. I had the pleasure of cooking in the evening, on the kitchen fireplace, and that wrapped up a pretty good day.

Angela the fire starter

Rosie climbs the pile of soil

Our little burn is working well

Checking the final embers

All the farm dogs came to see us

Sunday was another bright and warm day and Angela woke with a much better back, which was a huge relief, so we were all outside in the garden pretty much all day. Our first task was to burn off and clear the dead grass and weeds in the fenced garden. This year we're pretty determined to grow more food for ourselves. We did get the fire to take in the end and it was very effective and doing the job. Rosie was having a great time playing and also enjoyed watching the fire, though she was a bit concerned mainly because of the memories of the uncontrolled fire last year. Once we finished the burn we headed to the neighbours for a short but very nice coffee sat outside in their summer kitchen.

A very early butterfly

I need to dig over all of this

Some lovely flowers planted in the tyre gardens

The final section of this bed is dug through

First section of the vegetable garden turned over

A lovely day for working in the garden

After the coffee break I was straight back over to start digging over the fenced garden. It really was a lovely day and butterflies were fluttering by a lot. Angela was also getting lots done, planting out a load of new flowers and clearing some more beds then planting more seeds. It was a really productive time and so nice to get out and do something physical again. I did manage to dig over the first strip of the vegetable garden and my plan is to do a little every day until it is done.

Rosie very happy to be having a picnic

All up in the tree house

Chilling out near the fire

Rosie had been asking for a picnic lunch and so we spread the rug out on the lawn and all sat and had our lunch out there in the sun. It was a great idea! Then it was time for a rest, much needed after all our efforts, before more fun in the garden and this time Grandma climbed into the tree house as well! Angela made an epic Sunday roast for dinner and I relaxed with my feet towards the fire. A great day all round.

Final sheets of plasterboard done for now

Fencing material to keep the dogs out

Trimming down this tree

Tree gone, ready to start meshing

Getting to the end of the fence

All weekend we have been chasing Xena's dad off the land as he worked out he could just walk through the fence to the left of our vehicle gate, which isn't good when all our three girls are in heat, like now. I had to go to the bank this morning again but when I got back I had a chat with the men about this problem, and also the blockage impacting the guest suite toilet. Angela had explained to them what we wanted for the fence so they finished up their insulating and then moved to this new task, first of all going out to buy some materials. There are some trees that grow very close to the fence there so I helped them a bit over my lunch break to take the worst ones down and then they cracked on very efficiently and have put a finer mesh over the whole fence. Hopefully that'll keep the other dogs out for now.

Our garden nicely dug over

This morning while we were sat waiting for Rosie to wake up (she really overslept) our fridge exploded. Literally. Today Angela managed to find a new one that was available for delivery tomorrow which was a relief. For me, as soon as my work day was done I went into the fenced garden and dug over the next strip of the garden. Tiring but satisfying work.

So there it is; a long update but a good one. I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading and back tomorrow.

Run out of Ondolin

We made it to Friday, and had both Bekir and Halil working today which was awesome.

Having a fun early morning play time with Rosie

Here comes the sun

Halil stacks logs so neatly it is awesome

Bekir sorts through an old box of screws

Nearly done with the battening

Starting to shift logs under cover

Bekir adds extra screws to hold the roof down

The last of the Ondolin is fitted

Rosie was still sick today but her temperature was largely a lot healthier which is a relief. I had time to play with her before it was time for work, and also to grab a picture as the sun rose above the hills and haze. As I said, Halil was back in today and he was in the wood shed shifting the huge pile of logs and stacking them super neatly into our storage. Up above him on the roof Bekir first of all spent some time sorting through some old screws then got stuck in to cutting and fixing the battens for underneath the Ondolin and he got them all done. When Halil finished stacking all the wood that had already been thrown into the inside storage he went and started to shift the mass of split logs under the shelter of the car port. We are expecting rain on Sunday and tomorrow I'll need to get stuck in on this as well to get as much out of rain as possible. Bekir was still going and finished installing every sheet of Ondolin that we have; we're now waiting until Tuesday for another delivery so we can finish the roof which is a shame as it will rain on Sunday as I say, but we can't help it now.

Sat watching the men work with Rosie

Getting covered in leaves

Towards the end of the day I sat with Rosie again watching the men work as the sun was nice and warm. A bit later on she was out on the patio playing with Angela and I went and joined her and had leaves thrown all over me a few times - she was having a great time. After that we sat and watched some Planet Earth and then it was dinner time and now it is now.

So there it is; another week done. Have a good weekend and back on Monday.

Weekend and sunny day

 The men weren't in on Saturday, as you can tell by the fact I didn't write an update.

Sunrise on Saturday morning

Rosie bouncing on the trampoline

Playing in the sand

Daddy Pasta cooking on the wood burner

Four more bookshelves assembled

Rosie after helping a bit with leaves

Running around on the trampoline

We did have a beautiful sunrise, however, and then time on the trampoline before I took Rosie to see the specialist at the hospital for a final checkup. She was very very good, and the doctor was very pleased and gave her the all clear! Such a relief. After that we had time to play outside quite a lot, including hide and seek and "catch you" and also playing in the sandpit. I then had the pleasure of cooking my Spicy Pork Pasta for dinner which went down very well. On Sunday I put up the final bookshelf on the top corridor and then ordered some more units to go underneath them. I also got into the roof for a bit and did more clearing up htere. In the afternoon Rosie helped me collecting leaves for the toilets (for a bit; then she took herself off to talk to the trees) and after that it was back up to the trampoline again for more running around and bouncing. A good weekend all round.

Bekir and Halil in the mist making progress

Bekir cutting a tile to size

Later in the afternoon

Football on the balcony with Rosie

Today started off foggy and stayed that way quite a long time. I was very very busy with work so didn't get out to take many pictures, other than when I went up to take coffee in the morning. The tiles are looking great and we're getting near to completion now finally. Rosie was out with Angela a lot of the day and after work I got to spend lots of fun time with her, swinging in her swing outside and going onto the roof terrace to watch the big diggers which are burying the gas pipe across the valley and then onto the outside balcony to play football as the sun went down.

There it is, a quick update again. Back again tomorrow. Thanks for reading.